My parents did not allow me to watch much television when I was a kid. Thirty precious minutes of PBS per week, if I recall correctly, was my allowance, which I saved for the Friday edition of 3-2-1 Contact, hoping to catch an installment of the Bloodhound Gang. Side effects of this restricted viewing:

• 90% of the time, complete aversion to television and its accompaniments: commercialism, sensationalism, Tim Allen, etc.
  
• 10% of the time, zero resistance to its most peurile delights: Ricki Lake, the Real World, Britney Spears, Teletubbies, etc.
  
• unhealthy fondness for quiet, calmly-narrated nature specials
  
• surprised, guilty delight in really excellent shows: The Simpsons, The X-Files, Cupid, Boston Public

Of course I watched all the junkiest TV at my friends' houses. Jenny liked cartoons, especially Scooby Doo. Vivian would watch anything: Superfriends, the Fantasy Island/Love Boat back-to-back lineup, Charlie's Angels, Three's Company, Gilligan's Island, Laverne & Shirley.

My favorites, though, were the sci fi shows: Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers. These + Star Wars = years of fodder for childhood roleplaying games, and paired well with all the Asimov, Heinlein, Bradbury, and Frank Herbert I was reading.