The Good Old Days of TV

[Chris36]

I missed the old days of TV from the 80s until the mid 90s to me it's not the same anymore just my opinion. I'm 38 now. I have been looking at different schedules today I think it was alot better in programming choices back then. I'm in Rhode Island. I remember when WNAC was called WSTG The Great Entertainer they came on the air at the end of 1980 just for a few hours a day. I used to get excited when we had TV Skip during the summer months I used to get stations from all over New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, New Jersey. I don't even really like the TV Guide now just had Primetime schedules no locals like they did years ago. Sorry for going on just my thoughts.

Chris

 

[landtuna]

Perhaps it's a good thing you are 38 and not 68 because then you'd be remembering the Golden Age of Television and you'd REALLY be disappointed in today's offerings as compared with the talent then. ;D

 

[nocomradio]

I think what I miss the most is the little local stations with that unpolished edge they had, and the variety of programming from station to station. Some places now have multiple affiliates of the same brand within reach, they rely heavily on paid programming in the off-hours, and they can hardly be considered "local" anymore.

Digital has offered a few options within one channel, but its finicky signal on the fringes drives me crazy.

 

[LKellerIII]

I know this is subjective and a matter of opinion, but IMO- TV is better than ever now. Funny - I think of nostalgia for the past as being an old person's thing...people like me approaching their old age. But even the obviously still young Chris36 is looking back fondly on the TV of his youth in the 80s and 90s. Nothing wrong with that - and in my opinion, the period from the early 70s to the early 90s was when TV really broke out if its formulaic mold and produced some really fine programming (All in the Family, Hill Street Blues, many others).

But now we're reaping the reward of that period, and TV dramas in particular - mostly from the basic cable networks like FX and AMC, and the premium cable outlets like Showtime and HBO - are really doing some groundbreaking and compelling series. Just this past year - Boardwalk Emprire (HBO), Homeland and Shameless (Showtime), Sons of Anarchy and Justified (FX), Breaking Bad (AMC), and a number of others.

Another great advance - availability of these great programs - if you don't want to pay for cable or premium cable, you can get these shows from NetFlix, or download or stream them from the internet on your laptop, iPad, or even your smart phone.

Final great advance - DVRs. I record practically everything I want to see and time-shift it in order to watch when I want. Not only can I skip commercials, I almost NEVER have to scroll the TV 'dial' and pass time watching a show I condsider less than excellent. Over the holiday rerun season, I ran out of DVR content and had to watch live TV for a few hours. I'd forgotten how irritating it was to be stuck with "nothing worth watching." Yes - you could kind of do this in the 80s and 90s with VHS, but the versatility and ease of use was lacking.

Let's not forget the great documentaries available on the History and Discorvery channels, among others, the dozens and dozens of sports channels, etc.

Yup - TV is better than ever now.

 

[landtuna]

I know this is subjective and a matter of opinion, but IMO- TV is better than ever now. Funny - I think of nostalgia for the past as being an old person's thing...people like me approaching their old age. But even the obviously still young Chris36 is looking back fondly on the TV of his youth in the 80s and 90s. Nothing wrong with that - and in my opinion, the period from the early 70s to the early 90s was when TV really broke out if its formulaic mold and produced some really fine programming (All in the Family, Hill Street Blues, many others).

But now we're reaping the reward of that period, and TV dramas in particular - mostly from the basic cable networks like FX and AMC, and the premium cable outlets like Showtime and HBO - are really doing some groundbreaking and compelling series. Just this past year - Boardwalk Emprire (HBO), Homeland and Shameless (Showtime), Sons of Anarchy and Justified (FX), Breaking Bad (AMC), and a number of others.

Another great advance - availability of these great programs - if you don't want to pay for cable or premium cable, you can get these shows from NetFlix, or download or stream them from the internet on your laptop, iPad, or even your smart phone.

Final great advance - DVRs. I record practically everything I want to see and time-shift it in order to watch when I want. Not only can I skip commercials, I almost NEVER have to scroll the TV 'dial' and pass time watching a show I condsider less than excellent. Over the holiday rerun season, I ran out of DVR content and had to watch live TV for a few hours. I'd forgotten how irritating it was to be stuck with "nothing worth watching." Yes - you could kind of do this in the 80s and 90s with VHS, but the versatility and ease of use was lacking.

Let's not forget the great documentaries available on the History and Discorvery channels, among others, the dozens and dozens of sports channels, etc.

Yup - TV is better than ever now.

My interpretation was a bit different than yours. I got the feeling Chris36 was referring more to content than technology so I did not address the technical "improvements" of TV then vs now. Nor did I consider cable offerings, particularly premium cable offerings. Services like HBO and Showtime most closely resemble the movies of old rather than what was on OTA TV. Although there are vast differences on what passes today's censors versus those of old most of the shows airing on the premium channels could not have been shown on OTA TV then or now.

You are absolutely correct that there is far more in the way of educational shows available today then back then but as a percentage of air time I don't think the difference was all that great. TV in the 50's had a great many documentation/historical shows (consider "20th Century" and the Disney nature series, Mutual of Omaha "Wild Kingdom" genres) even as there were only 2 or 3 stations available to most of us.

But what about the great variety shows and the hundreds of veteran vaudeville performers? There are virtually none today. And whereas there was primarily "Dragnet" as the gritty reality life of police there are now a dozen look-alike crime dramas airing. No longer do we see Westerns except in the very occasional LPTV movie. We had more game shows back then, especially during the day, and live baseball on weekdays during the season. Saturdays were full of serials, westerns and quality kids shows instead of cheaply-made and violent anime.

I fully realize that my rosy view of TV back then is largely due to my age at the time and that TV was brand new then but there is a reason the 50's are called the Golden Age of Television. Considering the much larger number of services as well as the technological improvements I agree that TV, in total, is much better now. Still, there are huge areas missing from today's TV that would make it a much better total experience.

 

[LKellerIII]

You make some good points, Landtuna. But though I did note the new technology, my first paragraph was about current content, which I consider some very good programming.

You may be a few years older than me (if that's even possible - ;D). I was a little kid in the 50s and early 60s, so I couldn't appreciate the so-called "Golden Age," when TV produced great dramas for Playhouse 90, and the other anthology shows. Much later, I got to see some of them on VHS video - mostly black and white kinescopes. Yes, they were terrific, but these dramas were a small portion of any week of programming.

But by the time I could appreciate TV (early 60s), most programming was westerns, cop/crime dramas, and corny old sitcoms like I Dream of Jeannie, Petticoat Junction, etc. There were a few gems among the chaff (Maverick, Twilight Zone, etc.), but most of the shows were bad - bad writing, corny acting, and cheap production values.

Over the holiday rerun season, I checked out the offerings on our local Me TV affiliate. Most of it was even worse than I remembered, and even a couple of shows I though were excellent at the time (The Rockford Files, for example) are decent at best compared to current series, and have not aged particulary well.

 

[cd637299]

It seems to me that anything that wasn't a decent sitcom "back in the day" will not age well, for the most part.

I don't know how many crime drama reruns are really all that watchable today, what with new technology of tracking down a criminal or whatever.

More than that, any medical drama back then---forget it!! So much has been developed now in medicine, that I suppose any classic medical drama would be great camp....I seem to recall, that when PAX network started up, they wanted to show reruns of "Medical Center" (Chad Everett/James Daly, which did have a decent 7 year run) - I don't know what stopped it, but that never came about.

I am sure that even many sitcoms, like "That Girl", just don't translate well today.

I remember when one of our indies started on-air in 1982, they got a half-hour "Laugh-in" rerun package. It was painful to watch, unless you "analyze" it (instead of laugh).

I am 52 BTW

cd

 

[FreddyE1977]

I personally enjoy the nostalgia of watching shows I watched when I was young.
I recently watched an original Hawaii Five-O and a Rockford Files on Me TV.
Both had holes in the plot large enough to drive several Mack trucks through.
Nevertheless, all was great fun.

Me TV is probably the closest thing today to what I remember as the "Good Old Days" of TV.

 

[KeithE4]

But by the time I could appreciate TV (early 60s), most programming was westerns, cop/crime dramas, and corny old sitcoms like I Dream of Jeannie, Petticoat Junction, etc. There were a few gems among the chaff (Maverick, Twilight Zone, etc.), but most of the shows were bad - bad writing, corny acting, and cheap production values.

For every classic like The Andy Griffith Show, Dick Van Dyke Show, Honeymooners, and I Love Lucy, there were 10 hot, steaming piles of dreck like My Mother The Car, Me And The Chimp, Hank, and Camp Runamuck.

 

[FreddyE1977]

A good example was "Welcome Back, Kotter". I remember being in school at the time and
thinking it was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen. When watching it as an adult many
years later I had to wonder "What was I thinking?"

It was a BAD show!

 

[nocomradio]

One thing about comparisons though, is that if you look at a TV show made in the late 60's vs one made in the mid 90's, of course there will be a huge difference. For me, watching old shows is to enjoy them for what they were, and to see just how far we've come. Or in some cases, not........

Old TV shows did deal with issues that were relevant to the time they were written, and trying to use the same yardstick of today will leave one puzzled to say the least.

 

[LKellerIII]

One thing about comparisons though, is that if you look at a TV show made in the late 60's vs one made in the mid 90's, of course there will be a huge difference. For me, watching old shows is to enjoy them for what they were, and to see just how far we've come. Or in some cases, not........

Old TV shows did deal with issues that were relevant to the time they were written, and trying to use the same yardstick of today will leave one puzzled to say the least.

Not really. IIRC, All in the Family came along in 1971, and really turned the tide. Old conventions were rejected, the network Standards and Practices (censorship) departments got more liberal about what was allowable, and society in general had changed. So TV shows increasingly dealt with relevant issues.

But TV series of the 50s and 60s rarely dealt with the hot issues of the day. There were a few exceptions, mostly from a conservative viewpoint, like Dragnet. But for the most part: politics, the Vietnam War, drug use, premarital sex - were all forbidden subjects on prime-time TV.

 

[Markieo]

It seems to me that anything that wasn't a decent sitcom "back in the day" will not age well, for the most part.

I don't know how many crime drama reruns are really all that watchable today, what with new technology of tracking down a criminal or whatever.

More than that, any medical drama back then---forget it!! So much has been developed now in medicine, that I suppose any classic medical drama would be great camp....I seem to recall, that when PAX network started up, they wanted to show reruns of "Medical Center" (Chad Everett/James Daly, which did have a decent 7 year run) - I don't know what stopped it, but that never came about.

I am sure that even many sitcoms, like "That Girl", just don't translate well today.

I remember when one of our indies started on-air in 1982, they got a half-hour "Laugh-in" rerun package. It was painful to watch, unless you "analyze" it (instead of laugh).

I am 52 BTW

cd

You're right. Laugh-In didn't really age very well. But I still like when a raincoated and hatted Arte Johnson would drive his tricycle into a pole, mailbox, etc. and fall to one side!

 

[Markieo]

But by the time I could appreciate TV (early 60s), most programming was westerns, cop/crime dramas, and corny old sitcoms like I Dream of Jeannie, Petticoat Junction, etc. There were a few gems among the chaff (Maverick, Twilight Zone, etc.), but most of the shows were bad - bad writing, corny acting, and cheap production values.

For every classic like The Andy Griffith Show, Dick Van Dyke Show, Honeymooners, and I Love Lucy, there were 10 hot, steaming piles of dreck like My Mother The Car, Me And The Chimp, Hank, and Camp Runamuck.

Personally, I'd rather have the above 4 back on TV than many of the dating/reality dreck there is on TV today!!

Let's add "The Ugliest Girl In Town", "The Pruitts of Southampton" and "The Hathaways" to the list!!

 

[landtuna]

But TV series of the 50s and 60s rarely dealt with the hot issues of the day. There were a few exceptions, mostly from a conservative viewpoint, like Dragnet. But for the most part: politics, the Vietnam War, drug use, premarital sex - were all forbidden subjects on prime-time TV.

Laugh-In and The Smothers Brothers were two shows that dealt with the Vietnam War (and Smothers got cancelled for their efforts despite being a ratings leader). Laugh-In poked fun at drugs and sex and was also a top-rated show. The Defenders (CBS) in the early 60's dealt with all sort of previously taboo subjects. There were others but these stand out in my mind.

 

[LKellerIII]

But TV series of the 50s and 60s rarely dealt with the hot issues of the day. There were a few exceptions, mostly from a conservative viewpoint, like Dragnet. But for the most part: politics, the Vietnam War, drug use, premarital sex - were all forbidden subjects on prime-time TV.

Laugh-In and The Smothers Brothers were two shows that dealt with the Vietnam War (and Smothers got cancelled for their efforts despite being a ratings leader). Laugh-In poked fun at drugs and sex and was also a top-rated show. The Defenders (CBS) in the early 60's dealt with all sort of previously taboo subjects. There were others but these stand out in my mind.

Your're right of course. Notice I said "for the most part" (I always hedge my bets ;D), but The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was a definite exception (started in '67), and Laugh-In to a lesser extent.

Earlier in the 60s though, shows that dealt with real issues like The Defenders were a rarity.

Another I just thought of was East Side West-Side staring Gerge C. Scott as New York social worker. In some ways, it was the exception that proves my point. The show only lasted one season (62-63). Reportedly, the handling of controversial subjects scared off advertisers. Cicely Tyson was a co-star early in her career, but was jettisoned in mid-season so the show could be 're-tooled.' Instead of being a hard-scrabble social worker which CBS found too depressing, Scott went to work for a New York Congressman and gained the comely Barbara Feldon (pre-Get Smart) as his girlfiriend. The show continued to tackle hard subjects, however. Add in borderline ratings, and the show was doomed.

 

[landtuna]

Another I just thought of was East Side West-Side staring Gerge C. Scott as New York social worker. In some ways, it was the exception that proves my point. The show only lasted one season (62-63). Reportedly, the handling of controversial subjects scared off advertisers. Cicely Tyson was a co-star early in her career, but was jettisoned in mid-season so the show could be 're-tooled.' Instead of being a hard-scrabble social worker which CBS found too depressing, Scott went to work for a New York Congressman and gained the comely Barbara Feldon (pre-Get Smart) as his girlfiriend. The show continued to tackle hard subjects, however. Add in borderline ratings, and the show was doomed.

I was in the Navy beginning in 1962 and "enjoying" the Vietnam War from up close 1964-1966 so I missed a lot of the early 60's TV (not that as a high schooler I would have been watching it anyway). My favorite show prior to graduating was "Mr. Bob", an hour of jokes, pies in the face and Three Stooges shorts locally produced by KTVU in Oakland every weekday afternoon.

When I returned from Vietnam I don't remember watching much except "McHale's Navy" for a year or so until Smothers and Laugh-In started. "Normal" TV shows just didn't interest me after the years I spent overseas.

 

[mbayus]

For me, it was the mid fifties all through the sixties, and then things began to change. I was born in 1952, and was still quite young. It was not so much what was on, but how TV stations "sounded" back then. I to enjoyed DXing when I got older, about 6 or 8 years, and when the skip was good, I liked hearing the various station IDs and news openings that were different than the ones from home. I also think that within my life time, "Television will shift from a deticated TV set, to the computer, and we will have nostalgia web sites like tubtub TV, tv4u and the nostalgia channel, and we will also have the NCIS channel, for example and we will be able to watch what ever we want when we want. Oh! and new shows will be produced just for the mediam.

 

[KeithE4]

I also think that within my life time, "Television will shift from a deticated TV set, to the computer, and we will have nostalgia web sites like tubtub TV, tv4u and the nostalgia channel, and we will also have the NCIS channel, for example and we will be able to watch what ever we want when we want. Oh! and new shows will be produced just for the mediam.

What do you mean "will shift?" It's already happening. Gradually, the movement from air/cable/satellite to online has been going on for at least 15 years already - both audio and video. The invention of media players in the mid '90s was the start of the migration. It will accelerate the day the first of the Big Four networks ceases OTA operation (read: NBC, who was also the first to shut down its entertainment programming on radio, in the mid '50s).

 

[F.M.Hertz]

Heck, I miss TV Guide! Back when it was a small magazine, and not the large tabloidy size that it is now. There are several issues in my collection from some of the biggest television moments over the past 30 years: the last episode of M*A*S*H, Johnny Carson's retirement and the Late Night Wars of '92-'93, etc.

I'm impressed that that magazine is still being published.