Earliest TV Shows
My earliest memories of watching television are of baseball games with my dad.
But after that, here are the shows I remembering loving most when I was a kid:
“The Roy Rogers Show” – By the time I was watching TV, The King of the Cowboys was already in reruns on Saturdays. (“Happy trails to you, until we meet again . . . .”) Whenever we played Cowboys, I always insisted on being Roy Rogers — what with Trigger and Bullet and all — while my little brother had to be Gene Autrey.
“The Andy Griffith Show” – I still hear the whistling in my mind. Barney Fife was one of the great comedic characters ever.
“Lassie” – Again, the whistling. A young boy and his collie, constant danger, weekly heroism. What could be better.
“Flipper” – Sandy and Bud were so lucky.
“Daniel Boone” – Fess Parker and that great coonskin cap. (“What a Boone, what a do-er, what a dream-come-a-truer was he.”)
“The Ranger Ed Show.” I doubt this will be on anyone else’s list. It was a local program. But my cousin and I were addicted. We were official members of the Ranger Ed Club. (I still have my badge.) Once he said he’d give a horse away to the viewer who could send in the best name for the horse. My cousin sent in “Ride-A-Lot” . . . and won. That raised the question of what to do when you win a horse and you live in a neighborhood in town. But they found a place to keep him.
No “Bonanza” for us, since it was on Sunday evenings, when we WERE IN CHURCH!
I’m sure there were others that will come back to me as others who are about my age comment — but these are the ones I can remember. (A little later came “Beverly Hillbillies” and “Gilligan’s Island.”)
How about you — earliest TV memories?
My goodness, the memories you guys are stirring up. You’re mentioning shows I haven’t thought of in decades! Romper Room (I always hoped that the host would see ME in her mirror–or was it her pin-wheel?), Captain Kangaroo, Mickie Mouse Club, The Flying Nun, Laugh-in, The Ed Sullivan Show….
Julie, since you mentioned WaMaVa, it sounds like you were in the DC area as a kid. Do you remember a show called The Bill Gormley Show (& later “Countdown Carnival)? The show ran in the mid-60s. You may not be OLD enough to remember it.
It was an after school show and he would encourage kids to have “Carnivals for Dystrophy” . In the summer, kids would host these “carnivals” in back yards or empty lots. There would be games, contests, etc. and all proceeds would be donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Mr. Gormley would invite kids to come on the show and tell about their carnival and how much they had raised.
Anyway, that’s another one we watched faithfully.
Mike, I sure am enjoying this trip “down memory lane”.
Janey
Jamie B,
Have you ever heard the Bob Newhart routine “The Cruise of the U.S.S. Codfish”, based on “The Silent Service” television show? Absolutely hilarious.
“The Codfish holds the record for the most Japanese tonnage sunk…unfortunately, this was in 1954. It stands, however, as the largest peacetime tonnage ever sunk.”
“I think our firing on Miami Beach can be termed, at best, ‘Ill timed’. It was what they call in the press a ‘slow news day’”.
“Looking back on the mutiny…”
“The door to my office is always open…I think you know why…I’d like that returned to me also…”
I remember HeeHaw of course, but I would want to race home after church to see Manix (sp?).
Carol Burnette and All in the Family were ones I remember early on as well.
I’m going to second “Preacherman’s” list… with the exclusion of Miami Vice, and all but one of the cartoons – that being super friends (man did they rock). I also remember loving Night Rider, Air Wolf (does anyone remember that show? One of the main characters was in a lot of old westerns), McGuyver, Transformers, and GI Joe. There is also an obscure memory of another cartoon called “Pole Possition” maybe?
Looking back I now see clearly that Wonder Woman, and Daisy Duke had a significant impact on my picture of the perfect woman. Sure, I dated blondes, but I married a brunette
Janey and Julie,
Do either of you remember Captain Tug?
Ladies, ladies, how could we forget Dr. Ben Casey?
My dad bought their first b/w tv after I was away from home. But when I did begin to watch TV the must see shows were
Ed Sullivan
Red Skelton
Twilight Zone
What’s My Line
This Is Your Life
The Flying Nun
Gunsmoke
Bonanza
ABC Wide World of Sports
Many others but too many to list here, but again as mentioned above, Ben Casey was a must see too.
Did anyone’s mom let them watch “Where The Action Is?” It was on after school, & we would get home before our mom, who was a teacher at another school, & didn’t get to come home as early as us girls. She didn’t like us watching it too much, because we were always rockin’ out to “Paul Revere & The Raiders”, & DANCING like the girls on the beach who listened to the Raiders! She laughs now, & said the dancing didn’t bother her—it’s that we weren’t doing our homework or chores we were assigned every day! We just thought she was being a “Mom” & watching out that we didn’t sin.
It’s pretty cool to guess how old everyone is by the list they provide. Mike, you’ve got a diverse audience.
My first recollection of something specific on TV was watching the election returns come in for Jimmy Carter defeating Gerald Ford. My dad was a high school government teacher, so elections were important at our house.
On Saturday mornings, more than the tv shows, I remember the short story School House Rocks. “I’m Just a Bill, “Conjunction Junction,” and “Mush Mouth” are three that I can still sing.
During the week, MASH and Happy Days were standbys. Like someone else said, Hill Street Blues was the first “adult show” I remember watching (although I think MASH and Happy Days are more “adult” than I like my kids watching).
And Sunday’s, we never saw the end of an afternoon football game because we had to leave for church at 5:25.
Now, how old am I?
The “lady with the sock puppet” was Shari Lewis.
All these shows brought back a lot of memories, but no one said “Howdy Doody” or “Kukla, Fran and Ollie”. I must be a little older.
I’m much younger than most who post on here, so my earliest memories are of “Rainbow Bright” and “My Little Ponies”. I loved those shows!!
And the sock puppet was named “Lamb Chop”. I had one. And, I remember my OLDER sister watching “Howdy Doody”.
Val, you make me laugh. Yes, I am older than you but I do know who Rainbow Brite is and I was a little too old for My Little Ponies when they came out.
Serena and Janie, I don’t remember any of the shows that you are talking about but I do remember a local show in the DC area called Claire and Coco. Coco was a poodle. I loved that show.
There is a pic of my dad and I watching Star Trek together (the original.) and eating chocolate chips.
I remember loving Alf (now I don’t know why!) Airwolf, Knight Rider, Incredible Hulk, a western called Wanted: Dead or Alive, Hee-Haw, and later on Perfect Strangers, Full House (you know you watched it, too!!) Saved By the Bell and Urkel on Family Matters.
Yes, I was a TV head!
Serena: I DIDN’T remember “Cap’n Tugg” but I found a web-site http://kidshow.dcmemories.com/ and when I clicked on the link to info from his show and it all flooded back. Plus that web-site reminded me of several other shows I loved when I was a young kid…Bozo the Clown, Speedracer, Astro Boy, The Lone Ranger, Petticoat Junction
Brain: The Carter/Ford election was the first one I was old enough to vote in.
)
I remember my parents not letting us watch Bewitched — we had to go to bed when it came on. I don’t have a clue how old I was, but I always thought it must have been a “grown-up” show that we were too little for.
Jaimie B: Twilight Zone was one I could watch and usually enjoy, but Outer Limits scared me to death and I would not watch it. You mentioned Romper Room…you might enjoy looking at the Romper Room link at the DC Memories site I mention above.
Kathy: I agree with you…How could I have forgotten Dr. Ben Casey?
Jason: My husband and I used to watch Air Wolf, McGyver, and Night Rider. Those, plus A-Team.. all “action” shows were “must see” for us.
Wow this has been fun.
Julie, go to that DC memories site…it has a section on Claire & Co Co
The first show I remember watching was Sesame Street. I always caught the beginning of the Electric Company (which immediately followed SS) and begged my parents to let me watch it…but don’t think I ever did. And then of course there was Little House on the Prairie. I was only allowed one hour of TV a week, so my viewing was pretty limited.
Terry, I remembered Kukla, Fran & Ollie, I just couldn’t spell Kukla.
Speed Racer, Astro Boy… don’t forget: Under Dog, Tennessee Tuxedo, Clutch Cargo, and Johnny Quest.
Kerry, I never heard that particular Bob Newhart routine, but it sounds great.
Janey, that’s a great website.
Before there was an A-Team, there were The Bearcats! with Rod Taylor.
Land of the Giants, hooh boy, and The Land of the Lost…
and, The Bananna Splits, and H.R. Puffenstuff…
Oh, I forgot Speed Racers!
That was pretty cool too.
Kookla, Fran & Ollie
HOWDY DOODY!! With Buffalo Bob Smith, Phineas T. (Mr.) Bluster, Princess Summer/Fall/Winter/Spring and Clarabelle the Clown.
John Cameron Swayze with the Timex that “took a lickin’, but kept on tickin’”
I remember Hearld of Truth on Sunday nights and going downtown St. Louis to the radio studio with my mom & dad to do something for it.
My mom’s cousin was career Army and brought them a little about 3″ screen TV in a big wooden case (or small cabinet) in about 1949. I can remember very well in St. Louis the 1952 presidential campaigns and Ike being nominated to run by the Republican party. I remember the balloons and signs waving all on our “big” black & white TV we had then.
TV didn’t come on until early afternoon and after school I’d sit and hold my baby brother while we watched children’s shows and then news and Jackie Gleason and Red Skelton and Milton Berle, etc.
Remember the Saturday night weekly live show “The Hit Parade” anyone? Seeing the greatest singers ever featured sometimes, along with the regulars as they counted down the Top 10 hits of the week. Blueberry Hill, True Love. Pat Boone, Andrews Sisters, etc.
Those were the days all right.
Happy Days, The A Team, Brady Bunch, Dukes of Hazzard, Little House On The Prairie…. I still laugh at the fact that when Grant and I were first dating and we talked about things like “what shows we liked as a kid”, he said he hadn’t been allowed to watch Happy Days because it had “too much kissing” or Dukes Of Hazzard because it was a “good ole boys” show! What does that even mean? A good ole boys show? Who knows!!!!
I supposedly liked Flipper and Gumby and Pokey; thing is, I don’t remember any of the shows. My mother made me a stuffed Flipper. I know I had the Gumby and Pokey action figures because I bit on one and the wire went through my tongue!
I remember Brady Bunch, Partridge Family, Bold Ones, Love, American Style; Room 222, Sanford and Son . . . the first news event I remember really paying attention to was the 1972 Olympics. I remember how strange it looked seeing the coffins carried into the stadium draped with the Israeli flag. Up until then, the only time I’d ever seen anything like that was with the American flag. I would have been eight going on nine at the time.
I remember Nixon’s re-election, the first time I ever saw an all-caps newspaper headline: “Nixon Sweeps Nation For Record Landslide”.
To further age me, I can remember a time when we didn’t even HAVE cable to pick from!!
We bought a color television about 20 years ago. Up to the late ’80s, we watched a large black and white TV on a gold stand with rollers. Our teens said, “We must be the most backwards family in Montgomery County.” My dear hubby told them a black and white television was good for their imagination. Sold the thing in a garage sale–like the watch it was still tickin’.
Our son’s favorite show to watch on the black and white in 1979 when he was 9: Emergency.
The Adventures of Spin and Marty, Captain Midnight, Sky King, Rin Tin Tin, Ed Sullivan, Gunsmoke, 77 Sunset Strip, Surfside 6, Boston Blackie, Dragnet, Andy Williams Show, Wonderful World of Disney
When TV first came out, my mom and I would go down to the local appliance store on Wednesday nights and watch – Arthur Godfrey – on their tiny black and white TV.
My earliest TV memories are of my grandfather and uncle watching MASH (and I remember in high school they canceled All-City Choir rehearsal for the MASH finale) and then All in the Family. My grandmother used to watch Lawrence Welk on Saturday nights (I still watch it sometimes, for old times’ sake) followed by Hee-Haw and The Donnie and Marie Show. I loved Donnie and Marie, but I rarely got to see it because my grandmother hated all the dancing (but Lawrence Welk dancing was ok). I spent many summer evenings with my great-grandmother, one of the most pious, church-going women you would ever have met, watching her favorite show “The Love Connection” with Chuck Woolery.
We might as well all be waving signs with our age plastered on them!
Lone Ranger, Rifleman, Bonanza, Johnny Yuma was a Rebel, Have Gun Will Travel, The Cisco Kid, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Cheyenne, The Wild Wild West…..get the picture? COWBOYS were the theme of my TV watching.
Other show I liked were Leave it to Beaver, Flinstones, The Monkees,
Combat, 12 O’clock High, Johnny Quest, and of course Andy Griffith.
Do you Memphis folks remember Happy Hal? I got on his show once and he asked me a question that caught me off guard ( I think I was 6 or 7) and I told some lie………….my cousins looked at me like I just had signed my soul over to Satan and was bound to Hell for eternity.
“yes, counselor………that is when it ALL started downhill”.
DU
I thought of a few more to add to my list…
Doogie Howser, MD.
Simon and Simon
Magnum PI
Charlie’s Angels
Charles in Charge
The Cosby Show
And some sitcom show I can’t remember the name, but it had Jason Bateman in it?
Not the earliest shows I remember, but definately additions to my list of most watched…
Who remembers sneaking a peak at “Love American Style” on Friday nights……… and trying not to get caught?
anne elliott
Anybody else remember Johnny Sakko? Ultraman? These were both campy old Japenese sci-fi shows from the Godzilla genre. Usually came on on Saturday afternoons after cartoons.
Oh yeah, and the old ’70s WWII series based on Pappy Boyington’s flying adventures, “Baa Baa Black Sheep”.
Lots have mentioned Happy Days but not too many have said Laverne & Shirley…
..and other sitcoms: One Day at a Time, Eight is Enough, Soap, Taxi, etc.
We had, by my count, eight channels when I was growing up: 2 (CBS), 4 (NBC), 7 (ABC), 9 (CBC), 20 (Local), 50 (Local), 56 (PBS), and 62 (Local). And I was a happy little critter.
Today I’ve got 400+ dish channels and aside from football and HGTV, I can never find anything on.
More =/= Better, imho.
Would have loved to watch The Wonderful World Of Disney on Sunday nights…but church. I liked Baa Baa Black Sheep, Hulk, and The Dukes of Hazard
Yeah! Lost in Space!!!
Danger Will Robinson! Danger!
I just read all the comments and I don’t believe it but two of my favorites were left out. The Ozzie and Harriet Show – I loved Ricky Nelson and American Bandstand – the one from Philadelphia when the same kids danced everyday and you knew who was dating who. (or whom)
Does anyone remember
“The Rifleman”?
Oh, and by the way, for you Hee Haw fans, I grew up in the town where the storyteller John Henry Faulk lived, and Peavine Jefferies was a REAL person, and most of the stories about him were more fact than fiction!
This is proof I grew up in the country, I know!
Bat Masterson
Maverick
Wagon Train
My Friend Flicka
Circus Boy
Fury
and in upstate NY – The Magic Toyshop with Miss Merrilee, Eddie Flumnum and Mr. Trolley
What about American Band Stand, Solid Gold, or MTV Dance Party? Any of your CofC’s watch the dancing shows?
Games shows: Name that tune, Let’s Make A Deal and the Dating Game.
Sitcoms’ I remember: Different Strokes, Facts of Life, Silver Spoons, Alice, & Mork and Mindy.
I just read about Miss Connie. She was the host for Romper Room in the DC area. She was found dead at the age of 40. They think she drank too much alcohol. Coroner called it an accident. That made me sad.
Captain Kangaroo
Felix the Cat
Slam Bang Theatre with Iggy Twirp
Sumthin Else
Red Skelton
I’ve Got a Secret
Gary Moore
Gosh, I am OLD!
David U,
Do I ever remember “Happy Hal.” He had a contest called “The Secret Toy Contest.” They would call you and ask you if you knew the secret toy. They called me one day and I kew the correct answer. It was a model. I got to go to the store and pick out any model I wanted. The greedy kid that I was I picked out the most expensive model in the store. It was a model tank that a PhD couldn’t put together. I just couldn’t believe I won. I was like so many others who never watched anything on Sunday or Wednesday nights, but I was taught a much better lesson. Going to church was never forced down my throat. We just went, and I got to be with my friends, and I learned to love the Lord. I will say that in my opinion they don’t make TV shows like they used to. David, thanks for the great memory. I had long since forgotten Happy Hal.
He-Man, Carebears, Thundercats, Scooby-Doo.
I liked Dukes of Hazzard and watched it so much that every time I drive west past Roscoe I still say Roscoooo P Coltrain
We stillbuythe old DVD sets for the kids to watch.My boys love the Andy Griffith Shows and Bonanza. One of my kids loves to act like Ernest T Bass! It’s funny.
Not everyone would remember Supercar, since it was a syndicated British puppet feature … as were Fireball XL5, Thunderbirds and Stingray.
I kinda liked Whirlybird (helicopter version of Sky King). And the limited-animation cartoons Hercules, Space Angel, and Clutch Cargo. Not that they could hold a laser sight next to Jonny Quest, of course. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. satisfied my spy series thirst, and there was a long dry spell after it left the airwaves … until Mission: Impossible deployed.
And on into high school, I liked the two-season run of Search – those clever guys with the tiny video camera/transmitters who worked for P.R.O.B.E.
It would have been about 1954 when we got our first TV.
Tennessee Ernie Ford show with Mollie Bee and Dreft commercials.
The Lone Ranger. Maybe it is why I still have a love for classical music.
The Howdy Doody Show.
The Masquerade Show with Katchaturian’s Saber Dance as the intro music. The music thrilled me. I still love that piece.
What’s My Line.
Ovaltine commercials.
A show set in India with a string of porters always singing “Aughtie Aughtie Ay”. Don’t know the title, haven’t seen it in fifty years.
Crunch and Dez
Yancy Derringer
Lash LaRue
Captain Kangaroo
Mickey Mouse Club (Zorro, Spin & Marty)
Howdy Doody
Wonderful World of Disney (Davy Crockett)
Have Gun Will Travel
Red Skelton/Jackie Gleason (Honeymooners)
ShinDig, Hullabaloo
I was doing a search on Google for Dick Williams and Magicland and came across this blog! How cool is that?
I remember many of those shows mentioned. Do any of you Memphis folk remember when Dave Brown hosted Dialing for Dollars? He would randomly pick a phone number out of the phone book and call someone’s house and if they answered the phone and were watching the movie, they would win money.
And what about Big Star’s Horse Racing Game that came on TV on Saturdays? You got the card at the Big Star and then scratched the card to find the number of your horse and if your horse won, you won, too.
Do any of you know if Dick Williams has produced any of his Magicland shows on DVD?
RERUNS OF OUR GANG- LITTLE RASCALS
Until recently I rarely found any references to the 50+ year old space cartoon about the little boy who stowed away in a crate and then blasted off in a rocket with “Professor Nordheim” and “Smitty the Navigator” to search for the boys missing astronaut father. A favorite early-morning cartoon of mine as a child growing up in the 1950′s and 60′s.
All TV in the ’50s and ’60s was great with my favorite shows being:
The Twilight Zone
The Millionaire
Route 66
Red Skelton Show
Bonanza
Lost In Space
Ben Casey
Wagon Train
and all ’50s and ’60s Warner Brothers tv westerns. You know what they were!