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First Prime-Time TV Show You Loved
What was the first prime-time TV series you made a point of watching each week - and what do you remember about how and why you watched it? With whom did you watch? Did the viewing involve any favorite foods or rituals? What did you enjoy most?
The Bullwinkle Show
1961-63, NBC
Jay Ward's The Bullwinkle Show, a prime-time follow-up to his Rocky and His Friends on ABC, grabbed me when I was young, and never let go. I still live bad puns because of this show (one memorable episode title: "Avalanche is better than none"). And at the time, I remember wondering why my dad, who watched with me, was laughing so hard at certain points. Now I know - but I was in my twenties before I realized that the show's Cold War villain, Boris Badenov, was a play on the Russian leader Boris Godunov, who also inspired an opera by Modest Mussorgsky.
That's my first prime-time TV love. What's yours?
It had to be "The Millionaire." Talk shows, with their surprise giveaways
and dreams come true, still are duplicating what front man Michael Anthony did
weekly. It was new then, and even more exciting (and it was TAX-FREE).
I was born in November 1947, and my parents bought our first TV in 1954,
I believe. It was an Admiral in a blond wood case. As I recall, I would get up early
every morning to watch the test pattern, much like the one that you use on weekends.
Then came the morning weather report for farmers at about 6 am.
As for series, there was Howdy Doody with Buffalo Bob Smith. But what I remember
most was Sunday nights - the Jack Benny Program and Jackie Gleason. As for more
traditional series, I believe that my first favorite would have been the Adventures
of Superman with George Reeves.
The first prime time TV show I loved: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (That's
harder to type that it should be!)
Thinking back, I could not tell you a single plot, villain, or specific detail. For
a kid sitting at home, all you needed was the cool of Robert Vaughn and David
McCallum. Perhaps most importantly, since many of us were too young to go to the
'sexy' Bond movies, this was our connection to the spy-mania of the time. This was
so much hipper than cowboys and indians!
It says something too, that perhaps a second choice would be "Get Smart." Combining
MAD Magazine with "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." What could be better!!
My First Prime-Time shows I can remember were actually Saturday Morning
and Weekday afternoon shows, as I wasn't allowed to stay up after 7pm until I was
about 6 years old. I remember I had to go to bed after Claude Kirchner's Circus
show.
So my first "prime-time" shows were Crusader Rabbit...that probably came on around
6:30am here in the NYC area...just after the test-pattern went off..and maybe just
after Modern Farmer.
The other faintest memories I had was of 'Beachcomber Bill' on during the
afternoons...maybe 3:30pm-ish?
If I'm not mistaken, he showed Popeye cartoons before Captain Jack McCarthy came on
the scene.
And, of course, Officer Joe Bolton with the Three Stooges.
I seem to remember the Flinstones premiering on Friday nights in Prime-time...and
Johnny Quest as well.
Those were the days. I remember when you couldn't wait to get the "Fall Premeire"
edition of TV Guide. Of course, that's when there was just channels 2,4,5,7,9,11 &
13 (if you could see through the static).
I think a lot of 'station-loyalty' on any given night was bred out of the fact you
had to get up to change the channels...
Most of the shows I remember were the kids shows that were shown during the day. My favorite was "Winchell Mahoney Time" which starred Paul Winchell and his dummies Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smith. Also the local shows - Officer Joe Bolton with Little Rascal shorts and Captain Jack McCarthy with Popeye cartoons. I grew up on a steady diet of reruns - Flintstones, Mr. Ed, The Munsters, Addams Family and old Bugs Bunny Cartoons. I came home for lunch in early elementary school and I'd watch Jeopardy and Dick Van Dyke.
First Primetime shows - Laugh-In, Red Skelton, Ed Sullivan and Wonderful World of Color (Disney) - but in Black and White on my TV.
I still refer to times when I can't get to sleep on Sunday nights (then school, now work) as Ed Sullivan-itis.
My earliest favorite shows were "The A-Team" and "The Greatest American Hero". I can still sing the theme song to either and I haven't seen them in over 20 years! I just found the A-Team on nbc.com and have introduced my 8 year-old son to it. And since he is the exact same age I was when it was a must-see, he loves it!
(Ah, the glories of the Internet. You must love it when a plan comes together -- David B.)
Showing my age, I remember "Mama" and "December Bride", "Captain Video" and plenty more. But the one show that has stuck in my head was a summer replacement - circa 1960. It was a Space Ship that cruised the stars retrieving garbage. The Crew included both Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss.
It was very high concept farce - I remember one character named Ficus - who was supposed to be a humanized plant. It is amazing what is sticks in the mind.
Anohter was a crime drama with Roscoe Karns. It ran for a number of years and one of the gimmicks was that he talked to his wife all the time but you never actually saw or heard her. Mid to late fifties.
(I can jog your memory here, in both cases. The garbage-scow sci-fi series is "Quark," a comedy from 1977. Dick Benjamin starred, but if his wife Paula Prentiss ever appeared in it, which I don't recall, it was as a guest star. They did co-star, though, in the fabulous sitcom "He & She." As for the Roscoe Karns show, he played Rocky King in "Inside Detective" from 1950-54 -- and called his wife Mabel at the end of each show to say the case was solved and he was heading home. -- David B.)
Dear Phil Crabb,
"Beachcomber Bill"Biery never screened"Popeye"
cartoons on his WPIX TV Ch.11 NYC kids tv show.
He screened Hanna/Barbera's"Wally Gator","Touche'
Turtle" and"Lippy The Lion"tv cartoons.
"Capt.Allen"Swift and "Capt.Ray"Heatherton were
the firsts to screen"The Popeye"movie cartoons weekday
evenings and weekend evenings on Ch.11.
Before "Capt.Jack"McCarthy screened the films on
"The Popeye Show"weekday evenings and afternoons into
the 1970's.
"Crusader Rabbit" was first seen on"Children's
Theater!" on Saturday mornings on WNBT/WRCA/
WNBC TV Ch.4 in NYC from 1949 to June,1961.
The cartoons were also seen on"The Merry Mailman!"
weekday evenings on WOR TV Ch.9 in NYC from 1951
to 1956 and later on "Kartoon Klub"/"Shari & Her Friends!"
with Ms.Shari Lewis monday -saturday evenings on WPIX
TV Ch.11 in NYC from 1953 to 1956.
The last NYC based kids tv show to screen the
films was"Chuck McCann's Laurel & Hardy Show"
weekday afternoons on WNEW TV Ch.5 in NYC
from 1966 to 1967.
The films were also seen without a host on
WNBC TV Ch.4 in NYC saturday mornings from
1961 to 1966.