Old time TV shows

[skysthelimit]

MaggieJ was telling me a bit about old time TV shows, and how they reflect the attitudes of the past generations.

I'm very curious about how realistic those TV shows were?

I'm wondering, because TV shows today seem to be an exaggeration of life today, and I'd hate for this generation to be judged by the shows produced. Although the fact that we watch these shows does reflect on our mentality.

 

[Wheels]

Well there wasn't a toilet in the Brady Bunches bathroom...and I highly doubt every married couple slept in twin beds.

I really doubt POW camps in Germany worked like Hogan's Heroes.

But I do love classic TV - even if the shows are idealistic I find them much more entertaining and smart - even all the goofy slapstick

 

[Zass]

TV shows(and MOVIES) are always influencing the opinions of people watching them, as well as people's perception of what is "normal".

But that's kinda a given.

How much of people's lives are spent watching fictional characters and commercials? People are influenced by...how a pregnant lady should dress, what is normal between couples, what both gay and strait men should look like, political opinions(watch the Simpsons for this one, it's hilarious)
I mean, where do you think people got the idea to wear their pants around their ankles? No not everything is imitated, but a huge portion of CULTURE is being drawn off the TV set.

 

[akane]

I think current tv has contributed a lot to poor choices in relationships. Think about how many shows have healthy relationships versus endless drama.

I used to watch the old black and white shows when up late at night as a teenager but I wasn't alive when they were made so I can't say how accurate they were.

 

[skysthelimit]

It's like the whole art imitates life vs, art influences life.

I can't say I've ever seen a TV show where people where wearing their pants around their ankles, but I don't tend to watch a lot of sitcoms, I prefer medical dramas. Most of that stuff is so ridiculous.


I also wonder how much of it was propaganda, to give the country a sense of what was normal American behavior.

 

[Zass]

It's like the whole art imitates life vs, art influences life.

I can't say I've ever seen a TV show where people where wearing their pants around their ankles, but I don't tend to watch a lot of sitcoms, I prefer medical dramas. Most of that stuff is so ridiculous.


I also wonder how much of it was propaganda, to give the country a sense of what was normal American behavior.

Try watching M-TV in the early 2000's! You will see lots of silly things that were imitated!
And the propaganda end...now that's just scary. I can spot it...but...most people REALLY don't like it when you point it out in stuff they are trying to watch!

 

[skysthelimit]

Oh. We did not have cable growing up, and watched TV with our parents in their bedroom. In a very religious house, there were a lot of things we weren't allowed to watch.

 

[MaggieJ]

I did make a reference to the old TV shows such as "Leave it to Beaver" and "Father Knows Best" as representing the idealistic side of family life in the 1950's. Beaver and I were the same age and as a child I could really identify with many of the dilemnas in which he found himself. He was a good kid, but a bit naive and easily taken advantage of by his more sophisticated "friends". But it was a very idealistic and sanitized view of family life. The point I was trying to make was that life in the 1950's sometimes looked like that on the surface, but it was not really like that. There were undercurrents that were far darker, even in the happiest of families. Tensions and conflicts were not resolved in a 30 minute show. They went on and on.

Young people after the Second World War were eager to start families and "do it right". The Baby Boom Years did not quite turn out like that, because life is not that simple.

An excellent novel that portrays the era in Canada is "The Way the Crow Flies" by Ann-Marie MacDonald. I came across it recently and was blown away with how it captured both the smooth surface and the turbulent undercurrents of the time.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7199 ... Crow_Flies

Sky, you should be able to access those old shows through youtube. I might just go back an watch a few episodes myself, just for old times sakes.

 

[LoraAnnIN]

I grew up in a very religious house also, and recall a ban on many shows. We had one TV in living room and Dad was in control. When MTV came out we had to turn the tuner and dial it in :mrgreen:
We (my sister and I) watched it one day!! The next day Dad turn the tuner to the opposite direction which dialed in the 700 club (a religious program that is still on today I believe), then he proceeded to remove the tuner :twisted: Dad was Hard Core!

I have monitored my television viewing for the last two years, and I have come the the conclusion that I am wasting money on a cable bill. That is going to change very soon!

 

[bobqdevon]

Try watching M-TV in the early 2000's! You will see lots of silly things that were imitated!
And the propaganda end...now that's just scary. I can spot it...but...most people REALLY don't like it when you point it out in stuff they are trying to watch!

I remember when they showed music videos... Haven't watched it since they stopped.

With 6 kids, we have enough "reality tv" everyday, and don't need to see a bunch of it on tv. We do watch things like chopped and cutthroat kitchen, but not the other stuff.

 

[Zass]

I haven't actually owned a TV set as an adult (and I'm turning 31 this year)

It just doesn't have anything to offer me, and I always wondered why anyone would pay for the privilege of being advertised to.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I always wondered why anyone would pay for the privilege of being advertised to.

When Cable TV first came out there was no advertising. Once they got everyone hooked they started it up again.

 

[Random Rabbit]

Other than my Mother wearing skirts ... very little that the shows of that time portrayed was what we lived. I remember waiting for the school bus in skirts freezing my butt off cuz Girls did Not wear pants to school ! ( in mid-winter sn*wpants were allowed... but Had to be removed before class started.)
It was the year After i graduated high school (in California) that the school permitted girls to wear Dress slacks to school.

 

[MaggieJ]

Oh, yes! I remember vividly all those stupid restrictions on girls' clothing. We were permitted to wear slacks on gym days... but only in the half of the day when gym period occurred, unless we had to take lunch to school.

This is part of what I mean about the dark side of the 50's/60's. Girls were very restricted until the late 60's... and then were suddenly expected to jump to some new standard of expectations and behaviour in ten seconds flat. It was very hard. They changed that danged rule book on me a couple of times... and I found adjustment difficult after years of trying so hard to fit into the defined mould. It made me very angry and rebellious.

 

[Zass]

Oh, yes! I remember vividly all those stupid restrictions on girls' clothing. We were permitted to wear slacks on gym days... but only in the half of the day when gym period occurred, unless we had to take lunch to school.

This is part of what I mean about the dark side of the 50's/60's. Girls were very restricted until the late 60's... and then were suddenly expected to jump to some new standard of expectations and behaviour in ten seconds flat. It was very hard. They changed that danged rule book on me a couple of times... and I found adjustment difficult after years of trying so hard to fit into the defined mould. It made me very angry and rebellious.

This is interesting to me, as I was a girl who grew up with very little guidance and fewer restrictions (even less than was normal for girls of my gen). What would it be like to live with people telling you how to dress? I think I would have had a hard time with that.

I guess in my gen it was probably common to look to the TV set for advice on how to dress. My brother claims to have a keen sense of fashion, I claim I have a keen sense of comfort.:lol:

 

[grumpy]

One of my favorites was Mayberry RFD. It always carried a message
of what is right and what is wrong.
Regardless of time, right is still right and wrong is still wrong.

Tyler Perry creates some thought-provoking television.
It's always got a humorous side but carries a deeper message to the viewer.

I watch no reality shows....and I don't get caught up in weekly series'.

grumpy.

 

[skysthelimit]

Oh, yes! I remember vividly all those stupid restrictions on girls' clothing. We were permitted to wear slacks on gym days... but only in the half of the day when gym period occurred, unless we had to take lunch to school.

This is part of what I mean about the dark side of the 50's/60's. Girls were very restricted until the late 60's... and then were suddenly expected to jump to some new standard of expectations and behaviour in ten seconds flat. It was very hard. They changed that danged rule book on me a couple of times... and I found adjustment difficult after years of trying so hard to fit into the defined mould. It made me very angry and rebellious.

Seems to speak to why the late 60's and 70's were such a rebellious time.

 

[Ramjet]

Old shows is all I really watch , todays version of comedy just doesn't do it for me .... Started watching Petticoat Junction a couple weeks ago , couldn't find it on Netflix but found full seasons / episodes on Youtube.

In the past few years I've watched every episode of Maverick , Bat Masterson , The High Chaparral , Rawhide , The Virginian , The life & legend of Wyatt Earp and a few others.

 

[skysthelimit]

One of my favorites was Mayberry RFD. It always carried a message
of what is right and what is wrong.
Regardless of time, right is still right and wrong is still wrong.

Tyler Perry creates some thought-provoking television.
It's always got a humorous side but carries a deeper message to the viewer.

I watch no reality shows....and I don't get caught up in weekly series'.

grumpy.

I love Mayberry RFD. And anything Andy Griffith. Lots of Bonanza, Wild West, Raw hide, and my parents seriously wonder why I love animals and am obsessed with farming? I just wanted to live on a ranch,lol.

You know they don't teach American history much in schools anymore. A lot of what is learned is gleamed from TV, and now for me, the History Channel documentaries.

Then there were the black and white movies. I do not like black and white, but I think I've seen quite a few. I would not watch Gone with the wind until I could see the digitally remastered version.

 

[3mina]

I haven't had TV for several years, actually I should say I haven't had cable for years. I have a huge DVD collection. I have as many DVDs as I do books and I need to get/make more shelves because both are piling up.
When I did have cable/satellite the channels I watched were Food Network, Discovery, National Geographic, & Animal Planet. I stopped watching news or mainstream programming years ago, it depressed me and certainly didn't fit my worldview.