# Growing up, what TV shows did your parents not let you watch? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 30, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096 "2017-08-30T14:00:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/1 "2017-08-30T14:00:55Z")
Having grown up in a very conservative Christian household, my mom wouldn’t let us watch “Bewitched” because witches. “I Dream of Jeannie” was fine and also held my attention much better. What was verboten at your house? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/2 "2017-08-30T14:03:57Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > What was verboten at your house? Funny you should phrase it like that, but _Hogan’s Heroes_. As a Jewish family, my dad thought it trivialized the Nazis. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/3 "2017-08-30T14:20:20Z")
Nothing was forbidden as such, although my mother expressed caustic disdain for _Married… With Children_ and I was forced to watch it on a tiny 4" screen in my bedroom (I had some TV/radio combo unit). I was 14 when it first aired though so she wasn’t going to literally forbid me from watching it but she could exile me from the family television while it was on. I have a vivid memory of being nine years old and sitting in my basement watching the _NOVA_ special “Miracle of Life” on the console television, sitting inches from the screen and the sound turned down so I could barely hear it, certain that my parents would be upset that I was watching these sperm cells and embryos but too fascinated not to risk it. In retrospect, I doubt my mother would have been upset but, to my young mind, this stuff was sex and thus forbidden knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/4 "2017-08-30T14:20:48Z")
Nothing was verboten. My parents realized early on that such a move would be utterly ineffective in my case (or my older brother’s). ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/5 "2017-08-30T14:23:07Z")
Happy Days, believe it or not. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/6 "2017-08-30T14:23:23Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Funny you should phrase it like that, but _Hogan’s Heroes_. As a Jewish family, my dad thought it trivialized the Nazis. The vast majority of the Germans on that show were Jewish, IIRC. They apparently had no such issues. Fwiw. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/7 "2017-08-30T14:27:23Z")
The Prisoner. Not so much because it was subversive, but because, in my mom’s opinion, it was stupid. In some episodes, I’m not sure she was wrong. 🙂 Pretty much else, I got freedom to watch whatever, as long as it didn’t conflict with something the folks wanted. I probably watched way more than I should have at a given age, but how are you going to become desensitized if you don’t watch it? ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/8 "2017-08-30T14:35:35Z")
When we first got cable TV, my family got the introductory try all the movie channels package. Within 48 hours, my father found out why Cinemax is nicknamed Skinemax by middle school boys and cancelled that immediately. As far as individual shows, “Soap” was in syndication shown in the after school hours. My mother told us not to watch that trash. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/9 "2017-08-30T14:54:02Z")
Everything! My parents believed television was bad for children and there was no tv in the home until I turned 12. Obviously I saw some tv at friends’ homes and at my grandparents’ homes, but nothing on the regular. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/10 "2017-08-30T14:55:35Z")
The only thing I remember being sent out of the room over was the first TV airing of The Graduate. My sister and I caught it on late-night TV a few years later. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/11 "2017-08-30T14:57:27Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > The vast majority of the Germans on that show were Jewish, IIRC. They apparently had no such issues. Fwiw. From the [Internet Movie DataBase:](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0459252/bio) “When he was offered the Col. Klink role, Klemperer only agreed to do it if the show’s producers promised that Klink would never succeed in any of his schemes.” As far as I remember, I had no limits on TV other than bedtime. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/12 "2017-08-30T15:06:58Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > As far as I remember, I had no limits on TV other than bedtime. Me too. I don’t recall any limits. Of course, in the 60s and 70s, there wasn’t much to complain about. My parents watched very little TV (60 Minutes and MASH is all I recall) so I doubt they even knew what we were watching or cared too much. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/13 "2017-08-30T15:10:38Z")
Bevis and Butthead. Me and my sisters watched it in our bedroom anyway, with the sound really low. We had to convince my mom that The Simpsons was okay. She sat and watched an episode with us - I remember it was the monorail episode, because I was sure she was going to continue outlawing it for the line “That could be anyone’s ass!” Thankfully, she was okay with it. My older sister wasn’t allowed to watch The Smurfs. My parents heard there was witchcraft in it, or something (is there? I’ve never even seen it). ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/14 "2017-08-30T15:12:50Z")
No restrictions for me. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/15 "2017-08-30T15:13:55Z")
Same as above. I was the last of 5 kids, and mom and dad where kind of over the whole “parenting” thing by that time. Explains a lot about my life, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/16 "2017-08-30T15:21:47Z")
> [@Wilson](#): > > Happy Days, believe it or not. Maybe Fonzie was a bad influence? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/17 "2017-08-30T15:22:54Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Same as above. I was the last of 5 kids, and mom and dad where kind of over the whole “parenting” thing by that time. > > Explains a lot about my life, actually. My MIL (v.1.0) told me that with the first child, if you drop the bottle you re-sterilize it and make more formula. By the third, you pick it up, wipe it on the seat of your pants and feed the baby. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/18 "2017-08-30T15:23:16Z")
No restrictions. I guess if I had rented an R-rated video with too much violence or nudity they might have stopped that, but I knew to keep that private. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/19 "2017-08-30T15:24:18Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > My older sister wasn’t allowed to watch The Smurfs. My parents heard there was witchcraft in it, or something (is there? I’ve never even seen it). Gargamel was always after the Smurfs and was trying to eat them. IIRC he was a wizard and would do magic and potions. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/20 "2017-08-30T15:28:26Z")
Mid to late 70s - yeah, no restrictions here either. We watched Monty Python (which sometimes showed boobies\*) on PBS on Sunday nights, Soap, and other “controversial” shows. The folks didn’t seem to care. - One Sunday evening my aunt (dad’s older sister) and uncle were visiting. It’s time for Python, and my brother and sister and I settle in in front of the TV. Mom and dad are explaining to aunt and uncle “The kids just love this show. I don’t know why… we can barely understand what they are saying.” That night just happened to be the night they showed the “full frontal nudity” episode. :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096.md?page=2)