1950's & Early 60's TV Shows

[Hopalong]

Being a Baby Boomer age 62 and our generation being the majority of the population of the country I would pay any price to have a TV Channel on cable or satellite that would play nothing but the TV shows from the 1950's and early 60's like: Ozzie & Harriet, Topper, Mr. & Mrs. North, I married Joan, Donna Reed, Beat The Clock, The Untouchables, Route 66, 77 Sunset Strip, Surfside 6 and etc, etc, plus all of the kids TV shows that include westerns and if they had their original commercials with the shows that'd be great too. We Boomers keep emailing , writting and calling TVLand, the Western Channel and the other supposed to be nostalgia channels but they don't seem to be listening or even care which as far as I'm concerned is their loss. I'm usually told when I call these stations that there are people who own the rights to these shows that I'd like to see and they won't release them because they can't make enough money on them or they're not clear enough to show or whatever??? and I then tell them that my generation grew up watching these shows and we are the "only group" who would pay to see them "now" and if they wait to long to release them to the nostalgia channels my generation will be in nursing homes and won't be able to afford to pay for a nostalgia channel or we'll have Dementia and won't care either way or we'll be deceased and then there'll definately not going to be anyone who'll want to see them for sure because they never grew up watching the shows like our generation did and then the people who own the rights to these TV shows will be the losers because they wouldn't listen to us telling them and the nostalgia channels that there was a market for these shows which was us Boomers. Mike

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Don't put you or your generation in that nursing home yet! I'm no baby boomer (I'm 37) and I love those shows you mentioned! (I'm as big a Bonanza fan (season one DVDs out September 1st!) as anyone) The first season of The Donna Reed Show came out last October and season two is scheduled for a July release. Route 66 and The Untouchables also have DVD sets out.

 

[Lincsong]

Nick at Nite and TVLand originally started out showing those types of shows then stopped. Just like A&E and AMC with movies. Over here in San Francisco Channel 20 has a "retro night" on Sundays from 8-10 p.m. and they have shown; Phil Silvers, Have Gun Will Travel, My 3 Sons, and a couple other classic shows.

 

[David V]

In Chicago we have WWME MeTV. http://www.metvchicago.com/index.php

 

[Hopalong]

We have a channel here in Washington State called RTN (Retro Television Network) www.myretrotv.com/shows.html (some of these shows pictured on the enclosed web site like Jack Benny, they haven't shown yet) which shows Nancy Drew/ Hardy Boys, Laredo, Wagon Train, Leave It To Beaver, Mike Hammer with Darren McGavin from the 50's which I thought was the best Mike Hammer, Alfred Hitchcock, Bachelor Father, Alias Smith And Jones and etc . There is a channel we have called America One that was showing old 1930's and 40's westerns, the Range Rider, Annie Oakley, Cisco Kid and 26 Men but you could never count on the stations scheduling to be right which was really frustrating. Mike

 

[Flivver]

Unfortunately, most advertisers don't believe that people over 40 are worth targeting. They're wrong (it's the older folks that have money to spend) but that's their problem! So it's unlikely that an all 1950s or 1960s TV channel will ever appear.

My solution to this unfortunate situation is to use the money I *don't* spend on cable TV (I get my TV over the air) to buy DVDs of the shows I remember from my childhood in the 1950s and 1960s. Then I can watch them whenever I want. Many of the shows you mention are currently available, and more are added every month.

Due to the slow economy this year, many of the larger internet retailers are offering huge discounts on TV DVDs...often over 50% off. I sign up for their newsletters and they notify me when they're having a sale. I've also had good luck purchasing used copies at flea markets and yard sales.

 

[Ethan Bentley]

I'm pretty sure that "The Untouchables" is on one the freeview channels in the UK, maybe ITV4? My favourite show from that era would have to be the twilight zone. All that seems to be aired, in the UK at least, at the moment is the 1980's version.

 

[ScionPI2005]

One of the shows I'd like to see again that has disappeared from all stations on the air is the original Dennis the Menace with Jay North. I'm guessing this is another situation where one person owns the rights and isn't releasing them. I probably haven't seen one of those episodes for at least ten years.

 

[Hopalong]

Flivver,
you're right about just going out and buying the shows I want on DVD and I'll still buy them on video too and I also buy the Dollar DVD's at the Dollar Stores and other discount stores that ofter them and alot of them have super viewing quality and sometimes they even have their original commercials which is really a plus for me. Mike

Unfortunately, most advertisers don't believe that people over 40 are worth targeting. They're wrong (it's the older folks that have money to spend) but that's their problem! So it's unlikely that an all 1950s or 1960s TV channel will ever appear.

My solution to this unfortunate situation is to use the money I *don't* spend on cable TV (I get my TV over the air) to buy DVDs of the shows I remember from my childhood in the 1950s and 1960s. Then I can watch them whenever I want. Many of the shows you mention are currently available, and more are added every month.

Due to the slow economy this year, many of the larger internet retailers are offering huge discounts on TV DVDs...often over 50% off. I sign up for their newsletters and they notify me when they're having a sale. I've also had good luck purchasing used copies at flea markets and yard sales.

 

[Lincsong]

One of the shows I'd like to see again that has disappeared from all stations on the air is the original Dennis the Menace with Jay North. I'm guessing this is another situation where one person owns the rights and isn't releasing them. I probably haven't seen one of those episodes for at least ten years.

When I was in St. George Utah in April, Dennis the Menance was shown on a television station at 4 p.m.

 

[ScionPI2005]

When I was in St. George Utah in April, Dennis the Menance was shown on a television station at 4 p.m.

Wow. What station? I remember having a conversation with a fellow Lounger a few years ago, and they hadn't seen Dennis the Menace on in years either.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

The first TV Show that I remember ever seeing was called, "The Rough Riders"
(brought to you by 'Old Gold', Spin Filters!). I must have been only about four or
five years old as the recollection was prior to my family's move south in 1959.
I would guess 1958!

http://www.westernclippings.com/remember/roughriders_doyouremember.shtml

Haven't seen that one in a while!

-dixon cannon

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

I remember seeing a few episodes of "Dennis the Menace" in the late '60s (must have already been in reruns) and thinking Jay North was way too old for the part. lol

When Nick at Nite first began, they showed a lot of "Route 66" and I fell in love with that show.

 

[Doctor Strange]

That was my first time watching Route 66 too, and I was really impressed. What a great show! Who'd have the guts to try and do an hour dramatic show shot on a different location each week - with a 36-episode season, no less - now?!? There were TV giants on the Earth in those days!

For that matter, I also wish that Nick at Nite still had the guts to show hour dramatic shows in addition to just the endless sitcoms...

 

[dhermann1]

I read a book called "Hey Kids! What Time Is It?!", about the Howdy Doody show. From 1950, when we got our first TV, a 17 inch Philco, with a huge mahogany cabinet, I was a Howdy Doody FANATIC!
The book tells the fascinating story of what was really the first commercially successful TV show. I believe it was around late 1948 when there were 10,000 TV sets in the entire New York viewing area, the show received 40,000 letters. The shenanigans that went on off camera, the personalities, etc., were wild. Howdy Doody sold something like $200 million worth of licensed stuff during its run from 1947 to 1960. We're talking 1950's dollars here.
The era that really fascinates me tho, is the 1947 thru 1954 period. During that time networks were convinced that viewers would only watch live shows, and all sorts of live stuff was attempted. There was a series called Hawkins Falls, which was sort of a live soap opera, but much more.
Kukla, Fran and Ollie were puppets for grown ups, and Saturday morning cartoons were all silent films for the 20's. And the test pattern (or as my brother used to say, tess patter) was the most popular show on TV.
Also, in this era Chicago was the home of real creative broadcasting. New York was still stuck in radio, and LA was into movies.
TV was still thought of as declasse, and actors who worked in it often didn't want people to know! Among the actors who worked in early live TV was James Dean. I believe that in addition to the only 3 movies he ever made, there are several Kinescopes of him in TV dramas. There are also something like 350 episodes of the original Howdy Doody show sitting around some where in the midwest, supposedly. The only recording method available, Kinescopes, were just movies made from the TV screen, crude and ugly.
I saw the Queen's coronation on TV in 1953, the films being processed and flown across the Atlantic only hours after the event. It made a huge impression on my young mind.
When the ABC network came in in 1954, they realized they could get viewers with filmed content, and the true early era of TV came to an end. I have SUCH vivid memories of thet time.

 

[Lincsong]

Wow. What station? I remember having a conversation with a fellow Lounger a few years ago, and they hadn't seen Dennis the Menace on in years either.

I was in the motel, so I think it was Channel 4???[huh] Sorry if I can't remember the station, but I did watch the episode. Dennis' Mom and Dad went out to dinner with another couple, their boy was a couple years younger than Dennis. Mr. Wilson was supposed to watch them, but didn't. The parents freaked out, left the restaurant and the boys were fast asleep.

 

[Foofoogal]

I want to see Hazel. I loved that show as a kid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvP0L6sjwJo

 

[Young fogey]

THIStv

Thanks to the conversion to digital TV and thus having to get basic cable, ironically now I get to go back in time via THIStv. Besides 'Crime Story' DVDs I catch films and shows from the golden era, from 1965's How to Murder Your Wife with Jack Lemmon and Virna Lisi to black-and-white shows like 'The Outer Limits' (sometimes good - sort of a poor man's 'Twilight Zone' and pulp sci-fi/horror) and 'The Patty Duke Show' (nobody knew how much poor Anna was really hurting) to even 'Mister Ed'... and some 'transition' stuff like What's New, Pussycat? (Woody Allen's first movie? ...mid-’60s swingers but not hippies) and trashfests like Chastity (Sonny and Cher's idea of a hippy art film). Anyway, good and bad it's a window on that world I'm glad to have.

 

[Davep]

And of course Combat!

[YOUTUBE]d0qQGS4fXSY[/YOUTUBE]

 

[LaMedicine]

Burke's Law, as corny as it was lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY3ZpqlWaQw&videos=B2pHfwvOR9o