Friday, May 28, 2010

Your Turn

I was going to use an idea I got from Sue Ellen the other day in the comments about garage sale finds, but with the passing of Gary Coleman that kind of sounds random. I don't know. I'm sure he loved a good garage sale though. Anyway, I can save that for next week. This week, lets talk about our favorite childhood television show. Something you remember sitting down and watching every week as a child. Or even the first show you remember watching. Some type of television memory.

107 comments:

Unknown said...

i just had this convo with my kids as we were driving this past weekend.

cartoons:
smurfs
scooby doo
flintstones

tv shows
cosby show
whos the boss
growing pains

Sue Ellen Mishkey said...

I was totally thinking that it should be a your turn topic, and I was pretty sure you were going to use it, so I thought of another sweet find, just in case. Weird. I like when that happens.

Anyway, the shows that I remember most, that I always watched. were Polka-dot Door, Sesame Street, and Today's Special. I love, love, loved those shows.

Unknown said...

i have to add too i loved me some abc afterschool special LOL! they were so dramatic.

PeepStone said...

punky brewster
laverne & shirley

Robert said...

Crusader Rabbit
Tom Terrific
Romper Room

Nichole Fisher said...

The first show I remember watching with any consistency as a child was The Muppet Show.

Other faves:
Electric Company
321 Contact
Silver Spoons
Battlestar Galactica (the original)
Little House on the Prairie

Anonymous said...

I grew up without television. When I was perhaps 8 or 9 we visited relatives who had one, it had a round screen about the size of a salad plate, and it was a blurry, snowy view of a non-moving elephant in a zoo. We finally got a TV when I was 14. We lived about 70 miles from any TV station, so we had to have a rooftop antenna that rotated, and even then you could never be sure you were going to be able to watch your shows, they might come in or they might not. I can recall in high school - "Are you going to watch Ozzie and Harriet tonight?" "Yeah, if it comes in." I can remember gluing myself to the screen when you could barely even tell there were people on it, hoping for a glimpse of Ricky Nelson.

I can't really put my finger on my favorite show. I pretty much was always on the couch for Ed Sullivan, Wonderful World of Disney, and anything funny - I Love Lucy, George Gobel, Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Steve Allen. The Hallmark Hall of Fame series was impressive. I also liked anything with music on it.

I was 34 before I had a color TV. And within a year I had cable, with HBO, which cost $12 a month for the whole package back then (1977). I loved HBO and used to tape the movies off it, and we'd watch our favorites again and again. I somehow thought this was illegal, so hid the tapes whenever any sort of cable guy came over.

I think there's very little good TV available now, and seldom watch it.

Seachica said...

Charlies angels. I would beg and plead to stay up late to watch it
Mork and mindy
Simon and simon
Remington steele
Knight rider

ThoughtElf said...

Zoom & My Pet Monster.

Hong Kong Phooey. You know you wanna sing the theme song.

Unknown said...

My dad ruled the TV set in our home. I grew up watching the Streets of SF, Carol Burnett, and can't forget Magnum PI. ;)

Maharesred said...

I watched reruns of Gilligan's Island, Three's Company and M*A*S*H. Love Colonel Flag.

timebob said...

my fav TV moments where being in my grandmas house watching reruns of I Love Lucy & Flipper on a saturday morning or the summer.

jess said...

One of the first shows I watched was "V" it was a re-run (I didn't know that) in my country from 12 years back. Other shows were:
-"Popular Mechanics for kids"
-"Seinfeld" (again re-run)
-"Saved by the bell"
-"Sabrina:the teenage witch".

JJ said...

I remember watching Wonderama and That's Cat when I was in elementary school. And I'll always remember the Cal Worthington commercials. We sang that jingle all the time.

About Gary, my dad hated Different Strokes and wouldn't let us watch it in the house. We had a motorhome that was parked in our back yard and the neighbor kids and I would get together and watch it there. The motorhome had a tiny 10 inch black and white TV but we didn't really care.

Rest in peace, Gary. It's hard to believe we are the same age.

Kristen S. said...

Dukes of Hazzard and the A-Team. I was OBSSESSED with the A-Team. We didn't have a VCR, so I tape recorded every episode and then proceded to memorize every line.

I can still recite the opening sequence and often do it when I'm drunk at parties :)

Cheryl said...

Little House on the Prairie. It first came on when I was at the age where you read the books. I've seen every episode including the baby dying in the fire, Albert detoxing, and blowing up the town.

Mindrew2 said...

This is truly an odd one.. it was called Winchell-Mahoney Time. It starred ventriloquist Paul Winhcell and his two dummies Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff. Thing I remember most about it was the dummies hated each other and they threw pies and spaghetti at each other constantly. Thought it was the funniest thing.. but then again, I was only 3 when it went off the air.

Sinjin said...

OMG Gilligan's Island! (I'd forgotten, lol). I NEVER missed Bewitched or The Brady Bunch either. I never understood why Darren would marry Samantha and then forbid her from being herself. Now I see him as an abusive jerk.

If I married someone who had Sam's powers, I'd think I just hit the jackpot and make FULL use of them!

RocketQueen said...

I remember the first time I was truly terrified was during an episode of "The BloodHound Gang" - which I think was part of The Electric Company? Anyway, it gave me nightmares for YEARS and I don't scare easy. I've often thought about searching for it since I can't remember the episode now, but I can still see a visual of the episode in my head. I remember even back then it was entirely inappropriate for children to see.

Other old favourites:
Punky Brewster
The A-Team
Cheers - watched with my Dad
Family Ties (can still sing the theme song beginning to end)
Silver Spoons

TV said...

that girl! oh how i wanted to be Ann Marie!

RocketQueen said...

Oh, and I also loved the original "V"! I remember Diana and Lydia - original badasses!

Treesap-Covered Lady, the Humanist said...

As children, the only stations my sibling and I were allowed to watch were PBS, Disney, The Learning Channel and The Discovery Channel.

The show I always caught, without fail, was a cartoon called David the Gnome, which aired on Nickelodeon--I had to convince my mom to let me watch it since Nickelodeon was a banned channel in our house. It was a great show that taught children all about environmental responsibility; it showed gnomes leading anti-materialistic and pacifist lives, and how awesome it was.

This Halloween, I'm dressing up as David the Gnome, and my dog is going as Swift.

GauchoGirl said...

The Love Boat & Fantasy Island. They were on back to back and my parents would let my brother and I stay up and watch them.

Krab said...

Star Trek (still love it) or Space: 1999

I'm 45, so I grew up with those horrible 70s sitcoms: Welcome Back, Kotter (so deeply unfunny now), Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley. Taxi was a favorite of mine. Also those weird Sid & Marty Krofft shows. I can remember being a little kid, watching Sigmund the Sea Monster, and thinking whatever my 7 year old version of WTFF? was.

Kingrey said...

I remember watching plenty of cartoons as a child. Thundercats and Transformers were my favorite. I also remember watching David the Gnome and The Elephant Show on Nickelodeon. Daytime TV used to be more kid-friendly.
My mother used to watch Dark Shadows reruns on Public Television at night when I was 4 and 5, and that show freaked me out sometimes.

jagerlilly said...

Wonderful World of Disney followed by
Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom!

Mr Pink said...

The first and best show that came to mind for me...

Lost In Space

It was the only reason to come inside during a summer day.

jagerlilly said...

Krab - what about Lidsville?? Witchy poo always freaked me out. And that talking flute? That was some good LSD Sid & Marty were taking!

annie said...

i remember getting up at 6:30 in the morning, when i was 5-ish, to watch land of the lost before i got ready for school... i was mortified by the show, but had to watch it everyday!!

i blame chaka for the fear of "little people" i had for the following 15 years! p.s. was that ron howard's brother that played chaka?

Cheryl said...

Batman. It was the first show we were allowed to stay up past bedtime to see.

Mark Price said...

Dukes of Hazzard
Airwolf
Dallas

Earliest memory though is why I couldn't figure out why Mom & Dad were SCREECHING with laughter when Sammy Davis Jr. kissed Archie Bunker.

When I got older, only then did I understand!

Maja With a J said...

I grew up in Sweden but we had some of those shows...like Punky Brewster, The Cosby Show, Dallas (for the longest time, the Ewing family was basically my idea of what America was like *L*).

But I'm sure Linnea will agree with me when I say:

TROLLTIDER!!!

SkittleKitty said...

I loved and watched M*A*S*H, but I'm also with GauchoGirl--every Saturday night I'd watch Love Boat and Fantasy Island.
Loved watching both to see what guest stars I'd recognize and try to remember what I'd seen them in before (you know, before IMDB-ing).

amazonblue said...

The show that I really looked forward to when I was growing up in the 1970's was the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights. Sometimes it was a classic Disney cartoon like Winnie the Pooh, or an animal film like the Incredible Journey, othertimes a goofy 70's film starring a young Kurt Russell or Jodie Foster. Good stuff to grow up with. Bedtime was after the show.

I feel for kids today, they don't have the Saturday morning cartoon programming I grew up with. The TV was MINE on Saturday mornings from 7am until 10am. Mom and Dad could sleep in late, knowing I was happy with my bowl of cereal in front of the TV until they got up. Mom could start the housework or go shopping and my Dad could linger over the paper while the TV was my babysitter.

I started and finished the weekend in possession of the TV.

skeeball said...

OMG! Batman~awesome!
bugs bunny is the best cartoon ever. Bewitched, Here Come the Brides, Love American Style, Streets of San Franciso and the FBI, I loved them all. The Waltons and Eight is Enough. I could go on all day. I was a TV junkie as a kid.

iheartjacksparrow said...

The first TV show I remember watching as a child is "The Cisco Kid" from the 1950s.

nancer said...

this is how old i am:

leave it to beaver
father knows best
playhouse 90
twilight zone
outer limits (creepy. i loved it!)
have gun, will travel
gunsmoke

Wil said...

I was a die hard "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" watcher. I sooo wanted to BE Mary Richards .. and thought Minneapolis was the coolest city ever. I thought it was so cool when ever I got to come up here to see my Grandparents. Now .. now I wonder why the hell I left Chicago.

I also enjoyed M*A*S*H, Tuesday nights on ABC where big .. Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Three's Company .. I still recall their "We're Still the One" ad campaign with all the stars of Tuesday night signing that song.

But by far .. MTM was my childhood touch stone. My Favorite episode [not that you asked but I have a tiny brain injury after totaling my car last weekend .. so I am blabber fingers] was the episode where - oh irony it is car related! - Rhoda borrows money from Mary to open a flower shop just when Mary's car beings to die. It takes some time for Rhoda to pay the loan back and Mary is freaking out because her car is in the shop. Rhoda takes Mary to the dealership to pick up her fixed but still dying car and they enter the dealership floor and Rhoda sees a nice Mustang Convertible and is like .. "Oh Man! What a great car." Mary was like "Yes it great .. but it's yellow." Hilarity ensues when Rhoda explains she paid back the loan from Mary by putting a down payment on "this yellow cah." [Misspelling intentional .. to duplicate Rhoda's accent.] Loved it ..

nancer said...

oh shit, i forgot 'the cisco kid!!!!'

oh, seeesco!!!!!!

hahaha.

Jillian S. said...

I will always remember the episode of Punky Brewster where Cherry got locked in an abandoned refrigerator during a game of hide-n-seek. This lesson may have saved my life on several occasions (guess my neighbors went thru lots of fridges).

mygeorgie said...

Tiny Talent Time

Cheesy local cable talent show out of Hamilton, Ontario I think. It was a low budget America's Got Talent, lots of leisure suits & accordians, but so much fun before Walt Disney Show.

mygeorgie said...

Oh! And I still watch Little House on the Prairie. Never did get to see all the episodes :(

Meg said...

Hmm...so hard to pick just one.
My first obsessions were with two older shows that were revived on Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite: Mr. Ed & The Monkees. My mom was always amused by the fact that I had a crush on Davy Jones, who was just 2 years younger than her. :)

jetfuelgenius said...

i loved, loved LOVED Shaun Cassidy on the Hardy Boys...and all the after-school tv - the Brady Bunch, Gilligan's Island, Bewitched, the Munsters...on a snowy day after a cold walk from the bus stop, curling up with a plate of cookies and hot cocoa and my favorite shows...what a great feeling that was to be home and warm and waiting for dinner time...too bad it all went to Hell when i hit puberty.

Ice Angel said...

Star Trek
Lone Ranger
Cisco Kid

Later:
Good Times
Mary Tyler Moore
Soap

Most wonderful memory of TV? Lying in my bed at night hearing the theme from the Tonight Show coming on, followed by my parents giggling at Johnny Carson.

Unknown said...

TV shows I loved as a kid:

Electric Company
Charlie's Angels
Baretta One Adam Twelve
Sonny and Cher Show
Sanford and Son

Patty said...

Hong Kong Phooey, if he catches you you're through!

All these shows are great ones. I was a huge MTM fan too. I earned a Mary Merit Pin when re-runs were on Nick at Night in the early 90's.

While reading through these, I remember watching the Tony Orlando and Dawn show with my parents in the 70's when I was little. At least once each show, I would dance with my dad in the living room to one of the songs. Sounds corny, but he died in 1976 and I look back fondly at that time and glad I have that memory.

Icecat said...

You know the first show I loved, and will always love is fittingly Diff'rent Strokes. I used to watch that show EVERYDAY after school. Benson was either after or before, and probably Facts of life, but that was my favorite!

This is obviously beyond Sesame Street, etc.

Others are:

Facts of Life
Punky Brewster
He-Man
Who's the Boss
Silver Spoons
Dukes of Hazzard
Growing Pains (was totally in love with Kirk Cameron, but he kind of sickens me now)
Cheers
Webster
Etc, Etc...

I was all about the Diff'rent Strokes, though. I'll miss Gary, even if he was acting a little wacked the last little while.. He was a huge part of my childhood....And, he moved to Utah.. My beautiful home state!

hunter said...

Punky Brewster!!!

Jessica said...

Looney Tunes cartoons
Brady Bunch
Love Boat, followed immediately by Fantasy Island.

Amartel said...

Houndcats and Roman Holidays! Bad animation, non-existent plots; on before parental presence awakened on Saturday mornings and turned off the TV. Also, Hong Kong Phooey, number one superguy, quicker than the human eye.
Afternoons: Gilligan, Brady Bunch.
Evenings: Rockford Files (the best), Mod Squad (when allowed). Zoom! Hated the Hardy Boys (but sister looooved them). James at 16and Family.

surfer said...

There are way too many to mention - Dark Shadows, the Munsters, That Girl, Gilligan's Island, lots more. And great cartoons - The Jetson's, The Flintstones, Scooby Doo, Bugs Bunny.

Syd said...

I never missed the Carol Burnett Show or Happy Days.

Paisley said...

Little House on the Prairie. For awhile, I could only watch the first half hour because I had an 8:30 bedtime. But after much pleading and my mom phoning other moms to get their opinions on the show, I was allowed to stay up until 9:00 only on the night it aired. My parents were pretty strict and consistent with their rules, so this was a very big deal. :-)

Anonymous said...

Oh, the Cisco Kid!

He was about the first celebrity I ever met in person, although I can't remember where he fell in the timeline in relationship to Rex Allen and Jim Reeves, but somewhere in there. There was a fireworks festival in our town, with a carnival and a personal appearance by the Cisco Kid! After he spoke or did whatever it was he did, he stood and signed autographs. He kissed all the females - the little girls on the cheek, and the mothers and, in fact, anyone over 15, on the mouth, bending them back over his arm to do it. We just thought that was very odd and couldn't understand why he did it.

Janet296 said...

Ok aside from Sesame street and show like that...The original Battlestar Galactica. I am 40 so I grew up in the 70's. I loved that show as a kid. When they were promoting the new version of it, they released the older version on DVD. My husband and I were so excited that they had it out. We went straight to Best Buy and got it. The box looked cool...just like the old cylons. When we got home we opened it up and popped in the first DVD. We did not even make it to the second episode. We both started laughing about how awful it was.....Ruined my childhood memories of it. You can't watch these as an adult. As a result, I don't want to see the Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar man, or the Original mini-series of V. This way I can remember them as a great show instead of watching them now only to find out they were cheesy and awful.

holyrollernova said...

i loved, and still to this day love, the wonder years. i grew up watching kevin, winnie, and paul and i still have such a soft spot for them.

i also really enjoyed -

i love lucy
bewitched
step by step
the torkelsons
salute your shorts
hey dude

ps i was born in 1985 so 90s tv and i have/had quite a love affair

Now! said...

Gumby and Pokey! I think the Eddie Murphy version of Gumby is probably better known than the original now, but boy, did it look great in 1967.

JeninRVA said...

As a young kid, I remember my Mom being unable to convince me that the Huxtables weren't *really* a family. I just could not understand WHY Cliff and Claire were married to other people because they seemed so happy. Acting and scripts, Iz didn't get it.

I also loved infomercials and would watch those instead of cartoons. There was this lady who would do these random craft gizmos - Perfect Punch (?) was one I think.

juicy said...

I watched a lot of Sesame Street, Smurfs, and CareBears as a little girl, and when I was a little older TGIF on ABC was a big night, what with Full House, Step by Step, that Dinosaur show... and Perfect Strangers, was it?

Also, watched a lot of Saved by the Bell. Who DIDN'T?!

Full House definitely takes the cake I think, for favorite childhood tv show!

juicy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Barton Fink said...

omg, I forgot about the Wonderful World of Disney until someone mentioned it -- that rocked. And Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, with Marlen Perkins and with Jim always wrestling the animals because of his immense manliness.

lauramart said...

Anyone remember Emergency? I loved that show.
For kids' shows I liked watching G-Force and Banana Splits.
My brother and I were allowed to stay up late on Friday nights to watch Dukes of Hazzard. We called it Dukes Night and we got a little glass of pop and a bowl of chips. We thought Fridays rocked!
I loved Little House on the Prairie. I think I've seen every episode. I wanted to marry Almonzo.

fordellcastle said...

The first TV show I always insisted on watching was Gilligan's Island. My first favorite cartoon was The Flintstones. Yes, I am old as dirt.

selenakyle said...

Dark Shadows as a very young girl. Mom said I'd sit there and be rapt with it and never scared.

But let that dang bitch Lassie get in trouble and Mom said I'd be blubbering like Niagara Falls!

L said...

Lauramart: I was wondering if anyone else loved Emergency! Johnny Gage -- le sigh. :)

CHiPs was must-see. ^ Million Dollar Man/Bionic Woman were faves. Little House, Dukes of Hazard, A-Team, Facts of Life...so many good memories! I love this topic.

RIP, Gary. His whole life seems so sad and tragic to me.

MaryMQC said...

Party of Five. My dad got me my own tv for my 10th birthday, one of those really old, gigantic ones (like 5 feet long, with a record player, and two big wicker speakers on either side), and the reception was horrible for every channel but Fox. I was sneaking some tv after I was supposed to go to bed, and stumbled upon the Salingers sitting down to dinner at their restaurant, one big, happy, beautiful, brunette family (except for baby Owen, which I always found really odd). I was hooked, and never missed an episode, even when it got really really crappy. So that is probably the first TV show I ever got addicted to. Unfortunately, there were many more to come.

lauramart said...

L: Johnny Gage was the best. Well, along with Almonzo from LHOTP, Bo from TDOH and the Professor from GI. I had a thing for older men back then I guess.

kathy said...

I'm among the oldsters here. "Lassie" was one of my favorites, although my parents had to make sure I didn't hear the theme song because it made me cry. Did not cry about Captain Kangaroo though, or Superman, the Lone Ranger or Wonderama.

lauramart said...

WTH! I just checked IMDB and the actor who played Almanzo is married to the actress who played Felice Martin on BH 90210. I am disturbed by this, I don't know why.

lauramart said...

WTH! I just checked IMDB and the actor who played Almanzo is married to the actress who played Felice Martin on BH 90210. I am disturbed by this, I don't know why.

TeacherFromTN said...

My sister and I never missed Solid Gold on Saturday nights. We also watched all the reruns of Bewitched, Gilligan's Island, Brady Bunch, etc. on WTBS--our favorite cable channel!

biteme said...

I loved the Monkees. But my most memorable first tv show was The Partridge Family and I LOVED David Cassidy and I was only 6 when that show was started. Saw David Cassidy in Vegas in 2000 and the women still love him and he is a very good entertainer.

Loved Emergency also. My father is now a retired firefighter but was active when the show was on. The fire station my dad was stationed had paramedics/ambulance with the fire department. When Emergency went to San Francisco, they filmed in my hometown and my dad's company fire department car was in the show. He has some good stories about Randolph Mantooth when they filmed there. As a matter of fact, my dad's birthday is this weekend! He is turning 70.

Thank goodness someone mentioned The Banana Splits - went as Bingo, the drummer, for Halloween one year when I was young. Love that show!

My favorite cartoon is still Looney Tunes, especially Bugs Bunny.

I read all the books of Laura Ingalls Wilder, so of course I watched Little House and I grew up in the time of American Bandstand!

FrenchGirl said...

for tv show:punky brewster!!!
for cartoon:Cobra or Clementine

Laura said...

My husband and I are renting "Dallas" from Netflix. We started at the very beginning, we are now at the end of Season 4.

It's funny how your perception changes, we laugh at the hair and clothes, and the acting ain't too great either!

lmnop123 said...

When I was a kid television (free that is), books, puzzles and board games were the cheapest ways to entertain your children. So this list could go on forever but I'll try to keep it short.

Wonder Works
Family Classics
Creature Features
Sherlock Holmes
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Quincy M.D.
Family Affair
The Movie of the Week
Disney's Sunday Night Movie
Heidi


If I think of any more that haven't been named I'll list them later.

lmnop123 said...

Oh yeah

Scooby Doo and the Muppet Babies and Mama's Family

Amartel said...

The problem with "Emergency" was that they spent about 15-20 minutes of that show just showing footage of the fire engines driving around with the siren going. It went on and on and on. It was like, well the house is burned down by now, guys.

Meg said...

@Amartel - LMAO

amazonblue said...

FYI for all the Emergency fans:

Kevin Tighe, the actor who played Roy on Emergency, Randolph Mantooth's partner, also played John Locke's father on LOST.

He has quite the resume playing villians now.

I will always remember the Emergency episode where the kid almost died from cyanide poisioning by eating peach pits.

lauramart said...

The only storylines I remember are the lady getting her toe stuck in the bathtub faucet and the person getting stuck in the fold up couch.

sunnyside1213 said...

I loved Steve Allen. Schmock schmock.

chihuahuense said...

I think I have said this before, but I wasn't really allowed to watch tv as a kid, because my mom thought it stifled our creativity. Although she wasn't so strict that we couldn't EVER watch it, we were just mostly prohibited.

That said, she would watch Unsolved Mysteries after we went to bed, and the music creeped me out.

I would watch Pee Wee's Playhouse at my grandma/pa's on Saturday morning after Catechism (what a juxtaposition, huh?) followed by Bugs Bunny/Merry Melodies.

I watched Sesame Street a few times, and just remember the kids running behind a tree, then not coming out right away, and then all filing out. Some basic camera trickery from the early 80s, I guess.

lmnop123 said...

Medical Center

L.A. Law

Trapper John

Ghost Writers

New School Review

Babysitters Club

90210 (THE ORIGINAL OF COURSE)

My So Called Life

Degrassi Junior High

hexamillion said...

I was a kid in the 80"s. I remember Saturday night being a really good night for sitcoms and you could keep the channel on for 4 hours and everything was fantastic! New episodes of Cosby Show, Golden Girls, Facts of Life and something else all in a row.

TGIF programming on ABC was also something I remember looking forward to in the 80's. I have no idea if they still promote that.

Wonder Years will always be one of my all time favorite shows. The opening credits playing Joe Cocker was always great to sing along to and set the mood for the show. Is a great opening credit song a lost art in the sitcoms now?

Amy in MI said...

Scooby Doo was the first show I remember, when I was 2 or 3...I remember it came on Channel 50 in Detroit right before Mork and Mindy, and that if I woke up late from my nap and Mork was on, I'd cry cause I missed Scooby!!

My longstanding one is Unsolved Mysteries

Majik said...

BJ and the Bear/Dukes of Hazzard.

ardleighstreet said...

Well I loved all the regular kid shows and all the pop culture ones like Laverne and Shirley but I LOVED the detective and mystrey shows Quincy, Eddie Capra...etc.

I also loved a show called Voyagers for the stunningly handsome Jon-Erik Hexum. (He was also in a show called Cover-up.)

Melody the First said...

Dark Shadows, Partridge Family, the Flying Nun, H.R. Puffnstuff (with Jack Wild), etc, etc. I was a media child.

ardleighstreet said...

OMG! I forgot Magnum PI. How could I forget the hotness that was Tom Selleck?

ardleighstreet said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
J-Mo said...

Mary Tyler Moore, New Hart & Cosby show are like comfort foods. They had very neat & tidy lives that bring me back to simpler times.
Also liked Twilight Zone & Mash.

fairylights said...

The first show I remember was Laugh In, and I must have been under 5. Carol Burnett's show was one of my favorites too, but the first one I remember never, ever missing an episode of was the original Battlestar Galactica. I was in High School, and damn were those guys HOT! Slightly later than that was the Cosby show, don't think I ever missed one of them either, even after I went to college.

Ells said...

Three's Company, the Jeffersons, Alice, Dukes of Hazzard, Facts of Life, Gimme A Break, Muppet Show, Sid & Marty Krofft shows (all of them)

KellyLynn said...

My earliest memory is waking up early on Saturday mornings to watch The Flintstones. My sister and I would jump up into my dad's easy chair to watch the show. It must've been in reruns by then, as I wasn't born until the 70s. I must have been less than five years old.

Being the well-raised redneck kids that we were, my sister and I also loved Little House on the Prairie and Dukes of Hazard. We pretty much watched most everything that was on 80s network TV, since we lived out in the country and didn't have much else to do.

My best memory regarding childhood TV-watching would have been the Saturday night double-movie feature on our local public television station. Erv Coppi hosted the series, which usually included both a classic comedy-horror and a horror-suspense movie. Our Friday night sleepovers at my Grandma's house weren't complete without popcorn popped in pork fat and laced with cracklins to accompany the movie features.

My love of classic movies (and my disdain for horror flicks) blossomed from that early ritual.

Ms. said...

@ MyGeorgie
Yes, the Walt Disney show. Never missed it. I had forgotten about it! That show was an absolute must, as was 60 Minutes. I have been a faithful viewer of 60 Minutes since I was seven eight. Yes, I was a weird little kid.

Ms. said...

The Loony Toons hour was a must as well. (Still is...)

B626 said...

I loved Jonny Quest(voiced by--Tim Matheson!)Each show had such an exciting plot and much comic relief from the loyal dog, Bandit.
Still fun to watch on DVD with the kids.

MnGddess said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MnGddess said...

The Monkees
Star Trek
Sesame Street
Electric Company

Tom Jones!! He used to have a variety hour, and it was the only show my mom let me stay up and watch. I never made it to the end though. I always fell asleep.

Bosom Buddies (later)

and I will admit when I was 6 Liberace used to have a show, and I watched it. I think it explains my love for piano.

MnGddess said...

Cor - I love Happy Bunny!

shakey said...

I remember being maybe 5 years old, sneaking down the hallway and crouching beside the chair in the livingroom to watch The Flintstones. They were on after my bedtime.

I think I've told this before - first colour tv set (Motorola Quasar). 9 years old. We turn it on at TVOntario (since it was channel 2 on the dial). Monty Python is on and it's the Sam Peckinpah Salad Days skit. It was brilliant to behold.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1-NpyaOWV0&feature=related

Moonmaid said...

mglopkin said...

" This is truly an odd one.. it was called Winchell-Mahoney Time. It starred ventriloquist Paul Winhcell and his two dummies Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff. "

OMG, I remember that show when I was about 6! lol I loved it too. to this day, whenever someone asks for a "secret password" I say "Scottie Wottie Ding Do!" I don't think anyone gets it.

My favorite early TV show is a really bizarre one. We lived overseas in Hong Kong, and it was the dumping ground for all the failed American TV shows. My sisters and I didn't care, the trashier the better. While my sister liked The Betty Hutton Show, my personal favorite was Broadway Goes Latin, which was an inexplicable mix of variety show and Xavier Cugat with dancing girls numbers. I was about 3 or 4.

Moonmaid said...

Funny how the Lassie show seemed to make a lot of kids cry. My husband said his mom had to forbid him watching it, because he would be blubbering every time it came on.

I loved the Tom Jones show too. He had the coolest guests, like Janis Joplin and Neil Young.

Elle Kaye said...

My favorite television show in grade school was The Benny Hill show. My cousins and I had a club and we watched it at our meetings. We were 8 years old. That is one thing I have always really liked about myself.

Unknown said...

I cant believe no one said EIGHT IS ENOUGH!! :)

__-__=__ said...

Yes, yes! Dark Shadows!! Every day after school!!

And on Saturday, Johnny Quest with Bandit!

I was on Captain Kangaroo. I think Mr. Green Jeans was a hottie!!

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