# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/61 "2017-08-30T20:39:11Z")
When we were _really_ young, it was simple: We were allowed to watch whatever we wanted, because we didn’t know of the existence of any channels other than PBS. Sesame Street, Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, The Electric Company, it’s all good. We were bored by Masterpiece Theatre, but if we had wanted to watch it, that’d be fine. As we got older, the only shows that were banned were for being too violent: Most of the 80s shows about private investigators, vigilantes, commandos, and so on. MacGyver was originally in this category, until she watched a few episodes and decided that it was intelligent enough to be OK. Similarly, she also had a rule against toy guns. Originally, it was against all toy guns, but when it became clear that was unenforceable, she moderated it to no toy guns that look like real guns (so Super Soakers, for instance, were fine). ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/62 "2017-08-30T20:52:05Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > As far as I remember, I had no limits on TV other than bedtime. Same here, although sometimes I couldn’t watch something I wanted to see because my parents were watching another channel. I remember how I was dying to watch _Genesis II_ (one of Gene Roddenberry’s post-Trek efforts), but my mom vetoed it because _Sanford and Son_ was on. Sometimes I wish my parents _had_ forbidden me to watch things. Hell, I remember my dad insisting that I sit on the sofa with him and watch _The Outer Limits_. That show traumatized me for life. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/63 "2017-08-31T00:17:22Z")
Nothing was specifically forbidden as long as it wasn’t past my bedtime. My mom disliked my watching “Lost In Space” (already in reruns by then) because she thought it was irredeemably stupid. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/64 "2017-08-31T00:44:48Z")
> [@cwthree](#): > > Nothing was specifically forbidden as long as it wasn’t past my bedtime. My mom disliked my watching “Lost In Space” (already in reruns by then) because she thought it was irredeemably stupid. that’s my family in a nutshell … they don’t care as long as its not "stupid " of course my over 50 family dosent watch tv much anymore … But i have an aunt that if its not on the syfy channel or chainsaw tit lopper 9 type of horror its “stupid” ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/65 "2017-08-31T01:47:49Z")
The only show we weren’t allowed to watch was _Three’s Company_, because my mom simply couldn’t stand to listen to it, she thought it was annoying and dumb. One time when we thought we could get away with it because the channel was already on, and she was in another room, she yelled something like “turn that off before it sucks all the IQ points right out of your heads!” which then became our family way to describe doing something stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/66 "2017-08-31T02:18:11Z")
We were not allowed to watch Dark Shadows, the late 60’s era vampiric soap opera. I think Mom’s objection was mainly that we didn’t need to be watching TV at 3 pm on school days. I remember Mom walking in and snapping off the TV for 2 movies: Black Sabbath, and Georgy Girl. I’m sure she thought both were too adult for me at the time. My German (and Nazi era) mother thought Hogan’s Heroes the absolute dumbest show on TV. Of course, we loved it, when we could sneak and watch it. Like many others, we had one TV and 99% of the time the adults decided what was watched. Kids were always welcome to go to their room and read a book if they did not like what was on offer! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/67 "2017-08-31T02:26:11Z")
I grew up in the era of broadcast network television. My parents didn’t need to censor television because it censored itself. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/68 "2017-08-31T02:27:46Z")
Mi abuela had little idea of what was playing on English language TV. My only restriction was bed time on school nights. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/69 "2017-08-31T02:45:12Z")
We would watch All In The Family together, at times. It was a comedy based in real situations. My mom and I sat and cried after Gloria had a miscarriage, and teared up when Archie was on the elevator with the pregnant woman who gave birth. That was something never addressed on tv. Otherwise, we laughed like mad at the funny bits. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/70 "2017-08-31T04:08:03Z")
We were not allowed to watch “Maude” in my house. My mother saw that we were watching a rerun of it once and she practically slammed the off button. She said it was a stupid program, which was odd reasoning to me as she didn’t object to us watching “Diff’rent Strokes”. Years later, I realized it was because Maude had an abortion. My parents were pretty strict Catholics. Me and my sibs, not so much (all thanks to secular, God-hating liberal programs like “Maude”, I suppose.) ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/71 "2017-08-31T05:44:42Z")
I’m another one who had no restrictions on what I could watch other than bedtime. I had fairly restrictive bedtimes, though, which was frustrating–even in high school I had to go to bed at 10pm on school nights. I negotiated that so I could watch “Vega$” (don’t judge - I liked that show), and sometimes Mom would let me stay up late to watch “Baretta” with her (she had a crush on Robert Blake. I didn’t, but I liked the show). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/72 "2017-08-31T06:24:47Z")
> [@Wilson](#): > > Happy Days, believe it or not. Wow. Why? We were not allowed to watch M_A_S\*H because my dad didn’t want us to grow up thinking that there is anything funny or entertaining about war. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/73 "2017-08-31T08:36:12Z")
Neither a TV show nor absolutely forbidden but watching football matches (soccer) at home was very difficult. You see, my father hates football. Irrationally. I mean, he can come up with good points (players are grossly overpaid, it’s a silly game, go play outside instead of watching tv…) but his disgust at that particular sport is so extreme that I can’t explain it (other sports are ok with him, although he doesn’t really care about them). So, my brother and I could beg and cry, most of the time, the answer was a resounding : “No, you’re not going to watch tonight’s game”. We had to catch sneak glimpses when he wasn’t around and that was before we had remote, so we’d better had our ears open ! Heck, you’d have thought we were watching skin flicks, except that our mom was an accomplice. And when he _did_ allow us to watch a game, he’d always make sure to express his scorn for the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/74 "2017-08-31T09:00:07Z")
No subject matter limits as far as I can remember (though, obviously, no 15+ stuff when I was 9, etc etc) but I had pretty strict _time_ limits, which I could spend as I please. While _Doctor Who_ and _The Tomorrow People_ existed, no way was my geeky self spending my points on anything else… ---
**Author:** ![TYphoonSignal8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@TYphoonSignal8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TYphoonSignal8)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/75 "2017-08-31T09:40:01Z")
\*Dr Who \*was banned in my house. My mother thought it was too scary. They also thought \*The Goodies \*was too weird and wouldn’t let me and my sister watch it… ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/76 "2017-08-31T10:20:23Z")
> [@TYphoonSignal8](#): > > \*Dr Who \*was banned in my house. My mother thought it was too scary. > > They also thought \*The Goodies \*was too weird and wouldn’t let me and my sister watch it… :eek: ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/77 "2017-08-31T11:41:16Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > First baby drops pacifier: Sterilize and return > Second baby drops pacifier: Rinse off in sink and return > Third baby drops pacifier: Wipe off pants or shirt and return > Fourth+ baby drops pacifier: Kick it back to 'em. Wow, lots of variations on this. Here’s mine: Baby #1: “Pick up that pacifier, boil it, and give it back to the baby” Baby #2: “Pick up that pacifier, wipe it off, and give it back to the baby” Baby #3: “Get that pacifier from the dog and give it back to the baby” mmm ---
**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 31, 2017, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/78 "2017-08-31T12:23:13Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > We were not allowed to watch Dark Shadows, the late 60’s era vampiric soap opera. I think Mom’s objection was mainly that we didn’t need to be watching TV at 3 pm on school days. I would race home to see it. I gave up, because I could only see the last half. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/79 "2017-08-31T14:27:22Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > 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: Watched MP with my foks - I think Mom was disturbed by the nudity, but let it go (we were all HS by then). I had a friend who also loved it, but every time he convinced his folks to watch it with him (after describing various hilarious sketches) it would be a nudity one, which didn’t fly with them. The only show I remember not being allowed to watch was “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”. My dad loved it, but wouldn’t let us watch it. Looking at the dates it was on, I see I was 4 when it went off the air, so that could explain it. I wonder if he was watching it in reruns, because my memory of the house where I was outside peeking in the window to see it was one we moved to after I was 5 (but memory is fallible). On edit, ‘The Alfred Hitchcock Hour’ was on until 1965, so that’s probably what I’m remembering not watching. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/80 "2017-08-31T15:10:57Z")
I don’t recall any show that my mom forbade us to watch (born in 1960). She wasn’t crazy about “All In The Family”, but would still watch it and comment on what a bigoted jerk that Archie was. And some of the horror movies would bother her a bit, as well, but she knew that I actually enjoyed getting a good scare, so they weren’t such a big deal. “Charlie’s Angels” and “Wonder Woman” would occasionally elicit a comment like “Those gals should really wear more clothing”. But she would let me watch 'em, anyway, much to my delight. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096.md?page=5)