The
granddaddy of them all in syndication has to be "I Love Lucy," which
has never been off the air since its premiere on network TV in 1951. (Do you think Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. receive
royalties? Can you imagine?) "The Honeymooners" can also be seen
in reruns, although only 39 episodes were produced from October 1, 1955 to
September 22, 1956. These shows are in
their mid-50's! "All in the
Family" premiered in 1971 and can still be found in syndication. "M*A*S*H" plays several times a day
and has plenty of episodes to show, considering its 11-year run. I still find it surprising to see a
73-year-old Alan Alda on guest spots. I
always picture the 30-something Hawkeye Pierce.
You
can also catch "Cheers" on TV Land.
That show always remains fresh, despite the '80's fried hairstyles. "Cheers" ran for 11 years, from 1982 to
1993. It spawned "Frasier,"
which also ran for 11 years. Did Kelsey
Grammer get sick of the character he played for 22 years? His bank account didn't.
Some people
are still mourning the end of "Seinfeld."
After a 9-year run from 1989 to 1998, it's shown three or four times a day
in some markets. Jason Alexander and
Michael Richards attempted new series after Seinfeld's finale, but they didn't
succeed. Julia Louis-Dreyfuss has had tremendous
success with "The New Adventures of Old Christine," and Jerry
Seinfeld created "The Bee Movie" in 2007 and is currently doing
standup everywhere.
"Everybody
Loves Raymond" ran on network from 1996 to 2005. It showed an annoying marriage between Ray
and Debra, along with intrusive parents visiting their cluttered house. The show was regularly stolen by Ray's mother
Marie and brother Robert. Interestingly,
their three children were seldom seen. It
wasn’t about them.
Comments (1):