Shows worth staying home for, even on Saturday nights

Though its enfeebled state in recent years may make it hard to believe, Saturday night over the decades has been home to some of TV’s most celebrated weekly shows. Here are 10 that made staying home a joy. The parenthetical dates reflect the show’s Saturday night years only.

1. “Your Show of Shows” (1950-54, NBC). Sid Caesar and his prime time-ready players -- Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris -- set the standard for sketch comedy in this legendary, live, 90-minute show. Nobody since their heyday has done sharper movie and TV parodies.

2. “All in the Family” (1971-75, CBS). Norman Lear’s brash, politically aware sitcom about the blue-collar Bunkers of Queens launched a prime-time revolution.

3. “Gunsmoke” (1955-67, CBS). Marshal Matt Dillon left a long trail of challengers in the dust, not just foolhardy gunslingers, but rival shows.

4. “The Cavalcade of Stars” (1949-50, DuMont) and “The Jackie Gleason Show” (1952-57, CBS). Birthplace and proving grounds of “The Honeymooners.” The “classic 39” episodes that aired during the 1955-56 season were a self-contained Saturday night show.

5. “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” (1970-77, CBS). Had spunk. Unlike Mary Richards’ boss, Lou Grant, we loved spunk.

6. “The Carol Burnett Show” (1972-77, CBS). Heiress to Caesar and Gleason.

7. “The Defenders” (1961-64). Forerunner of “The Practice” and “Law & Order,” a lawyer drama that didn’t run from touchy social issues.

8. “Mission: Impossible” (1966-67, 1970-72, 1973, CBS). Ritualized espionage-adventure, the fastest-moving series of its time.

9. “Get Smart” (1965-69, NBC). A deliciously silly spoof of 007 movies?

10. “Perry Mason” (1957-62, CBS). Patron saint of the wrongly accused.