Television and your childhood
December 12 – what television shows from our childhoods would we bring back and why?
I remember fondly when we got our first console television. Oh, it was so pretty, with it’s gleaming wooden cabinet and my parents proudly displayed it carefully in the living room for all to see. I remember laying on the floor in front of it watching The Wizard of Oz and being scared of the flying monkeys. My brother and I were the remote controls; my parents asking us to change the channel or move the foil wrapped antenna back and forth until the signal came in clear.
My favorites shows as a kid were The Red Skelton Show. I just loved him and his Clem Kadiddlehopper character. His facial gestures and soft voice drew me in and I remember setting my manual alarm clock so I wouldn’t miss his show.
Later came Hollywood Squares. We got to see stars in a different light and I enjoyed it so much. Of course there was nothing PC about that show and as political correctness became vogue, the show lost its touch and dwindled away. The little unexpected un-PC comments were the star of that show.
The Lone Ranger, Dark Shadows, and Let’s Make a Deal round out some of my favorites. Dark Shadows came on each day at 3:30 p.m., just as I got home from school. Let me tell you, I didn’t dawdle on the way home from school, I didn’t want to miss a minute of that show.
Over the years, these shows have tried making their way back into our lives. About ten years ago Dark Shadows came back on and I watched it and rather enjoyed it, but for some reason, it didn’t stick. The Lone Ranger has been made into movies over time, the most recent with Johnny Depp as Tonto. But as a television series, I don’t think it would make it today.
Let’s Make a Deal has undergone many make-overs, but to watch it today, well it just doesn’t hold my interest. The thing is, at any given time in our lives there are the shows we enjoy and it’s difficult to recapture that wide-eyed youth and innocence we once had, so those older shows just aren’t edgy enough for today’s television viewer. My tastes have turned edgier and a bit darker. Cable television is about the only thing that captures my attention these days. What’s your favorite television show of your youth? Would you bring it back?
Hollywood Squares! I’d forgotten about that show. Yes, I can’t imagine the edgy humor that made that show so much fun would work today.
🙂
I remember when I was younger channel 7 had TGIF and I use to watch Family Matters, Full House, Step by Step and Boy meets World which was my favorite. I know they brought back Full House on Netflix called Fuller House which I liked cause you see the characters you grew up with grown and the Disney channel brought back Boy Meets World with Girl Meets World whiuch is his daughters adventures. I also remember watching Saved by the Bell on Saturday morning. I was always a fan of the older television shows loved watching Happy Days and I remember watching That Girl, The Dick Van Dyke show, Mary Tyler Moore, All in the family, Three’s Company and Newhart. Oh another show I know from back in the day that came back was Dallas.