Re:The Printed Word in Peril
by emodendroket on Thursday September 27, 2018 @10:38AM
(#18084919)
Mostly that's because TV is not made to a very high standard, especially historically. There are tons of forgettable films from the past that nobody watches.
Some other exceptions; Dr. Who, Pippi Longstocking, Battlestar Galactica, Logan's Run, Star Trek, The Tripods, Chocky, Colditz, Cosmos with Carl Sagan, all good series which are still watchable
I think you're being very generous--or at least not representative of people in general. Even a lot of the original Star Trek doesn't hold up very well and, personally, I didn't care for about half that list even at the time they aired.
Arguably that's less the case than it used to be insofar as you can get your hands on many older TV shows if you want to.
That said, TV--and, especially, historic network TV--is a lot more rooted in its time and place than a lot of writing is. It's partly for technical reasons as you say. The production values of a lot of older shows are going to be a distraction even if the content were otherwise modern. But TV shows also tend to reflect (to an arguably greater degree than the typical film) the period in which they were made. Not just the look but a lot of the sensibilities.
I'd wager than there are very few TV shows dating to the 1970s and before that are really watchable today whereas there are plenty of films going back to almost the beginning of "talkies." (There are some good silent films too but obviously those have to be approached with a somewhat different mindset.)
There are some exceptions. For example, episodes of The Twilight Zone or a series like MAS*H can still be appreciated, but for the most part, no. (ADDED: For example, All in the Family was a groundbreaking show when it aired. But, although I haven't seen an episode in years, I'm willing to bet it would come across as very much a period piece today.)