7 Nostalgic TV Shows for When You Want to Binge the Classics
Sometimes you don’t want to watch something new. You want to lean back into the nostalgia of the classics, even if the shows came out before your time. There’s comfort in knowing that you can sit back and relax with a series that comes with long seasons and entertainment that is just as good then as it is now. TV’s greatest hits are hits for a reason.
Here, we’re breaking down seven of TV’s greatest classics, and where to stream them when you’re craving a hit of pop culture nostalgia.
I Love Lucy
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz didn’t just make us laugh — they pioneered the sitcom format. The first to be shot in front of a live studio audience, I Love Lucy made Ball the Queen of Comedy and gave us characters we laughed along with but also truly cared about and related to. In comedy, timing is everything, and this 1951-57 series still shines with the derring-do of the fresh, young medium. (Catchy Comedy, Pluto TV)
Columbo
As rumpled as his signature trench coat, Peter Falk‘s police lieutenant was the progenitor of the how-will-it-be-solved crime drama that shows such as Elsbeth carry forward by revealing the killer at the start. In 69 TV movies from 1968 to 2003, the man known only by his last name captured L.A.’s rich and powerful killers — matching wits with such guest stars as Janet Leigh and Dick Van Dyke. (Cozi TV, Hallmark Mystery, Roku Channel)
Perry Mason
You’ve probably never had to utter the words “He was dead when I got there.” But many of the ace defense attorneys’ innocent clients have. We keep coming back to this classic 1957-66 drama for Raymond Burr‘s cool, reassuring presence as Mason, but also to enjoy his teamwork with gal Friday Della Street (Barbara Hale) and private eye Paul Drake (William Hopper), as well as his courtroom standoffs with the perpetually defeated Hamilton Burger (William Talman). What the writers and actors did with that formula makes this series anything but a “guilty” pleasure. (MeTV, FETV)
The Jeffersons
Norman Lear‘s 1975-85 sitcom featuring TV’s first wealthy Black family, dry-cleaning businessman George (Sherman Hemsley) and his wife, patient “Weezy” (Isabel Sanford), focused on the formerly working-class couple adjusting to life in their Manhattan high-rise. To our delight, insults flew from the cantankerous George, often toward housekeeper Florence (Marla Gibbs), as the show balanced issues with a zany comic sensibility. (Antenna TV, FETV)
The Carol Burnett Show
Movie spoofs, musical numbers, Mama… We don’t have enough fingers to count all the reasons we can’t stop watching this wonderfully smart-silly 1967–78 variety show headlined by a comedy legend. There’s the iconic “Went With the Wind” sketch and Tim Conway‘s befuddled Oldest Man, who took jobs ranging from clock repairman to doctor with hilarious incompetence. But whether she’s singing and dancing her way through a musical send-up or playing up the soapy melodrama in “As the Stomach Turns,” Burnett’s geniality keeps us tuning in. (Catchy Comedy, MeTV)
M*A*S*H
Never before or since has a sitcom made us laugh so hard in the face of war. This 1972-83 series, television’s first dramedy, still resonates, thanks to an unforgettable ensemble — notably Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, and Harry Morgan — and stories that fearlessly dealt with the reality of military life. Anyone who’s ever served, or cared about someone who has, can connect to the 4077th during the Korean War. (MeTV, Hulu)
Bonanza
Not many Westerns were also family dramas. But Bonanza was unique. With an attractive, stellar cast led by Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright, father to Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe (Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon), this 1959-73 series was — and still is — a popular destination for viewers seeking action but also everyday heroes from a solid if imperfect family unit. (MeTV, Philo, Plex, Sling TV, Tubi, WEST)
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