My childhood Classic TV Box Set

This installment of “Father Knows Best?”  is going to be a fun one. An anonymous submission poses the following question:

Father of Chandler….on your last post you brought up media….question…what shows would you try and get on dvd of your childhood for your son to someday see in case they aren’t aired on regular tv…..for example…I want my daughter to watch My two dads and Tailspin…no where to be found…this is sad to me.

Oh my goodness. Where do I start? Well first of all thank you for your question and I must say your two choices are top notch. Tailspin was such a great cartoon. Man I loved the pizazz with which Baloo lived his life. He made me want to fly cartoon planes.

And My Two Dads. Paul Reiser and some guy no one ever cared about. It’s funny to think back to that show. Why did I like it so much? I could in no way at all relate to that show when I was a kid. I wasn’t a Dad. I wasn’t a teenage girl. Oh wait…maybe I had the hots for the teenage girl. Man, my standards were low when I was in elementary school.

Probably the number 1 show that I’d like my son to watch is Family Ties. That show was a monumental influence on me as a child. Not only did I learn a lot of essential life lessons from the Keatons, it was Michael J. Fox’s portrayal of Alex P. that made me want to get into comedy. That’s just a nice way of saying Alex P. Keaton taught me to be a smart ass to my parents.

Another major part of my childhood was The Cosby Show. I still quote that show on a regular basis. In fact it was just about 4 and a half months ago that I was reciting the classic line, “Push it out, push it out. Waaaayyyyy out!”

Two even older shows that I loved and hope (but doubt) my child will learn to respect were the Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Dick Van Dyke made me want to be a comedy writer so I could sit around with a bunch of comedians coming up with funny lines all day long. And Mary Tyler Moore just had some of the best writing on TV ever.

Obviously there’s Seinfeld, but I think that will still be running re-runs by the time Chandler has his first child. And of course, Friends.

Those are the classics from my childhood. I didn’t even breach the cartoon section. Gummi Bears anyone?

Thanks for the question. Keep them coming, people.