What TV did you watch as a kid?

[jigs_n_fixtures]

Roy Rogers, Sky King, and Rin Tin Tin. But TV ended when I was in 2nd grade. The older brother got a D in Algebra. So, he was supposed to come home, and do his math homework. So, it was ready for Dad to check it when he got home.

The younger brother and I were watching TV, and my brother came and started watching with us. And, Dad got home an hour or so early. Dad asked the older brother if his homework was done. And in the ensuing argument the older brother said something along the lines of he didn’t need to do the homework he was smart enough.

At which point Dad pulled the back panel off the TV, took his hanky out of his pocket, and pulled all of the tubes out, and put them into a brown paper bag, which he handed to the older brother. And, told him that he could watch TV again when he got it working. He and one of the sisters would randomly put tubes in, and take the tubes to the store once a week, to test them and replace the ones which were blown out.

I figured out after two years that the library had big books with schematics, which showed what tubes went in which sockets. Dad threatened to spank me if I told my brother.

Four years later, 1968, he graduated from high school and went off to the Army, and Dad bought a new color TV to watch the 68 Olympics.

Early nineties the younger brother and I were having a beer with Dad, and told him it really wasn’t fair that we didn’t get to watch TV, just because the older brother was stupid. He laughed, and told us that he had accomplished his goal, both of us had turned out to be avid readers.

 

[notaz3]

Didn't have TV growing up, still don't have one now.

 

[dirttoys]

Dukes of Hazzard was a Friday night show if I recall, just after something else we liked but I can't recall what now.
I always liked "The Wild, Wild West" with Joseph Conrad(?) and Ross Martin. Funny thing though, I tried to watch that show a few years ago and it was COR-NEEE!!!!!
Saturday morning cartoons were Mighty Mouse, Huckleberry Hound, Wacky Racers and a few others. One which I really enjoyed but wasn't on for long was a cartoon called "Space Ghost"... that would also probably seem corny if I watched it now.

I loved wild wild west, downloaded it all, mainly just to punish the wife for making us watch kids baking championship. It is bob conrade from ba ba black sheep for the record, but I don't think it matters................

It is corny, but I still enjoyed it, at least to the extent it made the boss crazy.

Best,

ed

 

[oosik]

Very simple. When I was a kid we listened to the radio. TV was not available to the public.

 

[Jstpssng]

One of first things I remember was seeing JFK's funeral on TV. I asked my mother what it was and she said "A very good man has died".

 

[Bird]

I guess I was 14 the first time I even saw a TV and when we got one, there was one station we could get from Ardmore, and if someone went outsidee and turned the antenna, we might get the station from Wichita Falls and sometimes even one other station. All went off the air at midnight each night, and I got our first color TV just in time to see the first landing on the moon. Our first TV . . . Saturday night wrestling was a big thing.

 

[scaredychicken]

Black and White RCA with a fake wood grain finish, rabbit ears, no remote. Massive 12 inch screen. big and bulky unit. 3 channels (2 were duplicates), no cable. it sat in a metal stand with gold coloured caster wheels and a handle on one side.
n
I also spent a good amount of my childhood time in the hospital, bedridden following corrective surgery (6 months off my feet, numerous times) ... for those periods, I had a 3.5 inch swing-arm bedside / wall (rental) black and white TV supplied via the hospital. It was good.

Then one day when I was released from the hospital and wheelchair bound, I returned home and a few hours later a Brand New ZENITH 20 inch colour TV with Remote, and cable, was delivered by family friends who owned the local TV / Radio shop. My parents had gone all out, knowing that this would make my recuperation easier. Our family (6 of us) spend time watching TV, with jigsaw puzzles, board games, plastic models also keeping us busy.

Disney, Hymn Sing, The Waltons, NHL hockey, car races, MLBaseball, some CFL football, Looney Tunes / Merry Melodies (Diaperman was my personal hero), Gilligan's Island, Brady Bunch (I admit a Marcia crush), Bananarama, Jacques Cousteau, and WWF wrestling (with Grandpa). And back in the day, I DID watch the News.

 

[Bird]

Black and White RCA with a fake wood grain finish, rabbit ears, no remote. Massive 12 inch screen. big and bulky unit. 3 channels (2 were duplicates), no cable. it sat in a metal stand with gold coloured caster wheels and a handle on one side.
n
I also spent a good amount of my childhood time in the hospital, bedridden following corrective surgery (6 months off my feet, numerous times) ... for those periods, I had a 3.5 inch swing-arm bedside / wall (rental) black and white TV supplied via the hospital. It was good.

Then one day when I was released from the hospital and wheelchair bound, I returned home and a few hours later a Brand New ZENITH 20 inch colour TV with Remote, and cable, was delivered by family friends who owned the local TV / Radio shop. My parents had gone all out, knowing that this would make my recuperation easier. Our family (6 of us) spend time watching TV, with jigsaw puzzles, board games, plastic models also keeping us busy.

Disney, Hymn Sing, The Waltons, NHL hockey, car races, MLBaseball, some CFL football, Looney Tunes / Merry Melodies (Diaperman was my personal hero), Gilligan's Island, Brady Bunch (I admit a Marcia crush), Bananarama, Jacques Cousteau, and WWF wrestling (with Grandpa). And back in the day, I DID watch the News.

Were you a polio victim. I was, and spent 6 weeks in the hospital once and one week another time, as a result, but it sounds as if you had a much harder time than I had. And when I was in the hospital I saw many other boys in much worse shape than I was in.

As for the color TV with remote. . . my wife and I were assistant managers of a 104 unit apartment complex the first 3 and a half years of our marriage. We just had a black & white TV, but there came a time when the manager of the complex got a new color TV with remote; first remote I ever saw. The manager's apartment was also the office and in those days lots of people paid monthly rent in person with a check, so the door bell rang frequently in that apartment. And we learned very quickly that a ringing doorbell, a key dropped on the floor, the telephone ringing, etc. would cause that TV to change channels, turn off, or something and you never knew what it was going to do. In less than 2 weeks, they sent that TV back and got one without a remote.

 

[masscity]

Born in 46, we got a B&W TV in 56, 1 channel only and that was a combination of ABC and CBS. First few years it had a lot of snow on it, because the station was
a 100 miles east of us. Don't remember much what I watched.

 

[Egon]

No TV so didn’t get to watch as a kid. In fact TV was not available till my mid teens.