Last time we shared our thoughts about TV traditions – day to day and for the holidays. The consensus was that ‘appointment TV” gave a sense of occasion to even the day to day shows.
Only being able to watch something at a particular day and time did make it more special. It was family time. Wizard of Oz after Thanksgiving dinner. Weekend shows like Abbot and Costello, Tarzan. So many great shows from the 60’s and 70’s. And you sat and watched it or you missed it.
-Lori M.
OMG Virge! The Wizard of Oz after Thanksgiving dinner; The Mickey Mouse Club for sure; Soupy Sales for me also; Sonny Fox; Bozo The Clown; The Million Dollar Movie (movies on repeat, probably regional to NY metro area); and my favorite cartoon – Top Cat. Thanks for the memories. I’m sure to enjoy reading everyone’s comments.
Being a Navy Brat and a latch key kid we couldn’t watch TV until my parents got home because we were actually locked out of the house until Mom got home. So we squacked until we could watch the late afternoon stuff like Mickey Mouse Club, Sky King, Robin Hood, and of course Rocky & his friends when they were aired. I also remember rotating the role of manual remote control between us 4 kids. Some much for homework gettin done:>)
Holiday Traditions
Reader Kim and several others added “the animated Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman!”
Once In A Lifetime TV
Two readers pointed out two very special TV moments. Thanks, Anita, for reminding us….
Wasn’t a tv show, but certainly a very special TV memory: The Beatles first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in February, 1964.
In 1968, Apollo 8’s Christmas Eve broadcast while orbiting the moon may have been the best “special” ever.
YOUR TURN:
Original Column:
Kid Favorites
The only time we kids controlled the TV (besides being walking remote controls) was the Saturday morning cartoons and on weekdays, for us latchkey kids, after school shows.
Looking at what is on offer for kids now, I miss the innocence of very early kids’ TV shows like Shari Lewis and Kukla Fran and Ollie – puppeteers who long predated Mr. Rogers. (Winky Dink was a syndicated national show my parents wouldn’t allow me to watch because I once colored the TV screen with crayons…John Gnagy was okay but waaay over my head. You can still watch one of his lessons here!)
Local TV in New York City included The Super Circus with Ringmaster Claude Kirschner (the world’s worst ventriloquist), and “Officer Joe Bolton” introducing The Dick Tracy Show. The big, national ones were, of course, Bozo the Clown and Romper Room. Once, my Brownie troop were guests on Bozo the Clown’s show – I was tiny! – and I remember reminding him on the way out that he said we could kiss his nose. He said, “Yes indeedy!” and I remember being puzzled because it didn’t feel like a real nose.
I said I was tiny.
TV Traditions
As I got older, my tastes became a bit more sophisticated – I loved the snark of The Soupy Sales Show and Rocky and Bullwinkle, and naturally, as I entered high school, I joined my classmates every morning at the lockers to discuss the latest episode of Dark Shadows.
Until the 80’s when the VCR became popular, we couldn’t watch what we wanted whenever it was convenient…and somehow that made what we could watch a bit more special. It gave them a sense of occasion, like a family tradition, especially around the holidays.
Must-see TV at that time included Laurel and Hardy’s “March of the Wooden Soldiers” and “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol.” Amazingly, my parents both went along with my and my brother’s choices. As think about it now, I understand it was a way to keep us quiet and out of their hair while they set up the tree and got ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas!
YOUR TURN
What were your fave TV shows as a kid? Did you have any TV show traditions (and do you still)? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Virge Randall is Senior Planet’s Managing Editor. She is also a freelance culture reporter who seeks out hidden gems and unsung (or undersung) treasures for Straus Newspapers; she writes frequently on Old School New York City and performs at open mic readings throughout New York City. Send Open Thread suggestions to editor@seniorplanet.org.
