Programmes that have aged poorly and programmes that have aged well?

[HaveYouHadYourBreak]

What programmes that you loved have surprised you on rewatching?

I've just finished the first series of This Life and was surprised at how well it has aged for the most part (but so much smoking!). It was refreshing to see people with imperfect teeth and pubic hair and wobbly bums living in a grotty house share past their early 20s. I'm re-living my youth with the music too.

But Coupling! Oof! I remember it being really good but some clips I've seen (like making sex videos without consent and the way women are talked about) demonstrate exactly why I've never seen any re-runs.

Not sure why but DS and I ended up watching a documentary on The downfall of Benny Hill. The consensus of the many presenters was he was both a genius and a racist, sexist, homophobe! Some of the clips were so bad.

ER has aged reasonably well. Better than Greys anatomy which is much younger (and has itself moved on from some of its poorly aging elements). I do find the stylisation of the early ER series had aged it more than the content!

What about In The Thick Of It? I've not rewatched it, but I had to stop watching it when it was first out because it was a bit too real and made me feel uncomfortable about my politics adjacent role. I expect it probably looks pretty tame now given recent events.

ER has aged really well, the things that show it up are the technologies, mobile phones, computer monitors etc. And they tackle issues that are still relevant today too like homophobia, racism, police brutality and immigration issues. It's a fantastic program!

I rewatched "bride wars" "27 dresses" and "shopaholic" film over the past week
All really dated, women obsessed with weddings, getting engaged , men urgh.
Also "girls" hasn't aged well

Yes, I used to love AYBS, but looking back, it was pitiful. Even the for-then groundbreaking tech displays are woeful now. Captain Peacock was all staid and prim and proper, but if he were a real person and living now, you'd definitely want to check his hard drive. And the nurses/carers/secretaries for the stuffy old men were blatantly there for one reason only.

Also, it was written at a time when the word 'pussy' mainly meant a cat, but most adults knew the rude meaning of it, hence the endless innuendo - with the clear deniability that Mrs Slocombe was obviously referring to her pet and nothing else; but now, the rude meaning is the only general meaning, unless you're about 120 and have had a very sheltered life.

Also, as you say, the homosexuality: Mr Humphries was so extremely obviously gay, but a lot of humour was derived from them never explicitly confirming it and it still being a bit hush-hush. Nowadays, it's just a character who happens to be gay and....... is he going to have some funny lines to say? He was a very talented actor, and it's a real shame that his character's raison d'etre was mainly limited to "Ha ha, he must be gay!"

We're so enjoying watching This Life. I don't think something counts as ageing badly when it's just inoffensive markers of having been made a long time ago, like £20 being enough for a weekly shop or them not having mobiles.

I watched ER a bit a couple years ago and I chatted to my nurse brother at the time. I told him some of the medical storylines and he said it was so outdated

Spaced has aged well ,

as has Harry Enfield and also the Fast Show - the characters are timeless.

Don't know if they count but I cannot stand the Carry On Films

I love binge-watching The Sweeney. "Watch out guv, 'is got a shooter". "Shut it". And spotting some famous actors, some who were already famous Colin Welland, some who would become famous later, Maureen Lipton. I love the cars too and they way they screech around corners. And I know the area where it was all filmed. It's great to see how places I know were like then.

Hell yes! “We are the Sweeney and we haven’t had our dinner!” It’s just the perfect encapsulation of the time. And that leather slip on shoe putting its foot down on the accelerator…

Loved To the manor born, also really liked Jeeves and Wooster in the past but unfortunately now i can't look at that Fry smug bstard, he's turned out to be a misogynist bandwagon jumping pompous old frt

I used to have X Files date and time carefully marked in my homework diary in year 8...

I recently got my 16yo into it and she enjoyed it, which was lovely. Looking back it must have been incredibly cheap to film! Also Scully's character and interactions with Mulder was ahead of its time. And she wasn't skinny and blonde.

A pp mentioned the bit in "Yes Minister" about the character looking for valium as she ran out of cigarettes....I listened to that exact part earlier on Audible.

And Friends was crap, even in 1995.

Yes! We saw Simon Callow playing a young DC the other day. Mindboggling!

It's a shame about Morse, loved the cars, the music and the fabulous views of Oxford but yes, he's a sleaze, i found Endeavour to be as good, if not better and the general attitudes to be way more acceptable, especially towards women.

I adore watching the Channel 4 1990s sitcoms in the morning. Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond and Cheers. There’s an occasional wince-inducing reference but they’re all much funnier than many current sitcoms imho. The only one I don’t much like is King of Queens… it’s terrible and yet I think that was made more recently.

League of Gentlemen was always quite an uncomfortable watch but I don’t think it would get made now. The stuff with the German exchange teacher was horrible.

I revere John Cleese and can watch him in anything. To me, he is one of the greatest comic geniuses Britain has produced, up there with P. G. Wodehouse and Dickens and Chaplin. Monty Python and Fawlty Towers are still really funny. They also have a charm and classiness that modern comedies lack.

Brideshead Revisited and I Claudius remain superb, among the best things the BBC ever produced.

The homophobia in Only Fools and Horses is often ugly. And On the Buses is f-ing hideous. So hideous you can’t believe it even exists.

One show that really surprises me is Hancock’s Half Hour. Even though it was made in the 1950s, it’s genuinely funny. So is Peter Cook. His sketch show with Dudley Moore still holds up.

My favourite ever sitcom and always a joy to watch.
"Where's my Clint?"
Although Tony keeping a porn stash in the office wouldn't go down too well today.

I actually think the league of Gentlemen works because it's so off the wall.
I'm sure it wouldn't be made now but I still think it's brilliantly funny and subversive.

Personally think It’s easier to find comedies that age well. Dads army is ageless, Porridge, the good life , keeping up appearances all seem to age well. If something was set in the past to begin with it does seem generally to age better.

Oh no. Jerry was always the man of the match for me.

Yes! Brideshead revisited was wonderful, got me through my uni finals, a bit of incredibly beautiful escapism after revising.

I love Coupling! And Rising Damp is a fave in our house - Rigsby was totally seen as the racist, sexist creep he was and butt of all the jokes. Newman and Baddiel / Mary Whitehouse Experience on the other hand - I loved at the time but now some of it totally makes me cringe.

Oh yes! Bloody love Dad's army, on t v and now on Radio 4 extra, its brilliant.