# Your very first TV memory **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598 "2012-04-22T16:32:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [April 23, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/61 "2012-04-23T02:14:17Z")
It’s a weird one – it was a news broadcast (possibly _The Huntley / Brinkley Report_). It’s one of the memories I have from the house where we lived until just before my third birthday, so it would have been late 1967 or early 1968). Other very early ones are the first episode of Sesame Street and the Apollo 11 landing (both in 1969). ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/62 "2012-04-23T02:23:53Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > You know, I think the demographics of this board might skew a tad bit to the older side. I’m surprised at the wide range of ages. You could pick two people here that have similar interests, politics, etc., who can debate Dr. Who or team up against racists… and they’d have no idea how they’re from such totally different upbringings/generations. I mean, one poster was watching “Howdy Doody” as a kid; the next one was watching “Return of the Jedi”. I love this place! ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/63 "2012-04-23T02:42:32Z")
Man, I have no idea what my first TV memory is. Maybe Pappyland, which was a kids show based around drawing? But I remember watching that in my parent’s basement of their current house and I definitely remember watching TV in the house previous to that and we moved when I was 6ish. I just don’t remember what I was watching. ---
**Author:** ![luv2draw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@luv2draw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luv2draw)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/64 "2012-04-23T02:42:34Z")
Ding Dong School, Kaptain Kangaroo, Howdy Doody, I Love Lucy were “my” shows. My mom had the soaps on while she did the household chores so I remember also The Guiding Light, Search for Tomorrow, As the World Turns, Secret Storm, The Edge of Night. Then The Loretta Young Show and The Early Show (old movies)–all before the 6pm news. 😃 Yeah, I grew up on television. All these years later nothing has changed. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/65 "2012-04-23T04:01:30Z")
I remember watching Captain Kangaroo and Miss Frances’s Ding Dong School, but I think my earliest might be an episode of Your Show of Shows. ---
**Author:** ![mambocrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@mambocrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mambocrow)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/66 "2012-04-23T04:20:27Z")
Sometime in 1954, Friday Night Fights, sponsored by Gilette. At least I think it aired on Fridays. Three hours of boxing. We walked to a neighbor’s house to see it. A year later my parents bought their first T.V. I remember watching a sitcom entitled “Oh Susanna” on that set. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/67 "2012-04-23T07:35:39Z")
Having to hang out in the kitchen when “Gunsmoke” was on. I could hear it though, and I conjured up a terrifying and forbidden world. ---
**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:** [April 23, 2012, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/68 "2012-04-23T09:00:27Z")
The 1953 Coronation of Elizabeth II. We watched it on our black-and-white Zenith with a 12’ round screen. My mother told me to watch it because it’s something I’ll always remember. She was right. I remember Elizabeth riding in the Coronation Coach, and I remember how beautiful she looked in a close-up. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/69 "2012-04-23T12:22:29Z")
The earliest thing that I can definitely remember watching was Lee Harvey Oswald getting shot. I was lying on the floor watching it live and remembering the announcer saying that Oswald had been shot over and over. ---
**Author:** ![Walkabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walkabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walkabout)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/70 "2012-04-23T12:55:01Z")
The earliest TV memory that I have is watching Star Trek as a family in our TV room. Whenever it got too scary I would run out of the room and hide my eyes until someone told me that it was safe to come back in. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/71 "2012-04-23T15:40:45Z")
We oldsters have been staring at the magic box long before BSG and Firefly, yes, we even experienced Star Trek in its best, original incarnation back in olden times! I just thought of another early memory, when I was home from school, very ill, watching a show with grandma starring Joan Davis and Jim Backus, in the mid-50’s. Called “I Married Joan” and I remember the theme song as if I’d heard it this morning. Now there’s an early memory AND a long-forgotten TV oldie! ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/72 "2012-04-23T16:07:46Z")
I don’t know when exactly it was, but I remember crawling on the floor and seeing Walter Cronkite on the big black and white console TV. I’m assuming it was one of the moon landings as I was born in 1967. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/73 "2012-04-23T16:19:31Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > The moon landings. Yeah, first remembered filmed historic event would be interesting too. Mine would be the Oliver North trial. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/74 "2012-04-23T16:50:21Z")
Probably Captain Kangaroo around 1960 or so. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/75 "2012-04-23T16:53:17Z")
I’m torn - first TV show ? Kolchack - Zombie episode first movie on tv? Five Million Years to Earth I remember watching them both in black and white with mom - early 70s - ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/76 "2012-04-23T17:14:53Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > You know, I think the demographics of this board might skew a tad bit to the older side. > [@Jasper\_Kent](#): > > Ya reckon? I’ll have you know I grew up with the best coal-fired TV in the neighborhood. There may be an even more recent poll than these two for getting a handle on the demographics, but at least these provide clues: > **[How old are you?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=554352)** > > In an attempt to answer the question in this thread: How old are you, rounded down to the nearest whole year? How old are you? 03-02-2010, 04:55 PM Giles #102 06-07-2010, 08:31 AM Giles > **[How old are you?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=610944)** > > In another thread, Really? Hmm. Let’s find out! I just did ranges, not exact ages, but you can post your age if you want. I think 13 is the minimum age to be a Doper. Poll to follow. ETA: I am 35. How old are you? 06-02-2011, 03:33 PM Anaamika #168 10-29-2011, 01:29 AM AHunter3 Best I can tell that second one is still open for new votes. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/77 "2012-04-23T18:15:25Z")
Star Trek. I still vividly remember listening to the voice over "Space, the final frontier… " and seeing the ship whizzing by. Instantly hooked, still a Trekkie **mumble mumble** years later 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/78 "2012-04-23T18:18:13Z")
I honestly couldn’t say. I’m a child of the 80s, so I was born into the television age. My mom loved Nick at Nite, and my dad was into the Stooges. I grew up watching old reruns of Gilligan’s Island, the Dick van Dyke Show, I love Lucy, The 3 Stooges, etc. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/79 "2012-04-23T21:51:38Z")
Here’s a definite memory, not quite as early as the one I previously posted: The premiere of _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_ was just starting, but I didn’t get to see it because we had to leave for a cantata at church. I saw it the next year, however! ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/80 "2012-04-24T00:22:29Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Yeah, first remembered filmed historic event would be interesting too. > > Mine would be the Oliver North trial. Truman’s inauguration. 1948. Only set on the block, everyone came over. Live [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598.md?page=5)