Open Thread Update: Your Must-See TV Favorites

Kid Favorites

The only time we kids controlled the TV (besides being walking remote controls) was the Saturday morning cartoons and on weekdays, for us latchkey kids, after school shows.

Looking at what is on offer for kids now, I miss the innocence of very early kids’ TV shows like Shari Lewis and Kukla Fran and Ollie – puppeteers who long predated Mr. Rogers. (Winky Dink was a syndicated national show my parents wouldn’t allow me to watch because I once colored the TV screen with crayons…John Gnagy was okay but waaay over my head.  You can still watch one of his lessons here!)

Local TV in New York City included The Super Circus with Ringmaster Claude Kirschner (the world’s worst ventriloquist), and “Officer Joe Bolton” introducing The Dick Tracy Show. The big, national ones were, of course, Bozo the Clown and Romper Room. Once, my Brownie troop were guests on Bozo the Clown’s show – I was tiny! – and I remember reminding him on the way out that he said we could kiss his nose. He said, “Yes indeedy!” and I remember being puzzled because it didn’t feel like a real nose.

I said I was tiny.

TV Traditions

As I got older, my tastes became a bit more sophisticated – I loved the snark of The Soupy Sales Show and Rocky and Bullwinkle, and naturally, as I entered high school, I joined my classmates every morning at the lockers to discuss the latest episode of Dark Shadows.

Until the 80’s when the VCR became popular, we couldn’t watch what we wanted whenever it was convenient…and somehow that made what we could watch a bit more special. It gave them a sense of occasion, like a family tradition, especially around the holidays.

Must-see TV at that time included Laurel and Hardy’s “March of the Wooden Soldiers” and “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol.” Amazingly, my parents both went along with my and my brother’s choices. As think about it now, I understand it was a way to keep us quiet and out of their hair while they set up the tree and got ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

YOUR TURN

What were your fave TV shows as a kid? Did you have any TV show traditions (and do you still)?  Share your thoughts in the comments!

Virge Randall is Senior Planet’s Managing Editor. She is also a freelance culture reporter who seeks out hidden gems and unsung (or undersung) treasures for Straus Newspapers; she writes frequently on Old School New York City and performs at open mic readings throughout New York City.  Send  Open Thread suggestions to editor@seniorplanet.org.