# What Was A "TV Event" When You Were A Kid **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 30, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299 "2011-04-30T17:05:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/61 "2011-05-01T19:53:01Z")
The TV event I best remember was in 1979 when Begin and Sadat signed a treaty. Our civics teacher brought the TV in so we 9th graders could watch, and being around 14 years old at that time we all hoped that Begin and Sadat would get into a fistfight and that Carter would get punched in the nose trying to break it up. Other than that, _Gone With the Wind_, the Christmas Specials, and _Wizard of Oz._ And the Watergate hearings, which annoyed me because they sometimes pre-empted Josie and the Pussycats. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/62 "2011-05-01T20:15:19Z")
Most of my “nominations” have been mentioned, but I didn’t see the Challenger disaster mentioned. I was almost past being a “kid,” at 16, but I honestly felt like that explosion was my generation’s “media moment.” (Like “Where were you when you heard JFK was shot/John Lennon was shot/MLK was shot/You heard about the Pearl Harbor Bombing/World Trade Center?”) I will never forget seeing that launch in the high school library, as it happened, and having those moments of “That simply could. not. have. just. happened.” ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/63 "2011-05-01T20:38:35Z")
I remember watching the Berlin Wall come down in my grandmother’s living room at age 4. I didn’t really understand what was going one, but all the adults were estatic and I remember my great-grandmother singing something in German. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/64 "2011-05-01T21:27:58Z")
Definitely the Christmas stuff. It’s still a big deal–we just watch it on DVD when it’s coming on on the cable we don’t have. Sports were never any big deal in our house, and I can’t think of much else that was both a big deal and somewhat rare. I do remember getting excited when [Carman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carman_%28singer%29) was going to be on TV, though. (First result on Google, too. He’s a big deal 'round here.) ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/65 "2011-05-01T21:57:48Z")
Wizard of Oz Sound of Music Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang All of the Hanna-Barbera holiday specials. The withholding of any of the first three could be used as disciplinary threats with great effect. 😛 And since people are mentioning live/news events as well, I’ll toss in Carter’s fireside speeches. I loved those. Oh, and I recall getting up at 4 a.m. to watch McEnroe at Wimbledon. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/66 "2011-05-01T22:02:43Z")
Also, Circus of the Stars was always fun. 😃 ---
**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:** [May 1, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/67 "2011-05-01T23:06:32Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > Also, Circus of the Stars was always fun. 😃 Ooh! You reminded me of _Battle of the Network Stars_! It was like a live-action _[Laff-a-Lympics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laff-A-Lympics)_. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/68 "2011-05-02T01:11:36Z")
Child of the 1970s checking in. Let’s see… [ul] [li]Roots[/li][li]Helter Skelter (everybody was talking about it at school, reenacting the murders at recess. My parents didn’t let me watch it. To this day I’ve never seen it)[/li][li]TV premiere of Gone With The Wind.[/li][li]Ten Commandments, when ABC still spread it over 2 nights.[/li][li]Network TV premiere of “Earthquake”, with a local FM station simulcast to simulate Sensurrond in your own home.[/li][li]The Day After[/li][li]My older sister and her friends were gushing over “The Thorn Birds” but it looked too chick flick/soap-operaish to me.[/li][li]In the pre-VCR days any big feature film. CBS made a big deal about how The Exorcist was being shown without any visual edits, just overdubs for language.[/li][li]Any Charlie Brown holiday special, although Christmas and Great Pumpkin were the only must-see classics. Easter and Thanksgiving were OK. By the time they got around to Arbor Day they were running on fumes.[/li][li]Evel Kneivel’s jumps.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/69 "2011-05-02T04:20:22Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > [li]Evel Kneivel’s jumps.[/li][/LIST] In West Texas, we had to go to a special auditorium for those and pay admission to watch a live TV feed. An early version of pay-for-view. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/70 "2011-05-02T05:09:03Z")
Late 50s and early 60s: Miss America pageants. Wizard of Oz. Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts. Mary Martin’s Peter Pan. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/71 "2011-05-02T07:21:18Z")
Even as recently as the late 1990s (as in, '98-'99 or so) in NZ when I was finishing high school, I remember often having to reorganise plans for evenings with friends because something like _The X-Files_ was on and they didn’t want to miss it. The interesting thing is that VCRs were ubiquitous and everyone I knew had one, but not everyone knew how to programme them effectively (as countless late '80s/early '90s comedians will remind you) so most people I knew used them for taping stuff they were already watching and would want to see again, rather than taping stuff that was going to be on when they were out or airing on a different channel at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/72 "2011-05-02T10:17:45Z")
_Wide World of Sports_ was usually on in the background every week, but if they had Evel Knievel or the Globetrotters on, you dropped everything and watched. I remember about 1980ish, channel 32 in Chicago aired _The Deer Hunter_ uncut, and it was unbelievable hearing “fuck” coming out of the TV. Oh, and…\… _KISS Meets The Phantom of the Park._ ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/73 "2011-05-02T15:45:37Z")
_Gone with the Wind_’s debut on TV was A BIG DEAL. And across the dial at CBS on the same night Carol Burnett did her famous parody of it. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/74 "2011-05-02T16:38:35Z")
Back in 1972 virtually every TV set in Canada was on the same channel as Paul Henderson scored to beat the Russians in game 8. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/75 "2011-05-02T17:01:46Z")
_The Ten Commandments_, every year, without fail. Ditto _The Wizard of Oz_. My parents would let me stay up to whatever ungodly hour they were on until. I remember being stoked for months to see _V_, and then having it end in a cliffhanger, and having to wait another year to see the conclusion. It was almost too much for my 14 year old self to handle. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/76 "2011-05-02T17:45:28Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Born in 1971. Like you noted, _Wizard of Oz_ was huge. Anything that followed the [CBS Special Presentation](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W9V9SZPHAY) blurb, usually Charlie Brown or a Rankin/Bass Christmas special. Same here, but in 1970. Only want to add: the National Geographic specials that showed on PBS. High quality documentaries were a rarity. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/77 "2011-05-02T18:31:57Z")
When I was a kid, must have been about '88, it was a huge deal when the first ever _American’s Funniest Home Videos_ aired. My friends came over to watch it and everything. I think it was a Sunday night. And, of course there was TGIF in the early 90s. And the bombings during the Gulf War in or around '91. Those were a big deal on TV. ---
**Author:** ![sohvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sohvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sohvan)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/78 "2011-05-02T18:41:02Z")
I was 9 when the Soviet Union collapsed. I’m not sure if I understood much about it, but I remember it being a huge deal. As for TV serials, I remember eagerly anticipating each Babylon 5 episode. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/79 "2011-05-02T18:58:18Z")
I know this is slightly off-topic, but I wonder if last night’s events will be remembered by the younger generation as a TV event? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299/80 "2011-05-02T19:21:46Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > I know this is slightly off-topic, but I wonder if last night’s events will be remembered by the younger generation as a TV event? My guess is that anybody under age 9 will think of it the way anybody under 47 thinks of the JFK Weekend: just some old news that old folks think is important. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-a-tv-event-when-you-were-a-kid/580299.md?page=5)