As I continue to muse about my childhood and early adulthood, I saw this last night sent by one of the kids to a large group of friends and it got me thinking about
We didn't have a television until we moved into town in 1959, but I remember going to grandma's and a television on the wall at the bar & grill where we had fish dinner every Friday and there were some shows.
Wagon Train, Walter Cronkrite, Captain Kangaroo, Wrestling (dad was a huge fan) and on Sundays the Wonderful World of Disney.
No talking was allowed when dad and mom were watching Lawrence Welk or the news otherwise television was a real interactive family affair for the kids.
What shows do you remember that were special to you and your family?
Dukes of Hazzard, Love Boat, Fantasy Island. Does anyone remember a short lived show about the crew of a pink navy submarine called Operation Petticoat? I loved that show.
As a real young one I would have been watching Captain Kangaroo, Bozo the Clown, Romper Room, Leave It To Beaver...they sure don't make 'em like that anymore! As a young teen it would have been Partridge Family and I loved shows like HR Puffnstuff!
Some of my favorite shows from the 70s/80s...Night Court, Cheers, Barney Miller (anyone remember the Pot Brownie episode? I giggled every time I think about it...mooshy mooshy...LOL).
The Lone Ranger for sure, we listened to that on radio along with the Shadow and a few others and then picked up the Lone Ranger and the Cisco Kid on TV
I like the first two you mentioned as well, but do not remember the Operation Petticoat show, though I seem to remember a movie with a title something like that from way back when
There was a movie with that title, Operation Petticoat , starring Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Dina Merril, Dick Sargent, and a whole slew of other familiar faces. I loved that movie!
I Love Lucy, Leave It to Beaver, Perry Mason, Father Knows Best, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, You Bet Your Life, The Roy Rogers Show, Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton Show, Wagon Train, Batman, Andy Griffith Show, Beverly Hillbillies, The Addams Family, Bewitched, Gomer Pyle USMC, Hogan's Heroes, The Dick VanDyke Show, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, McHale's Navy, The Fugitive, My Three Sons, the Ed Sullivan Show, That Girl...
BTW how many people remember that I dream of jeannie had two different openings? When you look at the animation, you realize that she is dancing to the original tune.
Hands down, Star Trek. That original theme song played at the beginning of every episode, withit's "boldly go..." monologue, still gets me to this day!
I've seen the episodes of the original series so many times, I can just about tell ya which episode is which within 15 seconds of the show coming on, every time. The show fascinated me as a youngster!
Since the question posed was asking for the single favorite show in the past, I would say Bonanza . Growing up in suburban NJ, I always dreaming of seeing the outdoors of the Ponderosa. Also, I always thought the Cartwright clan were good role models: manly men, fair, decent, and courteous.
The Flying Nun, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, My Favorite Martian, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Nanny and the Professor, The Honeymooners, All in the Family, The Saint, Secret Agent Man, The Avengers.. OMG.. I can't stop!
I had to add this clip from my all-time favorite sitcom, All in the Family . It is the scene where Archie gets drunk in his basement thinking he is going to freeze to death, begins praying, and is saved by "God".
I am sure that they think of the shows we watched as mindless drivel as well, but I agree there seem to be a lot of shows about not that much of interest (at least to me)
There are a few good shows on nowadays, but some of the oldies will never be matched
I can't add youtube videos from my phone, but one of the funniest scenes ever was on Taxi....Rev Jim is testing for his license. "What does a yellow light mean?"
If can remember correctly, I think we got our first TV set in around 1952, but I can't recall the first programs I used to watch. Howdy Doody would have been too infantile for a 15 year old. Eventually I guess I used to watch I Love Lucy, but the most vivid memory I have on first seeing Television resembled this:
98% of the shows everyone has put up I watched at one time or another. Two I don't think I've seen listed were "Popeye" and "Lassie" and oh yes Bullwinkle, but they were cartoons except Lassie. It would be hard for me to list just a few I liked the most. Nowhere Man just about covers it though. Oh yes, "Wanted Dead or Alive" with Steve McQueen. One of my favorite movies was Papillon.
OK, don't laugh, but I still have my Romper Stompers.
I also adored a PBS show called Zoom...'Come on and zoom, zoom, zoomy, zoom, zoom!!' Odd(translation: embarrassing) that I still remember the theme song in spite of the fact that I haven't thought about the show in decades.
Then there was Nanny and the Professor, The Flip Wilson Show, Laugh-In(George Carlin's 'Hippy Dippy Weatherman' saying, "Now ifyou'll look at our weather map, you'll see that we don't have one.") Starsky and Hutch was a favorite. I had a tremendous crush on Paul Michael Glaser. I loved the Sonny and Cher Show. My father would turnon the TVand say, "Let's see what Cher isn't wearing tonight."
Yes and "Have Gun, Will Travel" was one of my favorites as well.
Two other of my early favorites that I haven't seen mentioned yet were;
"Petticoat Junction", (but I think that was mostly me wanting to catch a glimpse of them climbing out of the water tower.
And the other was "Johnny Yuma".
Johnny was more like Paladin than MarshalDillonand, as a kid, I thought his use of a double barreled sawed off shotgun more than his six shooter was pretty neat. Plus the opening them song was sung by Johnny Cash!
Johnny Yuma was a rebel, He roamed through the West. Did Johnny Yuma, the Rebel He wandered alone.
He got fightin mad, This rebel lad. He packed no star As he wandered far Where the only law Was a hook and a draw; The rebel, Johnny Yuma.
Johnny Yuma was a rebel, He roamed through the West. Did Johnny Yuma, the Rebel He wandered alone.
He searched the land, This restless lad. He was panther quick And leather tough, And he figured that Hed been pushed enough. The rebel, Johnny Yuma.
My mom liked I Love Lucy, but I didn't come to appreciate it until years later in syndication. We still see it on Hallmark or TV Land sometimes late at night
Mike, Three of my favorites, too. That's strange, because those were the one's I was going to mention.
I got to meet Chuck Connor in California while they were filming the Rifleman. The film crew and Connor were staying at the same motel mom, dad and I stayed at one summer. My family and the crew were there all summer. Mom baked pies in the kitchenette and Connor would come over for pie in the evenings. I think my mom had a thing for him. Johnny was a spoiled little snot and Connor could barely put up with him.
I liked Solo's P38 so much I had to have one. They were cool pistols back in the day and they still are. I hope the new Solo carries one. I loved the gadgets.
I don't have cable (cheap Scot bastard), but I found it on YouTube. Yippie.
We got our 1st TV in about 1950. My dad was an EE so he decided to build one in his shed in the back yard. It had a good sound amp and big speakers, but the broadcast sound wasn't all that hot back then. We watched that TV until 1965 when dad decided to get a color TV. Of course, the "cobbler's children have no shoes" and when he had to fix that TV, it would sit in his shop for a month - or months - at a time before he would put it back together.
Route 66. Gracie Allen and _____, Mork and Mindy, Honeymooners, Buffalo Bob, Howdy Doody show, radio Fibber Magee and Molly, The Shadow, Jackie Gleason showradio then T.V., I love Lucy Radio then T.V., TV TOURIST BOAT LOST AT SEA on a deserted Island( name escapes me), Star Trek for years. What show was Gizzel Mckenzie on? Song M-I-C see ya real SOON K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E sign off. Mousekateers with Bob and Annette and many more. First tv was a 10 or 12 inch Admiral in tall cabinet like the old radios. Use to hate the broadcast signal as it was on a lot of the time sometimes between shown and signed off every night. At first T.V. wasn't broadcast over night and a good part of the day.
Yeah, it probably was a Heathkit. They were mail order and they were the biggest maker of radio, stereo and all different kinds of kits. They weren't very expensive and the quality was top notch.
My dad didn't build the telly from a kit. He made it from scratch.
We didn't have a television until we moved into town in 1959, but I remember going to grandma's and a television on the wall at the bar & grill where we had fish dinner every Friday and there were some shows.
Wagon Train, Walter Cronkrite, Captain Kangaroo, Wrestling (dad was a huge fan) and on Sundays the Wonderful World of Disney.
No talking was allowed when dad and mom were watching Lawrence Welk or the news otherwise television was a real interactive family affair for the kids.
What shows do you remember that were special to you and your family?
normally I would say they didn't have TV back then but today I don't feel that old,....So I liked M- Squad, Perry Mason and Combat....
and it goes without saying,....The Lone Ranger, ....both radio and TV versions....
The Twilight Zone and Monty Python.
As a real young one I would have been watching Captain Kangaroo, Bozo the Clown, Romper Room, Leave It To Beaver...they sure don't make 'em like that anymore! As a young teen it would have been Partridge Family and I loved shows like HR Puffnstuff!
Some of my favorite shows from the 70s/80s...Night Court, Cheers, Barney Miller (anyone remember the Pot Brownie episode? I giggled every time I think about it...mooshy mooshy...LOL).
Mindless entertainment...don't ya love it?
Hal, I vaguely remember Operation Petticoat! Who was on that show...anyone still around now?
I think one of my Aunt Fran's favorite shows was Jack LaLane! I found her exercising in the basement family room to his show once...she was nude!!
LOL...good one LR!
The Lone Ranger for sure, we listened to that on radio along with the Shadow and a few others and then picked up the Lone Ranger and the Cisco Kid on TV
Hal
I like the first two you mentioned as well, but do not remember the Operation Petticoat show, though I seem to remember a movie with a title something like that from way back when
The Twilight Zone a timeless classic, I still see it now and again on obscure cable channels.
Uptown
A lot of classics on that list
I vaguely remember the kids watching Electric Company but do not recall Zoom
MiG
Three true classics, the last two are the sourcefrom which the modern cops and robbers shows were spawned.
There was a movie with that title, Operation Petticoat , starring Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Dina Merril, Dick Sargent, and a whole slew of other familiar faces. I loved that movie!
Yep that is the one I was thinking about
I Love Lucy, Leave It to Beaver, Perry Mason, Father Knows Best, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, You Bet Your Life, The Roy Rogers Show, Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton Show, Wagon Train, Batman, Andy Griffith Show, Beverly Hillbillies, The Addams Family, Bewitched, Gomer Pyle USMC, Hogan's Heroes, The Dick VanDyke Show, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, McHale's Navy, The Fugitive, My Three Sons, the Ed Sullivan Show, That Girl...
I've exhausted my memory.
My friend you listed a lot of the reasons that television from back in the day was preferable to some of the crap that is on TV today.
To pick a couple form your list that were regulars at our house
Wagon Train, The Ed Sullivan Show, Father Knows Best and Leave it to Beaver
Thanks for sharing
We watched all the westerns, too-- but I forgot to add them to the list. Oops! Obviously, we watched a lot of TV.
I remember when Daddy's boss got the first color TV, it seemed like in town... We went over to watch Bonanza! What fun!
Howdy Doody!
Love the show, I remember seeing a Howdy Doody doll in Woolworths and it scared the crap out of my little brother!
Good one thanks for sharing that memory
This was one of my all time favorites:
On the serious side.
But on the fun side:
Bewitched and I dream of jeannie.
BTW how many people remember that I dream of jeannie had two different openings? When you look at the animation, you realize that she is dancing to the original tune.
Actually this is the beginning from episode 1
Hands down, Star Trek. That original theme song played at the beginning of every episode, withit's "boldly go..." monologue, still gets me to this day!
:~)
Well, yeah Larry!
Perrie
I Dream of Jeannie was great, I sometimes see it on TV Land or other minor cable channels.
The Prisoner was ahead of its time in style as well
Thanks for sharing
I liked MASH no matter what. Just like All in the Family!
Loved the series, hated the movies
Thanks for the perspective
John
Thanks for the feedback
I cannot think of a single episode of MASH that I did not like and I have seen them all multiple times.
The DVD collection of MASH is actually on my list to acquire
I've seen the episodes of the original series so many times, I can just about tell ya which episode is which within 15 seconds of the show coming on, every time. The show fascinated me as a youngster!
Since the question posed was asking for the single favorite show in the past, I would say Bonanza . Growing up in suburban NJ, I always dreaming of seeing the outdoors of the Ponderosa. Also, I always thought the Cartwright clan were good role models: manly men, fair, decent, and courteous.
What was your favorite episode?
Mine was " The City on the Edge of Forever "
Some more!
The Flying Nun, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, My Favorite Martian, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Nanny and the Professor, The Honeymooners, All in the Family, The Saint, Secret Agent Man, The Avengers.. OMG.. I can't stop!
I had to add this clip from my all-time favorite sitcom, All in the Family . It is the scene where Archie gets drunk in his basement thinking he is going to freeze to death, begins praying, and is saved by "God".
jennilee
I thoroughly enjoyed the Carol Burnett Show and liked the Andy Griffith Show and Gunsmoke was must see TV in back in the day...
Thanks foe the feedback
Jennilee,
Did you know that there is a site called Damn Auto Correct.. or something like that?
Loved the theme song too!
All in The Family spawned a lot of other shows and addressed a number of social issues although awkwardly at times. A great cast for sure
The Saint was great entertainment
A very memorable episode, thanks for sharing the clip
"Those were the days......."
"The Trouble with Tribbles" always cracks me up!
:~)
CAR 54 Where are You?,
McHales Navy,
Bonanza,
Gunsmoke,
Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom,
I love Lucy,
Rin Tin Tin,
Superman, (George Reeves)
Sea Hunt,
Highway Patrol,
Adam 12,
Dragnet, (Jack Webb & Harry Morgan)
Hawaii Five-O, (the new one doesn't even come close)
Batman,
Lost in Space,
The Streets of San Francisco,
Many Many more....
Back in the days where they actually put out good quality programming.
MASH.
F Troop,
Gomer Pyle USMC,
We will never get those days back.
THE INVADERS.....
VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA....
"The Trouble with Tribbles" has been repeatedly voted by fans as the greatest Star Trek episode of all time.
Hard to top.
The Trouble with Tribbles was a great episode
N M
Wow, it looks to me like you watched entirely too much TV
Thanks for the feedback
Yeah, the theme song was unmistakable and one of the classics, just like the show!
The theme song set the tone for Archie.....
Probably, but from Mutual's broadcasts to the '80's end of Hawaii Five-O your talking 40 years of television.
So many of them were re-runs when I got old enough, but can you imagine what's happening to kids with the mindless drivel being put on TV now?
I am sure that they think of the shows we watched as mindless drivel as well, but I agree there seem to be a lot of shows about not that much of interest (at least to me)
There are a few good shows on nowadays, but some of the oldies will never be matched
Agreed.
Good shows today?
Are usually canceled before they get REAL good.
One exception, Breaking Bad.
Jericho was lost right when it started getting good.
Longmire got picked up for another season by Redbox. (but I don't suspect it will last long redbox being what it is and all)
Criminal minds is a good, long running one, but there have been better.
but none of them match the oldies.
Not always, a couple my wife I like a lot are
NCIS, Bones, Big Bang Theory,CSI, Cedar Cove.......
Penny, Clipper and the Song Bird!
Hey Boy!
If can remember correctly, I think we got our first TV set in around 1952, but I can't recall the first programs I used to watch. Howdy Doody would have been too infantile for a 15 year old. Eventually I guess I used to watch I Love Lucy, but the most vivid memory I have on first seeing Television resembled this:
I was waiting to see if I saw "Howdy Doody". I think it was on the radio as well.
98% of the shows everyone has put up I watched at one time or another. Two I don't think I've seen listed were "Popeye" and "Lassie" and oh yes Bullwinkle, but they were cartoons except Lassie. It would be hard for me to list just a few I liked the most. Nowhere Man just about covers it though. Oh yes, "Wanted Dead or Alive" with Steve McQueen. One of my favorite movies was Papillon.
OK, don't laugh, but I still have my Romper Stompers.
I also adored a PBS show called Zoom...'Come on and zoom, zoom, zoomy, zoom, zoom!!' Odd(translation: embarrassing) that I still remember the theme song in spite of the fact that I haven't thought about the show in decades.
Then there was Nanny and the Professor, The Flip Wilson Show, Laugh-In(George Carlin's 'Hippy Dippy Weatherman' saying, "Now ifyou'll look at our weather map, you'll see that we don't have one.") Starsky and Hutch was a favorite. I had a tremendous crush on Paul Michael Glaser. I loved the Sonny and Cher Show. My father would turnon the TVand say, "Let's see what Cher isn't wearing tonight."
Yes and "Have Gun, Will Travel" was one of my favorites as well.
Two other of my early favorites that I haven't seen mentioned yet were;
"Petticoat Junction", (but I think that was mostly me wanting to catch a glimpse of them climbing out of the water tower.
And the other was "Johnny Yuma".
Johnny was more like Paladin than MarshalDillonand, as a kid, I thought his use of a double barreled sawed off shotgun more than his six shooter was pretty neat. Plus the opening them song was sung by Johnny Cash!
Johnny Yuma was a rebel,
He roamed through the West.
Did Johnny Yuma, the Rebel
He wandered alone.
He got fightin mad,
This rebel lad.
He packed no star
As he wandered far
Where the only law
Was a hook and a draw;
The rebel, Johnny Yuma.
Johnny Yuma was a rebel,
He roamed through the West.
Did Johnny Yuma, the Rebel
He wandered alone.
He searched the land,
This restless lad.
He was panther quick
And leather tough,
And he figured that
Hed been pushed enough.
The rebel, Johnny Yuma.
has anyone said anything about TV's first talking car?....My Mother the Car,...was a funny show.
MiG
A real classic that I had totally forgotten about
A great show
Thanks for the reminder
LR
The true backseat driver!
Lassie was a show that I am sure millions of children were enthralled with, I know that was the case at our house.
Buzz
My mom liked I Love Lucy, but I didn't come to appreciate it until years later in syndication. We still see it on Hallmark or TV Land sometimes late at night
Ark Hermit
All great shows thanks for the memories
MiG
My two older brothers were heavy in Twilight Zone when we were younger
MiG
I had totally forgotten about Sky King
That was a Saturday morning must see !
M M
Gunsmoke was one we watched at our house for sure.
jennilee
That is where I learned to love Andy Kaufman
A great show which started the careers of a number of actors
Mike, Three of my favorites, too. That's strange, because those were the one's I was going to mention.
I got to meet Chuck Connor in California while they were filming the Rifleman. The film crew and Connor were staying at the same motel mom, dad and I stayed at one summer. My family and the crew were there all summer. Mom baked pies in the kitchenette and Connor would come over for pie in the evenings. I think my mom had a thing for him. Johnny was a spoiled little snot and Connor could barely put up with him.
New Man From Uncle movie due out August, 2015
Another good show and what show was his daughter on?
AS I recall it was a good one too.
I don't remember this one what was the time frame?
All the kids in our family liked this one.
We often mocked each other with the phrase, "Well now Wilbur!"
Ah right, Remington Steele!!
I liked that one too.
Captain Video was in the '50's....
WOW, talk about being up town with a Solid State TV,....now that was livin....lol
Seems like only last week that I was sure happy to have on e like it
We didn't get TV til 59 when we moved into town
I liked Solo's P38 so much I had to have one. They were cool pistols back in the day and they still are. I hope the new Solo carries one. I loved the gadgets.
I don't have cable (cheap Scot bastard), but I found it on YouTube. Yippie.
Many of my faves wree already mentioned, but, I don't think Shock Theatre has been mentioned.....could never wait for that to come on..
M M
I remember wondering why there were so many numbers, when we only got three channels
"Just one more thing"
We got our 1st TV in about 1950. My dad was an EE so he decided to build one in his shed in the back yard. It had a good sound amp and big speakers, but the broadcast sound wasn't all that hot back then. We watched that TV until 1965 when dad decided to get a color TV. Of course, the "cobbler's children have no shoes" and when he had to fix that TV, it would sit in his shop for a month - or months - at a time before he would put it back together.
Wow, my brothers and I built a radio from a kit and I thought that was a big deal.
Route 66. Gracie Allen and _____, Mork and Mindy, Honeymooners, Buffalo Bob, Howdy Doody show, radio Fibber Magee and Molly, The Shadow, Jackie Gleason showradio then T.V., I love Lucy Radio then T.V., TV TOURIST BOAT LOST AT SEA on a deserted Island( name escapes me), Star Trek for years. What show was Gizzel Mckenzie on? Song M-I-C see ya real SOON K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E sign off. Mousekateers with Bob and Annette and many more. First tv was a 10 or 12 inch Admiral in tall cabinet like the old radios. Use to hate the broadcast signal as it was on a lot of the time sometimes between shown and signed off every night. At first T.V. wasn't broadcast over night and a good part of the day.
Remember Happy Trails to you until we meet again.
r m e R
Some good shows in that list - thanks for sharing.
Filling some of your blanks .....George Burns and Grace Allen, Gilligan's Island (tourists on the island) and Gisele McKenzie was on Your Hit Parade
Thanks for the feedback
Was it a Heathkit? They were pretty good radios.
I do not remember, I know it was a kit that my oldest brother order from a catalogue but I am not sure.
Sorry
Yeah, it probably was a Heathkit. They were mail order and they were the biggest maker of radio, stereo and all different kinds of kits. They weren't very expensive and the quality was top notch.
My dad didn't build the telly from a kit. He made it from scratch.
We have sure come a long way from
IMO one of the classic TV lines of all time!
It sometimes seemed that he solved cases in spite of himself, but he did it every week by making that simple request. "Just one more thing"
I thought the conveyer belt scene was one of the funniest things I had ever seen.
Gads ... so many fond memories .
I wasn't sure about the article at first, but I agree a lot of memories from a lof folks.
It has been a fun article
Nigel
I am sure that it was not expensive or we would not have got it
Sounds like your dad was quite skilled