Last Updated: November 1st
In its current form, Netflix is an excellent source for recent TV shows and a hit-or-miss one for must-see programs from TV’s classic era. But that doesn’t mean some gems of old series can’t be found with a little bit of searching. From family-friendly sitcoms to gritty detective dramas and everything in between, here’s a rundown of the 10 best classic TV shows on Netflix streaming you can watch right now.
Related: The 10 Best Horror Movies On Amazon Prime Right Now
The Andy Griffith Show (8 seasons)
One of the most beloved shows from TV’s first golden age, The Andy Griffith Show began as a spin-off from The Danny Thomas Show. Set in the small town of Mayberry, N.C., the series stars Griffith as local sheriff Andy Taylor, a gentle enforcer of the law and frequent dispenser of homespun wisdom. Griffith said that the show, which ran from 1960-1968, felt more like it was set in the 1930s, explaining that the series was “of a time gone by.” Along with its picturesque setting and whistle-inducing theme song, The Andy Griffith Show co-stars Don Knotts as the hapless Deputy Barney Fife, and future film director (and Arrested Development narrator) Ron Howard as Griffith’s young son, Opie.
Pee-wee’s Playhouse (5 seasons)
The perpetually childlike character of Pee-wee Herman, played by actor Paul Reubens, had the fairly adult sense of humor showcased in the 1981 HBO special watered down for younger audiences when it debuted on CBS’s Saturday morning lineup in 1986. The show ran for four seasons during which Reubens mostly maintained creative control of the wildly popular (and expensive) program. Reubens has recently re-launched the character in the made-for-Netflix movie Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, which premiered in mid-March.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1 season)
Hitchcock was already a filmmaking giant when his TV anthology premiered in 1955, which alternated between CBS and NBC. After the unforgettable intro set to Charles Gounod’s “The Funeral March of the Marionette,” Hitchcock would drolly introduce each episode in a sparsely decorated studio before appearing again in the closing moments, where he’d often explain the unseen consequences of a particular character’s actions, which he did for a “necessary gesture of morality.” The episodes themselves, which went from half-hour installments to a full hour in its final three seasons, often balanced elements of the macabre along with drama, mystery, and a sharp sense of humor.
The Munsters (2 seasons)
The family-themed ’60s horror comedy that’s not The Addams Family, The Munsters ran for two seasons in the mid-1960s. The show focused on an average working-class family, or at least a family that imagined itself as such. Created by the same team behind Leave It To Beaver, (whose house was just down the street), The Munsters were a genuinely good-natured family that carried on through life blissfully unaware of their own monstrous appearances, (save for Marylin, the “normal” teenager). And since the show was produced by Universal Studios, they were able to sport the iconic looks of the Universal Monsters of the 1930s and ’40s.
Columbo (7 seasons)
The show that gave us Peter Falk’s definitive role as the titular homicide detective was able to stand out against the competition by showing that episode’s crime being committed in the opening minutes, then showing Columbo’s method for solving it. It’s a technique that came to be known as the inverted detective format, which was nicknamed a “howcatchem,” a variation on the standard practice of “whodunit.” Something else that set it apart were the episodes themselves, which were all feature-length, and aired on NBC as part of the NBC Mystery Movies from 1968 through 1978. It was then picked up by ABC in 1989 as part of the — you guessed it — ABC Mystery Movies that ran periodically up until 2003.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1 season)
Widely regarded as the precursor to the ever-popular (and recently resurrected) The X-Files, Kolchak: The Night Stalker ran for a single season in 1974-75, after airing two successful TV movies, The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler in 1972 and 1973, respectively. The premise centers around Chicago-based newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak, who would independently investigate unusual cases that weren’t being followed-up with by the police, which would typically lead to stories related to the supernatural. Even though it only lasted a single season as a TV series, Kolchak remained popular in syndication, and was rebooted in 2005 with an all-new cast of characters. (The revival also only lasted one season.)
Emergency! (6 seasons)
Co-created by Jack Webb, also responsible for Dragnet, Emergency! started as an NBC midseason replacement in 1972, then ended up lasting for five seasons, and was followed by six two-hour TV movies. The show followed the Los Angeles-based Squad 51, which worked as emergency responders as part of new legislation that essentially created the role of paramedics. Combining medical drama with action/adventure, the show strove for realism by having its stories based on actual rescues, with characters using actual equipment that would be used by emergency responders in Los Angeles at the time.
The Incredible Hulk (5 seasons)
The story of tortured scientist Dr. Bruce David Banner was first brought to the small screen for a TV movie in 1977 on CBS, with Bill Bixby as Banner and bodybuilding great Lou Ferrigno as the titular Hulk. The series would start the following year and last for five seasons, which had Banner traveling the country under an assumed name, working odd jobs until he could find a way to control his unpredictable transformations into the Hulk. The fifth season ended in 1982 on a cliffhanger that would go unresolved for six years, until NBC bought the rights and aired three TV movies from 1988-1990.
The Rockford Files (6 seasons)
After Roy Huggins struck TV gold alongside star James Garner with TV’s Maverick, he co-created The Rockford Files. Another show that deviated from the standard detective format, The Rockford Files dressed its eponymous hero Jim Rockford (Garner) in an off-the-rack suit and put him in a rundown trailer along the California coastline. Barely making a living on his fee of “$200 a day, plus expenses,” Rockford worked cold cases as a for-hire private investigator, preferring to talk his way out of problems to avoid any complications with the LAPD.
El Chavo (1 season)
At the peak of El Chavo‘s popularity in the mid-1970s, an estimated 350 million people tuned in to watch the adventures of the 8-year-old orphan, played by the creator Roberto Gómez Bolaños, and his adventures living in low-income tenement housing in Mexico. Starting as a sketch on the comedy show Chesperito in 1971, it became its own sitcom in 1973, running on the Televisa network until 1980. The show took a farcical look at the plight of the main character (whose name translates to “The Lad”) and his day-to-day life as homeless child. This included recurring themes of hunger, isolation, and loneliness. It’s still widely popular in syndication, and is the highest rated classic TV series currently available to stream on Netflix.
