What TV shows did you watch as a kid?

I was born in 1953 New York City. Televisions looked different then; big bodies and small screens. There wasn’t anything like a remote control. You had to actually turn a knob to turn it on and off. The same applied to changing the channel or to raise or lower the volume. Television shows were in black and white. We used indoor antenna we attached to the set to improve reception. We called them “rabbit ears”. Some people would wrap aluminum foil around the top of each “ear” to improve reception. Did it work? It’s possible. But, it could also cause more problems.

For some people, placing aluminum foil on indoor “rabbit ear” antennas in the 1950s did seem to work, though its effect was unpredictable.” . Because foil is a conductor, it could alter the antenna’s shape and characteristics, potentially improving reception if the original antenna was not properly tuned for the frequency being received. However, the same action could just as easily make reception worse.

Even as a young child I had my favorite television shows. “Perry Mason”, “Gunsmoke”, “Lassie”, “The Adventures of Superman”, and “The Liberace Show”. That sounds pretty diverse. It was. Unlike most kids my age, I wasn’t a fan of cartoons. Oddly, when I turned four years old my viewing tastes changed. Suddenly I discovered “Romper Room” and “Captain Kangaroo”. But, I also found a late afternoon show hosted by a vampire inspired character named Zacherley. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Zacherle) The ghoulish character would come out of his coffin to introduce the horror movie of the day. (https://youtu.be/tiTkGiVNt_8?si=SAdQ6BsSnxFerH3U)

By now, you’re probably wondering if I ever watched cartoons like “normal” kids. “Huckleberry Hound”, “Yogi Bear”, “Mighty Mouse”, “Quickdraw McGraw”, “Peabody and Sherman”, and many more. Yes, even the vampire-loving kid loved cartoons. I thought the “Rocky and Bullwinkle Show” was great. I loved Boris and Natasha and Fractured Fairy Tales were incredible.

It wasn’t unusual for a group of girls ages six to thirteen to gather in one of their living rooms to watch Chiller Theatre or, sometimes, if we were lucky, The Early Show. We’d turn all the lights off and squeeze together on sofas, chairs, and the really brave, on the floor. The floor watchers were closer to the television screen. So the giant ants in Them! and the space aliens in War of the Worlds or The Thing seemed to step off the screen right in front of us.

The movies may have been in black and white, but they still scared the heck out of us. You might want to check out some of these old movies and see how they compare to current offerings. Meanwhile, what was television like when you were a kid? Share your stories in the comments.