# TV Dinners **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304 "2014-05-12T22:01:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304/41 "2014-05-13T14:25:36Z")
Swedish meatballs for me. I like Michelena’s, which are about $1 each, even the dinners with shrimp (a tiny amount, but real shrimp) - I might buy, cook, and eat TWO! ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304/42 "2014-05-13T14:30:02Z")
I love TV dinners, and count me among those who love to cook but also enjoy the occasional fried chicken and Mexican TV dinners. Whenever I think of them, I’m reminded of [this Bloom County comic](http://comicsidontunderstand.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/bloomsteak.gif). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304/43 "2014-05-13T14:36:01Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > We are teh old. ☹ > > Oh, and the brownie must be lightly contaminated with the tomato sauce from the meat loaf. > [Tomato sauced chocolate nut brownie, MMM](http://middleagemuse.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/swansonmeatloafdinner.jpg) (and tomato sauced green beans)! > [Beans and Franks](http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/3d/67/cb/3d67cb0767f9ef52f4acb4e7961f2964.jpg), with TWO desserts! > Note the blue ink, hand stamped, price tags. > > CMC fnord! I remember the Beans and Franks meal fondly. Those apples were a treat. Sitting with a TV tray and a TV dinner so I could watch _Man From U.N.C.L.E._. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304/44 "2014-05-13T16:02:27Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > you can’t get sourdough on this end of the country Mine comes from Pepperidge Farm via the local grocer. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304/45 "2014-05-13T16:50:49Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > I even like the turkey (if the sauce is not too blue) > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Yeah, I’ve got that song stuck in my head now too. 🙂 Remember the video? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/C-6mI708yWc/maxresdefault.jpg "ZZ Top - TV Dinners (Official Music Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-6mI708yWc) ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304/46 "2014-05-13T16:52:05Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > When I was a kid you could just get a box of the fried chicken which was awesome. They don’t sell it that way anymore though. Banquet still sells the box of fried chicken. You can even get it Southern-style. As for TV dinners, I like the Banquet Salisbury steak followed closely by the turkey. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304/47 "2014-05-13T18:03:49Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I remember the Beans and Franks meal fondly. Those apples were a treat. Sitting with a TV tray and a TV dinner so I could watch _Man From U.N.C.L.E._. With my brother and I, it was Starsky and Hutch. 😃 And to **peedin** , YES - we only ever had TV dinners when my parents were going out with their grown up friends! It’s a totally fond memory. Thanks for reminiding me! > [@Kimballkid](#): > > Banquet still sells the box of fried chicken. You can even get it Southern-style. > (snip) We just finished off a box of those last week. I LOVE them! ---
**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:** [May 13, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304/48 "2014-05-13T18:08:50Z")
I don’t do them for dinner, but for lunch I will often have one of those Smart Ones or Lean Cuisines. I like pretty much any of them, but I usually buy the cheap ones when they’re on sale for less than $2 a pack (I’ve gotten them as low as a $1.25 each with a sale and using a coupon), so, of those varieties, the enchiladas and Santa Fe style rice and beans are my favorite. I pop one of those in for lunch and it usually tides me over until dinner. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304/49 "2014-05-13T18:16:14Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > It’s not a TV dinner unless it has all parts of a dinner - meat, starch, vegetables, dessert. I know this is going to sound stupid, but if that’s the definition, I don’t think I’ve ever had a complete TV dinner, then. The closest would be the hot lunch at grammar school, which would have salisbury steak, potatoes, peas, and dessert. The convenience foods in my house growing up were frozen pizza, various canned foods, Rice-A-Roni, Noodle-Roni, maybe frozen burritos and frozen chicken kiev. Oh, and we also usually had a bunch of the Michelina’s around. But not something with meat, starch, veggies, and dessert all in one box. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304/50 "2014-05-13T18:36:44Z")
“There’s peas in my fruit cobbler.” “There’s peas _everywhere_!” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304/51 "2014-05-13T18:43:34Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Banquet still sells the box of fried chicken. These boxes and cans of beans were a staple when I started living on my own. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304/52 "2014-05-13T18:45:15Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I had a Hungry Man Salisbury Steak just a few days ago. Definitely better in the oven. I had one recently, and given my experience with other TV dinners, I would agree. I asked Kroger to carry more varieties of Hungry Man, and I wish they would get Night Hawk. I lived off them in College, but they no longer have a distributor in Arkansas. ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304/53 "2014-05-13T19:57:47Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Who remembers [Libbyland](http://theyalwayscomeback.blogspot.com/2008/02/libbyland-dinners.html) dinners? I think those are the ones I remember. They were marketed specifically to kids, weren’t they? Didn’t they have a pouch of some flavor drink powder to add to milk? I remember being SO excited that I got a grape one. And then my (both older) brothers convinced me that grape milk was not something to look forward to. :o ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304/54 "2014-05-14T02:24:41Z")
> [@kath94](#): > > I think those are the ones I remember. They were marketed specifically to kids, weren’t they? Didn’t they have a pouch of some flavor drink powder to add to milk? I remember being SO excited that I got a grape one. And then my (both older) brothers convinced me that grape milk was not something to look forward to. :o Magic Milk. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304/55 "2014-05-14T02:54:42Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I had one recently, and given my experience with other TV dinners, I would agree. > I asked Kroger to carry more varieties of Hungry Man, and I wish they would get Night Hawk. I lived off them in College, but they no longer have a distributor in Arkansas. The Night Hawk ones actually aren’t bad. We still get them, but they’ve discontinued one that was really good-- the beef fajitas. We had Night Hawk restaurants here back in the late’60s. Were they all over the USA or just in Texas? ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304/56 "2014-05-15T23:23:27Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I remember the Beans and Franks meal fondly. Those apples were a treat. Sitting with a TV tray and a TV dinner so I could watch _Man From U.N.C.L.E._. Obviously, THRUSH has perfected the mind-reading machine, and used it on me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-dinners/688304.md?page=2)