I may be dating myself but I wanted to post some of the things I grew up with, like movies and TV shows, some of which I'm sure you can still see today.  In fact while I am creating this page, I am watching an episode of Dragnet.  
             
             
             
 

The Series ran from January 12, 1967 to April 16, 1970

  
             
   

   
             
  Sergeant Joe Friday (Jack Webb) also the Producer and Officer Bill Gannon (Harry Morgan) were the main characters of Dragnet.  It was one of many TV shows during the time that were produced by Jack Webb.  It was a format that was very serious and had a kind of educational flare; other shows by Jack Webb were Emergency and Adam 12.  Joe Friday was a stern cop and hardly ever smiled, except when he caught the bad guy and was once played by Dan Aykroyd in a parody of the show in a movie where he actually played Joe Friday the nephew of the original Joe Friday.  Bill Gannon was the partner of Joe Friday, and later stared in Mash as the commander of the small base of doctors in the Korean war.  Dragnet ran from 1952 to 1959 and then again from 1967 to 1971 which was during the time I watched the show, I was in my teens.  
             
             
             
             
             
             
 

The TV series ran from January 12, 1966 to March 14, 1968

  
             
   

   
             
  Adam West played Batman in the TV series of 1966, but wasn't the first one on TV.  The show was kind of quirky and weird with action bubbles popping out whenever the duo got into a fist fight.  No one ever died in the series and some of the special effects were very bad, like when the duo climbed the side of a building, someone of fame would open a window and talk to them as if it were common.  And their ability to walk up a building wall with the aid of a rope was amazing.  There were several Batman movies and they seemed to have better graphics as well as characters.  Although some famous people stared in the Batman series, every Batman movie had a few biggies.  In the film Batman played by Michael Keaton The Joker was played by Jack Nicholson, a man who had a smile burned onto his face by acid.  While Jack played a great Joker, no one has ever played him so freaky as Heath Ledger played him in the Dark Knight.  Several actors played Batman from 1989 on, Michael Keaton played in 2 movies, Batman and Batman Returns, then Val Kilmer played the super hero in Batman Forever.  George Clooney had a try in the movie Batman and Robin, then Christian Bale played him in the last 2 movies, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.  With technology growing so fast, Batman should be around for years to come.  
             
             
             
             
             
             
 

Mission Impossible TV Series ran from September of 1966 to March of 1973 on CBS and then 1988 to 1990 on ABC

  
             
       
             
  The original TV series on which the movies staring Tom Cruise was about a group of special forces who would get information to take down a high ranking person without making any waves, and normally wouldn't have to use any weapons, at least not loud ones.  They would sneak their way past heavy security, or play a role to get access to the information they needed, using makeup and technology.  The show started by a recording saying "good morning Mr. Phelps" played by Peter Graves who headed the group.  Peter later stared in the Air Plane movies.  The distinctive music of Mission Impossible was later updated for the movies.  The series later included Leonard Nimoy from Star Trek  
             
             
             
             
             
             
 

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ran from September 22, 1964 to January 15, 1968

  
             
 

     
             
  The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was similar to Mission Impossible, where a couple of undercover secret agents from UNCLE would take on missions of importance.  Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin worked together, Illya being the one that used the makeup to change his looks and fooling the bad guy.  This series was very interesting and also used futuristic technology in the show to make it more interesting and give the good guys the advantage.  Like Mission Impossible and The Avengers, these guys would frame the bad guy so the authorities would take care of them and the secret agents wouldn't have to capture anyone or put anyone in jail.  Sometimes they would make it look like the person is somewhere else to get them to spill the beans, then make them realize they were actually being held and interrogated.  Each week was a new adventure, and each week I couldn't wait until the show came on.  
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
 

The Avengers ran from 1961 to 1969 and was produced in England

  
             
 

     
             
  John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Emma Peele (Diana Rigg) did a similar job in England against weird enemies like in the Batman series, in a TV series called "The Avengers".  Like the Man from UNCLE and Mission Impossible, they would work together using makeup and strange weapons to eliminate the enemy or take down a high ranking official, get back the crown jewels, or frame an adversary.  Also technology from the future was used to assist them in fooling the bad guys.  Another Spy TV show, several ran during the same time and eventually all faded away.  Like Police shows today, Spy shows in the 60's and 70's were so popular that several ran at the same time.  
             
       
             
             
             
             
 

The original Star Trek series ran from September 8, 1966 to September 2, 1969

  
             
       
             
  One of the most popular series of the time, the original Star Trek with Captain Kirk and First Officer Spock was a joy to watch and everyone based the technology from the show as to what will be in the future, however we have not seen the phaser yet, or many other of the weapons of the series, although the series was set in the 23rd century so there is still time to develop them.  
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
 

Nash Bridges ran from March 29th 1996 to May 4th 2001

  
             
       
             
  Nash Bridges (Don Johnson) and Joe Dominguez (Cheech Marin) are San Francisco cops assigned to a special investigative unit (SIU).  After a few episodes they move onto a barge in the San Francisco Bay, that was actually located on Treasure Island.  The show was filmed all over San Francisco.  Nash drove his own car which was left to him by his older brother.  Nash has a father, a daughter and several ex-wives.  Joe is married to a Swede, and has the mother of all mother-in-law's move in with him.  Nash's daughter gets engaged with one of the officers, Evan Cortez, and after an on again off again relationship, Evan is killed in the line of duty.  All of the characters are either funny or serious or whatever, but the show takes many turns and changes until it was cancelled.  Nash Bridges is still on in syndication.  
             
     

Additional Regulars on Nash Bridges