Ralph Kramden, as played by Jackie Gleason, was this big bumbling New York City bus driver who was kind of mean and crass and a little bit egotistical. But underneath it all, he was a big heart looking for a place to land I think.
I'd been brought up on... American TV: 'Lou Grant,' 'Starsky & Hutch;' 'Gilligan's Island.'
'Fresh Off the Boat' will be syndicated. This show and these characters will live forever in the pantheon of classic family sitcoms.
Growing up, I watched shows such as 'Blackadder' and 'Monty Python' with my parents.
I grew up watching 'The Lone Ranger.' I would get up every Saturday morning, earlier than all the other kids, to watch a black and white western with Clayton Moore that hadn't filmed a new episode since 1957.
When I was a kid, we didn't have a TV until the late '50s, but I can remember watching Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, Steve McQueen, and 'Gunsmoke.'
I like how TV used to be - 'Boys from the Blackstuff' and 'Play for Today', instead of 'Stars in Your Eyes' and 'Celebrity Come Cook With Me' or whatever. I hate all that stuff.
The original 'Edge of Darkness' was fantastic, a fabulous series. It was of its time, but this film version shows that times really haven't changed.
I loved Lucille Ball growing up.
When I was a young kid, the best stuff on television was always the BBC period dramas - it was what we sat down as a family to watch and what people talked about and looked forward to.
Growing up, I missed the whole 'Three Stooges' thing. Either they weren't on the station in my hometown, or we hadn't bought a TV set yet, or they came to town too late for me. I'm pretty sure that at the right age, I would have loved them.
My earliest memories would be 'Little House On The Prairie.' I also really liked watching 'Three's Company.'
We're all comedy fans in my family. My parents mainly wouldn't let me watch stuff that was either annoying to them, or just garbage. My dad wouldn't let us watch 'The Flintstones' if he was home, because he said it was a rip-off of 'The Honeymooners'. But he would let us stay up really late in the summer and watch old 'Honeymooners'.
To be sandwiched between Jane Curtin and Bob Newhart for a couple weeks is phenomenal.
I used to watch the 'Jackie Gleason Show' and Phil Silvers, those early TV things. And a lot of them were patterned on the silent comedies of the '20s.
When I was young kid, I used to watch Jack Benny, and I thought the minimal aspect of what he did was revelatory. I loved Jack Benny.
I developed a theory that, in many ways, the early 'Andy Griffith' episodes especially were an awful lot like a Capra movie. They were a lot like 'Mr. Deeds' or a lot like 'It's a Wonderful Life' in tone and presentation.
I own a copy of the original 'Talking Heads' by Alan Bennett, which I purchased many years ago shortly after they were first broadcast. It's been lovingly well-thumbed over the years. They are magnificent. A masterpiece.
RuPaul knew details of the 'Burnett Show' that even surprised me.
What I've discovered is that my kids weren't watching the 'Today' show... they watch 'Gumby' and 'Bugs Bunny!'
Yes, I loved MASH. As we are sitting here now talking, it's playing somewhere in the world.
I loved 'The Carol Burnett Show' - I thought she was the funniest lady I'd ever seen.
Growing up, I always looked up to males or comedians such as Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro. I also love Lucille Ball, from the show 'I Love Lucy.'
I don't think you can ever remake a classic.
What would be a show that I would rescue? If I could bring anything back, it would be 'The Carol Burnett Show'. Tim Conway is just... I just watched him so many times do stuff over and over. He's just so amazing.
