The boob tube; the idiot box. There have been some pretty disparaging monikers for television over the years. They used to say it would rot your brain. It killed the radio star. Even Groucho Marx was quoted as saying, “I find television very educational; every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”
But over the years, television has also been a platform for and a reflection of social and technological change. For every dozen throwaway sitcoms or reality-TV bombs, there’s been a groundbreaking television program that challenged viewers to examine the way they think, feel, laugh, and consume media. Many of them inspired later shows that continue to push the boundaries. Here are ten of the most groundbreaking series to grace the small screen, and the influential shows they inspired.
I Love Lucy
Running from 1951 to 1957 and starring Lucille Ball and her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz, the perennially popular black-and-white sitcom finally proved a woman could nail physical comedy just as well as a man could. It also broke technical ground, raising the production bar by shooting with three cameras and a live audience on 35 mm film.
It begat … The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which featured the first unmarried, working female lead in a sitcom,
which begat … Sex and the City, one of the first series to focus frankly on female sexuality.
The Honeymooners
This slapstick comedy, which ran for only thirty-nine episodes between 1955 and 1956, centered on two couples living in the same working-class Brooklyn tenement building. While other shows of the era, like Leave It to Beaver and The Donna Reed Show, glorified middle-class suburban life, The Honeymooners was one of the first to focus on an urban, blue-collar Everyman.
It begat … All in the Family, one of the first sitcoms to not shy away from controversial social issues, like racism and sex,
which begat … The Simpsons, a satirical cartoon aimed at adults as well as kids,
which begat … South Park and Family Guy.
All in the Family also begat … The Jeffersons, the longest-running television series with a predominantly black cast,
which begat … The Cosby Show,
which begat … anything ever done by Tyler Perry.
