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The story
A thread on 5ch asking users about the “foreign (Western) TV dramas they used to love watching” blew up. Alongside staples like Prison Break, LOST, 24, and Star Trek: The Next Generation, posters dug up dozens of lesser-known titles that once aired in late-night terrestrial slots or on NHK, WOWOW, and SKY PerfecTV — shows like Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and The Bionic Woman. Opinions split over how LOST and Game of Thrones stuck their landings, while iconic X-Files one-liners and Beverly Hills, 90210 memories flew back and forth, with nostalgia crossing generational lines.
What people said
I watched up through about season 12.
Miami Vice is more my recent pick.
I think it's Saturday nights.
I liked the old Sherlock Holmes productions better than the recent ones
The lead was sharp, cool, and full of gravitas — exactly how Holmes should be.
Never finished it though
Also MacGyver and Star Trek.
LOST
Breaking Bad
Game of Thrones
Ran 10 seasons, highly recommend.
Game of Thrones' final season was garbage too.
The A-Team
MacGyver
Airwolf
Captain Picard kept looking more and more like an actual captain.
The original TV series that Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible movies were based on.
Even now, seeing the word "debit" (as in debit card) still makes me think of David — they sound the same in Japanese.
Then again, every show's only good at the start.
It's sad that the actors who played Dylan and Brenda have both passed away now.
I remember thinking "a show this funny exists?!" and binged it like crazy after that.
The little brother was a total hottie.
Doogie Howser, M.D.
Exactly!
People used to say Scully was the real weirdo for stubbornly refusing to believe, even after witnessing all that paranormal stuff firsthand
In the end Mulder and Scully get together anyway.
Diff'rent Strokes (everyone loved little Arnold)
Beverly Hills, 90210
The Wonder Years
Dinosaurs
NHK used to air some really quality foreign dramas back in the day.
The X-Files aired in primetime on TV Asahi, and they put so much into it that B'z even sang the theme song.
I remember catching reruns — the opening titled something like "Men and Women, Infinite" really stuck with me.
Was it about four years ago? It aired on SKY PerfecTV.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
This thread is built on memories of an era when Western TV dramas could only be watched through limited channels — late-night terrestrial broadcasts, or NHK, WOWOW, and SKY PerfecTV. Before streaming services existed, the viewing experience varied wildly depending on the network and time slot, and the posts reflect that gap: some commenters could catch a given show locally, others couldn’t. The thread split into two camps on shows like LOST and Game of Thrones — those who felt the strong early seasons were let down by disappointing endings, versus those who still look back fondly on the shows as a whole. Worth noting: titles mentioned in the thread like Smallville (Young Superman) and Tru Calling ended more than a decade ago, and there are no new seasons planned.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread「Foreign TV Dramas We Used to Love Watching」.
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