Mar 7, 2014

That 70's Show!

The other evening Twin Two was flicking through the cable channels. She started out DVRing something she wanted to watch the next day, then she bought a movie on Apple TV, and finally pushed pause while she made a hot chocolate.

While she was in the kitchen expertly frothing milk at the coffee machine (in my days it was bitter old cocoa with no fact fluffy milk...) she said,  "So Mum, what did you watch when you were little? What was it like in the olden days?"

"Well," I said (after threatening to cancel her pocket money if she ever called it the olden days again). "For starters, until I was twelve we only had a black and white T.V . And only one channel until I was about 10."

Her eyes did that funny bug-out sort of thing and she dropped her voice to a horrified whisper. "ONE channel! O.M.G!! How did you survive? And what did you watch?"

And suddenly I came over all nostalgic. I remembered Sunday nights with the whole family watching a movie in front of the fire, Friday nights eating fish and chips while we watched the farming programme, and the incredible sight of the channel actually closing down for the night at 11pm!

Looking back, many of my favourite T.V shows were very similar to the books I write now - real people with everyday problems.







But because there wasn't much choice in what we watched, I also came to love a bit of fantasy....

 


and even a touch of the paranormal!




How about you? What T.V programmes did you love to watch when you were little, and do you watch the same sort of shows now?

25 comments:

  1. Barb, I loved your trip down memory lane.

    We watched Bewitched (so much fun) and Gilligan's Island, but also Mork & Mindy and Disney's Wonderful World. I wonder how those shows have dated?

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    1. Rachel, I don't know how many times I stood in front of the mirror as an 8 year old, wiggling my nose and wishing I was Samantha! And the movies we watched on Sunday nights were Disney's Wonderful World, just like you! I'd LOVE to watch Mork and Mindy again.

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  2. lol Barb - where I grew up we only had 1 channel and it was the ABC so the only show I saw out of your line-up is Doctor Who!
    But man how we loved that show. And The Goodies :-)
    We saw a lot of English comedy shows too and I for one won't ever regret that - nobody does comedy like the English!
    I'm much more a sitcom girl these days and contemporary drama queen - stuff with relationships and lurve, sweet lurve. Although I do have a soft spot for Downton Abbey and, diametrically, The Walking Dead. There's a lot of high quality shows coming from the US which I just love and also some fab new Aussie stuff too.

    Yes, I admit it - I'm a TV junkie!

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    1. Th Goodies! I'm off to Youtube them right now, AA. What DID we do without Youtube! Those younguns don't know they're alive!

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  3. OMG, Barb, you brought back so many lovely memories. Except for Doctor Who. I still shudder at the thought/sound/vision of Daleks and/or Cybermen. In fact when I had my nails done yesterday and briefly had tinfoil on the tips of my fingers it reminded me of Cybermen and I felt all weird. LOL!

    Did you ever watch Daktari? It used to be on at 5 o'clock, from memory (mind you, I'm going back some years!) and I loved it. Especially Clarence the cross-eyed lion and Judy the chimpanzee. Hmmm, maybe you're too young for that one ;-)

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    1. Daktari! I'd completely forgotten about it! I LOVED that show too (who said it's only today's kids glued to the T.V obviously we were too!) Dear old Clarence. No, not too young :D

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  4. What an awesome post, Barb. We didn't have TV as kids because my mother was dead against it, and she never changed her mind right up till she died in 1997. Sometimes I got lucky and saw it a friend's house, and was known to stand out on the roadside and stare in people's windows to try and see it. Guess what was the first thing I bought when I went flatting?

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    1. I remember you telling me that, Sue. I think T.V has it's place but there were (and are) some fantastic shows. Makes me wonder which ones my kids will remember.

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  5. OMG The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie…what a fabulous trip down memory lane. I loved them both. Hated Dr Who, though- too scary. WAY too scary. I didn't see Gilligans Island or I Dream of Jeanie but did like The Virginian and the Banana Splits. We were great comedy fans and watched The Two Ronnies, Morecombe and Wise, Fawlty Towers etc… then, later, as we got older we couldn't go out on a Saturday night until we'd seen Blind Date!

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    1. The Virginian! I remember it being so fabulously macho and a bit sexist.... I don't remember the Banana Splits but loved Morecombe and Wise.

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  6. Ooooo, Barb, me too with the trip down memory lane! I loved COWBOY shows - Bonanza and The Virginian. When I was even younger, I always wanted to be able to watch Rawhide (Rowdy Yates! That sneer!) and Laramie (Jess!) but only got sneaky peeks when I asked for a glass of water after bed time! LOL

    There were shows about animals that I adored too, Rin Tin Tin and Fury. Who could resist a genius dog or a horse as the main hero!

    And fish and chips on Friday night - YES!

    Oh, dear... I do wince about that "olden days" comment though - you stand firm about cancelling pocket money if the phrase ever crosses lips again! LOL!

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    1. Yes, Sharon, where have all the cowboy shows gone??!! I catch my kids watching these "sitcoms" with canned laughter and it strikes me how my kids are never laughing when the canned laughter is.....Bring back the cowboys!

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  7. Barb, LOVE this post because of the trip down memory lane. I loved Gilligan and Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie and Daktari (thanks for that reminder Yvonne) and also the early soaps like Bellbird. I don't remember if these were actually my young childhood or later. I suspect later because my parents were pretty strict on our TV watching and so there was a lot of ABC and news. Perhaps ABC was the one station we got. Was Bellbird on ABC? Because I do recall that being one show we girls (Mum and sisters) all sat and watched together.

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    1. We didn't get Bellbird in NZ, Bronwyn. We did watch a lot of Neighbours and The Young Doctors, though!

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  8. Oh, Sharon I just saw Rin Tin Tin. That was an absolute favourite. We used to play Rin Tin Tin at school. I usually had to by RTT because I was the smallest and also because Peta was so bossy and she always got to be...what was the hero's name? Was he a Captain or a Major? Whatever, that's who I wanted to be but Peta always got to lead the charge! :-)

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    1. I don't remember Rin Tin Tin. Off to Yutube!

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    2. Bron, was it Lt Masters? Actually, I just Googled and found a Wikipaedia entry about the "orginal" Rin Tin Tin - a German shepherd rescued from the battlefields of WW1. How awesome is that! The dog went on to star in some silent movies etc by the looks!

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  9. Barb

    I watched a lot of those shows as well on the black and white TV :) one of my fondest memories is of all the family having dinner on Sunday evenings eating our dinner and watching Disneyland with Walt you have bought back some great memories

    Have Fun
    Helen

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    1. I have the exact same memory, Helen! We always had our Sunday tea of soup and toasted sandwiches watching Walt...I shudder to think that my kids' family T.V watching memories might be of American Idol....

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  10. Ooh, Barb, what fun! I loved Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie as a kid -- funnily enough so did my Dad. ;-) Little House on the Prairie was a big hit -- remember getting the books one Christmas (I still have them). Does anyone remember Green Acres? All the animal ones were hits at various times too -- My Friend Flicka, Salty the Seal, Flipper.

    My very faves were the British shows, though -- Dr Who, The Goodies, Famous Five. Oh, those were the days. ;-)

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    1. Ah, YES Michelle! DH has made commenting of particularly loving those two shows to....I think I remember Greeacres. Was that Eva Gabor??

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  11. Barb, I remember those days with limited channels. But it didn't seem to faze us. I Dream of Jeannie was a favourite and I remember hiding behind the couch when my big brother watched Dr Who (those cybermen were too scary). Yes to Rin Tin Tin and even The Lone Ranger and reruns of Robin Hood (yep, I love a hero). Plus Gilligan's Island and Disneyland.

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  12. I think a few of us felt the same about Dr Who, Annie. That music still makes me feel spooked.

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  13. Happy Days (the show, and the 70s), The Partridge Family, Charlie's Angels, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mission Impossible, and all the British comedies - Dad's Army, Are You Being Served?, Fawlty Towers, The Good Life.

    I never saw Gilligan's Island. I don't think it was shown where I lived.

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  14. Claire, I'd completely forgotten Happy Days but I must have seen every episode about 10 times! Must go and do and 11th on Youtube.

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