1950s/60s TV Shows That Were Truly Ahead Of Their Time

[Ankerson]

I still think that the "Outer Limits" in some respects not only competed with the "Twilight Zone" but there were a few episodes that were even better. There were so many great TV Shows from the 50s-60s era that it's easy to see how some of them could be completely overlooked like the "Outer Limits" obviously were.

I've often wondered why "westerns" died off the way they did :confused: ? Because back in those days every network had it's own top notch "western" show. Shows like Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Rawhide ( Clint Eastwood fame), and even a really funny one like Laredo. But in today's politically correct climate they might be stepping on toes But I really enjoyed a lot of the westerns back in the day. Probably my all time favorite was "The Wild, Wild West" with Robert Conrad.

My favorite TV western was also The Wild, Wild West, because of all the gadgets. Then my second-favorite might have been High Chaparral. But overall, I don’t think I was a big fan of TV westerns as a kid. My dad was really the one who watched them, though I remember it was my brother and I who watched Wild, Wild West.

The "Wild, Wild West" was truly so far ahead of it's time that I have no other Western to compare it with. And Robert Conrad and Ross Martin were two great actors and I doubt that their work could be duplicated today. The famous villain in that show was Dr. Miguelito Loveless played by the midget actor Michael Dunn who also did work with the original Star Trek and a few others>> but he was great in that show Wild Wild West.

I don't think that Robert Conrad did another show that was as good as that one was IMO. We still get the reruns here in the KC area on the ME TV Channel and I do get to watch it occasionally. The showed depicted two Secret Service Agents during the President Grant era. There was no other show like it and I doubt if there ever will be either. It would be a great show to make a modern movie of IMO.

They did make a movie out of it and it sucked bigtime just like the Maverick movie...

Just like almost all movies they tend to make based on the older shows these days.

They just don't get it so they screw them up, I don't know if they are stupid, ignorant or just completely brain dead.

[Mad Mac]

Oh, they get it all right. Far from stupid. They use covert manipulation in the guise of political correctness. For example, in the Charlie's Angels movie, the Angels did not use firearms. They did in the TV series. Uh oh. I'm off my medication again.

[Ankerson]

Oh, they get it all right. Far from stupid. They use covert manipulation in the guise of political correctness. For example, in the Charlie's Angels movie, the Angels did not use firearms. They did in the TV series. Uh oh. I'm off my medication again.

Don't get me started... :eek:

I could go on for weeks.… :D

Both CA movies were horrid....

The Series was good though, the original, not that horrendous series remake. :rolleyes:

And that Chips movie... :rolleyes:

And Starsky and Hutch movie.... :rolleyes:

And then there was Kojak reboot series, what a joke.. :rolleyes:

The only thing they have done pretty well is Hawaii 5-0 as the original show wasn't all that great IMO.

[Mad Mac]

Yes but Jack Lord was likeable in 5-0 and as Stoney Burke, the rodeo rider. He was a favorite of my Mom.

[Ankerson]

Yes but Jack Lord was likeable in 5-0 and as Stoney Burke, the rodeo rider. He was a favorite of my Mom.

Yeah, but he couldn't act... LOL

It was the supposing cast that really made the old H50 watchable. :)

[Mad Mac]

When Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park left the new 5-0, I quit watching.

[Ankerson]

When Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park left the new 5-0, I quit watching.

They were both stupid for leaving, they should have stuck around.

They both would have been better off.

You don't quit a hit show like that.

[Mad Mac]

You may be right, but even a dog knows when it's been cheated.
At some point, you have to say enough is enough.
I adored Grace Park, but then I must confess that I do have an asian fetish.

[Ankerson]

You may be right, but even a dog knows when it's been cheated.
At some point, you have to say enough is enough.
I adored Grace Park, but then I must confess that I do have an asian fetish.

They weren't being cheated.

They were getting paid well for the show as supporting cast members.

Seems they were talked into demanding more money and thought they were not replaceable.

They were wrong.

Everyone is replaceable....

[Mad Mac]

Does anyone watch 5-0 to see Scott Caan?
And then Alex O'Loughlin, he's Australian.
Why are so many actors in American movies and TV now Australian or Canadian?
What's up with that?

[rangefinder]

Remakes are rarely any good. The few times a remake is as good (or better) than the original it usually means the original was very bad or the remake has taken the show/movie in a very different direction. But remakes where the storyline is the same and it's just a new set of faces playing the same characters are IMO pointless.

I was/am a big fan of "Magnum PI" and the new reboot series is just painful to watch. The cast on the original show had great chemistry. The cast on the new show has NO chemistry. I've been giving it a chance and checking it every few weeks (it can take time for the cast to get comfortable working together) and so far, it's still horrible.

Among older shows that got a feature film remake, I do like the "Mission:Impossible" movies. But those are a case where the remake takes the story in a different direction. In the first movie, Jon Voigt plays "Jim Phelps" which is the character played by Peter Graves in the original TV show. But other than that one character link, there is no direct connection to the TV shows beyond the general scenario of a covert unit that does impossible missions. The "Ethan Hunt" character Tom Cruise plays is a new creation for the movies and was not part of the TV show.

Speaking of Grace Park... She was in the "Battlestar Galactica" reboot that was on a few years back. I haven't seen it myself, but I've heard it's very good. That may be one of the few cases where a direct remake (the same characters in the same setting played by new actors) is better than the original.

[James Y]

Does anyone watch 5-0 to see Scott Caan?
And then Alex O'Loughlin, he's Australian.
Why are so many actors in American movies and TV now Australian or Canadian?
What's up with that?

I never was a big fan of the new Hawaii Five-O, but IMO the worst things about the show are, in fact, the two main guys, O’Loughlin and Caan. Especially Scott Caan. He whines, mumbles, and is just all-around annoying. Would he even be working in show biz if he wasn’t the son of James Caan? And their irritating back-and-forth banter in the midst of supposedly life-threatening situations is unwatchable (IMO).

Not just Australian and Canadian. Tons of actors playing American characters in American films and TV are also from the UK and Ireland.

The Wild Wild West movie, starring Will Smith, sucked horribly. I don’t believe that The Wild Wild West should ever be remade, either as a show or as a movie. Because it can’t be recreated. You cannot recapture the time period when the original came out, nor the chemistry between the main characters. This whole obsession that Hollywood has with remakes simply shows how creatively bankrupt Hollywood is ( for the most part).

Jim

[Ankerson]

Remakes are rarely any good. The few times a remake is as good (or better) than the original it usually means the original was very bad or the remake has taken the show/movie in a very different direction. But remakes where the storyline is the same and it's just a new set of faces playing the same characters are IMO pointless.

I was/am a big fan of "Magnum PI" and the new reboot series is just painful to watch. The cast on the original show had great chemistry. The cast on the new show has NO chemistry. I've been giving it a chance and checking it every few weeks (it can take time for the cast to get comfortable working together) and so far, it's still horrible.

Among older shows that got a feature film remake, I do like the "Mission:Impossible" movies. But those are a case where the remake takes the story in a different direction. In the first movie, Jon Voigt plays "Jim Phelps" which is the character played by Peter Graves in the original TV show. But other than that one character link, there is no direct connection to the TV shows beyond the general scenario of a covert unit that does impossible missions. The "Ethan Hunt" character Tom Cruise plays is a new creation for the movies and was not part of the TV show.

Speaking of Grace Park... She was in the "Battlestar Galactica" reboot that was on a few years back. I haven't seen it myself, but I've heard it's very good. That may be one of the few cases where a direct remake (the same characters in the same setting played by new actors) is better than the original.

I watched the BG reboot, it was actually pretty good, worth watching.

[Ankerson]

Does anyone watch 5-0 to see Scott Caan?
And then Alex O'Loughlin, he's Australian.
Why are so many actors in American movies and TV now Australian or Canadian?
What's up with that?

My guess would be acting talent, quality actors.... :confused:

I would say what I really think it is, but that would move into a topic that we should stay away from here.

I think it is what I posted and what I can't post combined.

[Mad Mac]

Maybe it's that foreign mystique. Or maybe all those good looking sheilas are escaping the toxic masculinity in Australia.

And if you think you are having deja vu, you are not. Ankerson and I had the same exchange about Grace Parker just three months ago. So, you are okay. I still miss her.

[Ankerson]

Maybe it's that foreign mystique. Or maybe all those good looking sheilas are escaping the toxic masculinity in Australia.

And if you think you are having deja vu, you are not. Ankerson and I had the same exchange about Grace Parker just three months ago. So, you are okay. I still miss her.

I think it's acting talent and staying clean pure and simple.

MOST of the American actors these days are not much more than a joke at best.....

So I guess they needed to look outside the US to get some talent.

[James Y]

It can’t just be the foreign accent, because most of the Australian and UK/Irish actors in Hollywood use the generic American accent in their roles here (and quite well, I might add). Maybe there is a shortage of mostly male, young, talented American actors.

Jim

[Ankerson]

It can’t just be the foreign accent, because most of the Australian and UK/Irish actors in Hollywood use the generic American accent in their roles here (and quite well, I might add). Maybe there is a shortage of mostly male, young, talented American actors.

Jim

And Women...

And ones that don't have their heads up their.... Well you get it. LOL

They have to do what they have to do in the end.

I think the American actors are driving themselves out of the business..... Might actually be a lesson if they would pay attention and learn something.

[Ankerson]

And notice the lack of new movies coming out and or out compared to before?

And almost all of what has been out etc isn't worth watching IMO.

It's been very slim pickings for awhile now....

Actually had this talk with someone the other day.

She was young too, 20ish and she even said the new movies are a joke and the older movies are MUCH better.

[James Y]

It can’t just be the foreign accent, because most of the Australian and UK/Irish actors in Hollywood use the generic American accent in their roles here (and quite well, I might add). Maybe there is a shortage of mostly male, young, talented American actors.

Jim

And Women...

And ones that don't have their heads up their.... Well you get it. LOL

They have to do what they have to do in the end.

Lol, yup.

I studied screen acting for a few years, and while I met some nice people there and at some of the auditions and projects I took part in, I also unfortunately met several young aspiring actors, both male and female, who were extremely arrogant and delusional about their own talents. I still haven’t seen or heard of any of them in any big productions (or any at all, for that matter), so I guess none of them were The Next Big Thing.

Jim