Do you think these classic shows could be successful today?

Would these beloved series still be hits if they came out now?

 

For some people, there's no comparison between classic television and what's on now. For others, there’s good and bad in both.

Shows like Star Trek, The Twilight Zone and The Flintstones still have undeniable cultural relevance but classics like Green Acres are overlooked by many younger audiences.

Here are 15 hit shows that are still loved by millions of TV fans across the country. If they started as new shows today, do you think they would be successful?

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  1. I Love Lucy
  2. Gunsmoke
  3. Perry Mason
  4. The Twilight Zone
  5. The Andy Griffith Show
  6. The Flintstones
  7. The Rifleman
  8. The Dick Van Dyke Show
  9. Green Acres
  10. The Brady Bunch
  11. The Carol Burnett Show
  12. Columbo
  13. The Waltons
  14. Star Trek
  15. M*A*S*H

Do you think these classic shows could be successful today?

Your Result...

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86 Comments

italianrose74 9 months ago
First of all I have a lot to say about this quiz. This is an incomplete quiz, this is an opinion. Now if you had said whether or not these shows are made for the first time ever today or reboots then it would give a better perspective of quiz.
EllisClevenger 46 months ago
46% similar
46% similar to the most popular responses
Lilly777 50 months ago
Some people are deluded. No way westerns and Mash would be a hit today.
JDnHuntsvilleAL Lilly777 49 months ago
Disagree. Westerns, no way, but M*A*S*H was an ANTI-MILITARY show and would be a BIG hit today.
DeborahRoberts Lilly777 21 months ago
"Gunsmoke" was an extremely well-written dramatic anthology that happened to be set in the old West. The stories featured universal themes focused more on the rotating guest cast than on the primary cast. That's why it was able to run 20 years. The public's thirst for the Western genre has never been quenched, as the success of programs like "Justified," "Longmire," "Godless," "Hell on Wheels," and the "Yellowstone" series prove. A counterculture antiwar show like MASH would also find an audience. Both these programs stood out because of their quality, which never goes out of style.
MainBain Lilly777 12 months ago
Yellowstone, and Hell on Wheels proves that statement wrong.

Only the eps Alan Alda was anti-military. The others were anti-war. Not the same thing
JewelsChuck 50 months ago
53% similar guess I don’t agree with the masses!
DavidBartholomew 50 months ago
Carol Burnett couldn't be done today. It was the last Variety show on the air, I believe.

Her generation was trained by the Movie Studio system. Actors were trained to sing and dance, Singers taught to act and sing. The first 3-5 years of the show had music spots, Carol Channing, Ethel Merman, Steve Lawrence and Edie Gourmet. As the Pop music changed to Rock and Roll, and the lack of acting talent of the younger generation became apparent, they dropped the music and went complete comedy.

Look at SNL, music guests rarely are in sketches. Just no acting talent!
BTW, funniest line from a variety show was on Dean Martin. Kate Medford (?) Took Robert Goulet to task for sleeping with Carol Lawrence (his real wife) while Steve Lawrence was living with Edie Gourmet. She thought they were all living in sin! Dean was almost on the floor, laughing so hard!
I love Dean Martin. I just about pee my pants when Dean has Foster Brooks on his show!!
MainBain DavidBartholomew 12 months ago
It could be done today by a few folks including Seth Macfarlane.
DavidBartholomew 50 months ago
All of these shows have been rebooted, sort of. Basic sitcoms courtroom dramas, cop shows. Laverne and Shirley was the Lucy Show.

The unique shows, like Twilight Zone, rarely succeed in a reboot, because the original was so unique and well written. And the gimmick sitcoms, Green Acres and Hogans Heroes, are past their time
Hogan's Heroes is shown around the world and hasn't aged because like Westerns it's set in a
historical period. It's a touchstone in countries as far away as Australia where a few months ago
it was referenced in the headline of a major paper. It's 55 years old, yet its a universal reference
for multiple generations down under. Yes we could pick it apart but it has some sort of magic
that makes it a money maker now and 20 years from now when those brain dead Khardashians
will be remembered by no one.
Runeshaper 50 months ago
60% similar - I really don't think all of these shows, as great as they are, would be hits today. Certain ones are timeless and I can't ever see being flops.
John 50 months ago
I think a lot of the people voting in this quiz/poll are basing their decisions on their fondness for the show rather than the realities of television in the current year. Hence, every show gets a "hit" designation in the majority of people taking the poll. In 2020, cop and courtroom shows are still popular, but period dramas, like westerns are too niche market to find a lasting audience in the self-absorbed post-millenial era. There are a few shows here that have been demonstrated to have timeless appeal, like Star Trek and the Carol Burnett Show. But sitcoms leaning on cross-cultural humor, like Green Acres and I Love Lucy, would be considered politically incorrect, and comedies with an all-white cast, like The Brady Bunch and the Andy Griffith Show died around the time the last episode of Seinfeld was broadcast.
JDnHuntsvilleAL John 49 months ago
Put better than I could have. People were obviously just voting for shows THEY liked rather than thinking about what today's Millennials like and don't like.
Moverfan John 47 months ago
The basic question was would the premise of the show be a hit now or not--once we've got that figured out, we can move on to casting. So who does a good Fred Flintstone?
StefsterHB 50 months ago
Was this a quiz or a poll? Seemed more like a poll. 100% is the score. Interesting to not see Hogan's Heroes on this poll as it's one show that would be uber controversial right now.
Katzi 50 months ago
People compare the zaniness of Lucy to Fran from The Nanny. So Yeah I'd say I Love Lucy would work today.
CouchPotato987 50 months ago
I don’t see too many western shows in 2020, so I can’t see the Rifleman or Gunsmoke being very popular. Perry Mason and Columbo would be hits because of all of the CSI and Law and Order shows on in 2020.
UTZAAKE 50 months ago
40% similar. Thought 9 of 15 would be flops. Most fail on racial diversity.
2 & 7. Deadwood rendered all previous TV westerns obsolete.
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