I have many fond memories of geeky TV shows growing up. One of the pleasant surprises of Netflix is that they don't just have movies, but also TV shows released on DVD. I was happy to learn that some have held up well. And, of course...some didn't.
Let's start with some shows that held up:
Greatest American Hero - If a subject of "geeky TV shows" appealed to you, odds are you know of this series. A teacher and an FBI agent are given a supersuit by little green men in a flying saucer, able to do all sorts of incredible things. Except they lost the instruction book, so are trying to figure out the powers. The good news is that it's as good as you remember it being. The comedy still works, the characters are still interesting, the stories are a decent mix of humor and dead-serious daring-do. Highly recommended.
Two notes, both on presentation. First, one of the hallmarks of the series was great music. Well, apparently they couldn't get the rights for the music for DVD release (or at least not willing to pay enough to get them). So much of the music has been replaced. The replacements aren't bad...but if you're going to call an episode "My Heroes have always been cowboys", the loss of the song is a problem. Also, if you're thinking of going to Apple's iTunes store instead of DVD--the pilot isn't included.
Voyagers! - This show may be new to you, it only lasted one season. Phineas Bogg is a Voyager, who travels through time, giving history a shove when it goes wrong. By accident, he loses the guidebook that tells him how history should play out, and picks up a 12 year old orphan named Jeffrey (who happens to be a big history nut). So together, the run into Sparticus, Buffalo Bill, Lincoln, and more. Yes, it was designed to be enjoyed "by the whole family", and every episode ends with a suggestion to take your own voyage of discovery at the library. But it's still well done. The guest stars often steal the show. The stories go from humor (where they temporarily lose Cleopatra in New York in the roaring 20s) to serious fights for survival. So if you don't mind some family friendly geekery, and can ignore a few things like "why is everyone in history speaking English", it's worth a rental.
The Flash - DC's Scarlet Speedster came to CBS for one year. They never really knew what to do with it, and cancelled it as "too expensive". Still, that left 22 episodes of superspeed fun. The art design is a curious mixture of the 1980s and the 1930s, and shows signs of inspiration from Tim Burton's Batman. The effects were well done, and John Shipp's Barry Allen is familiar to those who read the comic books. One thing I particularly like is that Barry Allen, Police Scientist, was often more vital to cracking the case than his fleet footed alter ego. They did take liberties with the supporting cast...Iris West only appears in the pilot, and iconic villains bore only a vague resemblance. That's not necessarily a bad thing...Mark Hamil did a wonderful job as The Trickster, different though he was. A must-see for the comic book geek.
Macgyver - Long before Richard Dean Anderson started walking through StarGates, he was Angus Macgyver, spending seven seasons defeating bad guys with his wits and the spare bobby-pin. Yes, it's just as good now as it was when it first aired. 'Nuff Said
Connections - This one's a different call. It's a ten-episode BBC documentary with James Burke, tracing chains of inventions and discoveries, such as how the invention of stirrups lead to telecommunications. This is not background TV, this is sit and watch and try to keep up TV. I saw it on PBS many years ago. It's been released on DVD, and it's as good as it always was. (The sequels, Connections 2 and Connections 3, don't hold up as well, alas.) If you've got any interest in the history of technology, this is worth watching.
Unfortunately, two shows haven't held up so well.
Buck Rogers in the 25th century - Even when the show first aired, it never made great pretense to being high drama. And now...it's just silly. Unless you are trying to make a cheese pizza and you're all out of cheese, avoid this series.
Quark - One of my biggest disappointments. I had such fond memories of the series of Quark, with Richard Benjamin as the captain of an intergalactic garbage scow. But after renting it...it's just really dumb.
All of these are my opinion, of course, feel free to give your own in the comments.
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