What is the first TV series you remember watching
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grantch — 16 years ago(March 18, 2010 12:17 AM)
The first TV show I remember seeing was at a friend's house would you believe Liberace ca. 1951/ I also saw a few episodes of My Friend Irma and Amos 'n' Andy ca. 1952. We got our first TV set in 1953. Shows I vividly remember were Love of Life, Search for Tomorrow, The Guiding Light, The Big Payoff, Dangerous Assignment, Foreign Intrigue, Father Knows Best, Space Patrol, and Winky Dink as well as the weekday kiddie shows featuring cartoons and movie serials. Of course our entire family watched Arthur Godfrey (who dominated daytime TV, they telecast his radio series!), Jackie Gleason, I Love Lucy, Milton Berle and Meet Millie. Sunday Nights, jack Benny alternating with Private Secretary, Ed Sullivan, and What's My Line. Does remembering all these shows indicate a misspent youth? Although I didn't see the shows daily or weekly (I did have a life and went to elementary school), I am bemused by the fact that I can remember storylines on the soaps which I only saw off and on during vacations. Our local station didn't carry Kukla, Fran and Ollie or Howdy Doody so I could only view them when we went north for summer vacation. And, crime of crimes, our local station didn't carry Your Show of Shows!
PS - Of course I loved them on radio so I was a faithful fan of Our Miss Brooks and My Little Margie. I was rather shocked that Gale Storm's death last year received so little notice only us old folk remember her not only as a comedienne but an excellent singer. LOL -
sezzy2850 — 15 years ago(March 24, 2011 07:38 PM)
Walt Disney1955.. Davey Crocket with Fess Parker and Buddy Ebsen, Texas John Slaughter, Tom Tryon, Elfago Baca, and The Swamp Fox with Leslie Neilson Zorro with Guy Williams, Spin and Marty with Tim Considine all Disney Classics
Maverick, Have Gun will Travel, Cheyene, Sugarfoot, Lawman, Wagon train all classic westerns from the 50's But the best western of the 50;s. Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. HIYO SILVER AWAY The Lone ranger -
stranddan — 13 years ago(July 14, 2012 06:14 AM)
My father, who watched only sports and "action shows," often wandered through the TV room when other shows were on. We thought it was hilarious that he thought Dorothy Collins was Snooky Lanson as "what kind of GUY would have a name like Snooky?" We thought he was woefully out of touch and now I find myself doing identical things, asking very similar questions. In fact, just this morning I asked someone "Who is Snooki?"
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harringtonml54 — 13 years ago(August 10, 2012 01:21 AM)
Good stuff, thanks. The article has one error that I noted immediately: the photo that identifies Doris Day as having appeared on the series with Frank Sinatra is incorrect. The singer in the photo is actually Helen O'Connell.
"I'm not
afraid,
Mother. I'm not afraid." -
MikeF-6 — 16 years ago(February 11, 2010 02:12 PM)
Andy's Gang (a truly terrible children's show)
This was the third incarnation of a show that began as The Buster Brown Show in 1950. When I saw it, it was called Smilin Ed McConnell and His Gang. One of the unforgettable segments was Billy Gilbert going up against Froggy the Gremlin. Smilin Ed would conjure up Froggy ( a puppet) with the words, Pluck your magic twanger, Froggy! There would be a puff of smoke and Froggy would appear saying, Hiya, kids, hiya. Then Billy Gilbert would try to lecture the audience on something while Froggy would stand to one side and confuse him. A typical gag would go something like:
Gilbert: Then you take the doughy mixture
Froggy: And put it in your ear.
Gilbert: and put it in your ear. (He does so. Then) No-o-o-o Froggy-y-y-y
Hilarious stuff. Really.
It was never the same show after McConnell died in 1955 and Andy Devine took over.
Smilin Eds audience eventually grew up to be 60s rebels and hippie dropouts. The pluck your magic twanger catchphrase turned into an ironic and salacious wisecrack.
mf
"I'm sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody." -Franny -
socrates17 — 15 years ago(February 04, 2011 05:09 PM)
'Scuse me, but Andy's Gang contributed to the twisting of an entire generation. I mean "Plunk your magic twanger Froggy"???? Oh really!?!? Who cares if he was a lame puppet.
And that sinister cat ("Niccccceeeeee".) Of course, I love cats and prefer then to dogs, but nevertheless
OK, the antiquated film clips they showed were really boring, but if Andy didn't come across as a World Class Perve then I'm an artichoke. ("Hey! Get away from that leaf!!! That's part of ME.")
I have a video somewhere, but, typically, I've no idea where it is, so I'm off to YouTube. -
bodryn — 13 years ago(July 16, 2012 02:28 PM)
Our family didn't buy a TV until March 1956 but I got to see the first Gunsmoke episode on a friend's TV in the fall of 1955. Gunsmoke was a favorite of mine, especially because it had been a favorite radio program. Of course Gunsmoke started out as a half-hour show, and Dillon used his fists a lot more in those early shows before the public complained about violence on TV.
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Iridescent_Phantom — 16 years ago(February 15, 2010 04:52 PM)
One Step Beyond came on about 1961 or 1962.
That creepy theme music scared the bejesus out of me and host John Newland also remains in my mind. I can still see his thin frame and hear his voice after all these years.
To God There Is No Zero. I Still Exist. -
stranddan — 16 years ago(March 02, 2010 08:53 AM)
The very, very first time I looked at a TV screen was in 1949 it was a Ford commercial! I don't know what I expected, but I was surprised to see an automobile on a road, with an announcer lauding its virtues!
The first show we saw that night was "Kukla, Fran & Ollie," but there were a couple of 15-minute shows I recall, one of them featuring a lovely woman named Roberta, whose last name I cannot now recall.
During those very early days, there was a program called "Fireside Theater," hosted by Gene Raymond and comprising two 15-minute stories! Amazing what they packed into those 15 minutes. -
mightymaggie — 16 years ago(March 05, 2010 12:56 AM)
I had forgotten all about these shows and others mentioned here. I'm so glad there's people out there my age that remember shows from 'our' youth. Ahhhh -the memories - really good ones, less complicated times (or so we thought)- and surrounded by family mostly because there was only one small back and white TV set.
