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All about our early TV watching is what Linda wants from us this week. Linda asked several questions. Click her icon, right, if you want to read others or participate in this.
First,
a little teacher joke from my friend, bornagn901 (I never know whether that will be James or Gwen--the address belongs to James but they both use it when it comes pass-around-joke time):
TEACHER: Clyde , your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's.. Did you copy his?
CLYDE : No, sir. It's the same dog.
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Now, to what Linda asked us to answer:
Did your family have a TV?
Our family did not have a TV. TVs were fairly new when I was still in high school and my parents would not buy one. They thought the radio had all the news they needed and some real good programming for listening.
Tell about TV when you were growing up.
On Saturday nights Mom, Dad, Lois (sister), and I would go up to Grandpa and Grandma's (pictured on the right) home to watch TV with them. Really we would go up to watch wrestling because that is all that Grandpa would watch on Saturday night. When wrestling was over we would go home.
Sometimes some of my aunts and uncles and cousins would come to watch with my grandparents. Not usually though because they had their own TVs. I watched TV cartoons sometimes with my cousins on Thanksgiving and Christmas. We always had that at my grandparents.
Was it color or b&w?
Grandpa's TV was B&W because that was all they had back then. After I got married, six years out of high school, only then was my first TV, also a black and white. I don't think there was color TV yet then either.
How many TVs did your family have?
My parents bought a TV right after I left for college. They only had one. Until I married Mrs. Jim much later, I only had one TV. Now we have one in every room except the dining room, bathrooms, and the mud room.
Did you have one in your room?
When I was in college I still didn't have a TV for my room(s). My TV watching was either at the Student Union Lounge or at work when someone brought one in on University of Nebraska football days.
Did your family have a TV?Our family did not have a TV. TVs were fairly new when I was still in high school and my parents would not buy one. They thought the radio had all the news they needed and some real good programming for listening.
Tell about TV when you were growing up.
On Saturday nights Mom, Dad, Lois (sister), and I would go up to Grandpa and Grandma's (pictured on the right) home to watch TV with them. Really we would go up to watch wrestling because that is all that Grandpa would watch on Saturday night. When wrestling was over we would go home.
Sometimes some of my aunts and uncles and cousins would come to watch with my grandparents. Not usually though because they had their own TVs. I watched TV cartoons sometimes with my cousins on Thanksgiving and Christmas. We always had that at my grandparents.
Was it color or b&w?
Grandpa's TV was B&W because that was all they had back then. After I got married, six years out of high school, only then was my first TV, also a black and white. I don't think there was color TV yet then either.
How many TVs did your family have?
My parents bought a TV right after I left for college. They only had one. Until I married Mrs. Jim much later, I only had one TV. Now we have one in every room except the dining room, bathrooms, and the mud room.
Did you have one in your room?
When I was in college I still didn't have a TV for my room(s). My TV watching was either at the Student Union Lounge or at work when someone brought one in on University of Nebraska football days.
I moved around a lot after I dropped out. I still didn't have my own TV. My last landlady had one and I would watch it quite a bit with the family. It was here that I first saw the Beatles when they came on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Did your family leave the TV on most of the day or turn it on for specific programs?
Back in those days the TV was never left on when no one was watching. I think people thought it might self combust. I generally shut them off to this day when not in use, mostly to conserve energy.
Was the TV on or off when you ate meals as a family?
My landlady always had hers on at meal time because that was also news time. The TV couldn't be seen from the table but everyone could hear the news and didn't need to see it. Except maybe for the weather, that was nice to watch.
Were there rules about watching TV?
I was too old for rules. With our own kids there weren't any rules either. All the time they were at home we only had broadcast TV--no cable or dish TV-- so the programming was decent for them to watch.
What were your favorite shows?
Football has always been my favorite show. That is because I began to like football about the time I had my own TV. I watched the Late Night Show and/or the Tonight Show about from the time they started.
Are there any particular memories you have of TV in your younger years?
I can still see us all siting on the couch or a straight chair watching wrestling with Grandpa. Also in my mind someplace is watching cartoons on Thanksgiving Day after dinner with my cousins.
Did your family leave the TV on most of the day or turn it on for specific programs?
Back in those days the TV was never left on when no one was watching. I think people thought it might self combust. I generally shut them off to this day when not in use, mostly to conserve energy.
Was the TV on or off when you ate meals as a family?
My landlady always had hers on at meal time because that was also news time. The TV couldn't be seen from the table but everyone could hear the news and didn't need to see it. Except maybe for the weather, that was nice to watch.
Were there rules about watching TV?
I was too old for rules. With our own kids there weren't any rules either. All the time they were at home we only had broadcast TV--no cable or dish TV-- so the programming was decent for them to watch.
What were your favorite shows?
Football has always been my favorite show. That is because I began to like football about the time I had my own TV. I watched the Late Night Show and/or the Tonight Show about from the time they started.
Are there any particular memories you have of TV in your younger years?
I can still see us all siting on the couch or a straight chair watching wrestling with Grandpa. Also in my mind someplace is watching cartoons on Thanksgiving Day after dinner with my cousins.
I do remember pretty clearly the first TV I had. It was fairly small and made of yellow plastic. A TV stand cost extra but we had one of those. It was made of small diameter rod welded to make an artistic, contemporary, looking affair.
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My TV watching now that I am retired is as follows:
6:45 -- Wrap up of local news and weather
7-9 ---- GMA, ABC's Good Morning America program -- Fox 26 Local interspersed sometimes -- Mrs. Jim brings me coffee just before 8:00 and I get up about then. Sometimes I get up at 7:20 after the network (ABC) news.
9:00 -- Regis and Kelly
10:00 - Price is right
11:00 - Local news on ABC 13
12:00 - Local news on CBS 11
12:30 - Family Feud -- or Cooking with Barefoot Contessa if Mrs. Jim is home
1:00 -- Beverly Hillbillies from WGN, Chicago (two rerun programs)
2:00 -- I Dream of Jeannie, WGN, Chicago (two rerun programs)
3:00 -- Bewitched, WGN, Chicago (two rerun programs) -- or 2:30 Millionaire
4:00 -- Local news on ABC 13
5:00 -- Local news on NBC 2
5:30-- Network news, NBC, CBS, or ABC (never Fox)
6:00 -- Local news, CBS 11
6:30 -- Vanna White (Dad called it that), i.e. Wheel of Fortune
7:00 -- Antique Road Show or other nice PBS show -- Football or Houston Astros Baseball
10:00 - Local news on CBS 11
10:37 - Late Show with Dave Letterman
11:37 -- Jeopardy
12:07 - Inside Edition
12:37 - Who Wants To Be a Millionaire
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Right now we only have one TV. It is a color HDTV, but it is only 17 inches, and we keep it in the guest bedroom. It is never on during meals. For that matter, it is rarely ever on. Amoeba did watch a baseball game the other day.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this. And don't ever worry about being first! Our TV was always on during supper, Channel 2 news after the NBC Nightly News. I was pretty young, but I still remember Chet Huntley and David Brinkley saying good-night to each other as they signed off at the end of the news.
ReplyDeleteWe usually fall asleep on the couch if we watch TV in the evenings, too, :-)
ReplyDeleteNice memories. My grampa liked to watch "the bouts" on tv, too. Boxing, though.
ReplyDeleteUntil I got my first tv at 29 I had really bad insomnia. TV is my sleeping pill and I always have one in my room now. There are several shows I watch the first 20 minutes of every episode of and don't know how anything ends.
Our memories do have some definite similarities despite being several decades apart! I like that your early memories of tv watching were always with someone--you didn't just watch alone.
ReplyDeleteI love your memories, Jim! We used to watch Sat. night wrestling with my husband's parents. His mother LOVED it--she still does, and she's 88.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy watching the Antique Roadshow, too.
Have a great weekend. Kathy
I enjoyed this Jim! I think you look like your Grandpa too!!
ReplyDeleteI think we got a TV when I was 7 or 8 years old. It's so different being a kid now compared to what it was like back then! Back then we had to create our own fun, and I think it was more healthy for us to run through the fields and play rather than watching TV and video games! But with progress things have changed!
I hardly ever watch the News. I find it very upsetting and depressing and biased. I usually record shows and watch them on my time and so I can skip through commercials.
ReplyDeleteDad, you are a lawyer, no "Judge Judy" or "The Peoples Court (the early days had Judge Wapner" during the day?
ReplyDeleteI used to watch Matlock at work in the afternoons. I can't find him anymore.
ReplyDeleteTV and/or putting my feet almost as high as my head usually puts me to sleep right away.
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You sure do take some nice pictures, Jim! (Referring to the ones on your previous posts, ehre I didn't comment...) Your tv stories are interesting. There aren't that many folk around anymore who haven't had a tv in their home from day 1. I'll be answering the tv flashback questions soon, but on thing i recall is the Saturday Night Circus with Don Ameche. Anyone else?
ReplyDelete