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5 Classic TV Shows That You Can't Watch Anywhere

You may have loved them, but it's almost like they never even existed.

We live in a time where we can easily get immediate gratification from binge-watching our favorite shows on streaming services. And if something isn't streaming, it usually doesn't take too much effort to find the DVD collections on eBay or Amazon. Unfortunately, that's not the case with these fan-favorite tv shows, which we can't find anywhere. From teenage dramas to entertaining comedies, read on to see the five classic shows you can't watch or stream—at least not right now.

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1
Ed

Ed the TV show.
NBC

Ed is an American comedy drama, co-produced by David Letterman that aired from October 8, 2000 to February 6, 2004. Ed follows main character, Ed Stevens, played by Tom Cavanagh, a successful lawyer who is for misusing a comma that ends up costing the law firm over a million dollars. When he comes home, he finds his wife having an affair with the mailman. He then returns to his hometown in Ohio where the rest of the show takes place in Ohio. The series is a comedy but it dives into more serious topics like self esteem issues, stereotypes, and unrequited love.

Though Ed will occasionally be played on cable tv, it's virtually impossible to find anywhere. The series isn't streaming on any services, nor is it available in a dvd format. According to Vulture, Rob Burnett a co-creater of the show, said on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon that the show likely didn't get wide distribution due to music rights and the fact that the show is co-owned by two studios, NBC-Universal and Paramount.

2
On The Air

On The Air promo shot
American Broadcasting Company

On the Air was a sitcom created by Mark Frost and David Lynch that aired from June 20 to July 4, 1992 on ABC. The series follows the hard-working staff of a tv network called Zoblotnick Broadcasting Company and showcases the employees producing a live program called the Lester Guy Show—that often would turn into a disaster for them.

The show stars Ian Buchanan as the main character, Lester Guy, who is a forgotten movie star, and while on air usually makes a fool of himself like attaching ropes to his ankles and flinging himself through a wall. Marla Rubinoff plays the other main star of the show, Betty Hudson who is not very talented, but has a huge fan base unlike Lester. Throughout the episodes, Lester often feels immensely threatened by Betty's profound success.

Unfortunately, On The Air was short lived for fans. This hilarious tv show was pulled off the air after only three episodes as it was deemed far too strange for a mainstream audience and it has yet to become available for viewing anywhere.

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3
Ready or Not

Ready or not image.
Insight Productions / Disney

Ready or Not is a teen drama which aired on Showtime Movie Channel and later on Disney Channel from 1996 to 2000. The show followed best friends, Amanda Zimm, played by Laura Bertram and Elizabeth "Busy" Ramon, played by Lani Billard. This popular tv series shows this duo growing up in the suburbs of Toronto, exploring topics like friendship, divorce, racism, and body image.

Ready or Not had a major following for depicting the true reality of what it's like to be a young girl coming of age but was sadly canceled after five seasons. Unfortunately, this show has yet to be seen on any streaming services and isn't available on any DVD collections, but as of 2021, the show was said to be in preliminary development for a reboot.

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4
Adventure Weekly

Adventure week with five journalists.
BBC Tv

Adventure Weekly is a black and white tv series that follows budding journalists who set up a newspaper in their town called Adventure Weekly. This show was filmed in the Newhaven area which doubled as the fictional town of "Cliffsea," while interiors were filmed in a studio.

Peter Perkins who is played by Brent Oldfield is the main editor of the newspaper and has a vivid imagination and finds himself getting into trouble often. The sports editor, Tubby Taylor (played by Ian Ellis) is a sports enthusiast who enjoys to watch games while always sitting down. 'Swot' English, played by Frank Barry is one of the more serious kids of the newspaper editors. Andy Rogers, played by Len Jones is the final member of the crew and is the photographer of the paper.

The series has 13 episodes and features the gang covering all topics in their paper, like finding an unexploded bomb from World War 11. Sadly for avid fans of this classic show, you won't be able to find episodes of Adventure Weekly anywhere and it has yet to become available on any collections of DVDs.

5
The Beagles

The Beagles
Total Television Productions

The Beagles is an animated television series that aired from September 10, 1966 to September 2, 1967 on CBS every Saturday morning. The show was produced by the company Total Television that happened to go out of business shortly after the show ended in 1969.

The show followed cartoon dogs, named Stringer and Tubby who made up The Beagles, a rock and roll band. Despite the name, the music this band wrote and played was not similar to that of The Beatles. Funnily enough, the two cartoon dogs were meant to be spoofs of musicians, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

The series was canceled after one season by the network and basically vanished from thin air after that. Unfortunately for fans, you won't be able to find episodes streaming on any services, and certainly won't be able to buy any full episodes on DVD.

Lauren Jarvis-Gibson
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson is an Associate Editor at Best Life. Her work has been published in Teen Vogue, Allure, HuffPost, and more. Read more
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