I’d give Babylon 5 just as much credit for this. They figured out how to make an Amiga video toaster work for an ongoing series without it looking like cheap crap.

https://www.generationamiga.com/2020/08/30/how-24-commodore-amiga-2000s-created-babylon-5/

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago

First question I have opening that link, who are those people in the picture?

[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 13 points 2 weeks ago

Twin Peaks.

[–] FinjaminPoach@lemmy.world 13 points 2 weeks ago

The Prisoner and Dr Who, at times. https://m.youtube.com/@ClassicDoctorWho

The Prisoner has a very eerie, dystopian theme and is Truman Show-esque. Also critical of intelligence agencies before it was cool.

[–] SmokedBillionaire@sh.itjust.works 13 points 2 weeks ago

The Tick with Patrick Warburton. I know they made a new one but my god that one season was great. I just don't think that exact brand of comedy was too prominent until other shows like Archer were popular.

[–] biscuit 12 points 2 weeks ago

This is such an incredibly vague question. Ahead of its time in what way? Star Trek was ahead of its time by having interracial kisses. Lost was ahead of its time with big-budget action and large ensemble casts. And Netflix's Dark was ahead, behind, and in-between of its time.

[–] paraphrand@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago

Twin Peaks

[–] dumples@piefed.social 9 points 2 weeks ago

Golden girls.

There's a reason it's a gay icon.

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Babylon 5.

Lost, Game of Thrones, the Battlestar Galactica reboot, to a lesser extent Justified, all that high concept serialized event television owes their existence to B5. Babylon 5 is the series for whom the term "wham episode" was coined. Written and structured as one long, continuous story rather than an adventure a week, in the 1990s.

[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Lost actually has a lot in common with a previous “plane crashes on a mysterious island” series:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_People

[–] ace_garp@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

Let the Blood Run Free

Australian comedy show in 1990 which had an interactive element. At the end of each episode, viewers could phone in to one of two numbers, to choose the direction for next episodes' storyline.

Recommend for anyone, especially those who have worked in a hospital.

[–] yessikg@fedia.io 4 points 2 weeks ago

I'm choosing to interpret this as shows that have stood the test of time so off the top of my head: In the Heat of The Night, Psych, Living Single, and MASH

[–] be_gt@feddit.nu 4 points 2 weeks ago

Firefly

[–] Win012@lemmy.today 3 points 2 weeks ago

The Adventures of Brisco County Jr was innovative, funny, had smart scripts, and excellent casting.