Remember black and white television? Yeah, me neither. But 'Leave it to Beaver', 'Andy Griffith', 'I Love Lucy', 'The Dick Van Dyke Show', and 'The Beverly Hillbillies' are some of the many, many classics.

1. Leave it to Beaver

The one with the good looking older brother? Yeah, that's the one. This television show portrays the "All-American Family", loving, middle-class family. In almost every episode, his parents, Ward and June and brother, Wally, try to keep Theodore, "Beaver" out of trouble. No matter how hard they all try, Beaver still finds himself in some sort of a pickle.

2. The Andy Griffith Show

Remember the whistling theme song? That belongs to this classic father-son television show. In this show, characters, Opie Taylor (middle) and Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith-right) live in Aunt Bee's house, in small-town, Mayberry, North Carolina. The widowed Sheriff Taylor does his best in raising Opie and takes him on adventures, teaches him life lessons, and tries his best to keep him along with his cousin Sheriff Barney Fife (left) out of trouble.

3. I Love Lucy

Lucille Ball, the fascinating, trouble-making redhead of this 1950's TV warms your heart and is guaranteed to make you laugh. Lucy's husband, Ricky Ricardo, is a bandleader and host star of his own TV show, and Lucy tries to do anything to be a star herself..seriously anything. Fun fact: Lucy's husband in the show was her husband in real life. The son in the show? Yes, that was her actual son and her daughter that appeared late in the shows episodes, that was her real daughter as well. Unfortunately, Ricky and Lucy did get a divorce which ended I Love Lucy. Recognize the picture on the left? The classic, chocolate factory scene with her best friend and tenant, Ethel Mertz, comes from this show.

4. The Dick Van Dyke Show

Fun Fact: The woman in this television show, Mary Tyler Moore (left), has a house located here in Minnesota, by Lake of the Isles. Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke) is a TV writer who struggles both at work and at home seemingly always getting caught in some sort of comedic dilemma with his fellow workers, Buddy (Morey Amsterdam) and Sally (Rose Marie). His wife Laura (Mary Tyler Moore), a former dancer keeps him sane and tries to help keep Ritchie (their son) out of trouble.

5. The Beverly Hillbillies

What could be better than a cranky Grandma, a curious girl, a slow-witted boy and a naive father? This show is full of comedy and problems that arise from country-folk moving to Beverly Hills after the Clampett family turned into overnight millionaires due to prime oil found on their land. The move from the country to the city is hard and they are unfamiliar with the ways of normal people (turning on lights, kitchens etc.).

But what's so interesting about black and white TV shows?

1. They were simple. Sure, they were cheesy, they didn't have a lot of props, or a lot of characters, they had funky looking furniture, and had easy to follow plots, but that's what made them enjoyable.

2. They really made you laugh. I mean the actors and actresses tried really hard to make you laugh. Doing funky stunts, making funny "iconic" faces, falling etc. they had live audiences and were up to the challenge to make them laugh.

3. They weren't sexual. Sure they were parts in the shows that seemed sexist, but look at the time period. They didn't show too much skin, they were covered. They weren't sexual; there wasn't any making out, or bedroom scenes, just a kiss on the cheek or lips, or holding hands if a teen was lucky.

4. They each offered something special. Connections, emotions, lessons, conflict and resolution. My Dad watched 'The Roy Rogers Show', a western with the famous cowboy, Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger. Roy Rogers was my dad's idol and the day my dad met him, it changed his life. He felt connected to him after all those years watching his show and movies. Roy Rogers had made an imprint on his life and left my dad remembering his famous motto that influenced many decisions, "What would Roy Rogers do?".

5. They each had a run time of 5-9 years with several episodes each. They were well known and when asking older adults, there were few well-known and watched TV shows, unlike the hundreds that we have today.

Leave it to Beaver: Ran for 6 years, 235 episodes

The Andy Griffith Show: Ran for 8 years, 249 episodes

I Love Lucy: Ran for 6 years, 181 episodes (stopped due to the divorce between Lucy and Ricky)

The Dick Van Dyke Show: Ran for 5 years, 158 episodes

The Beverly Hillbillies: Ran for 9 years, 274 episodes

6. They didn't swear, didn't use the Lord's name in vain. Again, they were simple and wanted any age group to be able to watch their show.

I've had the privilege of watching many of these shows, due to parents that grew up in the black and white television era. They wanted me to see the simplicity of TV shows, and for that I am forever grateful. My suggestion to you, if you haven't seen any of the TV shows above is simply this: watch them. I guarantee you will laugh and smile and enjoy the simplicity.