It's still a little hokey at times. But it is the grand daddy of realistic cop/law dramas. It does a nice mix of drama and comedy.
Something that I noticed, is that my political opinion hasn't changed in the 30 years since this show aired. I really disliked the character of Henry Goldblum back then. His character is a detective that is a bleeding heart liberal. Sticking up for dirtballs, and just generally being whiny and full of doubt all the time. Just didn't like the guy. And the funny thing is, I fell the same way now. Just find him annoying.
I don't have a favorite character. If I had to pick one, I'd pick a guy that didn't get on the show until the last couple years, and he wasn't ever on that much. But that was Sid the Snitch. The character was really pathetic, a sleazeball and very self-interested, but he had a good heart in the end. Here he is in action...
Now at 9:30, I might flip over to 8.2 to watch Hogan's Heroes. Probably my favorite live action 1/2 hour comedy show ever. They had some stinkers, but all in all a good show. I can forgive the laugh track, which is awful. And I get, POW camps are not funny, and they were nothing like this. But in the end, they are making fun of Nazis, so that is good.
I might flip over to 13-3 at 10PM. They replay old Tonight Shows with Johnny Carson. I didn't really watch him much back then, mostly because I generally was in bed then. But I watched enough to know that he was King of Late Night. So I like to watch his opening monologues. They are flippin' hilarious. Of course a lot of the jokes are time bound. I've heard a lot of Al Haig jokes lately. I'm sure they would fall flat to anybody over 40. But lots of really laugh out loud funny stuff that is timeless. Johnny is a really good interviewer too. Whether it is a staple like Tony Randall, or some starlet that was never heard from again.
So if you have your rabbit ears hooked up, give it a try!
