The other thread on Old Time Television Sets got me thinking about what used to be on TV back in the day.
Surfing around, I found this Wikipedia site - but scroll down about half way and you will see the top rated programs of each year. But far MORE fun is to click on that year and then you will see the entire lineup of shows that week that were airing back when you were a kid (or even before you were born).
Kind of fun to see the grand total of three choices of things to watch. on any given night, on TV - some hits that we still remember, and other shows that you probably have never heard of.
It does a rather effective job of explaining how I came to love reading as a child, not to mention my ongoing preference for cartoons over other TV programming. Not only was the TV available to me in my formative years very limited, it was mostly pretty dire stuff.
And remember - back then, most people probably only had one TV and no VCR or DVR, so you had to pick only one of the three shows to watch.
I can remember often being pissed at my parents because I wanted to see some other show, but dad loved his westerns, mom loved Lawrence Welk - and, well, that is when I would go back to my room and read a book or do my homework instead; which of course, in retrospect, was not such a bad option at all.
i think because of that prime time tv shows became more family shows. the dramas might have stuff over the kids heads but still watchable by them.
in radio the shows were more divided between child and adult but multiple radio sets might be more common. there was also the children early evening and adult late.
when cable tv came about there were more dedicated channels and more tv sets.
Marcus Welby was the #1 show when I was born. I don’t think I’ve ever watched an episode of that show – I may have gone past in it reruns, but I never stopped on it.
85-86 must have been the high point of American TV.
First of all it had the best show ever Miami Vice. But also on Friday night was: Webster, Mr. Belvedre, Different Strokes, Twilight Zone, Knight Rider and Benson. (A whole night of incredibley diverse TV!)
Thursday night: Cosby, Family Ties, Cheers and Night Court. Plus all the mustachioed, muskiness of Magnum PI, The Fall Guy, Hill Street Blues and Simon and Simon.
Tuesday was Who’s The Boss, Growing Pains, and Moonlighting. Plus you had The A-Team, Riptide and Remington Steele.
While Dad watched MNF, you had a line-up of the most badass women ever: Scafrecrow and Mrs. King, Kate and Allie, and Gag me and Mace me (Cagney and Lacey - Mad mag reference.)
Saturday: The Facts of Life, Gimme a Break, 227, Golden Girls. Plus Hunter, Airwolf and The Love Boat.
And on Sunday: Silver Spoons, Punky Brewster, Amazing Stories and MacGuyver.
I was born during Bonanza lol.. and The Leslie Uggams show lol. Wow.. that show.. “Then came Bronson” which came on in 1969-70.. that sounds sooo late sixites.. I would love to catch an episode of that.. sounds like a television version of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance..
When I was born there was a show called The Bob Newhart Show. Funny, a decade or so later there was a show by the very same name, which I watched all the time.
The first season I remember watching television was 1966-67… so Lassie, Batman and ***The Monkees ***were always on my agenda.
Batman, you may recall, was on two nights a week- the first episode always ended in a cliffhanger (usually, some Dr. Evilesque device that was SUPPOSED to kill the Caped Crusaders, but never did) that was resolved the next night.
Two things I immediately remember was my Dad groaning on Sunday night at 7pm if we beat him to the television to watch “The Wonderful World of Disney”, and only being allowed to watch the opening credits of “All In the Family” when it first came on. We liked to hear Edith sing, “…and you knew where you were then…” in that wonderfully squeaky voice. We weren’t allowed to watch a minute of “Laugh-In”…
