I've been reading the posts about "What you would like to see on Antenna/Me TV" and enjoying reading some of the suggestions. I wonder if some of those requests might end up on Decades instead. If not, there's another good topic you can start separately. I would like to join in and give you my 2 cents (Canadian) worth but since I live in Canada and receive exactly zero of your retro stations it wouldn't be worth it. So instead, I'll save my suggestions for the one great classic TV station that we do have up here and that is CHCH TV in Hamilton. For the past 3 years, their daytime retro lineup has been outstanding and has aired some of the best shows from the 60s and 70s including a few of my favorites which have been absent from Canadian TV for years. I have no doubt that they will have a few more pleasant surprises to follow for 2021 starting in March when "The Flying Nun", "Gilligan's Island", and "Green Acres" leave the lineup. I have no idea what's coming up after that and I have no way of knowing unless I check the online TV guides 2 weeks early before the shows' finales come on. So instead of guessing what might happen, I wish to offer my ideas of what I would like to see starting with a few general ideas.


1. The normal retro schedule runs from 10 am to 6 pm. I would like to see it start an hour earlier at 9 am to allow for more shows to come on and that awful "Morning Live" news show can move back so it would be on from 5-9 am instead of 6-10.

2. No news updates between series. Save the news for 6 and the film at 11.

3. No disclaimers before shows about them being inappropriate and prejudiced. We're talking about stuff like "The Brady Bunch", "Green Acres", and "Gilligan's Island" here. Nobody cares.

4. Have more retro series on the weekends to replace the same old movies that tend to run on heavy rotation. They can do more marathons like they did with "Bewitched" last December or add extra episodes of series like "Hawaii 5-0" that ran for a very long time.

5. Less Norman Lear series in general. He had a brilliant mind but his stuff can get tiresome in a hurry.

6. More black and white series other than "I Love Lucy" and "The Honeymooners". These can go in the late night hours to replace all those bad Dr. Ho commercials.

7. Classic Saturday morning cartoons from the 60s and 70s without any stupid hosts and puppets, although I'm willing to make an exception if they can bring back "The Hilarious House Of Frightenstein".

7. Specific shows that I would look forward to watching: More likely to happen - "Leave It To Beaver", "Andy Griffith", "Petticoat Junction", "Dick Van Dyke". Less likely to happen but would still be great to see: "My Three Sons", "Family Affair", "Welcome Back Kotter", "The Donna Reed Show", "Make Room For Daddy", "Here's Lucy", "The Lucy Show", "The Addams Family", "The Munsters", "ALF", "Night Court", "The Golden Girls", "The Love Boat", "Wonder Woman", "Love American Style".

8. Something else I would gladly welcome: Bringing back "The Brady Bunch" and "The Partridge Family" and putting them on back to back (like the Bradys at 5 and the Partridges at 5:30). I wonder if Me-TV has thought about this.


Those are my ideas. How about yours?

Leave It to Beaver would be a good choice. I remember reading that it draws surprisingly high numbers of adult women viewers, seems to be a show with wide appeal in all age groups and both sexes. And it's just plain funny. Dennis The Menace is a similar show that never seems to show up on Canadian TV. I guess a lot depends on which shows are available to them and which production companies and syndicators they're dealing with. Since they've shown some Screen Gems sitcoms already like The Monkees and Partridge Family I imagine they could show Dennis. Maybe Hazel too.

Since we saw Gilligan and the Bradys I wonder if they would carry the other Sherwood Schwartz show It's About Time? A one season wonder with the great Joe E. Ross and Imogene Coca. My Three Sons and Family Affair have a lot of nostalgia associated with them and would probably get viewers. Another Don Fedderson production is the half hour comedy/drama The Smith Family that has an all-star cast with Henry Fonda and Ron Howard, it might be a great out of left field schedule choice.

I wouldn't mind seeing more shows that aren't sitcoms. Seems they're shying away from showing stereotype crime dramas and westerns, but one I think would be great to see is Adam-12 and fits in a half hour timeslot. Here's some good adventure outdoor type shows that would be great to see, especially on the weekend: Daktari, Lassie, The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, Tarzan (60s version), Sea Hunt, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, Death Valley Days, The Adventures of Superman.

Here's some other suggestions: Knight Rider, CHiPS, The Incredible Hulk, Movin' On, The Fugitive, The Fall Guy, The Rockford Files, Streets of San Francisco, The Rookies, Police Story, Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Mysteries, Eight Is Enough, Hawaiian Eye, 77 Sunset Strip. Sitcoms: The Doris Day Show, Best of The West, Andy Griffith Show, The Paul Lynde Show, Nanny & The Professor.

IMDB https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066630/

Is a classic Canadian tv show that I would love to see on CHCH TV. I can't understand why the show isn't on any Canadian tv channel or streaming service in 2021. It was a Canadian tv staple from 1972-1990 (374 episodes) and was shown around the globe in 80 countries.

The characters Nick (RIP), Relic (RIP), Molly (RIP), Jesse Jim, Captain Jack (RIP), John Constable John, Sara, Pat, Tommy, Laurel, Hugh, Graham, Margaret, McLoskey, Dana and Sam all came together for adventures and laughs over the course of the show's history.

Molly's Reach is a Gibson's tourist landmark along with Nick's boat (The Persephone) and Relic's Jet boat (Hi Baller). Relic's houseboat (Chuck-Chee) was recently destroyed by a fire in Gibson's Harbour in 2018.

The Beachcombers (S04 E03) Invisible Relic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEitd4vzlSE
Relic believes McLoskey fell overboard and died because he refused to tow him in over a matter of $50, and the locals begin pretending Relic doesn't even exist.

The Beachcombers (S14 E13) Mystery Tour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8BOMjJI_3k
Relic has a new money-making scheme which involves offering local tours to visitors. When a marginally royal couple appear and express an interest, Relic borrows a small ferry and coerces Sal and Ceece into assisting him. The ferry runs aground and the troupe becomes stranded on an Island, to the delight of the regal English couple. Relic is not delighted and is desperate to escape, but is surprised by the explosive conclusion to this adventure.

The Beachcombers (S15 E12) Plain Sailing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXfuLuEln-k
Sal has organized an exhibition race between the all-woman crew of the Pauline Johnson, and the Kanaka, a new design with an all-male crew. Relic is suspicious of Sal's interest and discovers an intriguing secret and does his best to scuttle the Pauline Johnson under Sal's approving eye.

The Beachcombers (S16 E01) Hooray For Mollywood https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsCrS7jGMuQ
Gibsons is transformed into a film set for Molly's latest novel, "Logjams of Passion", as all the regulars take on the persona from the book. Only just in time does Nick bring everybody to their senses before the zealous producer destroys the town--including the Reach, the Persephone, and the Chuck-Chee.

The New Beachcombers Movie (2002) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDIew5MHAtE
As Constable John considers retirement, he learns that the Molly's Reach café is about to be torn down by a mysterious developer. When old memories return, he joins with assorted heirs and passionate townspeople to restore it to its former glory.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CtSqsyrVYAAXQBx.jpg

That photo and the season 4 Beachcombers episode sure bring back memories. The early episodes never show up anywhere not even on torrent sites. I would love to see those.

Another forgotten Canadian show is the original Littlest Hobo series from 1963. I vaguely recall seeing reruns of this as a kid. A few of them are on DVD and have shown up on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLakshYu9qq-xwC6faipOzBPSKuz0kT5hG

So who had "The Partridge Family" on their wish list besides myself? That's what we're getting next!

Once the calendar turns from February to March, "Gilligan's Island" will be gone and "The Partridge Family" will take its place which is perfectly fine with me except that it will be shown in a different time slot. Instead of 5 pm where Gilligan was, it will move to 3:00 pm, taking the place of "Designing Women" which will be on at 5 instead. This is the only change coming in March. The official schedule will now look like this:


10 am to 3 pm - No changes.

3:00 pm The Partridge Family (returns March 1st) (replaces "Designing Women")

3:30 Family Ties
4:00 The Flying Nun
4:30 Get Smart
5:00 Designing Women (New Time) (replaces "Gilligan's Island")
5:30 The Odd Couple

Would the schedule not look better if the 2 new series were switched? That's the only problem I have. Otherwise, everything looks fine. I'll have another update in April. Still time to get your requests in.