My Top 25 Favorite TV Shows: # 25!

The hell with "Perry Mason." My watershed moments for Raymond Burr came with his portrayal as Chief Robert Ironside. This show was probably one of the best crime dramas ever presented on TV. And one of those classic bonding moments with my television tour guide. My grandmother.

As a youngster with two parents who worked nights for a good deal of my childhood, it was my grandmother who did more to architect my TV choices more than anybody. Luckily, she and I liked pretty much the same types of shows. Comedies. Westerns. Variety shows. Yet, for some strange reason, the type of program my grandmother loved the most was a cop show. She dug them all. "Dragnet." "Mannix." "Columbo."

But we connected with "Ironside" more than any other. When it premiered in 1967, the opening title and music reeled us in and didn't let go. Those were the days when you could literally judge the quality of the show by how good the song and opening was. Even more significantly, back in those days, you could pretty much get the entire backstory of the show by watching the opening credits. On "Ironside," you were immediately ramped up (no pun intended) on how he wound up in the wheelchair. Every single week with that gripping Quincy Jones theme, you got the gunshot, the collapse, and then the wheelchair. Our week was not complete unless we saw it.

Over the long run of the show, there was another inner controversy for me. After the first four years of "Ironside," the resident girl cop, originally played by Barbara Anderson, was replaced. She apparently left in a contract dispute and the substitute character was Fran Belding, played by Elizabeth Baur. As would befit most of my hormones at the time, I couldn't tell which one I liked more. They both were hot. Who was hotter? A question for the ages. And one certainly not discussed with my grandmother.

As crime dramas went, "Ironside" was probably the best written. The plots weren't hackneyed and you could tell that the writers took some time in making sure this wasn't run-of-the-mill TV. It was also one of the first shows that I remember was reflective of the times we were living in. There were drug busts and hippies and weirdos. And, here's one that I didn't even realize. In the very first season, there was a guest appearance from none other than Tiny Tim.

Raymond Burr and Tiny Tim in the same scene? There's a joke there someplace.

Years after "Ironside" went off the air, I was invited to a costume party where you had to go as a TV character. I'm not one for dressing up, so I took an easy way out. I got dressed up in a suit and rented a wheelchair.

Not only was I honoring one of my favorites, but I also managed to have a seat all night.

Dinner last night: Turkey meat loaf and macaroni and cheese.