# What shows were on TV during the dinner hour when you were a kid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 6, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984 "2014-08-06T22:44:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984/41 "2014-08-08T18:25:46Z")
I don’t know what was on at dinner time because my mother insisted the TV be turned off while we ate. But I’m guessing, since Dad got home at 5:45 and we ate shortly thereafter, mostly what was on was the news. We had 3 local network channels, and if conditions were just right, we could pick up some of the stations in DC. When they could afford it, my folks got a rooftop antenna that rotated, so we could aim it for better reception of distant stations. Good times! ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984/42 "2014-08-08T19:39:12Z")
We got a tv when I was five. My mother insisted it be in the garage, so that’s where we watched it, after homework was done, after dinner dishes were done. I vaguely remember Car 54 Where Are You, the Honeymooners, and Walter Cronkite. When I was ten we moved, and my mother put the tv in the basement. Less supervision then; I remember watching Star Trek and Wild Wild West but cannot remember when they came on. When I left home at sixteen was the last time I had access to a television in the house I was living in. Never watched television during dinner in my whole life. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984/43 "2014-08-08T20:19:43Z")
The only thing we might have on during dinner would be the news. But never anything else. ---
**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 8, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984/44 "2014-08-08T21:09:06Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > There were no TVs where I grew up. You really cannot grasp that, can you? Did you live in New Jersey? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984/45 "2014-08-08T21:09:40Z")
Don’t know about the dinner hour, as the TV was off. But back then it was westerns like Maverick, Wagon Train, Have Gun Will Travel, Gunsmoke, Branded, Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Rifleman, etc. Also shows like Twilight Zone, Outer Limits and Combat! On Sunday, I think it was Disney and Ed Sullivan. ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984/46 "2014-08-08T21:15:11Z")
> [@Sahirrnee](#): > > No TV during dinner when I was growing up. > Dinner time was family time and we talked, to each other. > No books allowed at the table either. This was my life, too. I actually liked it that way. I remember rushing home from school and through my homework to watch “Dark Shadows,” which came on at 4:30 p.m. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984/47 "2014-08-08T22:01:01Z")
> [@Sahirrnee](#): > > No TV during dinner when I was growing up. > Dinner time was family time and we talked, to each other. > No books allowed at the table either. ^ This. When I was growing up that was the rule - no TV (or radio) during dinner. Not ever. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984/48 "2014-08-08T23:03:39Z")
> [@Sahirrnee](#): > > No TV during dinner when I was growing up. > Dinner time was family time and we talked, to each other. > No books allowed at the table either. Absolutely this. Although I never said much, the talking was done by my parents and my older sister. This stayed the case for as long as I lived at home, and then my parents continued the “no TV at dinner” tradition for the rest of their lives. I think it’s a good idea to have a time every day when you lay aside all distractions and deal with other people directly. We did have classical music on the radio sometimes, though. It didn’t disturb the conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984/49 "2014-08-09T00:19:58Z")
Doctor Who ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984/50 "2014-08-10T04:57:23Z")
Thanks for making me feel young. Depending on what time exactly the “dinner hour” is: 5pm-6pm some kind of syndicated talk show 6-6:30 Local News 6:30 CBS News with Dan Rather 7- Wheel of Fortune 7:30 Jeopardy 8- Network programming ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984/51 "2014-08-10T05:03:41Z")
Saturday Night was Mexican food and _ **HEE-HAW!** _ ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984/52 "2014-08-10T05:51:50Z")
Once we got cable, I took to eating in my room on Saturdays, so as not to miss Georgia Championship Wrestling from 5:05-7:05 on WTBS, and a re-run of Mid-South Wrestling on another channel. During the week it was usually Star Trek, news, or Tic-Tac-Dough. ---
**Author:** ![HyacinthBucket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hyacinthbucket/32/3063_2.png) [@HyacinthBucket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HyacinthBucket)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984/53 "2014-08-11T03:40:33Z")
These were probably spread out over several years at least but they all were on at dinnertime once we started eating in the “front room” instead of the kitchen - Rocky & Bullwinkle, Mickey Mouse Club, either the 5 or 6PM News, especially the weather. And of course, Garfield Goose and Kukla, Fran and Ollie. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984/54 "2014-08-11T15:28:18Z")
Growing up in Midwest in the early '80’s, we had a pretty consistent 6pm dinner time. My parents would watch ABC World News Tonight, first with Frank Reynolds and then Peter Jennings while in the kitchen, then at dinner time, the small black and white TV would get schlepped from the kitchen counter onto a sideboard table in the dining room where we’d switch to local news, the local NBC affiliate usually. Then Wheel of Fortune would usually accompany the post-dinner cleanup, with the TV schlepped back to the kitchen. Of course, the main TV in the family room was usually **mine** while dinner was being made. I most remember watching Nickelodeon during this time rather than local TV. I remember the Dave Coulier show **Out of Control** being aired around the dinner hour and also their MTV knockoff **Nick Rocks**. ---
**Author:** ![NVME702-redux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a183cd/32.png) [@NVME702-redux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NVME702-redux)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984/55 "2014-08-11T19:23:59Z")
Let me see- from age 6-9 our next door neighbor baby sat us and Im pretty sure there was no TV during dinner, but there was after and I just recall Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom followed by the Wonderful World of Disney. During the week I remember that it was Love Boat before Fantasy Island. Chips was also a regular show but I dont recall anything after that. From the age of 9 and afterwards we were latch key kids and we pretty much ate wherever we wanted to, whenever we wanted to. I never felt lonely or neglected by it, but we sure watched a lot of cable tV. The summer I was 11 was when I made my personal record of having watched Star Wars 149 times because it ran on cable 3x a day on two different channels. Ahhh, misspent youth… ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984/56 "2014-08-11T19:36:41Z")
“When I was a kid,” the one station that didn’t show news from 5 to 7:30 usually aired _The Beverly Hillbillies_ (or _The Flintstones_) at 6, _Gomer Pyle, USMC_ at 6:30, _Hogan’s Heroes_ at 7:00, and either a second _Hogan’s Heroes_ or _The Best of Groucho_ (1950s _You Bet Your Life_ episodes) at 7:30. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-shows-were-on-tv-during-the-dinner-hour-when-you-were-a-kid/694984.md?page=2)