Bits and Bytes

Series

Catweazle

A medieval wizard (though not a very good one) Catweazle is transported to the modern age... A British television series, created and written by Richard Carpenter which was produced and directed by Quentin Lawrence for London Weekend Television under the LWI banner, and screened in the UK on ITV in 1970. A second season in 1971 was directed by David Reid and David Lane. Both series had thirteen episodes each, with Geoffrey Bayldon playing the leading role. The series was broadcast in Ireland, Britain, Gibraltar, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Czechoslovakia, Nicaragua and Quebec. The first episode is available to view in full at the BFI Screenonline site.

Series

The Electric Company

The Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977. After it ceased production that year, the program continued in reruns from 1977 to 1985, the result of a decision made in 1975 to produce two final seasons for perpetual use. CTW produced the show at Teletape Studios Second Stage in Manhattan, the first home of Sesame Street. The Electric Company employed sketch comedy and other devices to provide an entertaining program to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills. It was intended for children who had graduated from CTW's flagship program, Sesame Street. Appropriately, the humor was more mature than what was seen there.

Series

On the Buses

On the Buses is a British comedy series created by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney, broadcast in the United Kingdom from 1969 to 1973. The writers' previous successes with The Rag Trade and Meet the Wife were for the BBC, but the corporation rejected On the Buses, not seeing much comedy potential in a bus depot as a setting. The comedy partnership turned to a friend, Frank Muir, Head of Entertainment at London Weekend Television, who loved the idea; the show was accepted and despite a poor critical reception became a hit with viewers.

Series

The Two Ronnies

The Two Ronnies is a British sketch show which aired on BBC1 from 1971 to 1987. It featured the double act of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, the "Two Ronnies" of the title.

Series

McHale's Navy

An experienced South Pacific Sea Dog by the name of Quinton McHale, was commissioned as a Lieutenant Commander into the U.S. Navy Reserve at the start of World War II. McHale was made the Skipper of the Torpedo Patrol (PT) Boat #73 stationed at the U.S. Naval Installation on the island of Taratupa in the Southwest Pacific. The 73 'Family' included, among others, a con man and amateur Magician, a womanizing hunk, a dedicated Family man, a guitar-playing, moonshine-making Tennessee good ol' boy, and even a deserter from the Japanese Navy, who was an excellent cook.

Series

The Cosby Show

The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on the Huxtable family, an upper middle-class African-American family living in Brooklyn, New York.

Series

Get Smart

Maxwell Smart, a hilariously inept and maladroit secret agent for CONTROL, battles the nefarious—though equally incompetent—KAOS.

Series

The Benny Hill Show

The Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show that starred Benny Hill and aired in various incarnations between 15 January 1955 and 30 May 1991 in over 140 countries. The show focused on sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parody, and double-entendre. Thames Television cancelled production of the show in 1989 due to declining ratings and large production costs at £450,000 per show.

Series

Lab Rats

Leo is an ordinary teenager who has moved into a high-tech "smart'' house with his mother, inventor stepfather and Eddy, the computer that runs the house. Leo's life becomes less ordinary when, one day, he discovers a secret underground lab that houses three experiments: superhuman teenagers. The trio -- Adam, the strong one, Bree, the fast one and Chase, the smart one -- convinces Leo and his parents to let them leave their lab and join Leo at school, where they try to fit in while having to manage their unpredictable bionic strengths. As Leo figures out a way to keep his new pals' bionic abilities a secret, they help him build self-confidence.

Series

Ozzy & Drix

Ozzy & Drix, also known as The Fantastic Voyage Adventures of Osmosis Jones & Drixenol and Osmosis Jones: The Animated Series, is an American animated television series based on the Warner Bros. film Osmosis Jones and it was produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It takes place inside the body of teenager Hector Cruz. The series premiered on September 14, 2002 on the Kids' WB; the final episode aired July 5, 2004. Unlike the original movie it spun off from, Ozzy & Drix was entirely animated and contained no live action. It stars Phil LaMarr as the replacement for Chris Rock as Osmosis Jones, and Jeff Bennett as the replacement for David Hyde Pierce as Drix. As of July 2011, episodes of the series are still available via the Kids WB website. The show also aired on Teletoon in Canada. The show is also slightly less violent than the movie, having the characters treated like people rather than simply cells, and having none of them killed off, unlike the movie where Thrax managed to kill off several cells. There are also new characters that replace the ones from the original movie such as Maria Amino replacing Leah Estrogen, Mayor Spryman replacing Mayor Phlegmming, Sylvian Fischer replacing Tom Colonic, Chief Gluteus replacing The Chief of Police, The Mole replacing Chill the Flu Shot and Scarlet Fever replacing Thrax.

Series

Danger Mouse

Danger Mouse, the world's greatest secret agent, and his side-kick Penfold work to foil the evil schemes of Baron Greenback.

Series

Major Dad

Major Dad is an American sitcom created by Richard C. Okie and John G. Stephens, developed by Earl Pomerantz, that originally ran from 1989 to 1993 on CBS, starring Gerald McRaney as Major John D. MacGillis and Shanna Reed as his wife Polly. The cast also includes Beverly Archer, Matt Mulhern, Jon Cypher, Marisa Ryan, Nicole Dubuc and Chelsea Hertford.

Series

Carol's Second Act

After raising her two children, getting divorced and retiring from teaching, Carol Chambers embarks on a unique second act: she’s going to become a doctor.

Series

Cosby

Cosby is an American situation comedy television series broadcast on CBS from September 16, 1996 to April 28, 2000, loosely based on the British sitcom One Foot in the Grave. The program stars Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashād, who previously worked with Cosby in the 1984–1992 NBC sitcom The Cosby Show. Madeline Kahn portrayed their neighbor, Pauline, until her death in 1999.

Series

Home Improvement

The daily trials and tribulations of handyman Tim Taylor, a TV show host raising three boys with help from his loyal co-host, domineering wife, and unseen neighbor.

Series

The Goldbergs

Before there were parenting blogs, trophies for showing up, and peanut allergies, there was a simpler time called the '80s. For geeky 11-year old Adam these were his wonder years and he faced them armed with a video camera to capture all the crazy. The Goldbergs are a loving family like any other, just with a lot more yelling.

Series

The Looney Tunes Show

Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the rest of the “Looney Tunes” characters are back with more adventures for a new generation of viewers. The animated series features roommates Bugs and Daffy moving out of the woods and into the suburbs, interacting with their neighbors, who happen to be other "Looney Tunes" favorites -- including Sylvester, Tweety, Porky Pig and Foghorn Leghorn.

Series

Weird Science

Gary Wallace, a teenager who dreams of beautiful women and a cheerful life, and his only friend, the shy and geek Wyatt Donnelly, always serve as a target for ridicule and bullying of violent classmates. Once using a computer and mysterious electrical radiation, they manage to bring to life the "woman of their dreams." Her name is Lisa, and she is ready to fulfill the wishes of her creators ...

Series

Travelers

Hundreds of years from now, the last surviving humans discover the means of sending consciousness back through time, directly into people in the 21st century. These "travelers" assume the lives of seemingly random people, while secretly working as teams to perform missions in order to save humanity from a terrible future.