Us, Indian kids, we didn’t grow up watching awesome English/American shows. Sure, we have the cartoons and shizz but that was just kiddie stuff. But then, a lot of us just got hooked to one show or the other and like a gateway drug, they pulled us into the world of some amazing TV.
1. Bewitched
The show might have aired in the 60s in the US, but we watched it much, much later. And given the stuff we were used to watching, this was bloody brilliant. It was an old school family drama with witches. And for a lot of us, it was an introduction to what society was like in the US.
Samantha is a witch who married Darrin but when the latter found out about her powers, they decided not to use it in any circumstance. Samantha’s mother, however, had a very different agenda. Unhappy that her daughter had married a mortal, she did everything she could to cause trouble.
2. Here’s Lucy
For a lot of us, this was our introduction to the world of sitcoms. Long before FRIENDS or Seinfeld, this is what made us laugh after a very busy and exhausting day at school.
Lucy is a widow, with kids who works for her brother-in-law in a big city and faced some massive challenges as tried to navogate her life.
3. Full House
A lot of kids of this generation might not have heard of the show, but I am telling you right now if you can find it somewhere, watch it. This show was a riot. Now, being produced in the 80s and 90s meant that it did have some problematic themes, but let’s be honest, that’s every damn show from that time.
4. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Truth be told, this show was so damn good that it holds up even today. Will Smith played Will, an African-American high school kid whose mom sent him from a rough neighbourhood in Philadelphia to live with his aunt and uncle in Bel-Air. And it’s just batshit crazy from there.
5. Ellen
Before Ellen took over Oprah as America’s favourite talk show host, she was playing Ellen Morgan, a neurotic bookstore owner, who dealt with her many problems in life by basically rambling and being funny.
6. Psych
Now, a lot of us started watching American TV much later in life. For me, personally, this was the first show I ever watched.
Shawn Spencer was an amateur detective who was really good at his job. But because he could deduce the events of the case easily, the police thought of him as a suspect. To get out of which, he lied to them about being psychic. And for years after that, he helped the cops on regular cases, along with his friend Gus.
7. Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Buffy was freaking badass. Mind you, this was a time when vampires were scary, evil and powerful creatures that did not sparkle in the sun.
Buffy Summers tried to live a normal life in high school while embracing her responsibilities and destiny as a hunter of vampires and demons with the help of her friends. If you liked teenage drama and mind you, we were all teenagers back then, this would have been your show to watch.
8. Will & Grace
This show introduced us to the first openly gay character on screen. It was quite bold for its time. And it was funny as hell.
Will is a gay lawyer, who invited his friend and interior designer Grace to stay with him temporarily after her marriage fell apart. as it turned out, she became his permanent roommate.
9. The Brady Bunch
Mike, an architect with three sons, married Carol, who also had three daughters. But the children struggled to bond with each other, making life difficult for the family, leading to a series of hilarious incidents.
10. Diff’rent Strokes
Mind you, during this time, there were very few shows that were about families of colour without being politically incorrect, or downright racist.
This show was different. The heart-warming series followed millionaire Phillip Drummond, his 13-year old daughter Kimberly and adopted sons Arnold and Willis from Harlem.
11. Small Wonder
I don’t have to tell you about this show. We have all watched it. We have even watched its Hindi remake. The show revolved around the family of a robotics engineer who secretly created a robot modeled after a human girl, then tried to pass it off as their adopted daughter, Vicki.
12. The Wonder Years
With a dry sense of humour and maturity that could only come with experience, Kevin commentated on all the stupid shit he tried to pull off as a dumb teenager, making this show unique and with humour that still holds up today.
13. Three’s Company
14. I Dream Of Jeannie
The story started when astronaut Tony Nelson unintentionally found a 2000-year-old genie trapped in a bottle called Jeannie. Now she was mischevious, funny and more importantly, in love with Tony.
15. FRIENDS
How could one ever talk about some of the first TV shows we ever watched and not have this on the list? FRIENDS gains new fans every year. That’s just how good it really is. And for most us, going through the channels on our TVs, finding this show was a happy co-incidence.
16. Mind Your Language
Jeremy Brown was an English teacher who taught the language to foreign kids, mainly from India, France, China among others. And as the students were not native speakers of the language, his lessons did not tend to go the way he had originally planned.
17. Who’s The Boss?
18. The Nanny
Oh, man. This was nostalgic. And if you haven’t watched these shows, that’s fine. But if you do find them somewhere, do give them a go. Most of them are still so damn good.