Laff in
The Smothers Brothers
Gentle Ben
Cimarron Strip
The Red Skelton Show
I Love Lucy (I particularly remember the one where she gets her toe stuck in the bathtub spigot).
Ed Sullivan
Of course, it is hard to narrow it down to one, as I was all of about three or four at the time.
The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new. Samuel Beckett

I was born in 1949, and the first TV Shows I remember watching and loving, were "The People's Choice" and "Hennesey", both starring Jackie Cooper, who just passed away today at the age of 89. I was shocked that the newspaper obituarys only credit him with The Little Rascals and the 1978 Superman films.
No mention of those two ground breaking sit-coms that started it all.

Verily I say unto thee"Highway Patrol" starring Broderick Crawford.

I an answer that question better than many people because my family didn't have a tv set until i was six.
However, i rmember visting family friends and watching afternoon kid's kids shows before we had a television.
So the first tleevision show i ever watched was probably alocal pPhiladelpia afternon t kid's show, but I can't rmember the first time I watched television or anything which would intentify the eries.
I imagine that most members of younger gnerations have been exposed to tv from infancy and might be alble t identify the first show they rmember seeing but not the first show they actually saw months or s years earlier thanthat one.

December Bride would be first, followed by I Remember Mama, phew that shakes some dust outta those dormant brain cells
you haven't pillowed since you have been here? you must be very constricted

the most stuff I remember watching..or rather the earliest..was afternoon tv seriesDecember Bride, Our Miss Brooks,Topper, etc..and Loretta Young all made there way to daytime tv. gameshows, like Queen for a Day or the Price is Right was Bill Cullen the host at one time? I remember watching all of those you mentioned too and Tom Terrific Crabby Appleton..the meanest man in town. Gumby. For whatever reasonGumby didn't do much for me. and Art Linkletter's showthen the afternoon shows for kids would playDisney, the Cisco Kid, Sgt Preston, Ramar etcsome space ship thing too. We had to have the Ovaltine rocket ship to make our Ovaltine or Bosco.
Just snake a tube down her throat and I'll be there in about four hours! caddieshack

Here where I live in the UK we could not get local commercial TV when it started in the 50s so had to watch a very wobbly screen of anything we could pick up from London, and the first series I remember watching was The Adventures of Superman.
I was enthralled!!! But seeing an episode of that very same series recently may me realise just how crudely it was put together, BUT we were happy in those days and much easier to please!

RAWHIDE (1959) had a BIG crush on Rowdy Yates (Clint Eastwood)

I was born in 1968 but some 50s shows were still on network TV in the early 70s.
I clearly recall seeing the opening credits to both Gunsmoke & Bonanza.
Too bad that I was too little to understand them at the time.
I know the first sit-com from the '50s that I saw in re-runs was most certainly "I Love Lucy".
HaPpIpUPpI 13 Arf!

No, it was not Mr. Rogers, but thanx anyway.
Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.

No knight. "Friendly" was human and the puppets were Jerome the giraffe (he was as tall as the giant) and Rusty the rooster who had a book bag. There were a couple of cat puppets who were the visiting musicians.
A knight? Could it have been King Friday from Mr. Rogers Neighborhood?
"Madame meets many people, but she usually avoids the mad ones."

Tell me misspaddylee, if you can remember, did this show of which you have the earliest memory, have a puppet that was a knight? I have been everywhere searching and I never find a thing. I used to have a hand puppet of the knight, but cannot remember what show it was from. Perhaps, you have something more I can go on."The Friendly Giant" sounds like the type of show that may have had this character.
Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.

My earliest tv show memories are of
The Friendly Giant
. I loved the stories "Friendly" told, and especially liked the programs when they have a concert in the music room of the castle. I also watched
Chez Helene
and while I remember Suzy the Mouse, none of the French lessons ever took.
Afternoon television seemed to me to be all about
Madame Benoit
cooking and
Bonnie Pruden
exercising.
When I was a little older I lived for after school programming of
Zorro
,
Rin Tin Tin
,
Wild Bill Hickcock
and
The Forest Rangers
. I was also crazy about
The Mickey Mouse Club
during its early 60s syndicated run. Loved the serials!
"All this talk of blood and slaying has put me off my tea."

For some strange reason I remember a show called Duffy's Tavern. I guess my folks use to watch it.
I mostly remember cartoon shows like Crusader Rabbit, but also others like Q.T. Hush. Hush was very much like one of those cliffhanger serials. Also remember Pow Wow the Indian Boy cartoons. Susan's Place a morning kid show. And Jobbellwaky Place another kids show that featured Terry Bennett and his wife Joy as Pamula puppet.
I never hear anything about these really old shows. Wish they were on DVD. I sure would like to see them again.

In the 50's, Betty played a maid on Date With The Angels. She was relatively new to TV then.

Wonderful Betty White is enjoying enormous celebration, lately. Most people remember her earliest role to be Sue Ann Nivens on
The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
But,
Life with Elizabeth
, from '52 was another great early series. It started out as a daytime program, and was the best thing about staying home, sick, from school.

Yeh, now I remember the old guy saying "Hello Mrs. Angel, Hello Mrs. Angel's friend". My brother and I repeated that for years.

Mike Connors played an undercover cop in Tightrope. The intriguing thing about the series is the audience never knew the character's name. He often used the alias "Nick", so writers commenting on the show frequently refer to him by this name. But in the closing credits he was simply referred to as The Man.
But throughout it all, my motto was "Dignity! Always dignity!".

"Tightrope" a series of 20 minute thrillers with Mike Connors who made his name later as "Mannix". I don't remember anything about the series whatsoev

I'm not sure what was the first show I watched. We didn't have our own TV till '56 or '57. But I did watch some shows on friends' TVs. Two earliest I remember are Captain Midnight and Beany and Cecil. Would be funny to see those shows today. Extremely low-tech.

Have sent you a PM

You answered this one for me. We got our Emerson 16"er in 1950 and Mama and Man Against Crime were among the first we watched. Racket Squad, Stu Erwin, Joan Davis, and 1950 Nash's in use as Police cars are all memories for me.
Man Against Crime often featured Ralph Bellamy as Mike Barnett in a woolen topcoat. I think I remember Ralph saying he did the show directly after finishing work on stage and so used his street clothes as costume.
As well, most of the live drama under the hot early TV lights had some sort of sultry locale featuring lots of brow-mopping.

In the 49-50 Season:
"Mama" and "Man Against Crime" both on Friday evenings

Great thread, MikeF-6!
My very first memories, about 2 or 3, were of "Kukla, Fran and Ollie," and "Howdy Doody." My dad, ever the doting parent, bought me a HUGE Clarabelle doll; it was almost as tall as I.
I always took Clarabelle to bed with me, and, once in the middle of the night, I awoke to see the face of the doll beside me. It was horrifyingly white and gleaming in the shaft of moonlight coming in through the window. I remember hearing myself scream and scream and scream, and my parents running into my roomm.
That was the last of Clarabelle and Howdy Doody in my house. LOL!!
As I got older, horses became my passion, so any Western - no matter how bad - were my favorite shows. Wasn't that interested in the cowboys, but I remember knowing every horse and its name.
My dad - he really knew no boundaries when it came to buying me gifts - acknowledged my passion by buying me a life-size stuffed pony, with bridle and saddle, from FAO Schwartz. My mom made him take it back.