First TV show you ever watched (and can recall)

[Greyryder]

LizzieMaine; :eusa_clap,:eusa_clap
Amazing!! There are few people that can even solder today. Even most of the Hams I know are just appliance operators.

How do they fix things, when they break?

I can't imagine not being able to solder. I was active in radio control models, before everything became "ready to run." Buying after market connectors and soldering them in place was almost mandatory, the stock connectors were junk. (incidentally, the connectors I prefer are an RC specific version of the Power Pole connectors I understand originated in the amateur radio hobby) Before that, I was making my own Battlemech models from bits of pop cans and model parts, before everything went to aluminum. It's a skill I've used in other hobbies, even just building small items from brass tube. Right now, I want to tech myself to braze.

 

[Trapped in T-wilight Zone]

Quick introduction.
Been lurking for awhile, having been told of this place by a long-time good friend.
Primary interests, early automobiles and the culture of the eras that surrounded them. Love the music, clothing, and general history around my cars.
Been considering registering for awhile. It figures that a thread "out of my favorite era" would give me that final push.

My parents and an uncle of mine opened one of the first TV sales and repair shops in the San Francisco South Bay Area, that was 1953. I was barely one at the time. We always had a television, almost. The kicker was that most of the time, in the '50s, that TV in the house wasn't ours. It would have belonged to a customer. TVs at that time were finicky, and prone to intermittent problems. TVs with such problems were often taken home, where my mother would keep an eye on them all day long, and take notes. This would help the technicians sort out which circuit may be the trouble. If no customer sets were at the house, the shop usually had several and we would use one of those most of the rest of the time.

I cannot really remember what the first show I ever watched was. However, I remember most of the shows so far mentioned, and so many others. Anybody else recall the show "Casey Jones" starring Alan Hale Jr (Skipper on "Gilligan's Island" fame)? I was glad to see "Highway Patrol" mentioned. It was one of my favorites. So were "Whirlybirds", "Sea hunt", "Mystery Science Theater", and several of the various live theater shows.
I figured at one time that I had missed "The Wizard of OZ" only once or twice in 17 years. However, my parents sold one of the first color sets around, in I think 1957. The couple that bought it were friends of my parents, and they invited us to go over to see the movie in color shortly after.
There was also another version, adapted from one or more of the other "Oz" books. It was more of a filmed stage production, it involved saw horses that were magically transformed into live saw horses and ridden part of the way. I looked forward to seeing it several times during the '50s, but haven't seen or heard of it ever since. There was also a "Pippi Longstockings" production that was similar.
I clearly remember when the only three channels in the Bay Area were KRONtv ch4 (NBC), CBS ch5, and ABC ch7 (I offhand don't recall the call letters for them). Because my parents were "in the business", we (including I) knew for some time before independent KTVU ch 2 was coming soon! I remember we watched it the first day of broadcast. PBS ch 9 was off and on for years.
I spent a lot of my first eight years growing up at the TV shop. Then my parents sold it and went on to something else.
W2

 

[filfoster]

Trapped in T-Wilight Zone, I'm glad I could contribute a thread that brought you out of the shadows! Welcome!

 

[Trapped in T-wilight Zone]

Thank you filfoster! It is good to be able to comment on a few things now and again.

 

[Stearmen]

This was not the first TV show I ever saw, but, it's now been 50 years since the show first aired. This was the original theme song, which did not air for a couple of decades after the end of the series. Glad they came up with the better song! Also, notice the three different actors, John Gabriel, Kit Smythe and Nancy McCarthy. [video=youtube;qx7A4sxJi7c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx7A4sxJi7c[/video]

 

[2jakes]

As a kid this was the first TV show I remember watching . Just to watch Audrey Meadows
I was in love with this lady...still am. I hated Ralph for the way he treated her. I would've taken
a punch to the moon from her & begged for more.

 

[Matt Crunk]

First TV shows I have a clear memory of are Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Land of The Giants, Night Gallery, Laugh-In, and HEE-HAW..

 

[Benzadmiral]

I don't think my mother had a TV set in the mid-'50s, when I was very small. We had one when I was about 6. Seems to me I recall a cartoon with an alien or spaceman of some kind -- was it "Tom Terrific"? For years Mom swore I was a big big fan of "The Mickey Mouse Club," but aside from the spelling-out in the theme song ("M-i-c . . . k-e-y . . . M-O-U-S-E!!!"), I recall nothing of it.

Probably the first stuff I can recall clearly is the George Reeves "Superman" episodes, "The Flintstones" and "Top Cat." Oh, and "Whirlybirds" and "Tightrope" with Mike Connors. I was aware of "Highway Patrol" with Broderick Crawford, and of course the Westerns like "Roy Rogers," "Bat Masterson," and "The Rifleman."

As you can guess, TV Guide was my logbook in those days. I remember reading listings for shows I never actually saw, like "Crunch and Des," "The Ethma Odum Show" (???), and "Sunrise Semester."

 

[rjb1]

This is from what I remember of "Tom Terrific" without cheating and looking him up:
He as a cartoon character (crudely drawn) who had a "Wonder Dog" (Manfred). He could change into things and he and Manfred had adventures with Tom as a train or airplane or ??.
I think he was a part of another show (Captain Kangaroo?) and was shown during that, but did not have his own show. He had a catchy theme song that he would sing: "I'm Tom Terrific - greatest hero ever..."
(Now I'm going to do some looking and see how my memories fit with what actually happened.)

For an alien or spaceman cartoon you might be thinking of "Ruff and Reddy" a cat and dog combination who had adventures in an artificial planet called "Muni -Mula" (Aluminum spelled backward, since the planet was fabricated from aluminum.

 

[frussell]

Yeah, Captain Kangaroo would be one of my first, along with Bozo and Romper Room. I also remember watching the Smothers Brothers, Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, the Glenn Campbell Show, Star Trek and The Wonderful World of Disney, with the intro by Walt. Seemed like it was always a Disney B-movie, like "Johnny Tremaine," or something with Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette about Dachsunds. Later, it was all Sid and Marty Kroft stuff on Saturdays. I remember "Night Gallery" really freaking me out a few times, way more than Twilight Zone. I remember getting a chance to be on the Bozo Show once while visiting family in California. Every time he spoke to me on camera, I froze up like Ralphie in "Christmas Story" when he finally got to talk to Santa. Frank

 

[Benzadmiral]

This is from what I remember of "Tom Terrific" without cheating and looking him up:
He as a cartoon character (crudely drawn) who had a "Wonder Dog" (Manfred). He could change into things and he and Manfred had adventures with Tom as a train or airplane or ??.
I think he was a part of another show (Captain Kangaroo?) and was shown during that, but did not have his own show. He had a catchy theme song that he would sing: "I'm Tom Terrific - greatest hero ever..."
(Now I'm going to do some looking and see how my memories fit with what actually happened.)

For an alien or spaceman cartoon you might be thinking of "Ruff and Reddy" a cat and dog combination who had adventures in an artificial planet called "Muni -Mula" (Aluminum spelled backward, since the planet was fabricated from aluminum.

I recall "Ruff and Reddy" as a favorite of mine from Saturday mornings in early grade school. If my family went to the big grocery store (Schwegmann's, a precursor of Walmart) on Saturday, Mom would park me in the TV lounge on the mezzanine for part of the time.

 

[hatophile]

Of course I remember cartoons as a kid, but what has had a lasting impression on me was the coverage of the Kennedy Assasination when I was 5 years old.

 

[2jakes]

Saturday Mornings !

First thing was the morning TV pattern & "The Howdy Doody Show"

And at the end of the day !

"GOD BLESS OUR VETERANS "