Flashback Friday ~ TV Time

So here is my Flashback for this Friday, y’all grab your remote and enjoy!

Tell about TV when you were growing up.

Did your family have a TV?

Although my daughter thinks I came from the ark ages we did in fact have a television as well as indoor plumbing, running water and even electricity when we were growing up.

Was it color or b&w?

If memory serves it was color, however seeing as my hormones have pushed all possibility of things like memory retrieval from my brain, this fact can not be positively verified. I do, however, have very vivid memories of making sure we were all seated in front of the television for the door opening scene of the Wizard of Oz! This tells me that we did in fact have a color television or I was delusion even as a small child!

How many TVs did your family have?

I think we only had one!

Did you have one in your room?

When I was in elementary school that simply was not a concept that was even considered. However I do think as the televisions got more prevalent I think I may have had a small on in my room.

Did your family leave the TV on most of the day or turn it on for specific programs?

Sadly it was probably on all the time.

Was the TV on or off when you ate meals as a family?

Probably, but we usually ate in the kitchen so it was not something that we could see during dinner.

Were there rules about watching TV?

Who can remember that far back!!!! Not that I recall!

What were your favorite shows?

Danger! Danger! Will Robinson, Danger.

Lost in Space!!!!!

I NEVER missed this show. I loved the robot, Will Robinson, Dr. Jones, I just loved everything about the show. I especially like the parts about how they grew their food in the hydroponic garden. The also had a machine that they put their laundry in and it came out at the other end all washed and folded. This was a huge thing for me as we did not have a washer or dryer and the weekly trips down to the Laundromat were not one of my favorite things. I used to dream of having one for the space age machine’s that would do my laundry for me just like Maureen Robinson had!

The other television show that stand out for me were Saturday morning cartoons. I feel so sorry for today youth, they missed out on all the classic cartoon. Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leg Horn, The Road Runner and Wile Coyote and let’s not forget School House Rock. I’m just a Bill, yes I’m only a Bill and I’m sitting here on capitol Hill and Conjunction Junction what's your function….who doesn't even now still remember the words to those songs!

In my adolescent years my hands down favorite television show was Saturday Night Live. I feel so sorry for the world post Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner. I’m a SNL snob, there is not SNL if it does not include the original cast! I remember making our Saturday night plans to ensure that we were all home in time to watch. We would wait with great expectation for the moment during the opening skit where someone one would sep out of character and look directly at the camera a shout….Live from New York …It’s Saturday Night!

Are there any particular memories you have of TV in your younger years?

This happen when I was in my first apartment in the 80’s.

I was still in my very early twenties. My best friend and I were roommates and we got hooked on watching the television show Dallas. Now this was a new thing back in the day. The Night Time Soap Opera was just beginning to be introduced as Prime Time Drama’s. We got so wrapped up in the show and we were so shocked by the turn of events when J.R. got shot. We speculated all week long on who the culprit was. We made sure that we made no plans for the following week so we could find out who in fact had gunned down our favorite villain. We race home and rush to the television and turned on the set and settle in to watch….

We both sat in disbelief as the concept of “The Season End Cliffhanger” was introduced to prime time television. What!!! you mean we have to wait until next season to find out who shot J.R. How can this be. We were devastated.

Fortunately we recovered from our devastation and since then we as a society have all come to grips with the concept of the season end cliffhangers, well maybe not!

I have a love hate relationship with television. There is so much about television that I enjoy, yet there is so much about it that upset me. In reality I probably should just turn it off more times than not, I know I would get so much more done in a day with out it.

After decades of being a confirmed soap opera addict I finally severed that dependence. However I still readily admit that I am not completely willing to give us certain guilty pleasures. Dancing with the Stars…gotta love it! Grey’s Anatomy…I have waited patiently for this seasons opener. Iron Chef…what secret ingredient is hiding under that stainless steel hood? TNT and AMC…on a rainy Saturday with a movie marathon and I am a happy girl.

However, who has not scanned through the 577-thousand-million different channels and wondered why there is nothing decent to watch on television.

Also not being a sports enthusiast I often wonder just how many sports channels are really necessary?

Here is a question: Just how many History Channel or Discovery Channel documentaries can there be on the end of the world,mega disasters, ancient aliens and monster fish/animal/reptile/insect's?

I am not a reality television fan either. I fail to see the appeal of opening one lives up to the general public for inspection. But then I tease my family all the time about trying to come up with some behaviors bizarre enough that would merit an application for Wife Swap, but then the key to success there is to be just far enough removed from reality that you think your bizarre lifestyle is completely normal and the rest of the world has got it all wrong.

Our children will never live in a world without hundred's of choices. They will never have to get up and walk across the room to change the channel! Gone are the days of only three networks and Saturday morning cartoons, Bonanza, Lassie, The Adams Family, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, My Three Sons, The Carol Burnett Show, The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, Mr. Ed, My Favorite Martian, Bewitched, The Hulk, The Walton’s and Little House on the Prairie! Then there were the mini-series’ The Thornbirds, Shogun, Roots…

Gone are the days of missing your favorite show and being really bummed about it? I will say that the DVR has given us all the wonderful option of taking back the control and letting life take precedence over television once again!

Some day's I just turn it off and grab a good book or my crochet hook and enjoy the silence.

What would Ma & Pa do?

Ma would be darning sock’s by candle light, Pa would be sitting in his rocker (that he made by hand) playing his fiddle by the light of the fire while Laura and Mary whisper about their secret plan to get Nellie back at school in the morning!

Well enough of that!

Y’all head over to Mocha with Linda and link up for more Flash Back Friday!

Blessings

R