# What's your earliest TV memory? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2010, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505 "2010-02-26T11:31:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/101 "2010-03-01T20:08:08Z")
I may have mentioned this before. This is also my first memory in general. Watching the Watergate hearings on TV. My mother was hooked. I had no idea what was going on, except that Mr. Nixon had done A Very Bad Thing. This was '74, I think? I would have been 3. ---
**Author:** ![HotSmoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d9b06d/32.png) [@HotSmoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HotSmoke)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/102 "2010-03-03T02:11:34Z")
Watching Captain Kangaroo while waiting for my mom to take to kindergarten. That show was like crack to me. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/103 "2010-03-03T02:22:19Z")
Watching what, in retrospect, was probably the “Huntley / Brinkley Report” (what would later be known as “NBC Nightly News”). Well, not really watching it, but being in the room when it was on. Given that it was in my parents’ house in Western Springs, IL, this would have been late 1967 or early 1968. I would have been just under 3. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/104 "2010-03-03T04:42:33Z")
When I was about 2, and terrible, my parents waged war on my tendency to stay up. They wanted me IN BED and were not going to brook any argument about it. I think bedtime was 8 PM, and _Perry Mason_ would come on in the evenings at that time. For years after, I would feel dread at the sound of the _Perry Mason_ TV series theme music without clearly remembering why, but after being told by an aunt about the bedtime battles some of it came back to me. ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/105 "2010-03-03T04:45:46Z")
Delores Reborn: I remember watching Kiterik, too. For all the wrong reasons, and I was around 7 or so. I have a feeling that show may have been popular with a couple of dads, too. ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/106 "2010-03-03T12:52:19Z")
Boston Globe reports the death of one of mine today: Don Kent [http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2010/03/03/don\_kent\_dean\_of\_area\_weather\_broadcasters\_at\_92/?page=2](http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2010/03/03/don_kent_dean_of_area_weather_broadcasters_at_92/?page=2) ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/107 "2010-03-03T16:29:21Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I remember the 1952 political conventions, the first televised. Actually, all I remember is trying to read the vertical signs with the names of the states. Mine was specifically the Democratic convention. I remember Stevenson speaking. I must have been four at the time. I was at my Grandmother’s house in Montana we lived in Arizona at the time and we didn’t have one. I remember my neighbors had one and I vaguely remember watching boxing with them, but the clearest memory from that time was the Dem. convention. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/108 "2010-03-03T16:52:10Z")
> [@Webner](#): > > I remember a segment of some children’s show (possibly Sesame Street) that showed how crayons were made in a factory. I was probably 2 or 3, so it aired in the late 80s. Mister Roigers ran that. It is from the Crayola factory in Easton, PA. I’ve been on the tour, great fun! ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/109 "2010-03-03T19:02:02Z")
> [@VernWinterbottom](#): > > Boston Globe reports the death of one of mine today: Don Kent [http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2010/03/03/don\_kent\_dean\_of\_area\_weather\_broadcasters\_at\_92/?page=2](http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2010/03/03/don_kent_dean_of_area_weather_broadcasters_at_92/?page=2) Dammit, I remember him too. He was great. Who was his broadcast partner at WBZ TV? Jack Clark? ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/110 "2010-03-03T19:35:22Z")
I remember wanting to grow up and be just like Our Gal Sal, Philly cartoonatrix, [Sally](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2242/2229229430_599c21ab27.jpg?v=0) [Starr](http://www.heebiejeebies.nl/images/artiesten/0086.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/111 "2010-03-03T21:25:29Z")
> [@Carl\_Corey](#): > > Dammit, I remember him too. He was great. > > Who was his broadcast partner at WBZ TV? Jack Clark? Jack Chase and Shelby Scott. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/112 "2010-03-03T21:46:58Z")
Ah, that’s right. At least I was close. Thanks, **Vern**. ---
**Author:** ![flano1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f14d63/32.png) [@flano1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flano1)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/113 "2010-03-04T00:44:43Z")
another vote for crusader rabbit. about 1957. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/114 "2010-03-04T01:52:29Z")
Either of these could be the first. The Friendly Giant Kukla, Fran and Ollie The Ruff & Reddy Show Captain Scarlet ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/115 "2010-03-05T09:09:06Z")
If not _the_ earliest, one of them was some weird show about a guy trapped in a room made of tiles. For years I thought maybe I had just dreamed the whole thing. Then a few years ago I found that it was real! It was called [The Cube](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cube_(1969_film)) and, it was written & directed by none other than muppet maker Jim Henson! What was really cool was every comment I read about it was from people of my generation who also all thought they had dreamt the whole thing! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/116 "2010-03-05T11:02:00Z")
I remember a news flash, that Robert Kennedy had been shot. I toddled over to Mom’s bedroom, where she was sleeping in that day (2 kids, 1 a baby, much tired), & told her “Mommy? The TV says Mr Kennedy is dead.” _“Yes sweetie, years ago. Let Mommy sleep.”_ I went back to the TV, got more info, & woke her with the news that it was **the other Mr Kennedy** that was dead. Not a nice wake up call. But I was 3? 4 ? And I knew a whole lot of grown-ups were **very** upset. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/117 "2010-03-05T11:10:33Z")
Oh, another very early memory-- in between shows, like during station id breaks-- I remember a graphic of a dove carring a twig and thinking it must be time for birds to start building their nests. It wasn’t until many, many years later that I found out it signified the end of the Viet Nam war. This is the only first-hand sorta memory I have of the war since I do not remember news reports or anything like that. And I should because I was school age at the time. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/118 "2010-03-05T12:05:04Z")
There are a few shows I can remember watching and thinking about when I was very young. For example, I’m sure I watched _Play School_ and _Sesame Street_ and other pre-school shows. There were also NZ kids shows like _Spot On_ that I know I watched. And comedy variety shows, like _Morecambe and Wise_, _Dave Allen_, and _Dick Emery_. But I have no specific memory associated with them I can bring to mind. The earliest specific television related memory I can recall is when we got our first colour TV, in what must have been 1975, and the first show I can recall was _That’s My Mama_ where they specified a colour in one of the lines of dialogue, and for the first time that colour didn’t appear as a pasty shade of grey. My clearest memories of TV were of peeking through the lounge room door when I was supposed to be in bed, where I had nightmares after glimpsing the _Sam Peckinpah’s Salad Days_ sketch in _Monty Python’s Flying Circus_. And then when we moved into a new house (after the old one burned down in a fire) I have strong memories of teh shows aimed at 7-12 year olds, like _Gizago, with Stu Dennison_, and _Here’s Andy_, and _Stingray_ and _Doctor Who_. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/119 "2010-03-05T13:39:51Z")
Jack Kennedy’s funeral ---
**Author:** ![beatlejuice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a8b319/32.png) [@beatlejuice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beatlejuice)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505/120 "2010-03-05T17:21:01Z")
I also remember JFKs funeral. But I remember watching TV and a text block quickly flashed along the bottom of the screen that he had died. I looked at my dad and he at me and hesaid “did you see that?” He didn’t die until much later than that flash of text. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earliest-tv-memory/530505.md?page=7)