Snippet of Life - The TV Set

As an early Boomer, I was part of the first TV generation. I remember when we got our first TV. Before that, and even after for some time, Sunday mornings would be spent lying on the floor in front of the radio reading (I just looked at the pictures) along as the comics were read by actors. We also listened to scary stories on "Inner Sanctum" and comedies like "Fibber Magee and Molly" and "Amos and Andy." The TV gradually became the main home entertainment system and those shows migrated onto that medium. Being within the broadcast range of New York City, we had a number of stations to choose from. ABC, NBC and, CBS operated out of NYC so we had them but there were a few independent broadcasters too. The TV introduced me to old movies, the ones from the 30s and 40s. The network news was just a 15 minute broadcast and we mostly watched John Daly. Mostly, in the evenings, we watched what my father wanted to watch whenever he was home. That meant Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Red Skelton, and Ed Sullivan. It also meant "Our Miss Brooks" and "I Love Lucy."

I watched "Sky King", "Ding Dong School", "Dick Tracy", "Captain Video", "The Cisco Kid", "Roy Rogers"and other kid oriented shows. But I also watched "Playhouse 90", and some great dramas designed for adults (though quite mild by today's standards). TV introduced us to the world in ways our imaginations couldn't. It exposed us to a life outside of our small towns and fairly simple lives. It is no wonder that we became effectively addicted to it. I still played outside, still climbed the maple tree in front of our house, still explored the woods near my house but I also found myself in front of that TV a lot more than I sat in front of the radio.

While there are a number of shows on TV today that I like, my all time favorites will always be the ones that captivated me as a young boy sitting much too close to that old black and white TV.