Cee Tee Jackson recently published an interesting post about Children’s television. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and left a comment about some of my memories of Children’s TV. You’ll have to read his post to find out the details.
The post inspired me to write about my memories of not just watching television but also of television sets. I’d love to hear about your memories of television, too.
How it all started!
My first memory of a television set was a black and white one with a 24-inch screen that my parents rented from the local electrical shop.
It was square-shaped with four legs that stuck out after being screwed on. On the set was a button for changing the channels and two dials, one for sound and one for brightness.
It reminded me of a spaceship. I’d often ask my parents if I could ‘watch the spaceship’ rather than asking if I could watch television.
In those days, you had to ensure you were in front of the television when your favourite show was about to start. There were no video recorders, catchup TV or streaming services. If you missed the show, you had to wait for it to be repeated (if lucky) or ask somebody who had watched it to explain what happened.
Back then, television sets had to ‘warm up’ after being switched on, and it could feel like an eternity for the picture and sound to come on, sometimes resulting in you missing the start of the show. Heaven forbid if the picture rolled and the aerial had to be adjusted.
I remember my grandparents having an even older television set than the one we had. Whereas my mother would call into the shop to pay the weekly rental, my grandparents had to put coins into a slot on the back of the television to get it to work. Someone would come from the shop every week to empty the coin box. I always thought it was the biggest ‘money box’ I’d seen.
Our First Coloured Television Set
Many years later, I remember the excitement in our house when my father announced that we were getting a ‘coloured television.’ Most shows would be transmitted in colour, and a box was installed on the wall next to the TV to switch channels. It wasn’t quite a ‘remote control’ but was the first step towards not having to press anything on the set to change channels.
The change to a ‘coloured’ television set also meant I could watch shows like ‘Pot Black’ in colour. Pot Black was a weekly snooker show, first shown every Monday evening on BBC2. Now, my father and I could see all the different coloured snooker balls without guessing which one was about to be potted! It made all the difference.
Does anyone else remember that theme tune to the show?
Two of my favourite detective shows, which I remember watching with my father and which seemed much better in colour, were Charlie’s Angels and Cagney and Lacey.
Charlie’s Angels – Watched For Different Reasons!
I loved watching Charlie’s Angels, as did my father, although for different reasons. Whereas I was amazed by how three young women solved violent crimes without a hair going out of place, my father was more interested in Farrah Fawcett-Majors.
Before watching the following video, can you name the other two actresses who played alongside Farrah Fawcett-Majors?
By this time, my parents had separated, so I didn’t mind that my father fancied Farrah. Little did he know that I was more interested in her husband, Lee Majors, who played Steve Austin in the TV show The Six Million Dollar Man, which was well before its time for artificial intelligence.
Cagney And Lacey – Why My Father Didn’t Understand!
My father was more concerned about my liking of Mary Beth Lacey, but for the wrong reasons. It wasn’t that I was into women who were old enough to be my mother (or so he thought); it was that I missed my mother a lot when my parents separated, and I saw Mary Beth Lacey more as a mother figure, somebody whom I wished was my mother.
As my love of television and television sets grew, it was no surprise that my second-ever full-time job was working as a salesperson in a television shop, selling and renting out televisions.
But change was on the way. I was there when the launch of the videotape recorder changed how we would gradually watch television shows in the future.
Apologies if any of the videos did not play for you.
- What are your earliest memories of watching television?
- Did you ever have a black-and-white television set? What was it like watching shows on it?
- How did the transition to a coloured television set change your viewing experience?
- Do you have any favourite TV shows or memories associated with watching television?
- Leave a link to the opening credits of one of your favourite television shows from the past.
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What a fun blast from the past, Hugh! Anyone older than 55 recognizes all this I’m sure. We had a small B&W TV on which we watched the moon landing. By 1970, our old TV needed needle nosed pliers to turn the channel, but we only had 5-6 channels we could watch, so no big deal.
We spent parts of summers with my grandparents whose TV was bigger and in color! Grandma allowed us to eat breakfast on these fancy TV tray tables I also have fond memories of watching I Love Lucy (reruns even then), and other 60-70s shows. I loved Charlie’s Angels and at least 1 out of 5 girls in 1974 had Farrah’s feathered hair cut.
Our favorite though was on Sunday night dinners at the grandparents, when we gathered to watch “The Magical World of Disney.” Still remember parts of the theme song. “the world is a carousel of colors, …fantasy, mystery, comedy…” That’s it, LOL!
‘The Magical World of Disney’ rings a bell, but I can’t recall watching it, Terri.
When you compare the number of TV channels available now to back in the 70s! We only had three TV channels in the UK back then. Channel 4 never arrived until the mid-80s. I can never remember there being nothing to watch apart from when there was no TV being broadcast. We didn’t get breakfast TV in the UK until the 1980s.
I can also recall TV Dinners, made especially for you to enjoy while watching TV, probably on one of those TV tray tables you mentioned.
And talking of hairstyles, the one that took off here in the UK was the ‘Purdy’ cut, taken from Joanna Lumley who played ‘Purdy’ in The New Avengers.
Thank you for sharing your TV memories with us.
Sadly, we were much more active before TV. As a nation (US, at least), our collective weight increased along with the amount of tv channels available.
We had a 12 inch TV in 1953. I can’t quite remember if it was bought for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, or if we had it before that. My Pop had a radio and television business (begun as a bicycle shop by his father!) and we borrowed a 14 inch TV for that special occasion. All the extended family along with friends and neighbours crammed into two rooms to watch. I found it most exciting.
I remember Pot Black; in black and white, and having to rely on the commentators to know which ball was which. I also just remember seeing the famous Stanley Matthew’s cup final. I got bored and went to play on my bike, but remember seeing the famous footballer charging down the wing. All in grainy black and white, but it was miraculous in those days. As few people had a television, special events always meant a houseful of visitors.
It was equally miraculous when ITV made an appearance. Two channels to choose from!
The main children’s TV I remember are Muffin the Mule and Andy Pandy. And, of course, Watch with Mother, which had moved from the radio as Listen with Mother that I listened to before TV.
And television was only on for fixed hours. No daytime TV. I seem to remember that children’s hour started at 5 o’clock. Then there was the news at 6. Programmes finished at around 11 pm with the National Anthem.
Later, I watched Bonanza, largely to see Michael Landon as Little Joe, whom my friends and I had a crush on. And Wagon Train was another favourite. There were a lot of westerns.
As an animal lover, I enjoyed Fury, the Wild Horse; Champion, the Wonder Horse; Lassie; and Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo.
I think I’d better stop here. Thanks for stirring up these wonderful memories.
What wonderful memories. Thank you for sharing them.
It’s hard to believe just how poor picture quality was on television sets, but the miracle of seeing moving pictures didn’t make it that important. I often wonder how my grandparents would react to the picture quality of today’s televisions and their shape. Televisions are so flat now, so different from the boxed-shaped ones of the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s.
I remember watching Bonanza just to see Michael Landon. There was also Mark Slade, who played Billy Blue Cannon in The High Chaparral. Did you watch that show? The show was worth watching just to see him.
Thanks again for sharing your memories of television.
A black and white portable TV set was the first major item I bought with wages from my first job. I brought it from a department store in Liverpool and had to carry if through the streets of the city onto the train to bring it home. I was sweating so much, it was awkward to carry and the weather was warm but I was so excited to have it and that gave me the adrenalin to go through it all. The first flickering images that came on it was the first episode of Porridge – it doesn’t get better that that.
Thanks for invoking those memories Hugh – I see you’ve hit a nice emotional chord given all the replies you’ve received!
I recall what it was like carrying heavy items during summer days, Paul. All the sweating and feeling flustered, but worth it all when you got home. I think my first portable TV was a colour one, but I remember all the fun trying to get the aerial in the right place before an outside aerial was finally fitted.
I still have the box from a portable TV, which was my first ever portable TV that you can connect to the internet. It’s now used for storing Christmas decorations, but that box is from the early 90s. The TV has long gone.
It has been wonderful to read about all these memories of television. I’m glad many readers have shared them, and thank you for sharing yours with us.
Everyone pays via incone tax, but then noone thinks of it that way . It is just another Government service like hospitals, public service, defence forces etc. A few decades ago, they started SBS the Special Broadcasting Service for foreign language programs and movies – subtitled to English. Again Government funded and free.
They are now allowed to air commercials at the end of programs to help cover the cost of the channel. At least the ads are not as bothersome as the commercial channels. I rarely watch them. It is all rubbish, now that streaming services have arrived.
I agree that streaming services have dramatically changed how most of us watch TV. Apart from the news, fewer people now watch live TV.
Oh wow. The memory vault has opened!
Yes, I remember B&W TV’s and when we finally got a coloured one most of the showes I watched as a kid were still in B&W for the most part. The little Rascals and some other show I can’t remember the names to.
The $6 million dollar man was a good one and the Bionic Woman. Dukes of Hazard and Star Trek. Dad had control over most of the TV shows during the evenings which consisted of Dr Who and Star Trek. I guess I must have gotten my taste in Si-Fi from him, LOL!
Mom would take it over for the Game Shows and the soap Operas during the day and that’s when we would be outside playing.
I can remember when we first got Cable TV. That was a game changer!
I never knew people rented TV sets, especially putting coins in them. Wow!
I was never a fan of Star Trek, but Doctor Who—a big yes! My sister often hid behind the sofa when I watched Doctor Who, although she was younger than me. From that famous opening music, you can tell when an episode of Doctor Who was starting.
Renting a TV set was very popular in the UK, and some people still do it. The coin-operated sets saved you a journey to the shop to pay the rental, but there was no TV if you didn’t have the correct coins to insert!
I remember my parents having a black and white set and there was a stick on film so it had color even though the colors were askew. Later on, we had a color TV that was in a console. I used to watch cartoons on Saturdays while eating breakfast.
I have good memories of watching The Ed Sullivan show, Bonanza, The High Chaparral, I Love Lucy, Lassie, Gunsmoke, among others that I enjoyed.
Now, we have 2 flat screen TVs, one in the bedroom and the other in the living room. We use Roku to stream our entertainment so we don’t have to pay the exorbitant prices for cable.
Thanks for sharing some of your television memories, Eugi.
We never used to have a TV in the bedroom. Now, it seems most people have them. I can’t believe how large the screens have got. I saw one advertised recently with a 99-inch screen.
Wow! 99-inch screen is huge. One would have to have a very large room to watch it.
I enjoy TV most days, BUT I have received around 14 gmails about TV sets?!
Oops! All the best. Joy Lennick
gmails as in emails? Where have they come from?
Aaah, the memories. Who didn’t love TV back then? Such a novel concept and without all the commercials and dramatization of modern days…
I had a TV growing up and I think it was always in color. But, your stories remind me of my dad’s experiences, where one house in the street had a black & white TV and the kids would gather there to watch shows.
When I grew up, my brother and I were allowed three hours a week of TV time and we used the TV guide to pick our programs (like McGyver, the A-team, and Chips). The news we were allowed to watch “for free.” :)
Those three hours of choosing what to watch must have been hard, Liesbet. I’d have had trouble choosing.
When I went to high school, I recall doing history about World War 2. My mother was horrified that the school instructed us to watch a TV show called ‘The World at War,’ which was shown on a weekday evening. I loved history and had to get my father to calm her down. There were 26 episodes to watch, so it took half a year to watch them all. I was only allowed to watch it with my father present.
That’s an interesting tidbit, Hugh. It shows that older generations – like you and me – had much stricter TV rules than the younger ones. Let alone regarding the new kids on the block: social media and streaming services!
I’m certainly glad that I was born and lived my childhood before the days of social media and streaming, Liesbet. Going out to play with my friends was something I did every day. We’d go out after breakfast and not return home until it was time for the evening meal. Kids don’t seem to do much of going out to play these days, but the world has changed.
We had black and white television sets when I grew up. My parents would never dream of paying for cable TV, so we frequently had only two stations that only came in if the rabbit ears were arranged just so. More often, someone had to keep a hand on top of the television. For som reason that improved the reception.
I’ll also remember when the Jones family was the first one to get a color television in our neighborhood. I still recall watching my first show in color. We didn’t rush right out and get one. In fact, we were one of the last people I know who got a color TV. Everyone else was “keeping up with the Joneses.”
I recall also using a metal coat hanger as an aerial to improve picture quality on a television screen, Pete. And, sometimes, you’d have to walk around with the coat hanger to get a good-quality picture.
‘Keeping up with the Joneses.’ That’s a phase I remember being used a lot back in the 1970s and 80s.
Pot black!! One of the few things on TV on Saturday! And I had forgotten how long they took to warm up. My father devised a switch to mute the ads as he hated them.
We Australians never had coin operated TV – it was always free!!
TV was never free in the UK. You must buy a television licence when you get a TV, regardless of whether you purchased it or rented it from a store. The black and white television licence was cheaper than a coloured one. The licence fee helps to fund the BBC, which doesn’t allow advertising as revenue.
The switch to mute commercials sounds like a brilliant idea.
It seems strange to me to need a TV license. I never got my head around those remarks when watching British shows as a child. Our ABC is funded by the Government via our general taxes.
Dad was a TV technician so fashioned the switch from an old light switch and long corded electrical wire.
How many channels did you have as a child. There were four including the ABC. Nowadays I have lost count.
I’m guessing that everyone has to pay then, apart from those who don’t pay tax? Does that mean you still pay if you don’t have a TV? In the UK, you don’t need a TV licence if you don’t have a TV set. However, you also don’t need to pay if you have a TV set and don’t watch the BBC or use its Streaming service. There are TV detector vans out on the street catching those who have not paid. They get a heavy fine and can also end up in prison for not having a TV licence.
Watching television was so special in those days. My parents had a big black and white tv too, while they gifted me a small colour tv for my birthday… I turned 5! When even there was no chance one of my kids got one, it was cool to have one as a child and teenager.
I don’t think I knew anyone with a television in their bedroom. The first portable TV I recall, was one I got when I rented my first flat. It had a tiny screen, but it was a gift from my mother. It stayed with me for many years.
It was a treasure at that time!
My first TV was black and white and I remember watching Dallas when JR was shot. When I had a colour TV, I was amazed. I remember watching reruns of Batman, the TV series. I thought it was wonderful and Wonder Woman. Loved all the crime shows too, such as Dempsey and Makepeace. Fond memories. Thanks for taking me back, Hugh.
What a big show ‘Dallas’ was, Esther. I remember all the rage in the UK and the ‘Who Shot JR?” promotions. It made headline news, especially when the tape that included who it was that shot him, being protected by arm-guards when it arrived in the UK. That seems quite bizarre now, as does the number of people who tuned in to watch the episode.
Tee hee! We didn’t have a colour telly until the late Seventies, because my dad refused to pay for the most expensive colour licence! I agree that watching Pot Black in monochrome was sometimes a challenge… But I do like the atmosphere of black and white films. Plus, in the days before special effects, plot, story and outstanding acting were essential ingredients in films.
We went to my nan and grandad’s house every Sunday. We’d have roast chicken for Sunday lunch, go out all afternoon, then have salad in the evening. I used to enjoy huddling around the tiny black and white set to watch Sunday night TV after dinner. Programmes like Ski Sunday and All Creatures Great and Small.
The first colour telly we got was more of a green and white TV, because of course Dad bought a cheap one! So it didn’t really wow me… We weren’t allowed a video recorder because he thought it was a scam set up by burglars, who would find out your address when you rented a video, then break in to steal the recorder!
When I was a little girl, White Horses was one of my favourite shows. And Saturday morning TV, with things like Swap Shop, The Banana Splits, and Bonanza!
I used to enjoy the Saturday afternoon matinee movie on BBC2 on a Saturday afternoon, Jacqueline. It would often be a Western, but whatever movie, it was always a black-and-white movie. I recently rewatched ‘Dial M For Murder,’ a classic Hitchcock movie often shown on Saturday afternoons.
Your trip to your grandparents reminded me of our monthly trip to see my aunt and uncles once a month on a Sunday when my father had the weekend off from work. It was always a cooked dinner at one aunt’s house followed by salad tea at another aunt’s. We never watched TV, but I recall watching ‘Ski Sunday’ and ‘All Creatures Great and Small when we got home. How we eat all that food in such a small space of time, I’ve no idea.
I like your dad’s thoughts on why not to have a video recorder, but given that I went on to work in a Television and Video rental shop, I was lucky that one of the perks (after a year’s service) was a free TV and video recorder. It was sad to see both go when I eventually left the job.
I also enjoyed the morning shows the BBC screened during the six-week school summer holidays. ‘White Horses’ is one I watched. I loved the theme tune to that show. I also enjoyed ‘Champion The Wonder Horse,’ Skippy – The Bush Kangaroo’ and ‘Why Don’t You?’
My shows varied but for some strange reason among the usual like I Love Lucy and The Dick Van Dyke Show I also enjoyed Red Skeleton, I think it was all those odd characters he played. I gave top ratings to all the cartoons out there particularly on Saturday mornings and one of my best pals was Bugs Bunny who taught me to like eating raw carrots. My mother was always very fond of that rabbit afterward. Until things got more modern my parents had one of those combinations the black and white TV side by side with a record player in a large cabinet.
I’ve not heard of Red Skelton, and sadly we never got shows like ‘I Love Lucy’ in the UK back then. But Saturday mornings were definitely filled with cartoons, until the introduction of a show called ‘Swap-Shop’ that aired on the BBC on a Saturday morning. It was a three hour show full of so much, but included the odd cartoon, too.
Another commentator mentioned the cabinet with the TV and record player. I bet they are worth a small fortune now, given that mid-century furniture seems to be all the rage.
Thanks for sharing your memories with us.
Thanks for the link and mention, by the way. ;) :)
You’re welcome. Thank you for the inspiration for this post.
I too remember watching Pot Black in b/w! :-D
The first colour TV I saw was at my pal’s house. His dad worked as a cameraman or sumat in TV and had been given a ‘huge’ set (by standards those days) in time for Wimbledon fortnight. To see that wonderfully green grass and all the purple of the ball boys / girl;s uniforms was just so exciting.
(Ironically, being Wimbledon, the players still all had to were white! :-D )
I’m glad somebody else recalls watching ‘Pot Black’ in black and white. While researching this post, I saw another video clip in which the presenter says, ‘For those watching in black and white, the green ball is the one just above the bottom righthand corner of your screen.’
I don’t recall the first programme I saw in colour. Knowing my father, it will probably have been something with Farah Fawcett Majors or Legs & Co!
Watching Wimbledon in colour for the first time must have been amazing. How great to have had a pal whose dad was a cameraman. I wonder what shows he shot?
I think he was a camera man. I was young and wouldn’t know of anything else in the industry. He may have been involved with production or the likes … But defo TV industry in some form it other.
(I remember that Pot Black quote too. 😂)
I always wanted to be a cameraman or work behind the scenes in television, but my father didn’t have it! No wonder I ran away from home to join the BBC but foolishly took a job with London Underground.
When I was very young, our family watched variety shows together. Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton, and such. A bit older, we enjoyed Disney’s Sunday night shows. So much more followed, but suffice it to say, that while there were fewer options, they were packed with entertainment value!
I don’t recall those shows, Annette. However, that’s not to say they were not shown. We only had three TV channels back then, and there was nothing broadcast in the mornings until about 11 a.m. when school programmes would air. Then, there was another break until the lunchtime news, and programmes would start again for Children at about 4 o’clock. TV always ended around midnight with the National Anthem.
Completely understandable as I have you by a few years… We were blessed to live so close to Canada (my father held dual citizenship until he chose the U.S.A.) we had access to a Windsor, Ontario channel that was brilliant! Also, public television rounded us up to 5 options.
I don’t think it was until the mid-1980s before the UK got more than three TV channels. Now, we have so many, but still can’t find anything to watch 😂
This brought back a lot of memories Hugh. Yes, we had a black and white television set for many years. I remember my parents saying “Ooh. I bet that would be lovely in colour!”
When we came to Canada from England, we had one of those massive wooden “sideboards” that contained a black & white TV, record player and radio. My parents loved that thing. They used to say “It’s a lovely piece of furniture.” They loved it so much that when the black & white TV died, they bought a colour TV that would fit in the space where the black & white TV used to be.
I used to watch Charlie’s Angels and Cagney & Lacey too. And on Friday nights, I watched The Love Boat and Fantasy Island.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Thank you for sharing your memories of television, Michelle.
We had a radiogram containing a turntable, radio and a compartment to store records. We even had some ’78’ rpm records, although I didn’t play them much. I recall playing out as a radio DJ on the radiogram, playing my Top 40 records every month. My pals thought I was crazy.
I remember ‘The Love Boat’ and ‘Fantasy Island,’ although I was not a fan in tuning in every week. I’d catch the odd episode, though.
We watched a few episodes of The Love Boat with our daugthers after we went on a cruise years ago. It made me realize how cheezy the show was. I also wondered how did they run that ship with so few staff? Although I suppose the same could be said for most TV shows.
Yes, it’s a little like Charlie’s Angels. They always looked amazing, like they’d just come out of a saloon and having their make-up done after chasing criminals and getting into fights with them.
Not to mention running in high heels. 😂
I have similar memories of a black and white TV, Hugh. I remember watching children’s programs such as Watch With Mother, Andy Pandy ect. Getting a colour set was a great highlight and I enjoyed the series you mention in the comments. The very best for me was watching Elvis’ 68 comeback special.
I don’t recall the Elvis comeback, Cathy. I may have missed it. ‘Watch With Mother’ was a weekday diet. I loved that specific programmes appeared in the series on certain days of the week. I recall Fridays always being ‘The Wooden Tops.’ I loved the spotty dog in that one.
Oh yes, the Wooden Tops. I forgot about that one!
We didn’t get a TV until I was ten and it was black and white. The first thing we watched was Hockey Night in Canada! (of course) Other favourites were Lassie, Bonanza and the Ed Sullivan Show. Mom and Dad didn’t get a colour TV until I had left home and I was married before I got one. As for Charlie’s Angels, I always liked Kate Jackson the best.
I don’t recall much sport on TV back then, except football and boxing, which my father loved watching.
I also enjoyed Bonanza, The High Chaparral, and The Waltons. Back then, they were screened on BBC2, usually at ten past eight until nine on a weekday evening. I’m guessing only 50 minutes because the BBC never shows commercials during shows.
Thanks for sharing your memories, Darlene.
I also remember the old black and white sets Hugh, and shows like Tales of the Riverbank and Four Feather Falls. Later on, on a Saturday evening there was an American show about a bungling secret agent I used to watch at my grandpatents while eating my Crumpets.
Good memories. Hugs
What great memories, David. Did you have a TV set at home, or did you have to go to your grandparents to watch?
I still eat crumpets, although usually for breakfast. This reminds me that there was no breakfast TV back then, either.