Us, Indian kids, we didn’t grow up watching awesome English/American shows. Sure, we have the cartoons and shizz but that was just kiddie stuff. But then, a lot of us just got hooked to one show or the other and like a gateway drug, they pulled us into the world of some amazing TV. 

1. Bewitched

The show might have aired in the 60s in the US, but we watched it much, much later. And given the stuff we were used to watching, this was bloody brilliant. It was an old school family drama with witches. And for a lot of us, it was an introduction to what society was like in the US. 

Purpleclover

Samantha is a witch who married Darrin but when the latter found out about her powers, they decided not to use it in any circumstance. Samantha’s mother, however, had a very different agenda. Unhappy that her daughter had married a mortal, she did everything she could to cause trouble.

Newsner

2. Here’s Lucy

For a lot of us, this was our introduction to the world of sitcoms. Long before FRIENDS or Seinfeld, this is what made us laugh after a very busy and exhausting day at school. 

Television Academy

Lucy is a widow, with kids who works for her brother-in-law in a big city and faced some massive challenges as tried to navogate her life. 

Paper Moon Loves Lucy

3. Full House

A lot of kids of this generation might not have heard of the show, but I am telling you right now if you can find it somewhere, watch it. This show was a riot. Now, being produced in the 80s and 90s meant that it did have some problematic themes, but let’s be honest, that’s every damn show from that time. 

CBS News

4. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Truth be told, this show was so damn good that it holds up even today. Will Smith played Will, an African-American high school kid whose mom sent him from a rough neighbourhood in Philadelphia to live with his aunt and uncle in Bel-Air. And it’s just batshit crazy from there. 

Popcrush

5. Ellen

Before Ellen took over Oprah as America’s favourite talk show host, she was playing Ellen Morgan, a neurotic bookstore owner, who dealt with her many problems in life by basically rambling and being funny. 

NY Post

6. Psych

Now, a lot of us started watching American TV much later in life. For me, personally, this was the first show I ever watched.

Psych

Shawn Spencer was an amateur detective who was really good at his job. But because he could deduce the events of the case easily, the police thought of him as a suspect. To get out of which, he lied to them about being psychic. And for years after that, he helped the cops on regular cases, along with his friend Gus. 

Hello giggles

7. Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Buffy was freaking badass. Mind you, this was a time when vampires were scary, evil and powerful creatures that did not sparkle in the sun. 

Variety

Buffy Summers tried to live a normal life in high school while embracing her responsibilities and destiny as a hunter of vampires and demons with the help of her friends. If you liked teenage drama and mind you, we were all teenagers back then, this would have been your show to watch. 

The Verge

8. Will & Grace

This show introduced us to the first openly gay character on screen. It was quite bold for its time. And it was funny as hell. 

Vulture

Will is a gay lawyer, who invited his friend and interior designer Grace to stay with him temporarily after her marriage fell apart. as it turned out, she became his permanent roommate. 

Hypable

9. The Brady Bunch

Mike, an architect with three sons, married Carol, who also had three daughters. But the children struggled to bond with each other, making life difficult for the family, leading to a series of hilarious incidents. 

Coming Soon

10. Diff’rent Strokes

Mind you, during this time, there were very few shows that were about families of colour without being politically incorrect, or downright racist. 

Just watch

This show was different. The heart-warming series followed millionaire Phillip Drummond, his 13-year old daughter Kimberly and adopted sons Arnold and Willis from Harlem. 

Tv Guide

11. Small Wonder

I don’t have to tell you about this show. We have all watched it. We have even watched its Hindi remake. The show revolved around the family of a robotics engineer who secretly created a robot modeled after a human girl, then tried to pass it off as their adopted daughter, Vicki.

SW

12. The Wonder Years

With a dry sense of humour and maturity that could only come with experience, Kevin commentated on all the stupid shit he tried to pull off as a dumb teenager, making this show unique and with humour that still holds up today. 

University Fox

13. Three’s Company

When two single girls needed a roommate to share their Santa Monica apartment, they decided to offer a room to the guy they found passed out in the bathtub after the going-away party for their last roommate. It’s just a laughter riot after that. 

ABC News

14. I Dream Of Jeannie

The story started when astronaut Tony Nelson unintentionally found a 2000-year-old genie trapped in a bottle called Jeannie. Now she was mischevious, funny and more importantly, in love with Tony.

Gregin Hollywood

15. FRIENDS

How could one ever talk about some of the first TV shows we ever watched and not have this on the list? FRIENDS gains new fans every year. That’s just how good it really is. And for most us, going through the channels on our TVs, finding this show was a happy co-incidence. 

Insider

16. Mind Your Language

Jeremy Brown was an English teacher who taught the language to foreign kids, mainly from India, France, China among others. And as the students were not native speakers of the language, his lessons did not tend to go the way he had originally planned. 

Comedy.co.uk

17. Who’s The Boss?

Tony Micelli was a former baseball player. Forced to retire due to an injury, he moved out of Brooklyn and took up residence in Fairfield with his daughter Samantha. He ended up taking the job as a live-in housekeeper for a divorced advertising executive Angela Bower and her son Jonathan.

CBS

18. The Nanny

Cosmetics saleswoman Fran Fine unexpectedly got the job of a nanny for the three children of a Broadway producer. She brought her sharp humour and no-nonsense honesty into the household, helping them become happy and healthy. 

Instyle Mag

Oh, man. This was nostalgic. And if you haven’t watched these shows, that’s fine. But if you do find them somewhere, do give them a go. Most of them are still so damn good.