TV events (miniseries and such, not so much regular shows)

[netmouse]

As I recently posted on a friend's journal as a comment, when I think TV miniseries of my childhood, I think of "V", which I'm pretty sure I've seen more than once, "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby", which is why I first fell in love with Roger Rees, and "North and South", about the civil war.

What TV events and miniseries do you remember taking a chunk of time out of life when you were young?

Comments

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

"Here, mousey mousey mousey..." Oh yes, I remember V. :) (The scene where the factory worker exposed to cryogenics shatters his arm on a railing led to a still-active mild phobia about cryogenics... which made working with liquid helium in college interesting.)

I recall a number of PSB miniseries that we recorded and played until the tapes wore out: Miracle of Life, Cosmos, and of course endless amounts of Jacque Cousteau.

[shekkara.livejournal.com]

As a kid I loved watching The Love Boat and Fantasy Island back-to-back from 9 to 11pm on Friday nights.

[arkaycee.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on V. I only saw part of Roots but someday would like to see it all. I remember there was one about the Holocaust that I was in a place in life about it I couldn't bear to watch after seeing the first few minutes of one episode that I'd like to (in some sense of the word "like") see again.


Strangely, I don't remember seeing any miniseries all the way through til maybe post-college, (V may have been the first)... maybe it was my then-undiagnosed ADD, combined with interest in too many other things, I dunno.

TiVo has helped of late. Because I could take many months to watch it when I had the time, I really enjoyed Taken on SciFi a few years back, and one recently on the birth of the CIA whose name escapes me. Carolyn has Band of Brothers on DVD and we re-watched that over Memorial weekend and a bit thereafter. Also From the Earth to the Moon is one I know I'll watch again.

[childe.livejournal.com]

That's one I need to rent on DVD and watch all the way through. I miss V.

[shadowriderhope.livejournal.com]

Ooh.. I remember V. I remember being so creeped out by a few scenes that I'd actually get something like flashbacks from it. I loved the show, but damn, there was some scary shit in it.

It'd be interesting to go back and re-watch it, to see if it has the same effect, or if it just seems hokey. ;)

[delosd.livejournal.com]

Oh, it was "Roots". That was the first real major mini-series event, and *everybody* watched it. I don't think I missed a minute.

[jvowles.livejournal.com]

V., Roots, North and South.....

but the one that kinda changed my life was SHOGUN.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

The big TV event I recall most was the final episode of M*A*S*H.

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

mmm, *nod*

I recently read Alan Alda's autobiographical book Never Get Your Dog Stuffed and other things I've learned and revisited, from the actors' perspective, the experience of that last episode. M.A.S.H. was one of my favorite shows. It's a good book, too, if you ever get the chance to read it.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

I've read it and am in the middle of his second book. He's a great person, and I always appreciated his interest in science.

If I recall correctly, the MASH finale was a rarity at the time, an ending to a TV show that ended the storyline as well. I know The Fugitive had done that before; I can't recall any others off the top of my head.

[arkaycee.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, if we're talking other than miniseries, huge agreement on the final episode of M*A*S*H. Also, the episode where Col. Blake died was one of those top 10 life-affecting fictional TV experiences for me.

Years ago, TV Guide put out a "100 biggest TV moments" (paraphrasing from memory) list, which I thought was a cool idea. It may actually have been two lists a few months apart, one fiction and one non but I'm not sure about that, but it was an interesting idea.

Of course, things like 9/11 and the Moon landing and the Challenger explosion and, for people a bit older than me, the Kennedy assassination would be huge on the nonfiction side (there were some sports upsets, etc. too there, but I don't follow any sport enough to really be caught up in those myself).

One on a much happier mood for me was the final episode of the 2nd Bob Newhart show, where he was an innkeeper in Vermont. The final ~30 seconds was one of the best surprise endings in television, and I just remember my girlfriend at the time and me just howling with shock and laughter for the rest of the evening.

[raaven.livejournal.com]

I remember Roots, V (the frozen arm shattering also haunts my dreams) Rich Man, Poor Man (never saw it, but I remember it being an EVENT), and Beulah Land.

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

It's funny, I don't remember the frozen arm shattering. I do remember a hapless bird being eaten alive, I think, and I found the cross-breed pregnancy and child particularly interesting.

[raaven.livejournal.com]

I may have to rent and watch V again some day - because the arm thing is the only thing I remember. Heh.

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

I picked up V on DVD a couple of years ago, so that would definitely be on my list, though I don't think of it as a show from my childhood per se (I was in late high school).

I have fond memories of watching Magnum P.I., Simon & Simon and Cagney & Lacey with my grandmother. Though those were 80s shows as well... I don't really remember much that's older. I wasn't allowed much say in what was on our television when I was a child.

[raaven.livejournal.com]

Oh! And I also remember the first video from Duran Duran's Rio album debuting on MTV. I waited for and watched it. Also the one for Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Yeah, I'm a geek. :)