One persons definition of classic isn't somebody else's. There are too many great shows from the 60s and beyond... Categorizing them is difficult - not too mention all the spinoffs.

I'm building a classic TV page on Squidoo.com at http://squidoo.com/classictv and also have a page at http://myspace.com/classicTVshows featuring some short content and features.... please stop by and rate
me or make comments. I really would appreciate it.

Have a great day!

I see what you are getting at Paul, but your argument seems to simultaneously prove and disprove the classification of "classic".

There are so many ways to look at it. Let's look at American half-hour comedies by decade:

1) Shows that were truly the pinnacle of broadcast TV at the time.

- 50's: The Honeymooners/I Love Lucy
- 60's: Get Smart/The Dick Van Dyke Show
- 70's: The Odd Couple/Sanford & Son
- 80's: Night Court/Cheers
- 90's: Seinfeld/Frasier
- 00's: 30 Rock/The Office

Of course, this would fall more into the category of "critical acclaim". At the same time, these shows were able to surprise us with their writing and acting chops.

2) Shows that seem timeless aka perpetually relevant:

- 50's: The Honeymooners/I Love Lucy
- 60's: Bewitched/The Dick Van Dyke Show
- 70's: All in the Family/The Mary Tyler Moore Show
- 80's: Cheers/The Golden Girls
- 90's: Seinfeld/Frasier
- 00's: The King of Queens/Arrested Development

Twenty years from now, you could watch these shows and knowingly laugh. You could probably reenact them twenty years from now in current garb and people would think they were new.

3) Shows that were groundbreaking:

- 50's: Burns & Allen/The Jack Benny Show
- 60's: The Addams Family/Hogan's Heroes
- 70's: Soap/All in the Family
- 80's: The Cosby Show/The Golden Girls
- 90's: Seinfeld/Roseanne
- 00's: Arrested Development/My Name is Earl

These will always stand out as "something new and exciting" aka shows that had impact on the future makers of shows. These shows also took risks and succeeded.

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Of course, these are my opinions; the point I am trying to make outside of subjectivity is that there is no definition of "classic TV". If you want to look by the numbers of the lists above, only one show appears on all of my three lists: Seinfeld.

Several appear on more than once.

With the birth of cable, DVD's, etc...you seemed to make the point that the vantage point for "classic" has perpetually shifted. At the same time, you used theme songs as a guide. Do you really think that "Friends", one of the most successful (and VASTLY overrated) shows of all time even wants to be remembered by its godawful theme song? The theme song era ended in the mid-70's.

Also, the TVLand of today is rather different from the TVLand of yesterday, which in turn is rather different from three VHF and maybe five UHF channels. The rules of syndication seem to have changed also. Moving target, guys and gals.

"Classic" is subjective. Perhaps we should be talking about "groundbreaking", "timeless", or "critically acclaimed". These aren't cars, they are scripts and performances.

To me, classic takes you back to a time that you enjoy and that's why TV is so subjective. I was born in 1980; therefore, sitcoms like "It's A Living," "Too Close For Comfort," "Married With Children," etc. are classic. The kitschy sitcoms you mention are just old.

If you watch Green Acres for what it is, and not what you might think it was, it's a clear classic. This show was meta-textual long before anyone else thought to be. It was absurdism made real. and this isn't just "comfort tv" talking -- there was a lot of craft that went into Green Acres. The Beverly Hillbillies is comfort TV -- Petticoat Junction sucked -- Green Acres was a classic.

and sometimes you had to be there to understand what makes something a classic. yes, a true classic should still work after its time too, but sometimes it's what it created that makes it a classic. There's also the problem that shows like All in the Family stick around too long, and people who only know the later seasons have a different view than people who were there at the beginning. But Different Strokes was never good. ever.

I miss the OLD Nick@Night...in the 90s with I Love Lucy and The Jeffersons and Wonder Years. I may only be 19, but I have seen Fresh Prince too many times and the same for Roseanne. I am sure Nick@Night probably want younger viewers, but isn't that what Nickelodeon, the N, and Nicktoons channels are for?

Pedantic Detroit-related correction. Bill Kennedy never aired on WXYZ. That was Rita Bell's domain. Bill aired on CKLW and WKBD.

So, are you saying that classic TV is like pornography? Difficult to define but you know it when you see it.

Man. I have to agree to a certain extent. I loved Nick at night growing up. I got to see all the old shows from the 60's and 70's--and they where really great. Regardless of being comedies--they actually had quite a bit of substance to them (well except Get Smart--but it was action packed so I liked it for that). The idea that I'd see commercials from that era was novel too.
But now--they air Fresh Prince and Roseanne. I felt that these were ground breaking shows but were easily found in syndication elsewhere. Shows that appeared in the 90's will be classics--someday--but I don't care to see them now.
I always thought that they should air shows that where at least 20 years and older.
And TV land is something else entirely. I'd like to see them air classic shows in today's format--a novel concept that might work. Daytime soaps and talk shows from 30 years ago. Children's hour (like fat albert), Comedies, then dramas/action hours and finally late-night (carson, sullivan).

I agree with most of what you wrote, Paul. But I would have to add that classic shows should be just as appealing now as they were in their prime (time). From that standpoint I think you might be giving Wings a tough break as it was a really well done show. Very subjective topic though, so I can see how we won't all agree on this one.

CLASSIC: Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Small Wonder, Just the 10 Of Us, Mr. Wizard
NOT CLASSIC: Hill Street Blues, Dallas, Dynasty

It's all subjective, people. Anyone who claims that TV (or music or movies) has an absolute goodness or badness... well, probably writes for TV Squad.

But, feel free to keep pretending that your opinions were written in stone ages ago.