What is the first TV program that you remember watching.....mine: I Love Lucy.. 51 or 52...

[Stuart G]

Last edited Thu Feb 8, 2024, 12:22 AM - Edit history (1)

We as a family watched a live performance of a show called ......"SUPER CIRCUS".............
That show was broadcast in a huge theater...and we were on the 2nd balcony...& couldn't see a thing....
That was 51 or 52 also..

[GreenWave]

1. Mine was bizarre. Silent and no motion.

[WheelWalker]

38. Mine, too. That's it. From my crib, at about age 3. Together with

the Television Code Seal of Good Practice...

[Mister Ed]

94. Yes. That one, and Flies and Bumblebees Fighting.

If there was no test pattern during the hours that a TV station was off the air, then there would just be loud, black-and-white static.

My sister and I would sometimes get up early in the morning and watch the static for a little while. She told me that the name of the program was Flies and Bumblebees Fighting. I believed her because she was five and I was only three, and besides, it sure looked and sounded like flies and bumblebees fighting.

[GreenWave]

96. I remember as a little kid proudly telling my sister

Wow! We woke up before the beginning of television!

[MiniMe]

2. Captain Kangaroo

[sinkingfeeling]

21. Ditto

[Onthefly]

57. Same here. Captain and Mr. Moose

Mighty Mouse as a toon.

[gopiscrap]

83. same here but with German subtitles in Germany

[applegrove]

3. I had a nanny named Beverly. We would rush into

Last edited Wed Feb 7, 2024, 11:21 PM - Edit history (1)

the den to watch the opening of the Beverly Hillbillies and shout out her name. We didn't watch the show. Mom was strict with the TV. I was about 4. We knew what time it was on because it was just as dinner was being served.

[livetohike]

26. Awww, cute story. Thanks for sharing that it made

me smile .

[MLAA]

4. Tammy, Gunsmoke and Flipper. Dad was in the Army stationed in Germany.

[MontanaMama]

5. Sesame Street.

I remember Ernie and Bert and Big Bird specifically.

[Biophilic]

6. Crusader Rabbit.

It usually took us several minutes to set the tv’s rabbit ears so that the picture wasn’t too fuzzy. Loved it. Crusader Rabbit and Rags the Tiger. They were awesome.

[Conjuay]

70. yes!

In NYC Crusader Rabbit came on just after “The Modern Farmer”. So I would sit through watching someone plowing a field (something weird to put on a metropolitan station to start with,) awaiting CR.

Over the years I started to wonder how many ‘Modern Farmers’ would be sitting around the house watching TV on a Saturday morning instead of doing all those rise and shine things farmers did at the crack of dawn.
Guess now I’ll never know.

[yellowdogintexas]

7. Howdy Doody; Winky Dink, Ding Dong School & Romper Room nt

[MOMFUDSKI]

16. Did you have the Winky Dink kit that stuck to the TV screen and

you would draw over the lines that appeared? Love that

[Stuart G]

74. I had that too.

[yellowdogintexas]

130. yes we did! Probably the first "promotional" thing I had nt

[LeftInTX]

133. Now I have an earworm...LOL Haven't thought of that song in decades..ugh...

[rainy]

8. Sinbad, Dr Kildare,

[MyMission]

9. Superman

And Batman, both superheroes I remember loving and watching when I was 3. Especially Superman!

[DBoon]

10. Whirlybird and Superman (in syndication)

[Deuxcents]

11. Every Saturday morning when I was a kid, my sister and I would sit in front of the tv

For Sky King, the Lone Ranger, Rin Tin Tin and Roy Rogers. By that time, the call for chores took over but on the weekdays, I’d rush home from school to watch American Bandstand until I heard my mom’s car pull into the driveway. She wasn’t fond of rock n roll but it’s been a lifelong love of mine.

[Stuart G]

75. "SKY KING".........I haven't heard that one in many, many years.............many many and many

[Deuxcents]

78. Yeah..I'm older that most here it seems.

[Mike Nelson]

12. Hmmm...

... I do remember watching Lucy as a kid. I'm not really sure what Lucy show it was... they were all run and rerun on TV. She was very engaging! The first shows I really remember well are cartoon shows. Trying to think what may have been first is difficult, but my guess is The Bugs Bunny Show.

[rogerballard]

13. The Friendly Giant / Davy and Goliath

Captain Kangaroo, Rita Bell Prize Movie (Detroit), Bill Kennedy At The Movies (Detroit)

[No Vested Interest]

14. Test pattern, in a hardware store, late 1940s.

Kukla, Fran & Ollie as a specific program, though, likely others before.
And, yes, I remember life before TV, listening to Sat. morning radio programs, and Fibber McGee and Molly, and The Great Gildersleeve.
At about midnight, the Star-Spangled Banner was played and the screen went blank.

[MOMFUDSKI]

15. Kate Smith with

my Grandma. I was 4 or 5

[elleng]

17. ArmyMcCarthy hearrings!

then Kukla Fran and Ollie.

[Aristus]

18. "High Chaparral."

My brother and sister and I loved that show. I was only about four or so. But I loved the theme music.

[MaryMagdaline]

49. Loved that show!! Manolito!

The theme music was beautiful

[Different Drummer]

127. Henry Darrow (Manolito) was always one of my favorite small screen actors.

I loved the scenes with him and Cameron Mitchell (Buck) on The High Chapparal!

[Diamond_Dog]

104. My sister and I had a crush on Blue Boy.

[Different Drummer]

128. Reruns of "The High Chapparal" are still on the air.

They're on weekday mornings on Heroes & Icons from 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Eastern time.

[brewens]

19. Kaptain Kangaroo, Johnny Quest, Time Tunnel, The Green Hornet and Star Trek. I barely remember Time Tunnel

and the Green Hornet. Kaptain Kangaroo I watched long enough to remember well. Star Trek and Johnny Quest I watched for years on syndication, so I can't say I remember anything other than they were on when I was about five years old.

[lpbk2713]

20. Maybe Howdy Doody.

That might be the first one I watched on my own. But there were others my parents never missed.
So one of them might have been the first; Ed Sullivan, Milton Berle, Jackie Gleason, Dragnet.

[Fla Dem]

52. me too!

[Stuart G]

73. In 1955 we were in New York and we took a tour through a building....

(no I do not remember which one) and we walked past a control room that was broadcasting ...Howdy Dooty...live...

Well it was 1955, that is a long time ago, but I remember looking through a window .........and watching a crew.....behind
the scenes, working the TVs and broadcasting ...Howdy Dooty........

The tour guide ( we were on a tour ) said that the control room was currently broadcasting ....Howdy Dooty... .....

All we could see is a number of men working cables, and watching screens and doing the work of
broadcasting some TV show. We could not see a picture....(and I do not remember a picture of what was being
broadcast........

[wishstar]

92. That was NBC studios at Rockefeller Center (I was sad when Howdy Doody ended)

Your experience was similar to mine several years later in about 1965 when my aunt took me to Rockefeller Center studios and we looked into a control room where Sing along with Mitch Miller was in progress.

I remember when Howdy Doody ended but I especially loved I Love Lucy reruns on weekdays and Sky King on Saturdays.

[Rastapopoulos]

22. Flintstones

Until they added the Gazoo. I was five and already knew the show had jumped the shark.

[livetohike]

23. I think it was Maverick and I have loved James

Garner ever since . I remember watching it with my Dad, but not sure if it was my first tv show.

[Different Drummer]

121. "Maverick" still shows up weekday mornings in reruns on Heroes & Icons, if you get that.

A bit early in the morning (6:00 a.m.-7:00 a.m. Eastern Time).

[Beausoleil]

24. Captain Kangaroo, Romper Room

Bozo the Clown

[Basic LA]

25. Time for Beany

The puppet show with Stan Freeburg.

[young_at_heart]

31. Plus one

My brother and I watched Beany and Cecil and also Crusader Rabbit on a strange-looking TV in Hermosa Beach, Calif.

[3Hotdogs]

88. Cecil, the sea-sick sea serpent?

[Different Drummer]

111. "A Bob Clampett cartooooooooooooon!"

[lynintenn]

27. Mickey Mouse Club of The Howdy Doody Show

[no_hypocrisy]

28. Crusader Rabbit (with Rags the Tiger)

and Topper

[madamesilverspurs]

29. Fred and Fae Show

Denver kids show, very grainy black and white, 1952 or thereabouts.


.

[Lunabell]

30. Bewitched

I had such a crush on Samantha and hated Darren with a passion. He was such a controlling asshole.

[Diamond_Dog]

105. A lot of people my age loved Bewitched

But even as a child I thought the same as you, that Darren was a controlling asshole, and I never liked the show because of that.

[Brother Buzz]

32. The Wonderful World of Brother Buzz

I would wake up Saturday morning and watch the test pattern for twenty minutes, waiting for broadcast to resume. The first program was Brother Buzz (A segment of Captain Fortune's program)

Brother Buzz taught me ecology before they even invented the word.

[OLDMDDEM]

33. Howdy Doody

[Sneederbunk]

34. Dragnet

[LakeArenal]

40. We binge that show occasionally.

[Different Drummer]

112. It's still on in reruns on weekday mornings on MeTV.

I believe 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

[LakeArenal]

114. Yes it was for us. But we moved and no longer can get ME TV.

Watch it in you tube.

[nocoincidences]

35. The Lone Ranger

Hopalong Cassidy

The Cisco Kid

Sheena Queen of the Jungle

early Fifties era.

[woodsprite]

36. The Red Skelton Show. nt

[ThoughtCriminal]

37. Highway Patrol

Not during the original run from 1955-1959, but reruns in the early 1960s. Aside from soap operas that did not interest my pre-school brain, it was what was on when I got home from nursery school and later, kindergarten. I also remember "Sea Hunt".

I don't think I even paid much attention to anything aside from the opening themes.

?si=Q9Xnf-lilKB5oco4

[LakeArenal]

39. Besides the local kids cartoon shows..

Zorro

The Buccaneers

Robin Hood

[Tom Kitten]

41. The Big Brother Bob Emery Show

A kids show broadcast from Boston. Every day he'd have the kids at home ask their parents for a glass of milk and then we'd all drink a toast to the president while "Hail to the Chief" (I think) would play and a picture of Eisenhower would show. Then one day there was a new guy!
I was three years old when Kennedy became president, so yeah! Pretty young.

[mike_c]

42. dragnet, probably

[calguy]

43. Rin Tin Tin

[gibraltar72]

44. Probably Buffalo Bob and Howdie Doodie.

[UTUSN]

45. The Lone Ranger- with the thrilling William Tell Overture

[surrealAmerican]

46. Mr. Roger's Neighborhood ...

... or maybe Romper Room, but I was the youngest, so there were probably others that my big sister chose.

[JoseBalow]

47. Kimba the White Lion

[I_UndergroundPanther]

81. Wow you remember Kimba too

I loved that cartoon. Watching that made me tear up bigtime. Thanks

[MaryMagdaline]

48. Mickey Mouse Club

[rogerballard]

50. The Jackie Gleason Show!

Forgot about my fave...

[Ocelot II]

51. Andy's Gang.

Pluck your magic twanger, Froggy!

[yankee87]

53. Mutual of Ohama's Wild Kindom

Loved the show

[Glorfindel]

54. Either "December Bride," "I Married Joan," or

"The Life of Riley."

[BigDemVoter]

55. Captain Kangaroo!

I loved that show with Mr. Green Jeans and Mr. Moose with the falling ping pong balls!

[Sedona]

56. CBS Evening New with Walter Cronkite

Maybe the Today Show

Mom was watching in the morning and Dad in the evening

[Srkdqltr]

58. There was a morning show with a guy with a chimp. Can't remember the name.

[Fla Dem]

59. Big Brother Bob Emery, a local Boston area show,also Howdy Doody with Buffalo Bob.

[lpbk2713]

63. I remember he always sang his theme song.

"The Grass is Always Greener in the Other Fellow's Yard"

[FuzzyRabbit]

60. Howdy Doody, Kukla Fran and Ollie

At the neighbor's house and at our grandparents house. We didn't get our own TV set until years later.

[LoisB]

61. Hopalong Cassidy

[doc03]

62. It would probably be the Today Show with Dave Garaway. I remember that was always on the TV

when I got up for school.

[thucythucy]

64. My mother learned English watching

"I Love Lucy."

She and I learned English together watching "Romper Room."

[patphil]

65. Howdy Doody and the Today program with Dave Garroway

I watched Today as I ate my breakfast while getting ready to go to school...my Mom always had it on.
After school I watched Howdy Doody.
Also the Paul Winchell show. He was a puppeteer. His main characters were Jerry Manoney and Knucklehead Smith.
And one more: Kukla, Fran, and Ollie; another puppet show.
I remember my family had the first TV of all my friends, so they would come over and watch with me.

[Elessar Zappa]

66. Family Ties.

Maybe Full House too.

[mvd]

67. I am pretty sure it was Sesame Street

My dad got me into football very young but Sesame Street was the first program.

[Eugene]

68. Batman 1966 or 67

and vague memories of other shows around that time.

[Tree-Hugger]

69. Sesame Street!

Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers and the Electric Company.
I think the first news program I remember watching was about Charles and Di's wedding.

[hay rick]

71. We didn't have a TV so I watched at my den mother's house...

The regular rotation included Ramar of the Jungle, Victory at Sea, Sky King, the Lone Ranger...

[GP6971]

72. Hopalong Cassidy. Reruns in the mid 50s

[choie]

76. Same

Reruns of I Love Lucy

[wryter2000]

77. The first thing I remember on TV

My parents got a television in the fifties. I asked my mother what she was watching, and she said, “A bad man named McCarthy.”

[MN2theMax]

79. The Wonderful World of Disney

On Sunday evenings. Sometimes it was Mickey Mouse cartoons , sometimes something educational. I still remember the opening with fireworks over the Disney world Castle.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

80. Electric company

And kimba the white lion and speed racer.
Remember watching it as I munched breakfast in daycare.

[Stuart G]

82. Just so you know...I spent hours looking at these posts.reliving the early days of TV and watching all the shows

K and R this thread...Who posted this one.??? ..................................................????

Lone Ranger & Tonto...Howdy Dooty, I LOVE LUCY.,..SKY KING....Roy Rogers..Hopalong Cassidy, ....etc..etc..etc..
Superman in the early 50s. Wild Kingdom, and so on...

[Inkey]

84. Alfred Hichcock and Twilight Zone

My folks would watch TV in the evening
together and I was probably between
2 or 3 at the time. A few of the episodes
stuck with me. It wasn't until these shows
came back in syndication, that I realized
that I had seen the once before as a toddler
It wasn't until my younger sisters came
along that the TV would be on in the morning for us. The Captain and Romper
Room were there for us then.

[FalloutShelter]

85. Here are some I haven't seen in the thread,

My Little Margie, Dobbie Gilles, Sea Hunt
Wonderama, Soupy Sayles...so many.

[LudwigPastorius]

86. The very first is lost to me in the mists of time, but...

it was probably Captain Kangaroo or The Happy Hal Show, as early on my mom wouldn't let me watch prime time fare.

First cartoons were Popeye and Hercules. (Yes, that's Johnny Nash, of "I Can See Clearly Now" fame, singing the Hercules theme.)

[OldBaldy1701E]

87. I was four years old.

I was at my grandmothers house. (I am sure I saw other programs before this one but this one is the first one I recall.) I was watching her new color console. Expensive thing that looked like a piece of furniture and weighed more than a sofa. I saw a young guy walk past a hallway and yell towards it...

(Still one of the greatest things I have ever seen. She had no face!! I have been a Star Trek/Sci-Fi/Horror buff ever since...)

[3Hotdogs]

89. We got out in '48 or maybe '49. It was a 12" Dumont.

I remember Junior Frolics and Captain Video.

There was also a Saturday morning show with Andy Divine.

[DUgosh]

90. Bonanza

I had a turtle named “LittleJoe”

[hedda_foil]

91. Kukla Fran and Ollie... And John Cameron Swayze.

I know... Its a weird combo.

[Mousetoescamper]

93. Captain Tugg, an afternoon cartoon show in Washington, D.C.

The captain played Popeye cartoons and had a puppet parrot. I recall the parrot's being mounted to the pilot's wheel and when the captain spun the wheel the spinning parrot squawked. Poor polly!

Pick Temple was another D.C. kids' show. Pick was a singing cowboy and the show took place at his studio ranch. I was in the audience for one show. All the kids were dressed in western wear and had six-guns. I was disappointed that I didn't get called on to take a shot at the rattlesnake that slithered out from under a hay bale every show.

Romper Room with Miss Connie, the D.C. hostess of the show. She never saw me when she looked into the Magic Mirror and said, "I see Billy and Sally and..." Bummer.

Captain Kangeroo with Mr. Moose and his pingpong ball gags, Bunny Rabbit and Mr. Green Jeans. Dancing Bear seemed creepy to me, but I loved the living grandfather clock. The Captain played the Terrytoons cartoon Tom Terrific, one of my favorites. Very imaginative

Ranger Hal and Oswald rabbit, another D.C show, followed Captain Kangeroo. After the JFK assassination Oswald rabblt seemed sinister to me.

The Shari Lewis Show with Lamb Chop, Hush Puppy and Charlie Horse. I had a childhood crush on Shari.

Other early memories are of cartoons: The King and Odie, Crusader Rabbit, Beany & Cecil, The Flintstones, Rocky and Bullwinkle and the stop-action shows Davey and Goliath and Gumby.

I also watched the Soupy Sales Show with White Fang, Black Fang and Pookie. Some of the humor went over my young head (I'm sure the adults watching had a blast!), but the slapstick and pie-throwing bits always cracked me up.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

99. Daily Captain Tug watcher. Loved Fantail the parrot!

I watched Pick Temple every day too. Never got to be in the audience, but did meet his pony Piccolo at a local stable at the time.

Also loved Countdown Carnival with Bill Gormly, which came on after Captain Tugg.

Here's a great website for old DC area kids: http://kidshow.dcmemories.com/

[Mousetoescamper]

110. I thought that there must be few of us here!

Wasn't it a great place to be a child during the '50s and '60s? Our school field trips were to the National Zoo, the Smithsonian, and the Goodard Space Center in Greenbelt. Before it became synonomous with scandal, the Watergate was where I heard riverfront concerts. I remember the Cherry Blossom Festivals, Fourth of July fireworks on the mall, and many times walking up all of those steps to get to the top of the Washington Monument.

Another childhood show has come to mind: Wonderama, which was on a Baltimore station (WBAL?).

Thanks for the link!

[50 Shades Of Blue]

113. Yes! I only ever went to the National Gallery of Art on school field trips, but

our parents frequently took us to visit museums, art galleries, and historical sites, in and around DC, on weekends.

My first grade school did get a visit from Ranger Hal once.

I remember watching Wonderama, but we didn't get decent reception on any Baltimore stations in those days so I'm thinking I must have watched it on channel 5.

[Laurelin]

116. It was an amazing place to grow up

Our grandmother took us to the National Gallery all the time. I think of her whenever I go to the Rijksmuseum. Our parents took us to the other museums. I loved the Smithsonian Natural History Museum the most.

School trips were always to the museums in DC. We'd all eat our lunches with thousands of other kids on the big lawn ( I'm sure it has a name) surrounded by museums and school busses.

Want Jim Henson on TV in Maryland with Kermit before the Muppet Show? I thought I remembered him from my childhood.

[Mousetoescamper]

122. Jim Henson's "Sam and Friends" was on WRC from 1955 until 1961

There were also local commercials featuring the early Muppets.

?feature=shared

[Laurelin]

134. Thank you!

That was a sweet news clip. I was a huge Sesame Street/ Jim Henson fan. I was not in the target demographic when it started but I watched with my younger cousins.

[Different Drummer]

123. Yep, Jim Henson did a local DC kids' show called "Sam and Friends."

[Laurelin]

135. Thank you!

That's still hilarious 🤣

People on DU know everything!

[Different Drummer]

120. "The King and Odie, Crusader Rabbit, Beany & Cecil, The Flintstones, Rocky and Bullwinkle..."

You and I must have come along about the same time (early-mid 60s).

[Mousetoescamper]

125. Yes, born in the mid-'50s

I remembered another favorite: Fireball XL5.

[tazkcmo]

95. Johnny Quest

Bandit was the draw.

[hydrolastic]

97. Sinbad the sailer

I can hum the song!

[Different Drummer]

124. Arguably, the best cartoon in the action/adventure genre.

Definitely the best theme music!

[rogerballard]

98. The Mighty Hercules cartoon! 1960's

Never missed it!

[bif]

100. Either "Gunsmoke" or "Howdy Doody"

[Oppaloopa]

101. Queen for the day

[Diamond_Dog]

107. I remember spending the afternoon at my grandma's house and she'd watch QFAD

And after that Loretta Young.

[Runningdawg]

102. The news. We didn't have a TV until I was 6 but a neighbor did. First fun show? My Favorite Martian

[rogerballard]

103. Roger Ramjet The hero of our Nation!

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

106. Sergeant Preston of the Yukon and Jungle Jim

[Diamond_Dog]

108. Did Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop have a show? I remember watching them as a kid.

[Jilly_in_VA]

109. We didn't have a TV until I was 13

and neither did my best friends, so I guess the first shows I remember were things like Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom and You Are There, the latter featuring Walter Cronkite. Our viewing time was really restricted, but we did watch Gunsmoke, and to this day I love that show. Miss Kitty was a pretty liberated woman! I do wonder about how clean Dodge City is presented though...no stray dogs or cats, and no Black people either, although it's well known there were Black homesteaders in Kansas.

[sakabatou]

115. Nickelodeon's Pinwheel

[Laurelin]

117. Lassie

Rin Tin Tin, Captain Kangaroo Lamb Chop, Romper Room

And because I'm weird, my mother told me that when I was 2 my favorite TV show was Maryland Instructional TV Calculus. She said somehow I always knew when it was about to start and I would go to the TV and sit through the whole half hour completely mesmerized
I loved calculus when I took it in high school too, but I really doubt I understood it at 2.

[PJMcK]

118. Lawrence Welk

I was very young, maybe three years old. On Saturday nights, my parents would have their date night and I would spend the night with my great grandparents. They were warm and wonderful German immigrants who loved to have me over. Grandma loved to cook German food and to this day, I still can imagine the incredible odors emanating from her kitchen.

After dinner, we watched TV and the Lawrence Welk variety show was one of their favorites. I was instructed to refer to the maestro as Mr. Welk!

Mr. Welk was a tremendously successful musician and businessman. In addition to his TV show, he had records, concerts, publications, publishing and more. Although his music is passé today, he was a powerhouse in his time.

[Wicked Blue]

119. Either Winky Dink and You

or Romper Room

[Different Drummer]

126. My two earliest TV memories were somewhat scary to me.

In the Atlanta metro area, we had a local kids' TV show called The Popeye Club, the host of which was "Officer" Don Kennedy, a local media celebrity. He's pictured here with his puppet sidekick on the show, Orvil Dragon.



Neither of them were scary to me and neither were the Popeye cartoons they showed. However, they did also show The Funny Company cartoons, which were scary to me because one of the characters, The Super Chief, had a foghorn for a voice and anything that was out of the ordinary like that was scary to me back then (I couldn't have been more than three or four at the time).

About that same time, the Gerry and Sylvia Anderson Supermarianation program Fireball XL-5 was on television. That one scared me because the marionettes seemed so life-like that in my little undeveloped mind, they seemed to be people that had somehow turned into marionetttes and the thought that such a thing might happen was frightening to me (again, I couldn't have been more than about three or four at the time).

[Luciferous]

129. Sesame street

[pansypoo53219]

131. technically my 1st memory was the monty python theme song. think i was a todler.

[LeftInTX]

132. Dennis the Menace was my first TV show addiction.

We moved to Japan in the summer of 1960. When we returned in 1963, Dennis the Menace was cancelled. I thought of Dennis the Menace the entire time I was in Japan.

The first show I remember watching was The Mickey Mouse Club, but it just didn't grab me in like Dennis the Menace. My first favorite cartoon was Bugs Bunny. Mickey Mouse was on Japanese TV (Of course in Japanese). So was Popeye. (In Japanese too). Bugs Bunny was often shown at the base theater in Japan.

The reason why I loved Dennis the Menace:

In early 1959, CBS consented to air the program at 7:30 pm EST on Sunday evenings after Lassie. After viewing these episodes, CBS determined that Dennis' antics had to be toned down lest his actions would encourage children watching the show to imitate Dennis.

[Skittles]

136. Dr Who - the original - in England

yes INDEED