Okay not much television from the 50's and 60's has aged well. Yet Twilight Zone, Star Trek (mostly), and I Love Lucy have managed to stay relevant and well loved. Movies have a higher chance of staying good, but I argue early television usually falters, yet stuff like this is still seen as smart, funny, and/or watchable for an audience
shareFirst of all, the '50's boasted many, many quality live productions that either didn't survive, or were "preserved" on
yucky Kinescope (which was utilizing 16MM film cameras to film live productions off of TV monitors!). Some truly
great young, up-and-coming talent (Piper Laurie, James, Dean), as well as older actors (Lee J. Cobb, Van Heflin,
Jack Clugman) did some superb work. The episodes of I've seen of "Playhouse 90" and "Ford Star Theatre" are
terrific.
You're also forgetting "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", a terrific anthology series, that was never, perhaps, as imaginative
as TZ at its best, but was never as lousy as TZ at it's worst.
There's also "Bewitched" (yes, in its early seasons, BW was a smart and sophisticated comedy), "The Fugitive",
"The Outer Limits"(which is due out soon on Blu Ray), and the still sharp, funny-as-hell "Get Smart."
I know many love "Leave it to Beaver", although its charms failed to reach me (I prefer "Dennis the Menace").
I agree that there are many that don't age well (who in the hell could sit through "Hazel" today?), but there are more
classic TV shows than just TZ and "Star Trek."
I was just pointing out the most popular examples
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