TV Shows & Movies that Haven't/Won't Age Well

[Charismatic Applesauce]

I wanted to make this topic because the subject is something I've been thinking about quite a bit lately. "Not aging well" can take on various meanings, like jokes not being understood by modern audiences, situations totally irrelevant to modern society, or the source material simply not being taken seriously anymore. I think there are even more examples you people can think of. So basically, as the title says, what hasn't aged well, and what modern works do you think won't age well?

One example I can think of is shows or movies that are over-reliant on pop culture references or topical humor. Granted, there are some exceptions, like the Simpsons, SNL, etc. But I don't think audiences 10, or even 5, years from now will get "ermahgerd" jokes, like the one that was made in an episode of 2 Broke Girls.

You may not agree with me, but I'm just wondering what people here think.

[Eric]

The movie Nine to Five, for example, is certainly a classic, very well-made, but the whole premise seems to have become rather outdated.  I'm not saying things have changed 100%, but compared to virtually no equality shown in the movie, there certainly is a whole lot more equality in the workplace now between men and women.

Even I Love Lucy has elements to it that simply will not work now.  Of course, the show is a timeless classic and always will be, but... the elements of "men are the earners and women are the spenders," women can cheer themselves up just by buying a new hat, and it's the role of the husband to discipline the wife have gone completely out the window sixty years later.  Just imagine a sitcom today in which the husband actually spanks the wife to discipline her!!  Back then, it was considered funny - Lucy was acting like a child and Ricky disciplined her like one.  Today, there's just no way that kind of humor would work on a modern sitcom... unless it was directly parodying I Love Lucy.

[twcclassics]

Even I Love Lucy has elements to it that simply will not work now.  Of course, the show is a timeless classic and always will be, but... the elements of "men are the earners and women are the spenders," women can cheer themselves up just by buying a new hat, and it's the role of the husband to discipline the wife have gone completely out the window sixty years later.

Yep, sitcoms have done a complete 180 in that realm. Now it's the husbands that are the "children." Everybody Loves Raymond, King of Queens, Yes Dear, etc. all portray men as dumb, childish, unreliable, and incompetent. This also shows up often in commercials. And it drives me crazy! It sends the wrong message to young men. It sends a subconscious message to them that this is how they're supposed to act. Which is why I'm thankful for people like Brett McKay at artofmanliness.com who are trying to help men find their true manliness (and not the comical way portrayed in the media).

I think any mildly-popular-today-but-forgotten-tomorrow show like "Broke Girls" won't age well. As will any show that, as Applesuace pointed out, relies heavily on topical humor like SNL, the Simpsons, South Park, and all of Seth McFarlane's shows. A perfect example of this is "In Living Color." For those who are too young to remember (or to have even seen it), "In Living Color" was basically Fox's answer to SNL in the early 90s. It was pretty funny and cutting-edge at the time, but if you watch it today, WOW! Most of it has not aged well.

[Charismatic Applesauce]

Even I Love Lucy has elements to it that simply will not work now.  Of course, the show is a timeless classic and always will be, but... the elements of "men are the earners and women are the spenders," women can cheer themselves up just by buying a new hat, and it's the role of the husband to discipline the wife have gone completely out the window sixty years later.  Just imagine a sitcom today in which the husband actually spanks the wife to discipline her!!  Back then, it was considered funny - Lucy was acting like a child and Ricky disciplined her like one.  Today, there's just no way that kind of humor would work on a modern sitcom... unless it was directly parodying I Love Lucy.

Not to mention when they made fun of Ricky's accent. It was funny, and it wasn't done in a mean-spirited way, but it would probably seem racist to the more sensitive audiences. Also, slapstick and physical comedy aren't done all that much in modern sitcoms anymore. Even then, I Love Lucy is my favorite show.

[Eric]

Even with the accent, the writers were careful to make sure that only Lucy, Ricky's loving, caring wife, would make jokes about it.  On rare occasion Fred or Ethel would, but they're also friends.  Coming from anyone else, even 60 years ago, it would have been mean.

[toxictwister00]

As far as movies are concerned, any movie with multiple sequels rarely ages the franchise well (especially if the genre is comedy), in some cases it ruins the original which is part of the reason I kinda dislike sequels. The same goes for adaptations and remakes, certain shows/movies are better left alone.

This has already been addressed, but any TV show that relies too heavily on today's pop culture (all of McFarlane's shows like Matt said for example) or something that's taboo now, but won't be years down the road won't age well because it won't be relevant, groundbreaking or controversial anymore. (ex: Ellen/Will and Grace) People will still watch them, but they won't carry the same element of surprise they did when they were originally on air.

Speaking of adaptations/remakes, I got to thinking of how I read last year Seth McFarlane (creator of Family Guy) was planning to reboot The Flintstones. The thought that went through my mind was, "Oh gawd, DON'T do it Seth, DON'T DO IT!  I'm relieved to hear he scraped that plan. (for now)

[Lightning]

There are several old shows I like. One of them is The Andy Griffith Show. Town of Mayberry. I love Barney because he is so funny. I like when he accidently pulls the trigger on his gun and Andy puts his hand out and Barney has to give Andy his gun. I only like the ones in Black and White because when they started them in color, Barney left the show, although he made several guest appearances. I like Otis the town drunk, also, and Floyd the barber. I never like Helen Crump, she never cut Andy any slack and always seemed hostile toward him, but I like Thelma Lou, Barney's girlfriend.