Streaming website hulu has beefed up their classic TV lineup with a number of sitcoms from the CBS (Desilu/Paramount) library, including The Brady Bunch, Happy Days, I Love Lucy, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, The Odd Couple and Taxi.
Not all episodes are available for streaming and you’ll need to subscribe to hulu PLUS to watch on your TV and mobile devices.
Here’s the very first episode of Taxi, which originally aired on ABC back on September 12, 1978. Enjoy!
Westerns were all over the primetime network schedules in the 1950s and 60s. By the time the 1970s rolled around, viewer tastes were changing and the western era was all but over.
Long-running westerns Bonanza and Gunsmoke ended in the 1970s. Although there were a handful of westerns that launched later in the decade, none could match the genre’s earlier success.
Fortunately, many local stations continued to air off-network reruns of classic westerns long after they left primetime. These local stations, along with family-oriented cable networks like CBN (now ABC Family), helped expose these great shows to new generations of viewers.
Today there are many places to catch your favorite western shows, whether its on pay channels like Encore Westerns or for free on national diginets like Cozi and MeTV. There are also many westerns available for purchase on DVD.
The table below shows where classic westerns (1950s-70s) are currently available for viewing (as of February 2014). The columns include Program Title (with a link to DVD releases), Diginets (national programming services carried by local TV stations), Cable/Satellite Networks and Streaming (Internet-based services like Hulu, Netflix).
Saddle up and enjoy! Please contact me via Facebook or Twitter with your comments and suggestions.
| Program Title w/DVD Link | Diginet | Cable/Satellite | Streaming |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Man Called Shenandoah | |||
| The Adventures of Champion | |||
| The Adventures of Jim Bowie | Cozi & Retro | ||
| The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin | Antenna | ||
| The Alaskans | |||
| Alias Smith and Jones | Cozi | Hulu | |
| Barbary Coast | |||
| Bat Masterson | Encore Westerns | ||
| The Big Valley | MeTV | INSP | Hulu |
| Bonanza | MeTV | Encore Westerns & INSP | Hulu |
| Branded | MeTV | ||
| Brave Eagle | |||
| Broken Arrow | |||
| Bronco | |||
| Buckskin | |||
| The Californians | |||
| Cheyenne | |||
| The Chisholms | |||
| Cimarron City | |||
| Cimarron Strip | |||
| The Cisco Kid | Retro | ||
| Colt .45 | |||
| The Cowboys | |||
| Custer | |||
| The Dakotas | |||
| Daniel Boone | |||
| The Deputy | Cozi | ||
| Dirty Sally | |||
| Dundee and the Culhane | |||
| Empire | |||
| Frontier | |||
| Frontier Circus | |||
| Fury | |||
| The Gene Autry Show | |||
| Gunslinger | |||
| Gunsmoke | MeTV | Encore Westerns | |
| The Guns of Will Sonnett | MeTV | ||
| Have Gun Will Travel | Encore Westerns | ||
| Here Come The Brides | Antenna | ||
| High Chaparral | INSP | ||
| Hondo | |||
| Hopalong Cassidy | Cozi & Retro | ||
| How The West Was Won | |||
| The Iron Horse | |||
| Johnny Ringo | |||
| Klondike | |||
| Kung Fu | |||
| Lancer | |||
| Laramie | |||
| Laredo | |||
| Law of the Plainsman | |||
| The Lawman | |||
| The Legend of Jesse James | |||
| The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp | Encore Westerns | ||
| Little House on the Prairie | Hallmark & INSP | ||
| The Loner | |||
| The Lone Ranger | Cozi | Angel Two & FETV | Hulu |
| The Man from Blackhawk | |||
| Man Without a Gun | |||
| Marshal Dillon* | Encore Westerns | ||
| Maverick | Cozi | Encore Westerns | |
| The Monroes | |||
| My Friend Flicka | |||
| Nichols | |||
| The Oregon Trail | |||
| The Outcasts | |||
| Outlaws | |||
| Overland Trail | |||
| The Quest | |||
| Rawhide | MeTV | AMC | |
| The Rebel | MeTV | ||
| Redigo | |||
| The Restless Gun | |||
| The Rifleman | MeTV | AMC | Hulu |
| Riverboat | |||
| The Road West | |||
| The Rough Riders | |||
| The Roy Rogers Show | Cozi | Angel Two & FETV | Hulu |
| Sergeant Preston of the Yukon | FETV | ||
| Shane | |||
| Sky King | |||
| Stagecoach West | |||
| Stoney Burke | |||
| Sugarfoot | |||
| Tales of Wells Fargo | |||
| The Tall Man | |||
| Temple Houston | |||
| The Texan | |||
| Tombstone Territory | |||
| Trackdown | |||
| The Travels of Jamie McPheeters | |||
| The Virginian* | Cozi | INSP | |
| Wagon Train | MeTV | ||
| Wanted Dead or Alive | MeTV | ||
| The Westerner | |||
| Wichita Town | |||
| The Wide Country | |||
| The Wild Wild West | |||
| Yancy Derringer | |||
| Young Daniel Boone | |||
| Zane Grey Theatre | |||
| Zorro |
*Half-hour version of Gunsmoke
**Also known as The Men from Shiloh
More classic TV shows are coming to a computer near you…and to your television too if you’re a Hulu Plus subscriber.
A revised deal between online streaming service Hulu and program supplier CBS will give Hulu access to 5,300 episodes from the CBS library. That’s nearly double the programming in their previous contract.
Among the classic favorites on the way: The Brady Bunch, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple and Taxi.
Hulu offers a limited number of episodes on their free online service. Subscribers to their paid service have access to more programs and can watch them on a variety of devices, including XBOX and Roku players. Both free and paid services include limited commercials.
To sample Hulu and learn more about their streaming service, visit their website.
Our crack research team (consisting of me, myself and I) decided to take a look at where YOU could take a look at classic sitcoms from the 1960s.
I researched the primetime schedules from the 60s and put together a list of shows that have aired in syndication and/or on DVD. Note that I included some cartoons and the campy Adam West Batman series in this sitcom guide.
The table below shows where these shows are currently available for viewing (as of February 2014). The columns include Program Title (with a link to DVD releases), Diginets (national programming services carried by local TV stations), Cable/Satellite Networks and Streaming (Internet-based services like Hulu, Netflix).
Please note some shows may also air on broadcast stations, i.e. WFMY Greensboro NC still runs The Andy Griffith Show on weekday afternoons. These local airings are not included in this viewing guide…please check your local listings.
I hope you find this guide useful. Please contact me via Facebook with any errors or omissions.
| Program Title w/DVD Link | Diginet | Cable/Satellite | Streaming | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Addams Family | This | ||||
| The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet | Retro | ||||
| The Andy Griffith Show | TV Land | Hulu & Netflix & TV Land | |||
| The Ann Sothern Show | |||||
| Bachelor Father | Antenna | ||||
| Batman | Me | ||||
| The Beverly Hillbillies | Me & Retro | ||||
| Bewitched | Antenna | Crackle | |||
| The Bill Cosby Show | |||||
| The Bill Dana Show | |||||
| The Brady Bunch | Me | Hallmark & TV Land | CBS | ||
| Car 54 Where Are You? | Me | ||||
| The Courtship of Eddie's Father | |||||
| Dennis The Menace | Antenna | Hulu | |||
| The Dick Van Dyke Show | Me | TV Land | Hulu & Me & Netflix & TV Land | ||
| The Donna Reed Show | Me | Hulu | |||
| The Doris Day Show | Hulu & Me | ||||
| Family Affair | Me | ||||
| The Farmer's Daughter | |||||
| Father Knows Best | Antenna | Hulu | |||
| The Flintstones | Boomerang | ||||
| The Flying Nun | Antenna | ||||
| F Troop | Me | ||||
| The Gale Storm Show | |||||
| The George Gobel Show | |||||
| Get Smart | Me | ||||
| The Ghost and Mrs. Muir | |||||
| Gidget | Antenna | ||||
| Gilligan's Island | Me | TV Land | |||
| Gomer Pyle USMC | Me* | ||||
| Good Morning World | |||||
| The Governor & J.J. | |||||
| Green Acres | Antenna | Hulu | |||
| Hazel | Antenna | ||||
| Hennesey | |||||
| Here's Lucy | Hulu | ||||
| Hogan's Heroes | Me | ||||
| I Dream of Jeannie | Antenna | Crackle | |||
| I'm Dickens He's Fenster | |||||
| The Jack Benny Program | Antenna | ||||
| The Jetsons | Boomerang | ||||
| The Joey Bishop Show | Retro | ||||
| Julia | |||||
| Leave It To Beaver | Me | Netflix | |||
| The Lucy Show | Hulu & Me | ||||
| Make Room for Daddy** | Me | ||||
| The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis | Me | ||||
| Mayberry R.F.D. | |||||
| McHale's Navy | Antenna | Hulu | |||
| Mister Ed | Antenna | Hallmark Movie | Hulu | ||
| The Monkees | Antenna | ||||
| The Mothers-In-Law | Hulu & Me | ||||
| The Munsters | Netflix | ||||
| My Favorite Martian | Hulu | ||||
| My Living Doll | Hulu | ||||
| My Mother The Car | Hulu | ||||
| My Three Sons | Me | ||||
| The Patty Duke Show | Antenna | ||||
| Pete & Gladys | |||||
| Petticoat Junction | Me | ||||
| Pistols 'N Petticoats | |||||
| Please Don't Eat The Daisies | |||||
| That Girl | |||||
| The Real McCoys | Cozi & Retro | ||||
| To Rome with Love | |||||
| Top Cat |
*Not available in all markets
**Also known as The Danny Thomas Show
While doing my morning research, I discovered that Hulu is streaming classic episodes of The Hollywood Squares. Apparently they’ve been on there for awhile, but I never saw them until today.
Peter Marshall hosted the star-studded game show which aired on NBC daytime from 1966 to 1980. NBC also aired a primetime version in 1968, some episodes of which are airing on Hulu.
Among the regular celebrities appearing on the show: Charley Weaver (Cliff Arquette), Wally Cox, Rose Marie, Vincent Price, George Gobel and center square Paul Lynde. A weekly syndicated version aired in the 1970s and a number of revivals followed the NBC cancellation.
As of this writing, there are 20 episodes available to watch. Take a look by visiting Hulu.com
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you already know how much I love MeTV’s classic TV service, available on local broadcast stations coast-to-coast. They serve up a great lineup of classic TV shows from the 1950s to the 1980s, complete with full show credits and fun promos to boot.
Turns out MeTV also has some real gems available for streaming on their website. In addition to public domain cartoons, they’re also offering select episodes of programs from their vast library. Some of the shows are currently airing on MeTV, some have aired in the past.
Keep in mind MeTV rotates their online selection, adding and removing episodes often, so it’s a good idea to check back weekly to see what’s available. Here are the shows available for streaming as of 2/4/14:
I was just watching an episode of Celebrity Bowling…what a hoot! This half-hour syndicated show originally aired from 1971-78 and featured quite an eclectic mix of celebrities. The show I watched had legendary cowboy Roy Rogers and longtime Variety columnist Army Archerd teamed up against Richard Dawson and Lyle Waggoner. Great 70s hair styles and outfits! Roy, Army and Lyle all wore red while “Dick” Dawson sported a stylish blue turtleneck, complete with sideburns and bling. Gotta love it!
You can catch these great classics and learn more about MeTV by visiting their website at MeTVNetwork.com
If you love classic TV and don’t want to pay for it, check out Crackle.
Crackle is a free streaming service owned by Sony. It launched in 2007 and you can watch it online, on video game consoles, smart TVs and other devices.
I choose to watch Crackle on my Roku and really enjoy it. Sure, you have to endure a few commercials but it’s no biggie. They have a decent selection of movies, along with classic TV shows (All In The Family, Barney Miller, Bewitched, Good Times, I Dream of Jeannie, The Prisoner, Sanford & Son).
Crackle serves up a number of more recent shows too, including Rescue Me, Seinfeld and The Shield. They also have Jerry Seinfeld’s original series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
CICGC is a fun short-form series where Jerry drives a classic car to pick up one of his comedian friends. They stop for coffee and a heaping helping of yucks. So far he’s met with former Seinfeld alums Larry David and Michael Richards, along with late night rivals David Letterman and Jay Leno. I particularly enjoyed his meetings with classic TV/movie legends Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner and Don Rickles.
Give Crackle a try and see what you think.
Although I no longer subscribe to Hulu Plus, the online streaming service has an impressive selection of classic TV series in their library.
There are actually two Hulus, the original Hulu online and Hulu Plus. The latter is a subscription streaming service which costs the same as Netflix, $7.99 a month. The difference is Hulu Plus carries programming with “limited commercial interruptions.”
The commercials are kind of annoying for a pay service, but their classic TV library is pretty vast. Many shows are limited, however, so you may only see a season or two.
I spent a lot of time searching the Hulu site for classic TV shows (1950s-1960s-1970s) and put together the following list organized by category. Please note that not all series may be available on Plus. This list was researched in mid-January 2014 and is subject to change:
Adventure/Crime Drama
Adam-12, The Adventures of Black Beauty, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Avengers, The Buccaneers, Dangerous Assignment, Dragnet, Ellery Queen, Flipper, Highway Patrol, I Spy, Ironside, It Takes A Thief, Kojak, Man with a Camera, Movin’ On, Naked City, Peter Gunn, The Rockford Files, Route 66, Sea Hunt
British
I Claudius, UFO, Yes Prime Minister
Cartoons/Kids
The Adventures of Flash Gordon, The Archies, Archie’s Funhouse, Dick Tracy, Dudley Do-Right, The Electric Company, Fat Albert & The Cosby Kids, Felix The Cat, Fireball XL-5, Fractured Fairy Tales, Godzilla, Gumby, The Jackson 5ive, Jason of Star Command, Johnny Soko & His Flying Robot, Lancelot Link Secret Chimp, The Mr. Magoo Show, The New Three Stooges, Popeye the Sailor, Return to the Planet of The Apes, Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends, The Secrets of Isis, The Soupy Sales Show, Speed Racer, Supercar
Comedies
The Abbott & Costello Show, All In The Family, The Andy Griffith Show, Barney Miller, Bewitched, The Bob Newhart Show, Buster Keaton (Short Films), Date With The Angels, Dennis The Menace, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Donna Reed Show, The Doris Day Show, Ernie Kovacs, Father Knows Best, Good Times, Green Acres, Here’s Lucy, I Dream of Jeannie, I Love Lucy, Laurel & Hardy (Lost Films), The Lucy Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, McHale’s Navy, Mister Ed, The Mothers-in-Law, My Favorite Martian, My Living Doll, My Mother The Car, Nanny and the Professor, Rhoda, Sanford and Son, The Three Stooges, WKRP in Cincinnati
Dramas
Lassie, Studio One, The White Shadow
Game Shows
You Bet Your Life
Science Fiction/Dramas
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Battlestar Galactica, Dark Shadows, Flash Gordon, The Incredible Hulk, Land of the Giants, Lost In Space, Night Gallery, One Step Beyond, The Outer Limits, Space: 1999, Star Trek, Tales of Tomorrow, The Time Tunnel, The Twilight Zone, Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea
Variety
The Colgate Comedy Hour, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Lawrence Welk Show
Westerns
Alias Smith and Jones, The Big Valley, Bonanza, The Cisco Kid, The Lone Ranger, The Rifleman, The Roy Rogers Show
If you like classic TV and don’t mind watching on your PC, check out all the free shows on Hulu. If you’d rather watch on your TV, get a Roku or other streaming box and subscribe to Hulu Plus.
I’ve had Netflix for several years now and L-O-V-E it! 8 bucks a month and you can stream on multiple devices…what a bargain!
I currently have it set up on 3 Roku boxes, my desktop PC and my Kindle Fire.
Being a self-confessed classic TV junkie, I’m not very interested in movies. Netflix does have a nice selection of classic series and that’s what keeps me hooked.
Although I couldn’t found a simple directory of all classic TV shows in their library, I did some manual searching and came up with my own list of classic TV (1950s-1960s-1970s) on Netflix (as of January 2014):
Adventure/Crime Drama
Adam-12, Columbo, Dragnet, Emergency!, Hawaii Five-O, McMillan & Wife, Mission: Impossible, Quincy M.E., The Rockford Files
British
All Creatures Great and Small, Classic Doctor Who, Fawlty Towers, Upstairs Downstairs
Cartoons
Felix The Cat, Star Trek: The Animated Series
Comedies
The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Leave It To Beaver, The Munsters
Science Fiction/Mysteries
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Battlestar Galactica, Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, The Incredible Hulk, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Star Trek, The Twilight Zone
Keep in mind programming on Netflix comes and goes, so series may disappear and reappear from your queue. Still, for only $8 a month I can’t complain. I was even able to use my USA Netflix account when I visited Finland last year…not as big of a selection but it works for me 🙂