Television and I

You might say that television and I grew up together in the 60s. Unlike today, with the hundreds of channels of nothing on, we had three. No cable. We didn't even have an antennae! Rabbit ears and tin foil wrapped at the ends. And did I mention the world then was black and white? From Ding Dong School to Walter Cronkite to Danny Thomas. My world of fantasy was in black and white. In fact, my world was projected from a 12 inch red cased Zenith television.

I remember mornings with Ding Dong School (Big Bird wasn't even close to hatching yet) and Captain Kangaroo with the Dutch boy haircut and red coat with big pockets along with Mr. Moose and Mr. Greenjeans. We had Beat the Clock, Dialing for Dollars, Meet the Millers and Strikes, Spares and Misses with Chuck Healy. Afternoons we were taken to Woodbridge to be sucked into the lives of the Ames family on Secret Storm or watched as the Bauer family was dealt with daily problems on the Guilding Light. Merv Griffin was on while mom would be making supper.

We had our favorites during the week, Gunsmoke and Bonanza, Ben Casey and Dr. Kildare. The Andy Griffith Show that was a spin off of Danny Thomas which was a spin off of I Love Lucy. I'd hear Ralph Kramden say "To the moon Alice!" more than once. I was transported to the past watching Clint Eastwood in Rawride and further back with Fred and Barney at 7:30 on Friday nights.

And I watched in horror as did millions the assassination of John F. Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald followed by a week of a grief stricken nation mourn the loss of their beloved President. In April of 1968, James Earl Ray, in Memphis, Tennessee, shoots and kills civil rights leader, Martin Luther King. Two months later in June, Sirhan Sirhan put three bullets into Bobby Kennedy and again a nation mourns. Then on July 20, 1969, along with the same millions that mourned together the previous year, I rejoiced along with them as the Eagle, carrying Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, landed in the Sea of Tranquility. Armstrong's words ringing in my ears still "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." The words of my grandfather are also ringing in my ears, "What! They aren't supposed to be on the moon today! Tomorrow!" Guess who's birthday was the 21st of July.

World news was brought into our home by Walter Cronkite. In 1964, he told us that Nelson Mandela was give life in prison and South Africa was banned from the Olympics. The President's Commission on the Assassination of John F. Kennedy issued the Warren Report concluding Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Jack Ruby was convicted of murdering Oswald. The Cardinals won the World Series and Toronto the Stanley Cup. He told us the British were invading again but this time in the form of the Beatles on the stage of Ed Sullivan. I was seven and in love with George. Herbert Hoover, Douglas MacArthur and Harpo Marx died in 1964. The Best Picture Award went to Tom Jones and Ranger VII took pictures of the moon.

And in 1964, the color TV set is introduced and most of the NBC programs were filmed in color. This was an invitation to my grandfather to buy a console 27" color television set. It was also a way for my parents to get Jim and I to mind. Weekends usually meant a trip to my mother's parents in South Dayton. In 1964, South Dayton was a very small village. In 2010, South Dayton is still a very small village. And like any small town or village, everyone knew everyone else's business. Grandpa sold cars and Grandma was a homemaker. And they were one of the firsts to own a color TV.

It was customary for us to leave in the mid afternoon on Sundays. Dad had to work in the morning and I had school. My parents also liked to get us settled for the night and would sit, watching Wagon Train and The Ed Sullivan Show. But on rare occasions, Jim and I were told that if we napped, Dad would agree to staying and watching Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. Jim and I would not hesitate to climb the stairs to your bedroom.

Holiday specials were always a reason to stay. Disney would always show holiday cartoons. Halloween with Ichabod and Donald Duck with his nephews, Huey, Louey and Duey. Christmas brought Mickey's Christmas Tree with Pluto, Chip and Dale. Professor Ludwig Von Drake helped me with my science and math. There was Daniel Boone and nature stories. We saw everything from bears to beavers were shown in their natural habitats. And the best were movies. Because Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color was only an hour long, if the week we stayed was a movie, I knew we would be coming for a visit the following weekend.

The following year, my parents finally purchased a color television set. We may not have been the first to get a color set but one of our neighbors didn't own a set and their children soon became friends just to watch. Dad was the typical male that knew all there was to know regarding the color set. Rule of thumb, once the reds are correct, the color will be perfect. Mom always adjusted the color during the news using the colors of the newscast. Dad on the other hand...think about it, how much color is there when you are watching golf. "I know what I'm doing, the grass is green!" Too bad the anchorman was purple!

I began watching television in its infancy. To Andy Taylor holding hands with his date as being the raciest screen on television to teen pregnancy on MTV's 16 and Pregnant. Yes, television has changed, commercials and programming are no longer live, censors are have let more and more slide by. Today we are missing some great family entertainment. Carol Burnett and Lucille Ball. The Partridge Family and The Brady Bunch. The only sex on television was implied with Dean Martin and Laugh-in. Marshal Dillon always got his man, Marcus Welby's patient was cured and The Waltons always took too long to say goodnight.

We now have hundreds of channels and sadly not much to watch. Family hour seems to be a thing of the past to be placed next to Archie's chair at the Smithsonian. When I see kids walking the streets, bored, high, pregnant or all of the above, I think maybe The Waltons was a corny program and The Partridge Family lame but we were a family together. I can count the hours that I have watched our 52 inch screen television on one hand...zero. In my youth, I sat watching television for hours, afraid I would miss something. As an aging (and gracefully I might add) woman I find I'm not missing a thing.

Should the likes of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color return to the small screen, I will surely know I have died and gone to heaven.