Best Classic American TV Shows With a Ridiculous Premise

By Raymond Lockley

The decade of the 1960s was a time where people sought relief from social upheavals and war by escaping into their televisions. Some sought escape through illicit drugs. Some did both--apparently, many of them TV writers and executives. :-) There were so many shows that appeared in that decade with completely ridiculous premises that a list is clearly in order.

Mind you, when I say "ridiculous premise", I'm not talking about the standard fish-out-of-water trope stretched to the point where it strains credulity (e.g. "The Beverly Hillbillies" or "The Monkees"); nor am I talking about shows that are a kind of science fiction (like "My Favorite Martian"). I mean, flat out impossible situations--like a talking horse, of course--where you not only have to suspend disbelief, you have to expel it.

One issue in assembling this list is determining what the basis for ordering should be. Should it be which show was the best television as art, the most unbelievable premise, or the one that best makes the ridiculous premise work? All are good rationales; but in keeping with the precedent of my other lists, I went with the impact the show had on our cultural awareness and lexicon, that caused us to talk about it at the water cooler the next morning. Also, I factored in the ones that I liked the best. (Hey, this isn't a very serious category.) So, utilizing this approach...

  1. Gilligan's Island, 1964-67
  2. The Addams Family, 1964-66
    The Addams Family [revival], 1992-95
    The New Addams Family, 1998-99
  3. Mr. Ed, 1961-66
  4. Bewitched, 1964-72
  5. I Dream of Jeannie, 1965-70
  6. Hogan's Heroes, 1965-71
  7. The Flying Nun, 1967-70
  8. Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp, 1970-72
  9. My Mother the Car, 1965-66

Spooky Mention

There was a small set of shows that didn't have... a ghost of a chance. Apparently, there are some people who really believe that ghosts are real and hang around with nothing better to do than haunt houses and appear in sitcoms. So, in deference to my ghost-believing fans (of whom I have none), I have omitted shows with ghosts from the list of ridiculous premises. But in honor of Halloween, let's mention some of television's possibly memorable sitcoms about ghosts: And who could forget these cartoons?

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