I virtually never watch daytime TV except on some rare occasions in hotel rooms. Each time I am reminded of why I don’t bother at home – there is nothing worth watching. In a way I find that rather sad as I have fond childhood memories of watching morning television during the summer when school was out.
I was a child of the 60s/70s and television was a different beast. For one thing, we didn’t have 500 channels to choose from. In fact, while our family did get cable fairly early, I do have vague memories of when we only got about four channels via antenna. We lived in the desert of Southern California so we were able to pick up some Los Angeles stations without cable. Even when we did get cable there were only seven stations, if I remember correctly (2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13). Televisions only went up to channel 13 and you changed them by turning a knob on the TV itself. Yes, I’m old.
That may sound tragic to today’s youth but we didn’t know any better and were fine with it. In some ways I think television back then was more enjoyable because it was special. Since this was in the days before VCRs and DVRs, if you missed a show, you missed it.
I spent a lot of my time reading but I still enjoyed certain TV shows, especially the usual daytime lineup of syndicated programs such as Hazel, I Dream of Jeannie and my favorite, Bewitched. These started as prime-time shows and I do remember seeing Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie during prime time but Hazel ended when I was only four. I think I liked the morning lineup best because there was never any competition for the TV. In the evenings when my dad was home we were more likely to watch whatever he was interested in. He usually brought home lots of paperwork each night and he’d set up a card table in the living room where he would price invoices while watching TV. But during summer mornings? The TV was all ours.
What were your favorite childhood television shows?
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