# What do you miss about old school tv? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 8, 2014, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747 "2014-10-08T11:20:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [October 8, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/41 "2014-10-08T20:12:17Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Having drama series not polluted by season or many season long plot threads Good example now being discussed is Castle, which was a lot more fun just solving mysteries with a bit of sexual tension. > > If Columbo were on today there would be a plotline about wheeling and dealing back at the department or a hidden master killer as smart as Columbo. Bleah. No kidding! They did more or less exactly that in the\* Hawaii 5-0\* reboot. I couldn’t even watch it. Or the _Night Stalke_r remake. It had to have shadowy forces, good vs evil, and Kolchak himself possibly being evil. Gah! I just want monster of the week episodes. What’s wrong with that? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/42 "2014-10-08T20:19:43Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > If you \*do \*have cable, those channels are usually there as well, buried in the low-def channels. We get MeTV, AntennaTV, etc. Probably even more I don’t know about. They are in the 80-90s on our cable lineup. Yes! A lot of them are! Some aren’t - I noticed when I was trying to recommend a show I’d stumbled on to my mom. I was trying to find the channel in her cable listings but was unsuccessful. The cool thing about surfing with just an antenna is that you don’t get distracted by all the other regular channels. You have to pick from one of the 20 options in front of you and that’s it! Or, go read a book. I watched a lot of “Archie’s Weird Mysteries” and “Class of the Titans” (yes, Class). ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/43 "2014-10-08T20:21:21Z")
I miss ghosting, fuzziness, hissing sound, and poor reception in general. I used to have expend real effort to watch TV. 😉 For reals, I miss Sunday AM programming that wasn’t infomercial or political. I’m happy I have good internet. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/44 "2014-10-08T20:29:46Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Depends on where you live. The conversion to digital made over the air broadcasts unavailable where I live. We used to be able to pick up broadcasts from 2-4 cities with a tall enough aerial. Now - nothing. Still, my point is you don’t need hi-def to pick up those channels. Yes, you do need a digital tuner, but digital doesn’t automatically equal hi-def. There are digital channels that still broadcast in 480i. It’s irrelevant if your TV is hi-def or not. If the signal in your area is strong enough or you have cable you can still pick it up with a standard definition set with the proper type of tuner. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/45 "2014-10-08T21:09:34Z")
Cheezy sci fi movies on Weekday afternoon (the 4:30 Movie!) or weekend afternoons. Late night TV that wasn’t infomercials. Independent TV stations. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/46 "2014-10-08T21:55:24Z")
Another thing I miss: picking up local broadcasts of your favorite major league baseball team. When I was a kid in Pennsylvania, our local station was an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ broadcast network. They would show about 50 or 60 Pirates games a season. We grew up with the colorful Bob Prince announcing the games. Even up to a few years ago you could pick up Diamondbacks games here in Arizona over your local TV station. Now the broadcasts are all locked up by different cable networks such as Fox Sports and it’s rare to see any baseball on broadcast TV. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/47 "2014-10-08T22:12:50Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > For reals, I miss Sunday AM programming that wasn’t infomercial or political. I’m happy I have good internet. Meet The Press (NBC) started in the Truman administration, Face The Nation (CBS) in the Eisenhower administration and This Week (ABC) started early in the Reagan administration. So there have been political shows on Sunday mornings for a _long_ time. And CBS Sunday Morning still airs then and it’s generally very light. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/48 "2014-10-08T22:48:54Z")
I slightly miss the fact that when some movie I’d wanted to see for a long time was on, I had to watch it NOW, even if it meant missing something else, or getting up at 3am. But that hasn’t been the case since I got my first VCR around 1983 (well, my aunt and uncle got one, but I could use my own money to buy tapes, and record stuff, rent stuff, or buy commercial tapes to my heart’s content). I was a real chaser of classic movies, and I remember when I still lived in New York, and parents actually let kids do things, my parents would let me take the train into the city (from Queens to Manhattan) to catch all sorts of things at second-run theaters. People were restoring a lot of films in the early 80s, which was the beginning of being able to use digital technology to do such things, and the 16mm art houses were always showing great stuff. My parents didn’t get a VCR until well into the 90s, though. In Indiana, when I was a teenager, there weren’t art houses, but there was the university often showing films for classes, and people who weren’t taking the classes could still buy passes to see the films. Anyway, a lot of my classics chasing was done circling things that were on at 3am in the TV schedule. Now, if I can’t get a cheap DVD of something like\* Gaslight \*or _To Be Or Not To Be_, I can find a torrent (I don’t mind downloading torrents of things in public domain). And that’s for things I can’t stream on Netflix, or VUDU, or any of the other services out there. But there’s no urgency to watch them. Even if I had seen _Gaslight_ before, it was a great film, and I’d get up in the middle of the night to watch it, because who knows when it would be on again? Now, I have all these files on my external drive, and a stack of DVDs, but I don’t watch them all that often. Still, I think TV is way better now. I wouldn’t want to go back. I DVR everything. If I want to watch a show, I usually start it about 15 minutes in, so that I have enough backlog to fast-forward through thew commercials. I _hate_ commercials. I like being able to pause it whenever I want if I have to pee, or the phone rings. If the DVR happens to screw up (which is hardly ever), then I can wait, and in 24 hours, it’ll be up on On Demand. I don’t actually even know what channel most of the shows I like are on anymore, and I’m not even sure what time some of them are on. I’m not even positive what day some of them are on. I just know that I go to the DVR, and hey, there’s a new episode of _The Big Bang Theory_! Great! Way, way better. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/49 "2014-10-08T22:57:57Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Johnny Carson Jack Paar ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/50 "2014-10-08T23:35:56Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Meet The Press (NBC) started in the Truman administration, Face The Nation (CBS) in the Eisenhower administration and This Week (ABC) started early in the Reagan administration. So there have been political shows on Sunday mornings for a _long_ time. And CBS Sunday Morning still airs then and it’s generally very light. True. But, back then, I had LOCAL channels with alternative programming. Some of it was pretty fun stuff. Granted, some was also pure dreck. ☹ YMMV Now, if it’s not the regular big networks with political shows or expanded news/news magazine shows, it’s infomercials. “Buy My Gadget! Because you’re too stupid to peel a potato!” 😉 Even the local market stations stuff here is either politics or pasta strainers. No/few alternatives. Depends on your cable package. And, like I said, that’s why I’m glad for my internet. And besides, I had pretty much got into the habit of having a quiet house on Sunday mornings anyways, so all these points are pretty much moot. 🙂 . ---
**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:** [October 8, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/51 "2014-10-08T23:43:31Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Jack Paar Steve Allen, by a mile! ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/52 "2014-10-08T23:45:54Z")
Your Show of Shows! ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/53 "2014-10-08T23:47:18Z")
I really don’t miss much of anything about old TV, to be honest. There’s a nostalgia about it, but looking back with some historical perspective, the quality and choice were nowhere near as good. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/54 "2014-10-09T00:00:03Z")
Quality news reporting. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/55 "2014-10-09T00:53:24Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > I miss ghosting, fuzziness, hissing sound, and poor reception in general. I used to have expend real effort to watch TV. Yeah, but I miss having a slightly imperfect signal that still has a picture and sound instead of the digital perfect/blank/perfect/blank sequence. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/56 "2014-10-09T01:11:10Z")
I miss the sanctity of the picture. Today’s shows concede the bottom 25% of the screen to an endless parade of promo bugs. And the logos. Oh the logos! I watched a movie the other day that apparently was recorded on Encore. Most logos are annoying, but Encore takes it to a whole 'nother level. That thing is massive. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/57 "2014-10-09T01:16:27Z")
Getting cross eyed from watching the scrambled Playboy channel! Every once in a while you could see boobs in good clarity!! ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/58 "2014-10-09T01:16:53Z")
Not having to turn off motion smoothing. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/59 "2014-10-09T01:21:55Z")
I miss the way that when everybody watched a show it meant **everybody** watched a show. Like when the networks ran Roots or Shogun, you knew that you could talk about it the next day at school or work and most of the other people there had seen it. Now people watch so many different channels it’s hard to find common ground. (Especially if you don’t have HBO.) I have friends who go on and on about Mad Men, Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones but I never had a chance to watch any of those shows because we don’t have cable. Yes, we have internet but it’s just not the same as “back in the day.” ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747/60 "2014-10-09T01:28:29Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Also, if your TV had a UHF knob, it didn’t click. It was a continuous tuner like in a radio. that was early on and some later. UHF did have detent channel selectors later with a fine tuning knob. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-miss-about-old-school-tv/700747.md?page=4)