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6 days ago · 1950s: The Postwar Boom. Over 3K TV viewers have voted on the 60+ shows on Best TV Shows From The 1950s, Ranked. Current Top 3: The Twilight Zone, I Love Lucy, Looney Tunes.
- Popular TV Shows In The 1960s, Ranked
The Swinging Sixties. Ranking everything in the era of JFK,...
- The Most Popular TV Shows Of The 1960s - Ranker
The Red Skelton Show remained popular through the 1960s,...
- Popular TV Shows In The 1960s, Ranked
- Madison Troyer
- The Twilight Zone. - IMDb user rating: 9.1. - On air: 1959-1964. Fans of horror, science fiction, and well-written television will all agree that "The Twilight Zone" is one of the most well-crafted and thought-provoking shows ever created.
- Monty Python's Flying Circus. - IMDb user rating: 8.8. - On air: 1969-1974. Called "television's most influential comedy series," "Monty Python's Flying Circus" is known for its absurd sketches, innuendo-laden jokes, and risque humor.
- Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. - IMDb user rating: 8.7. - On air: 1968-2001. One of the most beloved television programs of all time, "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" was a half-hour show for preschoolers that explored educational and emotional themes.
- The Carol Burnett Show. - IMDb user rating: 8.7. - On air: 1967-1978. "The Carol Burnett Show" was one of the first variety shows led by a woman and remains one of the most critically acclaimed variety shows of all time.
- Drama: ‘Bah, Humbug!’
- Variety/Comedy: ‘Listen to Your Uncle Miltie’
- Westerns: ‘Hi-Yo Silver! Away!’
- Sitcoms: ‘Lucy, You Got Some ‘Splainin’ to Do!’
- Science Fiction: ‘Next Stop, The Twilight Zone’
- Game & Quiz Shows: Want A Pie in The Face with That Scandal?
- Children’s: ‘It’s Howdy Doody Time!’
- Crime: ‘The Story You Are About to See Is true.’
Early on, TV beamed dramatic plays normally seen only on Broadway stages right into people’s living rooms. Kraft Television Theatre (1947-58), Pulitzer Prize Playhouse(1950-52) and other showcases presented live telecasts of new original plays and well-known works like "A Christmas Carol" and "Wuthering Heights." Some derided these plays as “amateu...
Comedy in early TV started off with a bang when entertainer Milton Berle brought vaudeville’s frenetic mix of music, comedy, animals and jugglers straight into people’s living rooms with the “Texaco Star Theater” variety show. Funnyman Berle, who usually opened the show dressed in outrageous costumes, made it a laugh-out-loud smash hit. Movie ticke...
The American West became a popular backdrop for early TV—and a showcase for what TIME magazine called Hollywood’s “he-manly specimens.” “Hopalong Cassidy” and “The Lone Ranger” (both 1949-57) led a long line of pistol-packing, small-screen frontier heroes whose job was to help sheriffs vanquish villains. The shows may have been mostly shot on Calif...
Situation comedies—or sitcoms—blossomed in these years. Many, like “Amos ‘n’ Andy” (1951-53), originated on radio; some, like “The Honeymooners” (1955), began as skits on variety shows. Most series centered around families, like “Mama” (1949-57), “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” (1952-66) and “Father Knows Best” (1954-60). “I Love Lucy” (1951-...
Creators of early science fiction shows worked to pioneer special effects. In the low-budget “Captain Video and His Video Rangers” (1949-55), the first popular sci-fi show, characters were superimposed onto cheap sets using reflective lighting, considered cutting edge at the time. Just months later, two other groundbreaking series—"Tom Corbett, Spa...
High-stakes quiz shows were must-see TV in the 1950s. Viewers tested their knowledge or watched contestants chosen from the studio audience solve puzzles or face wacky challenges to win money or prizes from the sponsors. At their peak, 22 game and quiz shows aired weekly. “Truth or Consequences” (1950-58) had already been on radio for 10 years befo...
Pioneering children’s TV focused on making kids laugh, but the most popular shows appealed to adults as well. In the sock puppet world of “Kukla, Fran and Ollie” (1947-57), comedian and singer Fran Allison ad-libbed and bantered with Ollie, the moody, one-tooth dragon, and other characters performed by puppeteer and show creator Burr Tillstrom. Acc...
Most early TV crime shows basically adapted the murder and mayhem of radio crime dramas to the small screen—but with haunting black-and-white visuals upping the suspense. “Martin Kane, Private Eye” (1949-54) vowed to “crack the case wide open” on live television while pitching the sponsor’s pipe tobacco and cigarettes. The film-noir style “Man Agai...
- Iván Román
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The misadventures of a suburban boy, family and friends. 3. Father Knows Best. The popular radio show comes to life in this hit sitcom about a wise family man, Jim Anderson, his common-sense wife Margaret and their children Betty, Bud and Kathy. 4. The Danny Thomas Show. Danny is a New York entertainer.
The Best 1960's Classic TV Shows T he groovy 1960's ushered in a new era of television programming as broadcasts began to transition from black and white to color during this time. Lighthearted sitcoms and comedies ruled the day as some of the most-watched shows were series like The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Beverly Hillbillies and The Andy ...
