I am assuming that the current revival of old television shows is an attempt by the networks and local stations to keep us entertained during these times when it is difficult to produce new shows. That said, I must say that I’m rather enjoying this unexpected trip down memory lane. I also must admit that I’d quite thoroughly forgotten a good number of the programs and that I am surprised to find myself enjoying some that I previously shunned or missed out on for other reasons (the main reason being that I didn’t have much control over the TV set during those years.)
You also must remember that I grew up without television. Even though it was around for quite a few years during the late 1940s and early 50s, reception in Knoxville was spotty, and my dad wouldn’t buy a set until that improved.
There were televisions in the lounges in the dorm where I lived in college, only during certain hours, and nobody that I knew had a TV in their room.
I became a regular watcher only after I was married. When our first son was born, we found it difficult to go out for an evening of entertainment. My husband bought a small black and white portable set and I discovered Television Land. I remember watching the old Gary Moore Show for the first time, and that it featured a very young Carol Burnett.
Today, I catch bits of her popular reruns and wonder why I never watched her delightful shows when they were originally broadcast. Could it be that there was something on a different channel that my husband wanted to watch at the same time? Probably.
I missed out on MASH the first time around for the same reason. I am glad that it has been rebroadcast in recent years, for it is possibly the best series ever produced, and I never get tired of it. Many people (including my husband) avoided it because they thought it was about the Korean War. Anybody who watches it regularly knows that it is about much more than that. It also has some of the best acting seen on a regular series ever.
Two stars of those programs I’ve just referred to — Carol Burnett and Alan Alda — once starred in a delightful production, Same Time Next Year, which I would love to see again. I wish the person in charge of sorting through all those reruns would pull that one off the shelf and let me see it once more.
The old Gunsmoke programs are still entertaining, as I assume Bonanza and Dallas are, though I didn’t see much of them ‘way back when. And Wagon Train and Rawhide suffer from being black and white, along with The Rifleman, Paladin and Wanted; Dead or Alive.
There are quite a few more recent programs that we haven’t seen for several years, but they don’t seem to be available — probably because of residual agreements or having been purchased by cable companies.
It would be great to get to enjoy, again, those wonderful Red Skelton shows and, quite frankly, I’d much rather see reruns of Johnny Carson than what passes for late-night television these days.
I have often wished that PBS would let us enjoy some of those old Agatha Christie mysteries and more of the early Vincent Price films, and I wish I’d taped them when I had the chance. They are still using the graphics for Gorey Mansion, but none of the programs — a pity.
As long as I’m complaining about reruns, or the lack thereof, I want to ask how many more years are they going to be recycling the old Andy Griffith show? I think I’ve seen every episode at least twenty times.
Now, I agree that it was a nice, wholesome, family-oriented type of program and had some pretty good actors as well as teaching some valid lessons about human relations. But – surely enough is enough and the lessons are becoming outdated.
There are times when it would be nice to just kick back with a snack or a cup of tea and watch a good old movie or other program. Daytime television needs serious upgrading.
Soap operas are out; you have to watch them every day because the stories go on and on, and I’m not THAT desperate for entertainment.
A former volunteer and substitute teacher in the Solon schools, Milli is an artist and poet who lives near Morse where she also creates unique greeting cards and handmade books.