MacArthur High School
Class Of 1971
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Shirley Burleson Espinosa
 Posts: 43 View Profile |
TV we loved from the sixties Posted Friday, August 19, 2011 11:05 AM
TV we loved from the sixties
TV was a big part of our childhood in elementary through high school, but it didn’t take over our lives like it does with kids today. We watched our regular (and sometimes lame) programs and then ran outside and played hard. TV was simply part of our lives, along with a great many other things.
Let’s start with the classics. If I have left off your personal favorite, please feel free to add to the list!!
Captain Gus. Did anyone else appear live on this program? My brother and I did. Children love routine. The captain’s routine was to air a couple of episodes of Popeye and Bluto pounding each other, and then spend about ten minutes with his live studio audience of squirming children. He would go down the rows and everyone got to tell their name and age. This was live TV and we were on it!!! After that thrill, they might throw in an episode of Gumby and Pokey the horse, followed by yet another Popeye and Bluto pitched battle. There is an interesting tale (urban myth?) about a little guest named Leroy and his friend with a “gas” problem. On that program they had to cut to unscheduled commercials several times. This came to me purely second-hand, but before Captain Gus, there was another live TV program with Bozo the Clown, and some little kid said “CRAM IT, CLOWN” before they could cut to the commercial.
I Love Lucy. I will still sit and watch this to this day, even though I have probably seen every episode ever filmed at least five times. It came on every morning at 9:00 a.m. In the summer, we would wake up and have our cheerios while watching Lucy. Favorite episode: Lucy, Ricky, Ethel and Fred are on their way to California in the new car. They stop at this dive roadside motel where trains go by every ten minutes and cats climb the window screens all night.
The Beverly Hillbillies. To this day, folks still refer to the cement pond and we know what they’re talking about. To us, the hillbillies were just funny. You have to watch it today with adult eyes to appreciate the high satire going on. My mother’s people were truly from the “Ozark hills” where the Beverly Hillbillies originated. My grandfather’s people were “rum runners” or illegal distributors of “moonshine,” which was what Granny was always brewing up in her backyard . The rum runners were the precursors of today’s stock car racers. They had to soup up their autos to outrun the law and they were good at it. None of my relatives were as stylized as Jed and Granny, but they were certainly “different.”
Star Trek. We loved it, even with its uneven scripts and plots. The first season was phenomenal. A small group of us gathered every Friday morning in Mr. Gerhardt’s science classroom at Garner to relive and discuss Thursday night’s episode. Mr. Spock was beyond cool. We had never encountered anyone like him on TV. Especially hilarious was Saturday Night Live’s spoof of the series when it was going downhill. John Belushi, of course, played Captain Kirk. The NBC goon squad was chasing the Enterprise through space in a huge black Ford so they could give them their series cancellation notice.
Ed Sullivan. There was always someone good to watch on Sunday night. I came to my first understanding of the term “rock god” when I saw Jim Morrison and the Doors perform. I was totally mesmerized. Who WAS THAT?!!! And who could forget the debut of the Beatles?
The Addams Family and the Munsters. The Addams family had a huge following at Wilshire Elementary . In sixth grade, they played Addams family every day at recess. Everyone had a role to play: Morticia, Lurch … “It” has become a common nickname for a difficult person, kind of like puddin’ head.
Dark Shadows. The only soap opera I ever watched, except a few episodes of The Edge of Night but only because Pat Carnley (CO70 or CO69) landed a small role, playing a drug addict from Texas. “Quentin’s theme” was so popular they played it over the radio stations and it was a hit. The plot jumped back and forth in time a lot and Barnabus was a most gentlemanly vampire .. not scary in the least.
The Monkees. When I see this on cable today, I understand why my parents got up and left the room when we turned it on. No plot, no characters, but we loved it anyway. I saw a documentary on this program, and that is exactly the way it was filmed. No plot, no characters. They would turn on the camera, the boys would act like fools, and they would put it in the can for broadcasting. One Sunday night, I heard on the radio that Mike Nesmith was going to be out at Wonderland Mall, where KTSA was broadcasting out in the parking lot. I made my brother drive me out there at 9:00 p.m. on a Sunday night so I could see the guy. Mike Nesmith had a lot of roots in San Antonio. He went to SAC and had been in the military at Lackland AFB.
Saturday afternoon horror movies: Frankenstein, Wolf Man, and the Mummy. A different monster every Saturday. We ate it up. I would not sleep well on Saturday night, especially after watching the Mummy. I would watch the doorway all night, expecting that thing to come lurching into the room to choke me.
Tarzan reruns with Johnny Weismuller. These were really pretty entertaining. They showed them regulary at 5:00 p.m. in the afternoons. We accepted only Johnny Weismuller’s low brow but noble performance as Tarzan. No one else would do. I still remember some Swahili words: Simba! Ongowa! The very first and original Tarzan movie ever made was actually considered racy, not only because Tarzan and Jane lived in sin, but Maureen O’Hara (Jane) was actually skinny dipping in one of the scenes. Later in life, I actually read the Edgar Rice Burrough’s novel and was horrified to learn that Tarzan was actually a cultured English Lord.
Howdy Doody. Someone help me with this. I watched it, but have no recollection, though I can still sing the theme: “It’s howdy doody time! …” I think he wore cowboy clothes and had one of those hideous, freckled ventriloquist’s dummies.
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Robert Cuddy
 Posts: 10 View Profile |
RE: TV we loved from the sixties Posted Friday, August 19, 2011 11:30 AM I remember all of those. I was a big Star Trek fan also, and still am. I don't dress up in costume or anything like that. I have never been to one of their conventions either, I just like the show and all the different series that it spawned. I was big into westerns, MAVERICK HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL THE RIFLEMAN, I also liked the one with Steve McQueen in it, but I can't remember the title. he had some type of modified repeating rifle, that was cut down into a short version that he kept strapped to his leg like a norma handgun. Also COMBAT! with Vic Morrow. I remember the Twilight Zone also. Maybe Idid watch to much TV. But I do remember when I was younger being outside playing some of the characters in these shows for hours. Capt. Gus! I watched that all the time. It was not until many years later that I realized all the mumblings that Popeye did in those cartoons, was some of the best stuff! American Band Stand, and the local version that we had in San Antonio. My freshman year I hung around with the local band "The Chains" and I remember them appearing on that saturday morning show. it was sponsored by "Big RED" soft drink. I still like it but I don't drink much of it anymore. Other old time shows that I remember, Mr Ed, Car 54 Where Are you, Dragnet, The Honeymooners, Carol Burnett wa always a good one.The Naked City, Route 66, The Bob Cummings show, Jack Benny, The Dean Martin show. The Smothers Brothers, The black comedian Chick Wilson? Not sure on that one. All good programming, all great shows.
And I always thought that it was Howdy Doody that had all the big freckles wearing the cowboy get-up. My mom always watched the Lawrence Welk show on Sundays, and I like Mitch Miller! Aahh the memories. Thanks Shirley. |
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Joe Deres
 Joined: 01/11/11 Posts: 1 View Profile |
RE: TV we loved from the sixties Posted Friday, August 19, 2011 10:08 PM A couple already mentioned and some more, in no particular order: |
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