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Best Classic TV Shows Available to Stream

Best Classic TV Shows Available to Stream

Streaming platforms have been active in releasing plenty of new shows and movies to entertain Americans staying at home across the country. Often hidden among the numerous recent releases are older, classic series available for streaming as well.

These shows first appeared on television before the advent of streaming technology. Some date as far back as the late 1950s, and some have only recently been made available on modern services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video.

To help viewers navigate the many options, 24/7 Tempo has identified the best classic TV shows that are available to stream right now. We ranked these acclaimed series based on audience ratings from the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).

Many of the shows on this list helped shape television as we know it today. “The Twilight Zone,” “All in the Family,” and “The Andy Griffith Show” were all ground breaking in their genres, laying the foundation for modern programming. Viewers who grew up with these shows may experience nostalgia when revisiting them, but the programs stand alone as great works of TV.

These shows work just as well for marathon viewing and for one episode watched in a single sitting. This is, after all, how the shows were originally broadcast. For fans looking for more content to watch, these are the most binge-worthy series you can stream right now.

 

To determine the best classic TV shows that are available to stream, 24/7 Tempo identified all of the shows available for streaming based on data from website JustWatch that originally debuted prior to 1995. We then ranked the series based on their Internet Movie Database average user ratings, weighted by the number of votes each series received.

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures Television

25. Barney Miller (1975)
> Total No. of seasons: 8
> Starring: Hal Linden, Abe Vigoda, Max Gail
> Genre: Comedy, Drama
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Amazon Video, Crackle, The Roku Channel, DIRECTV

Barry Miller (played by Hal Linden) is the captain of a police precinct in New York City’s Greenwich Village and the stabilizing presence among the eccentrics and misfits he supervises. The sitcom won Golden Globes and Emmy awards during its eight-season run, and it boosted the careers of Steve Landesberg and Abe Vigoda. The show holds a 100% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.1 out of 10 ranking among IMDb users.

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros

24. Perry Mason (1957)
> Total No. of seasons: 9
> Starring: Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, William Hopper
> Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
> Available on: CBS, CBS All Access Amazon Channel, DIRECTV

“Perry Mason” is one of the earliest television courtroom dramas. The show featured Raymond Burr as the redoubtable defense attorney known for his powers of deduction and the ability to break down witnesses on the stand. The show won several Golden Globes and Emmys and ran for nine years. It has an 8.1 rating out of 10 among IMDb users.

Source: Courtesy of SFM Entertainment

23. The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970)
> Total No. of seasons: 7
> Starring: Mary Tyler Moore, Edward Asner, Gavin MacLeod
> Genre: Comedy
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Video, Hulu, fuboTV, DIRECTV

“The Mary Tyler Moore Show” tapped into the growing independence of American women in the character of television news producer Mary Richards. The sharply written and brilliantly cast series created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns ran for seven years, took home 29 Emmy awards, three Golden Globes, and spun off three series. “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” has a rating of 8.1 out of 10 among IMDb users

Source: Courtesy of ABC

22. Boy Meets World (1993)
> Total No. of seasons: 7
> Starring: Ben Savage, Rider Strong, William Daniels
> Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, Microsoft Store, Disney Plus

“Boy Meets World” is a coming-of-age series that ran for seven seasons beginning in 1993. It followed Ben Savage’s Cory Matthews’ journey through middle school, high school, and college, along with his family and friends. The show has received largely positive reviews online and has a 91% positive rating from users on Rotten Tomatoes.

Source: Courtesy of CBS Television Distribution

21. Frasier (1993)
> Total No. of seasons: 11
> Starring: Kelsey Grammer, Jane Leeves, David Hyde Pierce
> Genre: Comedy
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, Hulu, Microsoft Store, CBS, CBS All Access Amazon Channel, Sling TV

“Frasier” is a sitcom starring Kelsey Grammer as a radio psychiatrist who lives in Seattle with his father, a retired police detective partially disabled because of a gunshot wound. The show was spun off from the successful series “Cheers” and became one of the most celebrated spinoffs in television history, winning 37 Emmys. Critics and audiences alike on Rotten Tomatoes gave the series a 93% approval rating. “Frasier” holds a rating of 8.0 out of 10 among IMDb users

Source: Rich Fury / Getty Images

20. Get Smart (1965)
> Total No. of seasons: 5
> Starring: Don Adams, Barbara Feldon, Edward Platt
> Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
> Available on: Vudu, Amazon Video, FandangoNOW, Google Play Movies

Don Adams starred as inept secret agent Maxwell Smart in the goofy 1960s-era sendup of the spy genre. The series that was created by Buck Henry and Mel Brooks is fondly remembered by baby boomers, and 92% audiences on Rotten Tomatoes liked it. The series has a rating of 8.2 out of 10 among IMDb users.

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution

19. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990)
> Total No. of seasons: 6
> Starring: Will Smith, James Avery, Alfonso Ribeiro
> Genre: Comedy
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Video, FandangoNOW, DIRECTV

The multi-talented Will Smith, who had already launched a career as a rapper, successfully transitioned to the small screen in this sitcom. Smith played a streetwise kid from West Philadelphia who runs afoul with street toughs and is sent by his mother to live with rich relatives in California. On Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of audiences liked the show, which is best remembered for its infectious theme song rapped by Smith. “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” has a rating of 7.9 out of 10 among IMDb users.

Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

18. Columbo (1971)
> Total No. of seasons: 13
> Starring: Peter Falk, Mike Lally, John Finnegan
> Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
> Available on: Amazon Video, IMDb TV, Sling TV

Peter Falk played “Columbo,” one of television’s iconic detectives from the 1970s, whose disheveled appearance and disarming demeanor belie his considerable sleuthing skills. The 68-episode series has an audience score of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. “Columbo” holds a rating of 8.2 out of 10 among IMDb users.

Source: Courtesy of Sony Pictures Television

17. Married… with Children (1987)
> Total No. of seasons: 11
> Starring: Ed O’Neill, Christina Applegate, Katey Sagal
> Genre: Comedy
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, Hulu, Microsoft Store, DIRECTV

“Married… with Children,” a lowbrow sitcom on Fox about a miserable lower-middle class family, offended viewers, enraged critics, and prompted threats against sponsors of the show. Yet it found an audience and ran for 11 seasons and 262 episodes. The raunchy series has a 100% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Cast members Ed O’Neill and Christina Applegate would find additional fame in the series “Modern Family” and “Dead to Me.” “Married… with Children” has an IMDb user rating of 8.0 out of 10.

Source: Courtesy of National Broadcasting Company

16. Unsolved Mysteries (1987)
> Total No. of seasons: 16
> Starring: Robert Stack, Dennis Farina, Keely Shaye Brosnan
> Genre: Documentary, Crime, Drama
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Google Play Movies, Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Video, Hulu, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Hoopla, IMDb TV, Popcornflix, Pluto TV, VUDU Free

TV tough guy Robert Stack (“The Untouchables”) hosted this Emmy-nominated series that used re-enactments, interviews, and updates to tell stories about real mysteries about missing persons and the supernatural. The 613-episode series holds a 100% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.3 rating of 10 among IMDb users.

Source: chokkicx / Getty Images

15. The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993)
> Total No. of seasons: 1
> Starring: Bruce Campbell, Julius Carry, Christian Clemenson
> Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies

This comic Western series follows Harvard-educated gunman Brisco County Jr. as he hunts the gang of men who killed his father. The show only ran for a single season in the early 1990s but garnered a cult following. A DVD containing all 27 episodes was released in 2006, but for those wishing to stream this eccentric gem, the show is now available on several platforms.

Source: Courtesy of CBS Enterprises

14. The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961)
> Total No. of seasons: 5
> Starring: Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie
> Genre: Comedy, Family
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Amazon Video, FandangoNOW, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Hoopla, Pure Flix, Pluto TV, FlixFling

“The Dick Van Dyke Show,” created by comedy legend Carl Reiner, set the standard for television situation comedies, winning 14 Emmys in five seasons. The show was about the home and professional life of a television comedy writer played by Dick Van Dyke. The sharply written sitcom featured a well-assembled cast and took advantage of Van Dyke’s physical comedy gifts. The series was also noteworthy for making a star out of Mary Tyler Moore, who would go on to star in her own series in the 1970s. The show holds a 100% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 8.3 out of 10 among IMDb users.

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Television

13. The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
> Total No. of seasons: 8
> Starring: Andy Griffith, Ron Howard, Don Knotts
> Genre: Comedy, Family
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Tubi TV, Acorn TV, AcornTV Amazon Channel, Dove Channel, fuboTV, Pure Flix, Pluto TV

The laid-back and easy-to-watch sitcom set in the mythical North Carolina town of Mayberry starred Andy Griffith as the single parent of a boy, played by eventual movie director Ron Howard. Other beloved characters included Don Knotts as Barney Fife and Frances Bavier as Aunt Bee. “The Andy Griffith Show” was a consistent hit during its run and has a 94% approval score among audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. It holds a score of 8.3 out of 10 among IMDb users.

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures Television

12. All in the Family (1971)
> Total No. of seasons: 9
> Starring: Carroll O’Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner
> Genre: Comedy, Drama
> Available on: Apple iTunes

The groundbreaking comedy “All in the Family,” modeled on the British series “Till Death Do Us Part,” addressed the racial and class divisions of late 1960s and early 1970s in America as experienced through a bigoted construction worker played by Carroll O’Connor. The series that was created by Norman Lear redefined the American sitcom. It won 22 Emmys and eight Golden Globes during its nine-season run. “All in the Family” has an 84% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and holds a score of 8.3 out of 10 among IMDb users.

Source: Joshua Blanchard / Getty Images

11. My So-Called Life (1994)
> Total No. of seasons: 1
> Starring: Bess Armstrong, Wilson Cruz, Claire Danes
> Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, ABC, IMDb TV

Claire Danes starred in this short-lived series about the emotional life of teenager Angela Chase. A near-perfect encapsulation of the ’90s, the show has a 100% Freshness rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a 95% rating from users.

Source: Courtesy of CIC-Taft Home Video

10. Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)
> Total No. of seasons: 3
> Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley
> Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Video, FandangoNOW, Google Play Movies, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Microsoft Store, CBS, MyOutdoorTV

The original series about intergalactic exploration, created by Gene Roddenberry, starred William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. The timing of the series coincided with the ascendent space programs of the United States and Soviet Union. The series also dealt with issues such as violence and race and featured the first interracial kiss on television between Shatner and Nichelle Nichols, who played an officer on the spaceship. The series became a cultural icon, spawning several subsequent Star Trek television series, a movie franchise, and a generation of fans known as Trekkies. Users of IMDb gave the series a rating of 8.3 out of 10.

Source: Courtesy of CBS

9. M*A*S*H (1972)
> Total No. of seasons: 11
> Starring: Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, Loretta Swit
> Genre: Comedy, Drama, War
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, Hulu, DIRECTV

“M*A*S*H” took sitcoms in a new direction, combining traditional sitcom tropes with a thoughtful examination of the psychological toll of armed conflict, in this case the Korean War. The series debuted in 1972, underwent major character changes, and ran for 11 seasons — longer than the war itself. The final episode, titled “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen,” aired on Feb. 28, 1983, and during the show’s final six minutes, viewership peaked at 121.6 million. “M*A*S*H ” has a 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and holds an 8.3 rating out of 10 among IMDb users.

Source: LauriPatterson / E+ via Getty Images

8. Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)
> Total No. of seasons: 7
> Starring: Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes
> Genre: Action, Adventure, Mystery
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Video, FandangoNOW, Google Play Movies, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Microsoft Store, CBS, DIRECTV

Nearly 20 years after the original “Star Trek” series, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” began its seven-season run. The series starred Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, commander of the USS Enterprise-D, and was set about 100 years after the original mission of Captain Kirk. The series has an 8.6 rating of 10 among IMDb users and an 89% approval score among critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.

Source: Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

7. The X-Files (1993)
> Total No. of seasons: 11
> Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi
> Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Video, FandangoNOW, Google Play Movies, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Microsoft Store, fuboTV, VUDU Free, DIRECTV

FOX’s sci-fi series “The X-Files” originally ran from 1993 through 2002. At the time, the show won 15 Emmy awards for numerous categories. The series returned for two seasons that aired in 2016 and 2018. It’s available to stream on numerous platforms, including all 11 seasons on Hulu.

Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

6. The Twilight Zone (1959)
> Total No. of seasons: 5
> Starring: Rod Serling, Robert McCord, Jay Overholts
> Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, Netflix, Hulu, CBS

The five-season series of tales of the macabre and the unexplained, which debuted in 1959, is the gold standard for thought-provoking and inventive television and enjoys a loyal following to this day. The Golden Globe and Emmy-award winning series, hosted by master storyteller Rod Serling, has a Freshness rating among Rotten Tomatoes critics of 82%, while 96% of audiences enjoyed the series. IMDb users gave “the Zone” 9.0 out of 10.

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment

5. Twin Peaks (1990)
> Total No. of seasons: 2
> Starring: Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Mädchen Amick
> Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Video, FandangoNOW, Google Play Movies, Netflix, Showtime, CBS, CBS All Access Amazon Channel, Showtime Amazon Channel, fuboTV, DIRECTV

The surreal mystery television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch premiered in 1990 and eventually gained a cult following. The series follows an FBI agent with his own idiosyncrasies who goes to the town of Twin Peaks to probe the death of teen Laura Palmer. There he discovers things aren’t exactly what they seem. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave the quirky series a Freshness rating of 89%, and 88% of audiences enjoyed the series. IMDb users rated “Twin Peaks” 8.8 out of 10.

Source: Courtesy of American Program Service

4. The Joy of Painting (1983)
> Total No. of seasons: 31
> Starring: Bob Ross, Steve Ross, Dana Jester
> Genre: Documentary, Family
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Amazon Video, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu

Mild-mannered host Bob Ross recorded more than 400 episodes of this show, which documents his oil painting. Considering its simple premise, the show ran for an impressive 31 seasons and has an overall rating of 9.4 out of 10 on IMDb.

Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

3. Seinfeld (1989)
> Total No. of seasons: 9
> Starring: Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards
> Genre: Comedy
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Video, FandangoNOW, Google Play Movies, Hulu, Microsoft Store, fuboTV, DIRECTV

One of television’s most successful sitcoms, called a show about nothing, “Seinfeld ” follows the lives of four neurotic New Yorkers. The series was among the top-rated television shows throughout its run, winning 10 Emmys in nine seasons. Its finale was the fourth-most viewed series-ending show of all time. “Seinfeld” has an 88% Freshness rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and 95% of audiences liked the show. It holds a rating of 8.8 out of 10 among IMDb users.

Source: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

2. The Simpsons (1987)
> Total No. of seasons: 31
> Starring: Dan Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright, Julie Kavner
> Genre: Animation, Comedy
> Available on: Redbox, Apple iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Video, FandangoNOW, Google Play Movies, Hulu, Microsoft Store, FXNow, fuboTV, Fox, Disney Plus

With its 31st season about to conclude, “The Simpsons” is the longest-running scripted show in TV history. The famously satirical cartoon is available to stream on numerous platforms, with the complete series available on both Amazon Video and Disney+. While many fans believe the show has decreased in quality over the years, it still has an overall rating of 8.7 out of 10 on IMDb with more than 350,000 user votes being cast.

Source: Courtesy of AB Distribution

1. Friends (1994)
> Total No. of seasons: 10
> Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow
> Genre: Comedy, Romance
> Available on: Apple iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Video, FandangoNOW, Google Play Movies, Microsoft Store, fuboTV, Sling TV, DIRECTV

The long-running sitcom about six twenty-something friends living in New York made stars out of all six actors. The show’s finale drew 52.5 million viewers in May 2004 and was one of the top-rated television series enders. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave it a Freshness rating of 78%, while audiences gave it more love, with a 95% score. IMDb users gave “Friends” a rating of 8.9 out of 10.

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