As a child I was a TV addict and in Philly

[PCIntern]

we only had 3 stations...even the station which was to become PBS was fledgling and non-existent...no UHF, no nothing other than the three networks. To this day I could recite the lineup which I used to watch, especially Friday nights...

Now in my 50's, the only prime-time programming I watch on the 4 networks routinely is 'House', and even then, not religiously even though it's great and one of my former patients is one of the producers named in the beginning of the show.

I'm just tired of crap...there was a lot of crap in the 50's and 60's...don't ever let anyone fool you into thinking otherwise, but you could cobble together a decent night's watching almost every night of the week including Saturday(!). When I was young, Westerns...the Warner Brothers westerns..were big and although they were formula-d and repetitious in certain aspects, they had a certain quirkiness about them. The Rifleman was excellent drama, Maverick and Cheyenne (now being shown on cable premium channels like Encore) were often quirky and interesting and funny at times. Gunsmoke was generally serious as befit a 6'7" federal marshal, but Sugarfoot and Bronco were often light-hearted and quippy. Wyatt Earp was self-righteous to the point of pain, but Wagon Train and Rawhide were episodic dramas often of the highest order for TV that is, and explored the existential issues of people in transit betwixt and between.

And these were just SOME of the westerns....there were more. And there were police dramas, and romance shows, and legal/mystery shows like Perry Mason, and weird shows like My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show which made almost no sense when you really thought about them. Today's TV posits no challenges to one's intellect with a few exceptions...the laugh-track, which was always present in the old shows like Danny Thomas' Make Room for Daddy and many others weren't present to cue the laugh. Now, the jokes are so unfunny that the laugh track is placed to tell you what the writers want you to believe is humorous, even when it's not.

That's why I watch Keith, Rachel, and the Phillies most nights...or even...GASP! read a book....

[BlooInBloo]

1. The unReality Show thing has really killed teevee for me.

[PCIntern]

3. It is HORRIBLE beyond belief...

worse than Jerry Springer or fake Wrestling...

a nightmare of betrayals and stupid greed and bad sexualization of dopey men and women. Insulting to anyone with a 3 digit IQ...which unfortunately, is only half of America by definition.

[rwork]

2. We recently purchased at Amazon

The first 3 yrs of Gunsmoke and Rawhide, God they were good.

Kitty was so beautiful. A lot of dialog in Rawhide to fill an hour.

[Demit]

4. Friday nights were ALWAYS Beverly Hillbillies, and Sunday nights ALWAYS Bonanza.

That's what I miss—the association of shows with one night, all throught their run. It could function like a memory aid ("No, no, I remember, that (whatever it was) had to have happened on a Friday, cus we were WATCHING THE FLINTSTONES!!!")

[PCIntern]

5. and Jonny Quest...wtih Haji!!!!!...and I think...Biff(?) n/t

[TorchTheWitch]

17. and Bandit the dog and Race Bannon

Jonny Quest was great.

[WinkyDink]

14. The nation watched the same shows. Now, everybody listens to their personal TV and "radio."

[CreekDog]

6. Everything has changed

Except the theme song for Action News.

[PCIntern]

9. I used to eat dinner with Jim O'Brien 2X a week....

my then gf and I used to sit at the same table at a deli on Conshohocken Ave at West Village apts., and he used to come in and sit next to us and...READ PARACHUTING MAGAZINES. (for those who don't know who he was, he was a weatherman-anchor-variety host - he died one Sunday in a parachuting accident). He used to work from 5 AM, starting the weather in the AM to the Nooon news, to the 6 PM and 11 PM news almost every night during the week. Unbelievable...

[CreekDog]

11. I remember Jim O'Brien

that happened back in the 1980's.

[PCIntern]

13. I was at an Eagles game when the story broke...

got really quiet in the stands - people were whispering it to each other...weird.

[BumRushDaShow]

19. Don't forget he used to DJ Top 40 on WFIL (560) before he hit TV

:thumbsup:

[bumblebee1]

21. I was stationed in Greece with the Navy when that happened.

I read about it in Stars & Stripes. I was surprised when the Jim O'Brien story was in the paper.

[seabeyond]

7. i dont even turn on tv anymore. hubby will bedtime and will watch stewart and colbert. otherwise

never on.

kids every once in a while will turn on to history or discovery. that is it for kids

hubby some show at night, oh one on tues night. otherwise football, history adn discovery

who is it watching this trash to keep it coming.

[Cha]

8. Whereas I like the modern ones of today..such as

Tuesday night, NCIS, NCIS LA, The Good Wife(is looking good)..other shows I really like are Burn Notice, Castle, Chuck, Mentalist..I like the dramedies.B-)

[seabeyond]

12. NCIS, NCIS LA. ya, these are the ones hubby watches and mentalist. thas about it, lol. nt

[LunaSea]

10. Free classic tv link

http://www.archive.org/details/classic_tv

[old mark]

15. I'm from the same area, only a bit older. Seems to me there were

more well written shows then, and the news and commentary programs were actually INTERESTING even for a kid.
Oh, yeah - there was actually a lot of great old movies on Friday and Saturday nights, lots of the old B/W horror and monster films. I think today's TV schedulers assume everyone is out on weekends - programming is uniformly bad where there is actually anything besides paid commercials.

We have a satelite dish and get hundreds of channels, and it is amazing how many times we find absolutely NOTHING worth watching. I have a ton of books in my house, and am an avid reader. Usually watch re-runs and news much of the day, read after 6 PM.
When I was a kid, I couldn't wait to grow up so I could stay up late and watch the good TV.
I feel very let down.
mark

[dixiegrrrrl]

16. Before "Maude" there was...Eve Arden.

And thanks to the Internet Archive, I just found one of her shows.

Yeah..the "good ole days" were that good.

[Fumesucker]

18. My Favorite Martian.. Wanted, Dead Or Alive.. Have Gun, Will Travel..

And let's not forget Death Valley Days. :)

[applegrove]

20. I was a TV addict in my late teens, early twenties. I had not been allowed more

than 3 hours a week of TV until I was about 17 (except if I was at a friend's house). I got depressed and started to watch lots of TV. Now I really only listen to the news.