Favorite Shows That Pushed The Envelope

[all the same]

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

OMG - Strangers with Candy was F***ing hilarious!!!

Roseanne
I Love Lucy
Maude
L Word
My So-Called Life

Sigh... My So-Called Life. I think that is my all time favorite show. The writing in that show, the characters are so complex and unique. Each character is different in their thinking and approach to life. I have it on DVD. Perhaps it's time to drag it off the shelf for the 20th time! Swoon.

Yeah, and Roseanne is a great show too. I think it's coming out on DVD soon.

[all the same]

Golden Girls tackled some issues on their show. Remember Dorothy's lesbian friend who came to stay with them. She fell in love with Rose. For the time, that was really ground breaking material. It's tame by today's standards, but that was some risky stuff for a popular sitcom to address.

[wondergirl9847]

Chilid mentioned mine...Twin Peaks. The character that the series was based on, Laura Palmer, was murdered by her father who was possessed by the demon(?), BOB. Well, there are a trazillion interpretations of BOB and her father, Leland. Also, she was pretty whore-y because of it, and worked as a prostitute in Canada. Her father molested her, it's just crazy. There is more craziness, but yeah, TP pushed the envelope.

[DrummerDeanna]

Originally Posted by all the same

Sigh... My So-Called Life. I think that is my all time favorite show. The writing in that show, the characters are so complex and unique. Each character is different in their thinking and approach to life. I have it on DVD. Perhaps it's time to drag it off the shelf for the 20th time! Swoon.

I finally went to buy it - and it's out of print now - therefore insanely expensive everywhere I've found it (on-line) ugh SO frustrating

I LOVED that show so much...that Christmas episode with Julianna Hatfield? Oh - so heart wrenching...

[ReFleetwoodMac]

Family Guy?

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by Mari

The L-Word!
Grace Under Fire, would that one count?
and there's others, on the tip of my tongue, so I'll have to add them later when the caffeine kicks in.

I had never heard of the show the L-Word. I honestly thought you meant Liberal.

I didn't watch Grace Under Fire; how did it push the envelope?

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by DownOnRodeo

Seinfeld! And of course Curb Your Enthusiasm. They expose the taboos and unwritten etiquette of our daily lives and make a mockery of it all!

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

- Jake

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by all the same

Sigh... My So-Called Life.

Yeah!! I kept thinking before I posted that there was one other one that I couldn't think of...this was IT!

I missed it when it was on network TV in the 90's, but caught up with the whole series when it was on the "N" channel last year.

Isn't about time for a "reunion show" or something?

BTW...anyone catch the series on the Trio channel called Brilliant, But Cancelled? They show TV series that were way ahead of their time and were canceled after just a few episodes or in some cases one season.

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by Wild_Heart03

Most definitely 'Roseanne', that show really aimed to test the limits of network television. And 'Will and Grace', that should count right? Back in the early 90s, I think NBC would have preferred to die then show a sitcom with openly gay characters.

Roseanne had so many: gays, farting in public, parental abuse all come to mind.

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by DeadliestPoison

I think Buffy had the first on-screen kiss between a lesbian couple on network TV. It was also the first to show a lesbian sex scene (I'm not sure if it's really a 'sex' scene, though) on network TV.

No wonder I've had several students who love this show. I always wondered.

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by catinthedark

Didn't Roseanne do one really early on, too? I seem to remember a big hype around it, and some ABC affiliates refused to air the episode. It turned out to be a really big nothing moment. ER also did one fairly early on - back when ER was groundbreaking... I never saw Buffy, though, so I have no time reference of when it was on in relation to Roseanne and ER.. Could have been years before and I'd never have known it.

If I remember the Roseanne one, you just saw the back of Mariel Heminway's head, not the real kiss, and there was controversy about it.

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by all the same

South Park (don't even need to comment)

Sweet!
That Steviegoat is a major issue in our society.

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by chiliD

The Milton Berle Show
The Tonight Show
I Love Lucy
The Prisoner
All In The Family
ER (the "live" episode)
Saturday Night Live
Twin Peaks
The Simpsons
South Park
Reno 911

Don't think I've heard of The Prisoner.

I do remember when Gloria's rape, Edith's attempted rape, & Maude's abortion were all the talk.

The Simpsons is a great choice as well.

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

OMG - Strangers with Candy was F***ing hilarious!!!
L Word
My So-Called Life

Never saw these three.
(What, no Little House? Are you forgetting that one where Mrs. Olsen was turning tricks for opium? )

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by GardenStateGirlie

I can't think of many more other than what was already mentioned. However, I'll add Married With Children and The Sopranos to the list.

Okay, Peg.
(Another reason I hated the early '90s.)

Still haven't seen The Sopranos.

- Jake