Television

1. The Good Neighbors [British, The Good Life in the United Kingdom]
2. Hogan's Heroes
3. Home Improvement
4. Dad's Army [British]
5. To the Manor Born [British]
6. The Jack Paar Show, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and Tonight Show with Jay Leno
7. Rocky and Bullwinkle
8. Keeping Up Appearances [BBC]
9. Two and a Half Men

Others: F Troop, Law and Order, Northern Exposure, Mr. Rogers, and Sea Hunt. The Good Neighbors [The Good Life outside the United States] follows the lives of Tom (Richard Briers) and Barbara Good (Felicity Kendal) as they attempt to lead the self-sufficient life in a London suburb. Their saga begins by asking the questions faced by many turning 40, what do they want out of life and why have they not come any where near achieving it? Tom and Barbara reject modern/postmodern life, seeking the pleasures of doing it themselves without material comforts. Their problems are constantly under the microscope of Jerry (the late Paul Eddington) and Margo (Penelope Keith) Ledbetter who live next door. The Ledbetters are fully into the materialism of modern/postmodern life, yet they come to understand that the simple friendship with the Goods has more power than all their connections to the decaying society in which they live. Hogan's Heroes is just plain funny. It is a group of Americans facing terrible conditions, and overcoming them. Home Improvement is just plain fun. It combines so many themes of modern life in America, and does it with great humor. If you have to own a home, you will laugh. You have to. Dad's Army introduced me to British television comedy. When Gov. George Sinner was lambasting Mayville State and wanting to turn it into anything but a college, I watched this show at 10:30 at night, and pulled through. Jack Paar is the most interesting person ever to appear on television. Johnny Carson is the most consistently entertaining. Through Paar I came to know Barry Goldwater, a source of my political values. Carson assisted by providing the clearest commentary on America on television. Rocky and Bullwinkle had a powerful political influence on me and my thought processes. ["I kid you not."] Keeping up Appearances is a hoot to watch. I personally count the number of times Richard silently gives it to Hyacinth. The record is 6.