Posted on 06/07/2010 10:29:46 AM PDT by inkling
Television has been dismissed as a cultural wasteland, and for conservatives, it's a barren wasteland indeed, especially over the last quarter-century. Joe Friday doesn't save the world from hippies every week: Today, the hippies are the heroes and conservatives (especially conservative Christians) are the villains.
But there is still hope. There are still good conservative television shows out there, you just have to look for them.
The Rules
No miniseries.
Basic cable or broadcast TV only.
No documentaries.
No news or opinion shows.
No sports.
Ideally, it should have DVD sets available for purchase. Good TV. No "Highway to Heaven" or the like, they must be shows that you can talk about with some measure of pride.
25. Chuck
Adam Baldwin's Casey is one of the greatest scene-stealers in recent TV history. Any show with a character who keeps a picture of Ronald Reagan on his desk had to make the list.
24. Pitchmen
Hard-working, everyday Americans coming up with great ideas, and then working even hard to make them real. Capitalism at its very best, and a great testament to the American dream.
23. Hunter
Dirty Harry with an NFL star as the lead actor. Moral relativism? Rights of the accused? Talk to the .44, baby. Works for me.
22. The Goode Family
Ooooh so close. With Mike Judge at the trigger and the silliness of political correctness as its target, The Goode Family had the potential to be a cornerstone of conservative comedy. The director was willing, but alas, the scripts were weak.
21. Magnum P.I.
A show with a lead character who's a well-adjusted, happy Vietnam veteran...
(Click link for full list...)
(Excerpt) Read more at exurbanleague.com ...
Simon and Simon was pretty good as well.
I would add ‘The Wonder Years’ to the list.
24 is the clear first choice. The Unit should be high on the list.
SnakeDoc
I’d like to add, “Airwolf.”
I second that. Thursday night on CBS - Magnum @ 8, S&S @ 9.
The good ole days of TV...
Glad King of the Hill made it in there. I’ve always really liked that cartoon and thought it exemplified the Conservative values of most Texans. Mike Judge is a stand-up guy, in my opinion, even with Beavis and Butt-head under his belt.
Plus, any cartoon that makes most teenagers changes the channel must be doing something right.
And I couldn’t agree more with Mythbusters on that list. Those guys LOVE to play with their firearms, esp. being in Kalifornia, and they prove that having a gun around doesn’t mean instant death for anyone in the vicinity.
Firefly and NCIS. Two of my personal favorites.
Battlestar Galactica could also make the list, at least the first seasons. It showed the price of depravity and weak military, plus it was a 9/11 tribute for sure. It got less focused on that matter and suffered some as it went on, but still great message.
What is your all-time favorite comedy series? Mine is “Sledge Hammer.” What is your all-time favorite drama series? Mine is “Knight Rider.”
Why is this in News/Activism and who is Kevin?
I loved The Adventures of Briscoe County Jr.
King of the Hill
>>South Park Maybe not pro-conservative, but definitely anti-liberal. Each new show grinds liberal icons like global warming, rain forest deforestation and GLBT rights into tasty, juicy hamburger
One of the SP guys was quoted as saying “we hate conservatives but we really f-—ing hate liberals”. Episodes like the “Harbucks” one have the kids comment that corporations are actually good (they give us cars, computers, canned soup; Harbucks started out small but were really good at what they did and expanded, etc. You know dude, I learned something today...)
When Parker and Stone did Team America: World Police many on the Left were disappointed; “dude those guys sold out!”
America...f-— yeah!
Does The Red Green Show count?
That’s one I let the kiddies stay up on weekends & watch - my oldest (off at college, still watches when she’s home for a visit)
Drama is an easy one — 24. Burn Notice, The Unit, House and Law & Order: Criminal Intent get honorable mention ... but they’re not even close to 24.
Comedy is a bit more difficult. Depends on what kind of mood I’m in I guess — Seinfeld, Rules of Engagement, Andy Griffith, Family Ties, Dick Van Dyke, The Big Bang Theory.
SnakeDoc
No ‘Highway to Heaven’ types allowed LOL, I guess ‘Touched by an Angel’ is out too. My Mom loves those corny stupid shows. Another one is ‘Ghost Whisperer’, my sister put that on for her kids when I was visiting her and I almost puked. She stopped watching when they added stories about homosexual ghosts (what did she expect??)
To be fair #3 South Park is more of a libertarian show. It makes fun of liberals brutally but takes shots at Christianity too. It has been my favorite show for years.
Walter Williams just had Rand Paul on Rush’s show.
Freaks & Geeks
WFB’s FIRING LINE
AMERICAN DREAMS
NCIS
BURN NOTICE
“I Led Three Lives,” a half-hour program featuring the adventures of Herbert Philbrick, who infiltrated the Communist Party for the FBI, aired from 1953 to 1956. I have some bootleg copies on VHS, but the sound quality is poor.
Same here. Now, if Joss could only follow up with something watchable! (and Dr. Horrible, being a very short exercise, does not count).
Marcus Welby.... 
QUINCY.. 
What about Miami Vice(Michael Mann NOT Dick Wolf)?
Gotta go with the “Fall Guy”.
“Battlestar Galactica could also make the list, at least the first seasons. It showed the price of depravity and weak military, plus it was a 9/11 tribute for sure. It got less focused on that matter and suffered some as it went on, but still great message.”
really? are you referring to the latest remakes? I found what i saw Liberal and annoying. i watched the opening of the miniseries where Adama makes a plea for moral relativism and that the cylons and humans should all just get along. made me want to vomit. i tried watching it here and there but everytime i did seemed like more lib crapfest.
now the original 70s with Lorne Greene and Dirk Benedict was extremely conservative
Human Target’s main character, Chance (Mark Valley) is a West Point grad and veteran of the Gulf War (and born on Christmas Eve)....I’m just sayin’
My favorite TV show of all time is ‘The Wonder Years’. Then there are a bunch of other shows that would be difficult to rank that include: ‘Magnum’, ‘Simon and Simon’, ‘South Park’, ‘That 70’s Show’.
‘Sledge Hammer’ was hilarious - I actually have a few episodes on VHS. ‘Knight Rider’ was good too.
"Vote for Proposition 10 or else you hate children....You...don't....hate....children....DO YOU?"
Lassie
Mythbusters.
The only show that CAN’T be liberal.
Sledge is the best. A few years ago Alan Spencer was Ebaying posters from the episode where Sledge was wanted dead or dead. I got one. He left great feedback - “trust him, he knows what he’s doing.”
Hogan’s Heroes
Capitalism at its best. From within the confines of a Nazi POW camp Hogan and his group were able to sell anything from nylons to whiskey, and made a nice profit.
Loved Barnaby and Quincy both as a kid. Don’t forget William Conrad as Cannon.
bump
The rules did not stipulate that the show had to be American. By far, the best conservative show ever was “Yes, Minister” and its sequel “Yes, Prime Minister”. (Only the sequel qualifies, however, due to the 25 year limit.)
Even though this was produced by the BBC, it brilliantly and hilariously skewered the conceit of politicians and bureaucrats. It is some of the best political satire ever produced in any medium.
Wikipedia says it was Margaret Thatcher’s favorite tv show, which is a pretty good conservative endorsement considering that she was PM when the show was produced.
Netflix has it available for download.
Adam Baldin, it should be noted, is a good old Chicago boy who has nothing to do with the Hollywood Baldwin's.
Dr. Horrible may be short, but memorable. We LOVE Nathan Fillion. Didn’t know Neil Patrick Harris was so funny until Dr. Horrible (didn’t know he was gay, either).
The new NCIS’s are getting way too liberal for my tastes. I bet they make Gibbs cry next season.
Star Trek (original series), Bonanza, Leave it to Beaver, Bewitched, The Munsters, The Addams Family, Andy Griffth
I gave up on network and cable shows over 25 years ago but I DO have a TV and a dvd player. These are the kind of shows I watch every night - all conservative:
Rawhide
The Virginian
Have Gun Will Travel
Maverick
Laredo
Laramie
Gunsmoke
Bonanza
Wagon Train
The Legend Of Wyatt Earp
The Rifleman
I must have at least a thousand movies, most every one pre-1965 films. An exception would be some of John Wayne’s westerns like Rooster Cogburn (75).
If you spend something like 25 years watching nothing but that old stuff you’ll kinda end up not being able to relate anymore to modernity.
Hey, that’s okay with me!
Sarah Connor Chronicles
"Breaking Bad" is the best drama that I have ever watched on TV.
Me too!
Quinn Martin was *KING* of 70’a Television....
I also was a faithful watcher of Unsolved Mysteries!
Robert Stack was awesome!
Now I watch *Forensic Files*
We let our daughter watch the Simpson’s, which was good satire for a long time. We didn’t let her watch Beavis and Butthead, though. She asked me one day if we thought she was so weak minded that she would run out and do something really stupid from watching a bad TV show? She had us there. Still didn’t let her watch it.
Conservative TV? Really. I can’t think of any, but then I don’t watch network stuff anymore. My favorites were Harry O and Rockford Files, but all that does is date me. I would have to say today that Survivor is probably the best objective show on TV in that it reveals the truth in people versus our beliefs in people. Being objective usually qualifies as conservative in that it reminds folks of the limitations of humans.
I loved that show. Do you know where you can get a DVD of that show? “I Led Three Lives,” what an interesting show.
No miniseries?
A waste of time.
Agree completely about QM.
Alex was the conservative. Great show.
Briscoe County Jr. was another short lived great.
Sons of Anarchy... O.k. maybe not family oriented but definitely manly oriented.
Sopranos.. O.k. maybe not family oriented but definitely manly oriented.
Deadwood... O.k. maybe not family oriented but definitely manly oriented.
The Man Show... O.k. maybe not family oriented but definitely manly oriented.
I give up...
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