I'd like to start a discussion about the popularity of classic shows, especially LITB. With all the overwhelming variety of choices for entertainment, streaming, downloading, etc., how popular are LITB and the other vintage shows today? How much of a following does LITB have? What importance do the classic shows have in our culture?

It would be interesting to know the demographics. I haven't been on the Beaver fan section of Facebook for over a year, but the Beaver fan site on there very popular.

MeTV is a very popular network (pulls better ratings than Nick at Nite and TV Land) and the fact that it's held its own on there for years is a plus. On the other hand its time is 8 am, not exactly a prime hour. I'd guess it also did well on TV Land--they just wanted to go another way years ago.

Ratings wise, on MeTV--my guess is that it skews older. It's on at 11 am on FETV--morning programming again tells me, skews older.

So, the Facebook popularity goes slightly younger, and TV ratings may go slightly older.

Other black and white shows are on in the morning, too--Father Knows Best and Dennis the Menace (Antenna TV), and others earlier in the morning. I'm just not sure what the future brings for these shows. Black and white is a big minus for the younger set, and colorizing is probably not financially feasible.

Beaver is an iconic show--virtually everyone knows the series. Compare it to Father Knows Best, not so much (20-30 years ago--different answer). Compare the popularity on here, alone.

I read that the median age of a MeTV viewer is 58.

Do you think Tony Dow's passing will spark a new interest or curiosity about LITB?

I can hear a 20 year old asking, like who's that?

I was thinking that maybe if they see the news reports on Tony and see the clips of LITB, they might be intrigued to explore it. Also, people who knew LITB way back when but forgot about it might be "reminded" of it and start watching again.

Quite popular!!

It's on two national channels (one cable, one OTA) and it's available to stream on Peacock and the Roku channel for free; so I'd say it's still pretty popular. Almost everybody between the ages of 75 to 30 grew up with it on TV. They may not have loved it, but most of them saw some of it. It's likely the third most popular sitcom of the B&W TV era behind I Love Lucy and TAGS.

It's likely the third most popular sitcom of the B&W TV era behind I Love Lucy and TAGS.

Where do you think THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW would fit in? I would think that would be pretty high - I don't know if it would edge out LITB.

Where do you think THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW would fit in? I would think that would be pretty high - I don't know if it would edge out LITB.


I like it, but I rank The Honeymooners higher than DVD even though it was short-lived. DVD is funny, but sometimes there was too much song and dance stuff. There was too much of that on ILL too, but the rest of it is so good that I give it a pass.

Where do you think THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW would fit in? I would think that would be pretty high - I don't know if it would edge out LITB.


I like it, but I rank The Honeymooners higher than DVD even though it was short-lived. DVD is funny, but sometimes there was too much song and dance stuff. There was too much of that on ILL too, but the rest of it is so good that I give it a pass.

So would this be the popularity ranking for black and white sitcoms?

I Love Lucy
The Andy Griffith Show
Leave It to Beaver
The Honeymooners
The Dick Van Dyke Show

I wonder what would be next?

I Love Lucy is not on any widely-available network (Decades isn't widely available, I don't think).

The Andy Griffith Show
Leave It To Beaver
Father Knows Best
The Honeymooners
The Dick Van Dyke Show

The honeymooners would rank higher if there were more thn 39 episodes.

I for one have always loved LITB even though I wasn't even born when the show ended in 1963. I came along in 1965 so watched it all in reruns. I also bought the complete series on DVD so am able to watch it unedited anytime. It was a great show and really a pretty darn good representation of upper middle class America in it's day. I know my parent's families were a lot like the Cleavers and millions more were too. A classic show that I think will always be popular.

I for one have always loved LITB even though I wasn't even born when the show ended in 1963. I came along in 1965 so watched it all in reruns. I also bought the complete series on DVD so am able to watch it unedited anytime. It was a great show and really a pretty darn good representation of upper middle class America in it's day. I know my parent's families were a lot like the Cleavers and millions more were too. A classic show that I think will always be popular.

I grew up that way too but without the golfing.

The most talked about show for me in grade school in the 60s was "The Honeymooners" previous night's episode. It was hilarious of course. But it was on the perfect time. 9:30 right before bed with meals and homework done. I didn't watch "Dark Shadows" as a kid. But, that was talked about a lot too. "Gilligan's Island" was popular too.

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