Which shows (at least dating back to the '80s) would have been best served by connected storylines developed over time?

In general, people didn't care for having to tune in every week to know what was going on with a show back then. Serialized stuff was left to the soaps. There were a few exceptions, but I think those that weren't serialized were that way for a reason; they worked better that way.

I cannot imagine Mannix or Marcus Welby M.D. or Perry Mason having season long "arcs"; just would not have fit the time. Maaaaybe Gunsmoke, but that might be a stretch.

I cannot imagine Mannix or Marcus Welby M.D. or Perry Mason having season long "arcs"; just would not have fit the time. Maaaaybe Gunsmoke, but that might be a stretch.

Me either! IIRC, Mannix and Marcus Welby had two-parters from time to time, but were otherwise episodic; Perry Mason, on the other hand, had each of its shows to be a single story, both on CBS from 1957-66 (and for that brief time in 1973 w/Monte Markham), and in the NBC movies from 1985-95 (the last four after the passing of Raymond Burr).