1964! What a great year for TV for a kid. I loved the magic shows like My Favorite Martian and Bewitched. they were ok to watch with parents in the room. Hollywood gave us The Munsters and The Addams Family that year as well. So I thought I'd share a bit of my top 10 favorites from 1964 for you youngsters out there... :)
1. Bewitched (1964–1972)
A witch married to an ordinary man cannot resist using her magic powers to solve the problems her family faces. Bewitched is an American television sitcom fantasy series, originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typical suburban housewife.
The show enjoyed great popularity, finishing as the number two-rated show in America during its debut season, staying in the top ten for its first three seasons, and just missing this mark with an eleventh-place ranking for both seasons four and five. The show continues to be seen throughout the world in syndication and on recorded media.
2. The Addams Family (1964–1966)
The misadventures of a blissfully macabre but extremely loving family. The Addams Family is an American horror/black comedy sitcom based on the characters from Charles Addams' New Yorker cartoons.
The 30-minute television series was created by David Levy and Donald Saltzman and shot in black-and-white, airing for two seasons on ABC from September 18, 1964, to April 8, 1966, for a total of 64 episodes. The show is also notable for its opening theme that was composed and sung by Vic Mizzy.
3. Gilligan's Island (1964–1992)
Seven men and women are stranded on an uncharted island following a torrential storm. Gilligan's Island is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show had an ensemble cast that featured Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Russell Johnson, Tina Louise, and Dawn Wells.
It aired for three seasons on the CBS network from September 26, 1964, to April 17, 1967. The series followed the comic adventures of seven castaways as they attempted to survive on an island on which they had been shipwrecked. Most episodes revolve around the dissimilar castaways' conflicts and their unsuccessful attempts, for whose failure Gilligan was frequently responsible, to escape their plight.
4. The Munsters (1964–2004)
A family of friendly monsters has misadventures, never quite understanding why people react to them so strangely. The Munsters is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters starring Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monster-type head-of-the-household Herman Munster; Yvonne De Carlo as his vampire wife, Lily Munster; Al Lewis as Grandpa, the over-the-hill vampire who relishes talking about the "good old days"; Beverley Owen (later replaced by Pat Priest) as their teenage niece Marilyn Munster, whose all-American beauty made her the family outcast; and Butch Patrick as their half-vampire, half-werewolf son Eddie Munster.
5. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968)
The two top agents of the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement (U.N.C.L.E.) fight the enemies of peace, particularly the forces of T.H.R.U.S.H. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American spy-fiction television series[1] produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC.
It follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for secret international counterespionage and law-enforcement agency called U.N.C.L.E. The series premiered on September 22, 1964, completing its run on January 15, 1968.
6. Shindig! (1964–1966)
A musical variety show featuring the biggest acts in rock-n-roll performing their latest hits. Shindig! is an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964, to January 8, 1966.
The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles at the time who also created the show along with his wife Sharon Sheeley, British producer Jack Good, and production executive Art Stolnitz.
The original pilot was rejected by ABC and David Sontag, then Executive Producer of ABC, redeveloped and completely redesigned the show. A new pilot with a new cast of artists was shot starring Sam Cooke. That pilot aired as the premiere episode.
7. Flipper (TV Series 1964–1967)
Flipper is an American television program first broadcast on NBC from September 19, 1964, until April 15, 1967. Flipper, a bottlenose dolphin, is the pet of Porter Ricks, Chief Warden at Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve (a fictional version of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, Florida), and his two young sons, Sandy and Bud. The show has been dubbed an "aquatic Lassie", and a considerable amount of children's merchandise inspired by the show was produced during its first run.
8. Daniel Boone (1964–1970)
Daniel Boone is an American action-adventure television series starring Fess Parker as Daniel Boone that aired from September 24, 1964, to May 7, 1970, on NBC for 165 episodes, and was produced by 20th Century Fox Television, Arcola Enterprises, and Fespar Corp. Ed Ames co-starred as Mingo, Boone's Cherokee friend, for the first four seasons of the series.
9. Jonny Quest (1964–1965)
The Quest family and their bodyguard investigate strange phenomena and battle villains around the world.
10. Valentine's Day (1964–1965)
Valentine Farrow works for O.D. Dunstall in a New York publishing house. He is young and single and constantly chased by women. While in the Army, he was saved by "Rocky" Sin, a poker-playing con artist, who now serves as Farrow's valet.
