[jyl]

A 16 y/o girl (my daughter) has recognized there are some gaps in her cultural literacy. To wit: she has never watched "Friends" and doesn't get any of the many references to the show. Ditto "Seinfield".

We are discussing what TV shows she should watch, at least several episodes of, both to fill these gaps and as a general education in the cultural history of American TV.

I'm thinking that popularity alone isn't the test. For example, "Moonlighting" and "thirtysomething" were very popular in their day, but I'm not sure how much you miss, either in grasping references or in appreciating the history of TV, if you've never watched an episode.

As you get to older shows, seems to me the bar is raised because they are not referred to much today, and thus their main value is historical. Which can, admittedly, be huge. For example, "All In The Family", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show". But, some shows of that era are still relevant today, like "Star Trek".

There are some shows that I think are notable just for visual style. "Miami Vice" or "Hill Street Blues", maybe.

And some shows were simply so well written or acted that perhaps they should be watched, just to appreciate the craftsmanship. Maybe a show like "Fraiser".

This is a project around older shows, by the way. We're not really thinking about shows later than 2000.

What would your list be? Let's limit it to 20 shows. I'll burn DVDs and send them weekly to her at camp this summer. She and the other kids can spend their hours off work getting educated in classic TV culture and, hopefully, not drinking and who knows what else.

Last year I sent her daily reports on the Tour de France. I've been advised to raise my game this year . . .