Classic Shows That Should Be Streaming: 5 for NBC

Yes, NBC has its own "app!" You can stream (free of charge but with heavy commercials) all kinds of series for free, including what it calls "throwbacks" like Miami Vice. Since the last installment of this series was so Comcast.NBC/Universal heavy, I want to suggest 5 shows NBC can--nay, should--put on its own service. All are Universal shows that I think are controlled by NBC and would be easy adds.

1) Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: This short-lived series used to be on Netflix but disappeared in the big Universal bye-bye a few years ago. The series may draw mixed feelings nowadays and was never a huge success, but the character is too iconic to be forgotten. This show isn't being used anywhere else. Put it up on NBC as a throwback and let us enjoy it.

2) Kolchak the Night Stalker: Another short-lived series that was on Netflix and then vanished. Unlike Buck, this one still shows up on TV, but it would make a nice addition to NBC's lineup of classic series.

3) Voyagers!: NBC could use some more kid-friendly choices in its Throwbacks section, and this short-lived but fondly remembered time travel series would fit the bill. I assume these first 3 series I named, with their relatively paltry inventory, wouldn't draw huge licensing deals. They're all out on DVD. Why not throw them up on NBC.com?

4) Little House on the Prairie: 9 seasons and hundreds of episodes and an enduring legacy that thrives as long as the books stay in print. LHOP has a long and tangled history on DVD, but it seems like NBC finally got it mostly right and delivered uncut episodes to the fans. Now that that task is out of the way, let's make the show available for streaming. Yes, this is a staple of "family" networks and TV stations, but episodes are usually cut to ribbons. Even with frequent ad breaks, it's better to watch anything without drastic editing and time compression.

5) The Six Million Dollar Man: Time-Life licensed this from Universal and made a prestigious complete series DVD set out of this fondly remembered action-adventure show with sci-fi elements. That was over 7 years ago. There's nothing more to protect as far as that goes, and the individual seasons have been heavily discounted for years at retail outlets like Amazon and Target (when Target still carried a lot old TV show DVDs).

Do the exploits of Steve Austin hold up? Well, maybe not as much as some other series, but the show was a big, big deal back in its day and still has many fans. If it's not going to go to Hulu, NBC.com would be a fine spot for this one. And that's the bottom line 'cause--wait, that's a different Steve Austin.

If this isn't enough, how about McMillan and Wife, BJ and  the Bear, Banacek, The Bionic Woman...the list goes on and on, and then there are series already streaming but inexplicably for only several seasons, like The Rockford Files, Kojak, and The Incredible Hulk. There's a lot of old Universal TV content not streaming anywhere since the agreements with Netflix expired, and Hulu has not yet stepped it up. NBC could make itself one of the best free streamers out there by adding more of this kind of archival content. I wish it would do it before the 25th century.