The 40 most popular 1960s family TV shows, ranked. Click any show for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Sazae-san
1969 · JP
The adventures of Sazae Fuguta and her family and friends in their Tokyo suburb.


The Andy Griffith Show
1960 · US
Andy Taylor is the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife, a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and a precocious young son, Opie. Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life.


Fuse
1962 · SU
Fitil is a popular Soviet/Russian television satirical/comedy short film series which ran for about 500 episodes. Some of the episodes were aimed at children, and were called Фитилёк, Fitilyok, Little Fuse. Each issue contained from the few short segments: documentary, fictional and animated ones. Directed by various artists, including Leonid Gaidai who presented his famous trio of Nikulin, Vitsin and Morgunov into the cast. It was called in USSR as "the anecdotes from the Soviet government".


Bewitched
1964 · US
Samantha Stephens is a seemingly normal suburban housewife who also happens to be a genuine witch, with all the requisite magical powers. Her husband Darrin insists that Samantha keep her witchcraft under wraps, but situations invariably require her to indulge her powers while keeping her bothersome mother Endora at bay.


The Flintstones
1960 · US
The misadventures of two modern-day Stone Age families, the Flintstones and the Rubbles.


My Three Sons
1960 · US
A widower and aeronautical engineer named Steven Douglas raises three sons with the help of his father-in-law, and later the boys' great-uncle. An adopted son, a stepdaughter, wives, and another generation of sons join the loving family in later seasons.


The Beverly Hillbillies
1962 · US
Jed Clampett's swamp is loaded with oil. When a wildcatter discovers the huge pool, Jed sells his land to the O.K. Oil Company and at the urging of cousin Pearl, moves his family to a 35-room mansion in Beverly Hills, California.


Petticoat Junction
1963 · US
The Bradley family are proud owners of the Shady Rest Hotel. Kate and her three young daughters do the job of running the hotel.


I Dream of Jeannie
1965 · US
While on a mission, American astronaut Captain Tony Nelson is forced to make an emergency landing that will forever change his life. On a deserted South Pacific island, Captain Nelson happens upon a bottle containing a beautiful two-thousand-year-old female genie named Jeannie. Rescuing her from the bottle nets Tony the requisite three wishes, and then some, when Jeannie pledges total devotion to her new "master".


The Carol Burnett Show
1967 · US
The Carol Burnett Show is an American variety/sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway. It originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 278 episodes and originated from CBS Television City's Studio 33. The series won 25 prime time Emmy Awards, was ranked No. 16 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time in 2002 and in 2007 was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All Time."


The Munsters
1964 · US
A family of friendly monsters that have misadventures all while never quite understanding why people react to them so strangely.


Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
1964 · US
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot was aired as the finale of the fourth season of The Andy Griffith Show on May 18, 1964. The show ran for five seasons and a total of 150 episodes. In 2006, CBS Home Entertainment began releasing the series on DVD. The final season was released in November 2008. The series was created by Aaron Ruben, who also produced the show with Sheldon Leonard and Ronald Jacobs. Filmed and set in California, it stars Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle, a naive but good-natured gas-station attendant from the town of Mayberry, North Carolina, who enlists in the United States Marine Corps. Frank Sutton plays Gomer's high-octane, short-fused Gunnery Sergeant Vince Carter, and Ronnie Schell plays Gomer's friend Gilbert "Duke" Slater. Allan Melvin played in the recurring role of Gunnery Sergeant Carter's rival, Sergeant Charley Hacker. The series never discussed nor addressed the then-current Vietnam War, instead focusing on the relationship between Gomer and Sergeant Carter. The show retained high ratings throughout its run.


The Addams Family
1964 · US
A satirical inversion of the ideal of the perfect American nuclear family, they are an eccentric wealthy family who delight in everything grotesque and macabre, and are never really aware that people find them bizarre or frightening. In fact, they themselves are often terrified by "normal" people.


Family Affair
1966 · US
Family Affair is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to September 9, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment. Davis' traditional English gentleman's gentleman, Mr. Giles French, also had adjustments to make as he became saddled with the responsibility of caring for 15-year-old Cissy and the 6-year-old twins, Jody and Buffy. The show ran for 138 episodes. Family Affair was created and produced by Don Fedderson, also known for My Three Sons and The Millionaire.


The Jetsons
1962 · US
Meet George Jetson and his quirky family: wife Jane, son Elroy and daughter Judy. Living in the automated, push-button world of the future hasn't made life any easier for the harried husband and father, who gets into one comical misadventure after another!


Gilligan's Island
1964 · US
The slapstick adventures of hapless Gilligan, long-suffering Skipper and their gang of mismatched castaways, all stranded on an uncharted desert isle after their tiny ship hit stormy weather.


Tabiji
1967 · JP
The 7th NHK Asadora. Starring Tadashi Yokouchi in a narrative about an employee of the national railroad living through 50 years of modern history with his wife.


Mister Ed
1961 · US
Wilbur Post and his wife Carol move into a beautiful new home. When Wilbur takes a look in his new barn, he finds that the former owner left his horse behind. This horse is no ordinary horse . . . he can talk, but only to Wilbur, which leads to all sorts of misadventures for Wilbur and his trouble-making sidekick Mister Ed.


The Monkees
1966 · UK
Micky, Mike, Peter, and Davy are four young men in mid-1960s LA, members of a struggling country-folk-rock band looking for their big break amid madcap encounters with a variety of people straight out of TV and movie central casting, with full knowledge that their existence is part of a weekly television series.


Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
1969 · US
Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and the talking dog, Scooby-Doo, travel on the Mystery Machine van, in search of weird mysteries to solve.


Ultraseven
1967 · JP
In the not-too-distant future, the Earth finds itself constantly under attack from extraterrestrial threats. The Terrestrial Defense Force establishes the Ultra Garrison, a team of six elite members who utilize high-tech vehicles and weaponry. Joining their fight is the mysterious Dan Moroboshi, secretly an alien from the Land of Light in Nebula M-78, who transforms into his true form in times of crisis, Ultraseven.


Tamayura
1965 · JP
The 5th NHK Asadora. Starring Chishuu Ryuu as an old man who begins to travel after he retires. From a story written for television by Yasunari Kawabata.


My Favorite Martian
1963 · US
Newspaper reporter Tim O'Hara finds a crashed alien spaceship that contains one live alien. Not wanting to be discovered by the authorities, the Martian assumes the identity of Tim's Uncle Martin and begins to repair his spaceship so that he can return to Mars.


Mayberry R.F.D.
1968 · US
Mayberry R.F.D. is an American television series produced as a spin-off and direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show. When star Andy Griffith decided to leave his series, most of the supporting characters returned for the new program, which ran for three seasons on the CBS Television Network from 1968–1971. During the final season of The Andy Griffith Show, widower farmer Sam Jones and his young son Mike are introduced and gradually become the show's focus. Sheriff Andy Taylor takes a backseat in the storylines, establishing the sequel series. The show's first episode, "Andy and Helen's Wedding", had the highest ratings in recorded television history. Sheriff Taylor and newlywed wife Helen make guest appearances on RFD until late 1969, and then relocate with Opie. Mayberry R.F.D. was popular throughout its entire run, but was canceled after its third season in CBS's infamous "rural purge" of 1971. R.F.D. stands for "Rural Free Delivery", a quaint postal depiction of the rural Mayberry community.


The Yogi Bear Show
1961 · US
From his home in Jellystone Park, Yogi Bear dreams of nothing more in life than to outwit as many unsuspecting tourists as he can and grab their prized picnic baskets all while staying one step ahead of the ever-exasperated Ranger Smith. Yogi's little buddy, Boo-Boo, tries to keep Yogi out of trouble but rarely succeeds. That's okay because not even Ranger Smith can stay mad for long at the lovable, irresistible Yogi Bear.


Thunderbirds
1965 · UK
Thunderbirds is a 1960s British science-fiction television series which was produced using a mixed method of marionette puppetry and scale-model special effects termed "Supermarionation". The series is set in the 21st century and follows the exploits of International Rescue, a secret organization formed to save people in mortal danger with the help of technologically advanced land, sea, air and space vehicles and equipment, launched from a hidden base on Tracy Island in the South Pacific Ocean.


NET Playhouse
1966 · US
NET Playhouse is an American dramatic television anthology series produced by National Educational Television. NET subsequently merged with WNDT Newark, New Jersey to form WNET and was superseded by the Public Broadcasting Service. American television anthology series of wide range of genres, from history and drama, to fantasy, and science fiction. Fiction novels, stories, stage plays, fairytales, and historic events are dramatized in each episode.


Hollywood Squares
1966 · US
Hollywood Squares is an American panel game show, in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The "board" for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants. The stars are asked questions by the host, or "Square-Master", and the contestants judge the veracity of their answers in order to win the game. Although Hollywood Squares was a legitimate game show, the game largely acted as the background for the show's comedy in the form of joke answers, often given by the stars prior to their "real" answer. The show's writers usually supplied the jokes. In addition, the stars were given question subjects and plausible incorrect answers prior to the show. The show was scripted in this sense, but the gameplay was not. In any case, as host Peter Marshall, the best-known "Square-Master" and the man in whose honor the show's first announcer, Kenny Williams, actually "coined" the term, would explain at the beginning of the Secret Square game, the celebrities were briefed prior to show to help them with bluff answers, but they otherwise heard the actual questions for the first time as they were asked on air.


Bonne nuit les petits
1962 · FR
No overview available


The Courtship of Eddie's Father
1969 · US
The Courtship of Eddie's Father is an American television sitcom based on the 1963 movie of the same name, which was based on the book written by Mark Toby. It tells the story of a widower, Tom Corbett, who is a magazine publisher, and his son, Eddie, who believes his father should marry, and manipulates situations surrounding the women his father is interested in. ABC had acquired the rights to the story; the series debuted on September 17, 1969, and was last broadcast on March 1, 1972. Bixby received an Emmy nomination for the show.


Flipper
1964 · US
Flipper, from Ivan Tors Films in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television, is an American television program first broadcast on NBC from September 19, 1964, until April 15, 1967. Flipper, a bottlenose dolphin, is the companion animal of Porter Ricks, Chief Warden at fictional Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve in southern Florida, and his two young sons, Sandy and Bud. The show has been dubbed an "aquatic Lassie", and a considerable amount of juvenile merchandise inspired by the show was produced during its first-run.


Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
1968 · AU
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo is an Australian television series telling the adventures of a young boy and his intelligent pet kangaroo, and the various visitors to the fictional Waratah National Park in Duffys Forest, near Sydney, New South Wales.


The Match Game
1962 · US
In this panel game show, contestants try to match answers given by six celebrities to humorous and often risque fill-in-the-blank questions.


Daktari
1966 · US
Daktari is an American children's drama series that aired on CBS between 1966 and 1969. The series, an Ivan Tors Films Production in association with MGM Television, stars Marshall Thompson as Dr. Marsh Tracy, a veterinarian at the fictional Wameru Study Centre for Animal Behaviour in East Africa.
O Direito de Nascer
O Direito de Nascer
1964 · BR
No overview available


Richard the Lionheart
1962 · UK
A kid-friendly take on the exploits of King Richard the Lion Heart, from his participation in the Crusades, to his capture in Austria, to his final return to England.


Pippi Longstocking
1969 · SE
The adventures of Pippi Longstocking, an eccentric, super-strong, redheaded moppet and her best friends Tommy and Annika.


The Secret Squirrel Show
1965 · US
The half-hour The Secret Squirrel Show included three individual cartoon segments: "Secret Squirrel", "Squiddly Diddly" and "Winsome Witch".


Gentle Ben
1967 · US
Gentle Ben is an American family series that aired on CBS from September 10, 1967 to April 27, 1969. The series follows the adventures, in the Florida Everglades, of a game warden, Tom Wedloe, his wife Ellen, his son Mark and Ben the grizzly bear.


Cattanooga Cats
1969 · US
Follow the adventures of the Cattanooga Cats, an anthropomorphic band of cats.
1960s television was the medium's first confident decade, when the Western and the variety show gave way to a broader range of genre programming in colour.
Family television is built for co-viewing, balancing what works for a child with what keeps an adult in the room. The durable shows manage genuine warmth without condescending to either.