# Your childhood TV crushes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 27, 2020, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649 "2020-09-27T07:02:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/141 "2020-10-09T00:58:56Z")
Cissy! Yes, that was it. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/142 "2020-10-09T01:01:40Z")
Holy shit! Still working. > **[Kathy Garver - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0308744/?ref_=tt_cl_t2)** > > Kathy Garver. Actress: Family Affair. Kathy Garver was born in Long Beach, California Her break-through performance came as one of the young slaves in The Ten Commandments > > She is most well known for starring as the teenage niece of Uncle Bill Davis,... ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/143 "2020-10-09T01:16:50Z")
Tiffani Thiessen from _Saved by the Bell._ Farah Forke from _Wings._ ETA. From movies, I had a huge crush on Ami Dolenz in _Miracle Beach_. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/144 "2020-10-09T01:38:05Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > I think when you are pre-teen, the ones that you crush on tend towards the ones you imagine would make really fun baby-sitters. All the sexy stuff would have gone over my head at that age. Another early one I just thought of was a British actress that I saw a couple times on the Walt Disney show that came on on Sunday nights. I think her name was Susan Hampshire and she was in some movie about a cat. (Goes off to look it up.) Exactly why I specified before twelve. Maybe not babysitter, but someone you get non-sexual tinglies about seeing on in TV or movies. You know you like seeing them and get the tinglies, but don’t really know why. Susan Hampshire played Joy Adamson in the sequel to _Born Free, Living Free_ when I was twelve and I had tiny crush of Virginia McKenna in the original, but a bigger crush on Susan Hampshire. At the time it didn’t really click that it was different actress, I just knew she got prettier. Seeing them on TV and movies was a much bigger thing in the '60’s/70’s since there was no replaying that moment. Once it was done, you had to hope for reruns or pay to see the movie again. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/145 "2020-10-09T01:38:37Z")
This is straying from the OP a little, We had this station here a few years ago that played old TV shows all the time. It was called Antenna TV. There was a show from before my time that I caught a few times . It was a father who, I think was widowed and had a teen daughter. The dad seemed to have a very active dating life and all the actresses that played his dates were way younger than him, not much older than the daughter (Seemingly. Kind of half creepy and half “Yeah, go get 'em old dude”) and every one was very, very attractive. Anyone know the show I’m thinking of? All the times I saw this show I had the sound off on the TV and was listening to something else so can’t offer any other clues. ---
**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 9, 2020, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/146 "2020-10-09T01:39:55Z")
_ **Bachelor Father** _, starring John Forsythe of _ **Dynasty** _ fame? > **[Bachelor Father (American TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_Father_(American_TV_series))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Bachelor Father is an American sitcom starring John Forsythe, Noreen Corcoran and Sammee Tong. The series first premiered on CBS in September 1957 before moving to NBC for the third season in 1959. The series' fifth and final season aired on ABC. A total of 157 episodes were aired. The series was based on "A New Girl in His Life", which aired on General Electric Theater on May 26, 1957. > Bachelor Father is the only primetime series ever to run in ... Oh, wait: She was his neice, not his daughter… ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/147 "2020-10-09T01:46:41Z")
That’s the show. Should have recognized John Forsythe. 1957 (series premier) was the year I was born. So wasn’t crushing on anybody yet. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/148 "2020-10-09T01:47:54Z")
Also liked Blair from Facts of life. Lisa Whelchel they made Andy Griffith a widower because they thought there would be more plots if he was not married but they did not think people would accept him as being divorced. ---
**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 9, 2020, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/149 "2020-10-09T01:50:53Z")
It was the first one that came to my mind. The last time I saw it was probably in 1961 or '62. ---
**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 9, 2020, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/150 "2020-10-09T01:55:07Z")
Forsythe played a widowed dad ten years later in _ **To Rome with Love** _. > **[To Rome with Love (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Rome_with_Love_(TV_series))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > To Rome with Love is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 28, 1969, to February 24, 1971. > To Rome with Love is the story of widowed college professor Michael Endicott, who decided to leave his native Iowa following the death of his wife and accept a new position as an instructor at the American Overseas School of Rome. The culture shock of his children in reacting to their new environment, and to an extent, his own, provided the ma... ---
**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 9, 2020, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/151 "2020-10-09T02:10:46Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > they made Andy Griffith a widower because they thought there would be more plots if he was not married but they did not think people would accept him as being divorced. Yes, and almost all the shows about widowed dads had “mother” substitutes that were obviously not sex objects: Andy had “Aunt Bea,” and Fred MacMurray had “Bub” (William Frawley) and “Uncle Charley” (William Demarest) on _ **My Three Sons** _. Jed Clampett had “Granny” on _ **The Beverly Hillbillies** _. In a reversal of the formula, widow Bea Benadaret had “Uncle Joe” (Edgar Buchanon) on _ **Petticoat Junction** _. About the only widowed dad without a mother figure I can think of was Don Porter on _ **Gidget** _. Here’s a list of TV single dads iof the '50s and '60s: > **[The 50’s – 60’s](https://www.tvdads.com/the-50s-60s/)** > > The 50’s – 60’s ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/152 "2020-10-09T02:18:24Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Forsythe played a widowed dad ten years later in _ **To Rome with Love** _ . I guess the widow(er) card was big, back in the day. Brady Bunch, anyone? > [@](#): > > While Mike Brady is depicted as being a widower, Schwartz originally wanted the character of Carol Brady to have been a divorcée, but the network objected to this. A compromise was reached whereby Carol’s marital status (whether she was divorced or widowed) was never directly revealed. [Source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brady_Bunch) I mean, if you tell us Mike is a widower but you don’t tell us about Carol…? I guess the girls never talked to, pined for, or had any dealings with their father. Because you know, there were no other ways for a woman to have three daughters in those days. From that era, let’s don’t forget Karen Valentine. Check out the dress! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/N3phHj7mMaA/maxresdefault.jpg "Karen Valentine Wins Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Emmys Archive (1970)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3phHj7mMaA) ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/153 "2020-10-09T02:23:17Z")
Karen Valentine…totally forgot about her. Yeah, probably crushed on her a little. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/154 "2020-10-09T05:29:19Z")
I was an extra in a movie starring Kathy Garver a few years ago. I did not actually meet her, but I saw her interacting with cast, crew, and other extras. Always smiling and laughing. She seemed like a lovely person. > **[Mom, Murder & Me (2014) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3198122/)** > > Mom, Murder & Me: Directed by Heather Donnell. With Sarah Klaren, Kathy Garver, Gene Scandur, Olando Graves. What does it take to admit your overprotective mother is right? When Annabel's elderly neighbor passes away, Joan insists it's murder.... ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/155 "2020-10-09T07:30:47Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > ETA. From movies, I had a huge crush on Ami Dolenz in _Miracle Beach_ . Were you seeing that as a kid? Because it has _a lot_ of nudity. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/156 "2020-10-09T07:36:41Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Also liked Blair from Facts of life. I liked Jo. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/157 "2020-10-09T12:06:27Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Were you seeing that as a kid? Because it has _a lot_ of nudity. I may have slightly fudged the OPs requested timeline. I was 14 when I watched it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/158 "2020-12-14T19:11:09Z")
Just discovered this thread. Yeah, I liked Karen Valentine in _Room 222_ and Susan Dey in _The Partridge Family_ a lot, and that was even when I still thought _most_ girls had cooties. > **[Karen Valentine - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0884259/)** > > Karen Valentine. Actress: Room 222. Karen Valentine was born on a chicken farm in northern California and made her professional debut, at the age of 16, on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) (aka "The Ed Sullivan Show"). After performing as a contestant on... > **[Susan Dey - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001138/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1)** > > Susan Dey. Actress: The Partridge Family. Susan Dey was born on 10 December 1952 in Pekin, Illinois, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for The Partridge Family (1970), L.A. Law (1986) and Looker (1981). She has been married to Bernard... Courtney Cox on _Family Ties_ sure caught my attention. > **[COURTENEY COX in FAMILY TIES -1982-. by Album](https://fineartamerica.com/featured/courteney-cox-in-family-ties-1982--album.html)** > > COURTENEY COX in FAMILY TIES -1982-. Photograph by Album Once I got hooked on sf, I took, er, particular notice of Nichelle Nichols on _Star Trek_, Maren Jensen on _Battlestar Galactica_, and Erin Gray on _Buck Rogers_. Mrowrrrr. > **[Nichols to Guest Star on The Young and The Restless](https://www.startrek.com/article/nichols-to-guest-star-on-the-young-and-the-restless)** > > Nichols to Guest Star on The Young and The Restless > **[r/RetroFuturism - Maren Jensen as Battlestar Galactica’s Athena.](https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroFuturism/comments/co6b9u/maren_jensen_as_battlestar_galacticas_athena/)** > > 318 votes and 10 comments so far on Reddit > **[Erin Gray/Wilma Deering Gallery](http://space1970.blogspot.com/2011/09/erin-graywilma-deering-gallery.html)** > >  Don't have time to write up a post right now, so here's a Space Babes "Extra" - a gallery of Buck Rogers publicity... ---
**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:** [December 14, 2020, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/159 "2020-12-14T21:20:13Z")
Not too long ago, I saw June Lockhart in _ **T-Men** _ (1947) and barely recognized her. She was incredibly hot back then, much more than on either _ **Lassie** _ or _ **Petticoat Junction** _. I felt the same way about Anne Baxter when I saw her in _ **The Magnificent Ambersons** _ (1942) and _ **Angel on My Shoulder** _ (1946). Shirley Jones I never really appreciated until I saw her recently in reruns of _ **The Partridge Family** _. She definitely stacked up (so to speak) to Susan Dey! 🥰 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649/160 "2020-12-14T21:26:09Z")
And how could I forget Jaclyn Smith on _Charlie’s Angels_? I even had a poster of her in my room. Le sigh. > **[(SS3346590) Jaclyn Smith Charlie's Angels Movie Photo](https://www.starstills.com/ss3346590-jaclyn-smith-charlies-angels-movie-photo/)** > > Buy Movie photos, pictures, posters and stills of Jaclyn Smith available in 4 photo and poster sizes with luxury framing options at Starstills.com [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-childhood-tv-crushes/921649.md?page=9)