TV shows which made the greatest impact

[Guest El Satanico]

The Smothers Brothers need a mention here. They looked and acted like white bread country boys, but they were talking about extremely controversal subjects for the time. They were talking about stuff people just didn't talk about on mediums like television. They reflected the counter culture of the youth of that era with what they talked about and freaked out network executives. It was short lived, but it no doubt paved the path for All in The Family.

 

The season after Smothers Brothers were canned, Laugh-In premiered and become an instant hit making it impossible to cancel no matter how nervous it made execs. Much like Smothers Brothers, Laugh-In also hid controversal social commentary within a sketch show.

[Guest wildpegasus]

The one that immediately come to mind are

"The Simpsons": can anyone remember a adult cartoon before them?

South Park has probably made a big impact too in the animation world, pushing the boundries a little.

Flinstones was an adult cartoon.

 

Ren and Stimpy had impact. Thanks to them we now have a lot more gross out humour. Something I could live without but anyway.

 

 

The X-Men animation series from the 90s had impact. Before we had TV ratings for everything I remember this was the show often picked on as a bad show for kids and a reason that TV shows needed ratings. I would also say it had impact because of the high quality the show exhibited.

 

Sailor Moon cut through some boundries and let anime finally get a foothold in North America.

[Guest MikeSC]

The Smothers Brothers need a mention here. They looked and acted like white bread country boys, but they were talking about extremely controversal subjects for the time. They were talking about stuff people just didn't talk about on mediums like television. They reflected the counter culture of the youth of that era with what they talked about and freaked out network executives. It was short lived, but it no doubt paved the path for All in The Family.

 

The season after Smothers Brothers were canned, Laugh-In premiered and become an instant hit making it impossible to cancel no matter how nervous it made execs. Much like Smothers Brothers, Laugh-In also hid controversal social commentary within a sketch show.

But, to be technical, neither show was actually, ya know, funny.

-=Mike

[River City Rocker 0]

The season after Smothers Brothers were canned, Laugh-In premiered and become an instant hit making it impossible to cancel no matter how nervous it made execs. Much like Smothers Brothers, Laugh-In also hid controversal social commentary within a sketch show.

Actually, both shows ran at the same time for over a year. The Smothers Brothers debuted on CBS in 1967, while Laugh-In initially debuted as a one-time only special that fall (becoming a regular series in January 1968).

 

Both the Smothers Brothers and Rowan & Martin would occasionally make gag appearances on each other's programs. The last notable appearance by Tom and Dick on Laugh-In came less than a month before CBS axed their show.

 

-Ben

[Guest El Satanico]

The season after Smothers Brothers were canned, Laugh-In premiered and become an instant hit making it impossible to cancel no matter how nervous it made execs. Much like Smothers Brothers, Laugh-In also hid controversal social commentary within a sketch show.

Actually, both shows ran at the same time for over a year. The Smothers Brothers debuted on CBS in 1967, while Laugh-In initially debuted as a one-time only special that fall (becoming a regular series in January 1968).

 

Both the Smothers Brothers and Rowan & Martin would occasionally make gag appearances on each other's programs. The last notable appearance by Tom and Dick on Laugh-In came less than a month before CBS axed their show.

 

-Ben

Ah I see, well I knew they were close to each other.

[Vanhalen 0]

Im going to pop for ER, just simply for the camerawork, and the fast paced direction, that you can now see in shows like the West Wing and 24

[notJames 0]

The Monkees. Very innovative editing.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

South Park episodes often have a message. I don't see a relationship between B&B and South Park, but I could see one between B&B and Family Guy.

B&B were full of messages and helpful information. For example, your early-morning erection is caused by the wood fairy...