# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/81 "2017-08-31T15:12:05Z")
My Dad wouldn’t let us watch _Combat_ or any other war series because it brought back memories of his service during WWII. We also didn’t watch any westerns 'cause he didn’t like them. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/82 "2017-08-31T17:26:38Z")
No restrictions on any particular shows, but one night a week (Thursdays) we didn’t watch TV. The idea was to encourage things like reading, which was the last thing I needed encouragement for, or “go outside and play”. But I was born in 1956 - nothing objectionable was on, by my parents’ standards. We watched _All in the Family_, but I was older then. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/83 "2017-08-31T19:54:31Z")
The only restriction I recall was no TV after 11pm. At 11pm the TV went off, even on weekends. Both my parents said it just didn’t need to be on and kept them awake. My parents didn’t even watch Johnny Carson. Ever. I was in high school in the late 70s/early 80s and wanted to see all the late night shows everyone was talking about, so a time or two I would sneak & try to watch with the volume turned way down and sitting real close, but was always found out and sent to bed. My solution was to spend Saturday night with my Grandmother, who went to bed really early and was hard of hearing, so I could stay up & watch SNL, the Midnight Special, etc…on her gigantic console TV. I do recall having The Jeffersons on at her house one time and she immediately made me turn the channel because of the interracial couple. When I asked her why she said, “nobody wants to see all that after a nice dinner”. She was a sweet lady, but very antiquated. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/84 "2017-08-31T21:03:12Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > 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. > > . . . It has been awhile since I binged on Monty Python, so maybe I’m not remembering well. The only nudity I can recall is Terry Jones playing the organ naked, with a demented expression on his face. ---
**Author:** ![Santelia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Santelia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santelia)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/85 "2017-08-31T21:18:58Z")
Eurotrash. Of course this just forced adolescent me to my bedroom early on friday evenings for weekly boobs and sillyness:D ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/86 "2017-08-31T21:36:45Z")
For some odd reason, my mom also forbid me to watch Monty Python. I’m not really even sure how it came up on her radar, but for some reason or another it was forbidden. We were also forbidden from watching the original Clash of the Titans. I have no idea why, except that I think there was a scene with a nude woman silhouetted against a sunset. But we were allowed to watch plenty of other R rated films, so it was just odd. ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/87 "2017-08-31T21:41:40Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > It has been awhile since I binged on Monty Python, so maybe I’m not remembering well. The only nudity I can recall is Terry Jones playing the organ naked, with a demented expression on his face. I remember one with a naked blonde lady in a shop standing behind a counter. I can’t recall the exact sketch at the moment but Palin (I think) goes in and buys a paper and doesn’t even react that she’s naked. My first exposure to Python was during those late nights at my grandmother’s house I described above. I remember sitting there on the carpet all by myself and having no idea what I was looking at. I couldn’t understand a damn thing they were saying, and was too Georgia Country Dumb to get any of the jokes, but I wanted so badly to know why it was funny! The more educated I became, the funnier MP became. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/88 "2017-08-31T21:43:25Z")
> [@Wilson](#): > > Happy Days, believe it or not. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Wow. Why? Before the first episode aired, my mom forbade us from watching it because she had read that it contained a reference to “getting a hickey”. Her prohibition was rescinded pretty quickly, however, to the point where although I liked the show, I got annoyed when I wanted to watch _Hollywood Squares_ (always a new episode) but my brother whined because he needed to see "[“Herb Edelman burglar”](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0596325/) for the fiftieth time. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/89 "2017-08-31T21:52:49Z")
None. Also, only Playboy was forbidden to read. My folks were open minded, & we did good. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/90 "2017-08-31T21:54:07Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > 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 I guess I was a quick learner. I went straight to baby #3 with baby #1. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/91 "2017-08-31T22:31:33Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > My dad absolutely LOVED Benny Hill. We watched it all the time together. My mom HATED that show. She called him a dirty old man and we weren’t allowed to watch it (while she was home, that is). ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/92 "2017-08-31T22:40:20Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > 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? All television shows. My father refused to have a television in the house. Very awkward when I was a kid, when everyone else at school was talking about what happened on their favorite shows the night before, or getting excited about an episode of whatever coming up (this was before VCRs and DVRs and Netflix and all that). ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/93 "2017-09-01T00:11:54Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > 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? Nothing was forbidden because of content but I could not watch Star Trek because it was past my bedtime. ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/94 "2017-09-01T00:47:22Z")
My father didn’t want us watching the Cosby Show because the father was made to look stupid. They also didn’t want us watching the “black” shows like Jefferson, Chico and Sanford. Only had one TV in the house so I wasn’t able to sneak it. ---
**Author:** ![Miles\_Standoffish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/54ee81/32.png) [@Miles\_Standoffish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miles_Standoffish)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/95 "2017-09-01T02:58:20Z")
so funny to see all the “Three’s Company” mentions. I also wasn’t allowed to watch it, nor Benny Hill, nor “Alice” for some reason, though I didn’t really want to watch that one anyway. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/96 "2017-09-01T09:17:27Z")
1. One channel, mid-afternoon to maybe midnight. Nothing even slightly controversial. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/97 "2017-09-01T16:44:13Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > None. > Also, only Playboy was forbidden to read. Nothing on TV was forbidden and their rule for Playboy was “You can look at the pictures, but don’t read the articles.” Forty years later I still don’t know if that was because they didn’t want me reading the frankly pretty stupid letters to the editor, or they wanted to trick me into treading the at times excellent interviews they did. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/98 "2017-09-01T16:52:08Z")
No after dinner TV ever. 1 hr. of cartoons after school (I was 16) and after dinner we could listen to Mom laughing uproariously at All in the Family and the like. Bitch ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/99 "2017-09-01T17:03:15Z")
Nothing was restricted, I even bought a black market cable box that was able to get every channel, even the playboy channel, more channels then my parents got. Yes then knew it. ---
**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:** [September 1, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096/100 "2017-09-01T19:51:57Z")
> [@diggerwam](#): > > My father didn’t want us watching the Cosby Show because the father was made to look stupid. They also didn’t want us watching the “black” shows like Jefferson, Chico and Sanford. Only had one TV in the house so I wasn’t able to sneak it. Your father’s prejudice blinded him to one of the basic premises of The Cosby Show. Dad was NOT stupid. In fact, it was the second coming of Father Knows Best. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/growing-up-what-tv-shows-did-your-parents-not-let-you-watch/795096.md?page=6)