Television, I grew up with this medium,it was wonderful. I learned to have an imagination from telelvision. Who new there were witches like Samantha,families that came together to form one huge family,who had a housekeeper even though the mum didn't appear to work? Or you could study hard and go into space as an astronaut, maybe even find a genie .Cavemen lived like us only in a cave,and they were funnier.
Gilligan's Island, I watch reruns every now and then.Still silly,still funny.I use B/W pics as we didn't have colour till about 1974.
The sound of the opening music to Bewitched brings back memories of childhood. It was on at 6ish ,around the time we were getting tea ready and I always think of peeling potatoes and a pang of homesickness when I hear it. Dad used to get home around this time and it didn't matter if us kids were in the middle of watching it, the news was on and so the channel was changed.
GOOO RINNIEEEEEE. I was a very small child when this was on but I loved it. Hubby did too, so we have bought the entire series.Each episode is like a mini movie.
I loved dogs when I was a child, we didn't have one till I was 11,so TV dogs were mine .Here is another one I loved,mum and I watched this one together.this dog was sooo good at helping people.
Every morning before school when I was about 8 H.E Todd would read his own stories about Bobby Breswter.His stories were great , my imagination went wild, Bobby would have inanimate objects talk to him and get him into all sorts of strife, I remember were a story about a goldfish who used to give answers to maths questions through bubbles and another about a ball that could find lost items. It took about half an hour to walk to school and it ended at 8.30 so I was very often late for school or running as the bell rang.If I didn't have my hair done in the ponytail and find both my shoes before it started ,I'd have to have a late note from mum.
I also loved the family shows, Little House on the Prairie and the Waltons, even now if there was a reunion show I would watch it .
A not so family show came on in Australia in the mid 70's ,titled Number 96, it was to us kids the "rudey" show. rudey and nudie. It was on at 8.30 at night after all good kids should be in bed....apparently, but my sister and I would sneak into the hallway and peek through the sliding door to see if we could get a glimpse of...well ...anything.
Saturday mornings were great. Cartoons.Unless I got up too early and had to sit through "thunderbirds are go" urgh, that was so boring to me that show.
I loved the Fat Albert,beatles cartoon, The Jackson 5, Wacky races, Batfink, and Doreamo a weird Japanese anime about a giant cat robot that a professors son tried to use to his advantage but things always went wrong... a bit like Bobby Brewster really.
or this : I will use my super sonic sonar radar!!!
And then there was the Muppets ,just to show us it doesn't matter what you look like there is true love for you, talent overcomes looks, old codgers have a soft side and there is no language barrier if you can cook. I loved this show and would love to see reruns. It was always fun to see the celebrities on this show too.For a great remembeRED about the muppets have a look at Kisartle's blog. I really enjoyed it and gave me an idea for this blog.
There's always a lot of talk about Television damaging young minds, maybe some of it can, today. A lot of the content isn't as lighthearted as when I was young. Shows like Underbelly and all the Law and Order & CSI shows that highlight the evil in people rather than the good. There were cop shows on when I was young,like division 4,Homicide,Columbo and Quincy M.E, but the empahasis was more on the bad persons being caught rather than the defence getting them off.
I think if yo let your kids watch the lighthearted stuff, cartoons,family shows, fantasy shows that help them use their imagination, I think they learn to stretch their minds a little and think outside their own square.
I am OBSESSED with Little House on the Prairie. I LOVE that they have released the series onto DVD.
ReplyDeleteI'm also obsessed with Full House!
Wow that brought back memories! I am looking for the naughty Australian show now on Netflix and Amazon! ;)
ReplyDeleteI connect with most of what you mention, but certainly not the muppets. I was a bit older and show just seemed silly to me. I used to be terribly dehydrated when Number 96 was on, and I required many glasses of water. Eventually at the age of 13 or 14, I was allowed to watch it. But then I would go to bed in embarrassment when any gay stuff came on the show.
ReplyDeleteThat's such a fun post!
ReplyDeleteI love Little House on the Prairie! My sister loved the Waltons, but I never got into it. I also liked The Brady Bunch, Gilligan's Island, Bewitched, etc.
I think there are good programs for families on television these days, but not so much on Network TV here (in America). When I was a kid, Prime Time TV had shows about families (Cosby show, Family Ties, Growing Pains, Who's the Boss, etc.). Now there's mostly shows about adults. One exception is Modern Family. The three of us watch that together. Then there's shows on family/children networks that are sometimes decent.
I grew up on most of these TV shows in the 70's and I think I turned out OK. Another favorite was My Favorite Martian. OMG, I loved that one. This is a great post. On another topic, I just really noticed the profile picture with the lion. We are so jealous. Where was that and how'd you get so lucky??
ReplyDeleteFun to remember watching all those shows, too, but in Canada. It's also interesting that watching TV fed your imagination. That seems to be against the grain of prevailing wisdom but actually makes perfect sense. I wonder if it still does that for kids?
ReplyDelete*Sigh* I love the pictures and clips that you added and the shout out to imagination that you gave. because really? How great was Bewitched?!
ReplyDeleteI remember almost every one of those shows~we must have lived parallel lives. :) We bought a DVD of Starsky and Hutch and have been watching it over the last few weeks. Even THAT was considered harsh in the 70's, but compared to what we watch today? It is benign, soft and furry. Makes me sad that our world thinks the dark side should be so heavily represented. Great blog.
ReplyDeleteYou put up so many good shows. I used to laugh so hard at the Muppets Show. I cried at The Waltons. TV can be such a fun thing.
ReplyDeletehyper, I wan't obsessed but I did love it. full house i can take or leave lol
ReplyDeleteportia..did you find the norty show?
Andrew..lol yes you remeinded me of the thirst, i had forgotten hahah
Dina, i enjoy modern family too. I did enjoy 7th heaven when my kids were little,it's the closest to those old family shows like little house the waltons and eight is enough in todays market I think.
BB oh yes my favourite martian, i liked that too, there was another on just after it...wwi? umm ghost and mrs muir, that was it.
oh, the lion pic was taken at the Bali Safari Park, when I went to Bali, it cost about $3 to do it, you give them your camera, 2 guys watch the lion lol and the other takes your pic :) awesome experience, bit scary when she changed position and I had to stand back, but once she settled she was like a big pussy cat and I whispered how lovely she was into her ear :)
steph, I know with my kids it did, they were and still are pretty imaginative.
galit, it was great lol,my daughter has most of the episodes on DVD
Lisa, thanks, yes I don't know where the fascination for so MUCH of it has come from.
What a blast from the past for me. I watched a lot of TV growing up, but back then the programming was much more innocent that it is today. I worry about kids today who are left alone to watch what they want on TV.
ReplyDeletecube, yes I have to agree,esp with tv's in their rooms these days.
ReplyDelete