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CNN Live Today

Time of Season to Tune in For TV Nostalgia

Aired May 13, 2002 - 11:36   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is the time of the season to tune in for nostalgia.

Lisa Bernhard is deputy editor for "TV Guide," joins us from New York.

Lisa, good morning. Good to see again.

LISA BERNHARD, "TV GUIDE": Hi, Daryn, how are you?

KAGAN: I'm doing good, and I'm still in the current. I'm not actually doing my reunion show yet. So apparently, I'm missing out.

BERNARD: It'll come up.

KAGAN: It will.

Tonight is Mary Tyler Moore's reunion show. Have you had a chance to see it.

BERNARD: I haven't had a chance to see it yet. She's been talking a lot about it, and she has the whole cast back together. And the...

KAGAN: Except for Ted Knight of course.

BERNARD: Except for Ted Knight, of course. They will do a nice tribute, I hear, for Ted Knight, so that should be sweet. Clips of course. I mean, I'm bopping right along to the theme song. How can you not help it? So that's really something to look forward to, and everyone loves to see this casts sort of schmooze about what went on behind the scenes, and to see how they get along, the camaraderie off camera. Were they really friends, or were they not? So that should be fun.

KAGAN: It's like visiting old family, kind of.

BERNARD: It really is. I think the appeal is that, you know, we already know these characters. There's been so many retro shows, because we are so comfortable for them. It is like comfort TV. And of course this all came out of the blue with the success of the "Carol Burnett" reunion show in October, that just blind-sided television networks. KAGAN: So is that where all of these shows come from? I mean, I think the show would have already been in production. I mean, Carol Burnett wasn't that long ago, that reunion show.

BERNARD: Carol Burnett was in October, and you know what, that just took the industry by surprise. Thirty million viewers, they had no idea that it would be the second highest rated entertainment show next to the Oscars. So it set all of the network executives back to the vault. Everybody scrambled, pulled their old clips. They are also inexpensive to are produce, which makes sense for networks economically. It even if they are not huge smash hits.

KAGAN: It is a good business deal.

BERNARD: It's a good business deal.

KAGAN: Last night was a little bit different. "L.A. Law" had their reunion show. They having a TV movie of the week. I thought it was enjoyable. It held my attention for about an hour and a half.

BERNARD: Did you like it?

KAGAN: I did. I liked seeing Harry Hamlin, Susan Dey back together again. I liked that chemistry, and again, it was nostalgic. I had a chance to interview them last month in New York, and I told them the problem is, when I was little and "L.A. Law," they looked so old. And now when I watch the reruns, they look so young.

BERNARD: I know. I know, it's so funny. I think they were smart, actually, to take a different approach. They did something different by stepping back into the roles, having a script, doing, you know, a movie like you said, and showing the chemistry, again, of the characters coming back around. That was smart. And certainly, like you said, if you were an "L.A. Law" fan, you were interested to see what new storylines they would come up with and how the characters would interact.

KAGAN: Now you're publication, "TV Guide," has come up with this list of the top, not your top, Lisa, but "TV Guide's" top 50 shows.

BERNARD: Yes, unfortunately, not just mine.

KAGAN: I imagine it would be a little bit different. When we were on before, we were talking about, I said I would have loved to have been a fly in that room, because I can bet there was some very spirited discussions, none less spirited than saying "Seinfeld" number one over "I Love Lucy" for best show of all time.

BERNARD: I know. We did. We did. It is amazing that we are all still talking to each other on the staff at "TV Guide."

KAGAN: Come on, go on the record personally. Do you agree with that one, Lisa?

BERNARD: My argument actually for "Seinfeld" is that it transcended sitcom status to become this kind of cultural handbook, you know, that we all measured our own lives again. It develops this new language of close talkers and puffy shirts, and it was that kind of show, where, as you know, you describe moments in your life by saying, it was just like a "Seinfeld" moment.

So in that sense, it became sort of the very fabric of the country more than just a sitcom. I really do think -- I know it's early to say, but in syndication, they seem to be shows that you really do want it come back to and watch over and over again, which was another one of the criteria was longevity, which of course, "Lucy," no-brainer, we are still laughing at the show, you know, 30, 40 years later.

KAGAN: OK, but here's my challenge to you. You show me one "Seinfeld" that's going to hold up as well as this one. We are going to listen in to the candy episode just a second.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUCILLE BALL, ACTRESS: Well , this is easy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, we can handle this OK.

(LAUGHTER)

KAGAN: We will let this one play as we go ahead and talk. This one, Lisa, also "Vitamina Vegimin," that's a Lucy classic. The wine, when she's crushing the grapes, I mean, these are ones that will live in our minds forever.

BERNARD: They absolutely will. I mean, you know she was the originator. She was really a comedic genius. The Lucy and Ethel combo you saw through a Mary and Rhoda, through a Laverne and Shirley, so that duo really kind of invented that kind of comedy. It was certainly groundbreaking.

KAGAN: I'm sure we will see clips from that and a lot more tonight. So tonight's "TV Guide" show where you talk about the top 50.

BERNARD: Yes, we do. It is a great show. We have great clips. We have interviews. Jerry Seinfeld opens and closes the show, and gives anecdotes about...

KAGAN: So there is a little insider trader. You named his show number one, and then he will open the show for you.

BERNARD: Worked out well for us, didn't it?

KAGAN: Funny how that works. We will be watching for that.

Lisa Bernhard, thanks for stopping by. Always a pleasure to have you with us.

BERNARD: Thanks, Daryn.

KAGAN: "TV Guide"'s top 50 show he of all time. And if you miss the show, you can always go online as well. The list is still there.

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