TV is very personal. We each have different memories of different shows during different times. But TV has its most significant impact during our formative years.
I remember my first TV memory. Watching JFK’s funeral in November 1963. I was five and saw a little boy like me heartbreakingly salute his dead dad’s casket. Who knew I would do the same thing almost a decade later to the day.
I remember Sunday night dinners at my grandparent’s home on Chalmers Avenue just outside Detroit, in Grosse Pointe Park. If I was lucky and they talked a lot. I got to see a trifecta of Sunday night must-see shows: dialing in Lassie (1954-73), Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (1961-69), and Bonanza (1959-73). Then I was turned into a serial smuggler when my parents loaded all their contraband under my blanket in the backseat for our drive home to Riverside, Canada. “Shhh! He’s sleeping. Nothing to declare, officer.”
I remember my dad, a Purple Heart World War II veteran, liked watching the twin ‘60s military dramas Combat! (1962-67) and Twelve O’Clock High (1964-67). I would have loved to have had the foresight to ask him about his war stories as a seven- to ten-year-old, but I didn't. No doubt, the bloody truths of the real Vietnam War made those shows lose their appeal. I have never liked war programs, but I did like McHale’s Navy (1962-66), Hogan’s Heroes (1965-71), and of course, M*A*S*H (1972-83). Gallows’ humor.
And speaking of M*A*S*H, who can forget those theme song jingles perpetually in our heads. Earworms all: “Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed…” Beverly Hillbillies (1962-71), “Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale…” Gilligan’s Island (1964-67), “Here's the story of a lovely lady…” Brady Bunch (1969-74), “Sunday, Monday, Happy Days…” Happy Days (1974-84), “So no one told you life was gonna be this way… Friends (1994-200), and “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name…” Cheers (1982-93). I got the music in me because of all those theme songs.
I remember TV bringing into our family room a trio of tumultuous and triumphant realities to me at a young age: the Detroit “race” riots of 1967, the ’68 Democratic National Convention protests/Chicago police riot, and then in the summer of ’69—and no, not the freakin’ force-fed Bryan Adams song—the Apollo 11 lunar landing. It blew me away. Almost unimaginable. Breathtaking, too, considering how primitive CGI special effects then and how real they made them look walking on the moon. ;)
I remember my buddies (Kenny, Vince, Mark, Dave, Paul & Bill) seemed to be obsessed with the after-school vampire show Dark Shadows (1966-71). It escaped me because I always attended after-school team sports practices. But I have never liked scary and occult TV shows. Dunno why? So, when my wife used to talk ad infinitum about the virtues of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003), I was completely lost.
I wrote about a few regrets recently: How I regret watching too much TV, but not Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie. The backstory is that I walked home for lunch every day from my grade school. And five days a week, I was indoctrinated and conditioned to the ways of amazing, miraculous women. Aren’t they all? But my twin TV role models came from the two shows that aired every day between noon and 1PM: Elizabeth Montgomery in Bewitched (1964-72) and Barbara Eden in I Dream of Jeannie (1965-70). Indeed, those two magically pleasing, wonderful feminine role models proved a cautionary tale for all the future women in my life. No pressure, indeed, right honey? And is it any wonder I am so enamored by those legendary Pan Am and Singapore girl flight attendants! But the hottest woman I watched as a young-un on TV, not Playboy, was Linda Evans in The Big Valley (1965-69). Oh baby, what a self-absorbed, bold, and forward girl.
I also vividly remember action-adventures like Mission Impossible (1966-73), and It Takes a Thief (1968-70). Cool as a cucumber Robert Wagner, suave Fred Astaire and sassy Susan Saint James. But the European backdrops hooked me: Trieste, Vienna, Berlin, Venice, Rome…I wanted to go there. And did. I always have liked good reluctant caper and heist shows. Spy dramas too. Although I have never seen MacGyver (1985-92), 24 (2001-10), or The Americans (2013-18). My wife was a big fan of Alias (2001-06), missed it.
I remember TV dinners served on TV trays in front of the TV. I liked Swanson’s Turkey Dinners the best. Something odd about the cranberry stuff was tasty.
I remember occasionally sneaking in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962-92), too. Only to wake up on the couch to a noisy test pattern. Remember those? I miss Johnny. No one was funnier than when he was on. And he was on every night.
Back then, Hollywood stars were personalized on hour-long variety shows like Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in (1968-73), The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967-69), Sonny & Cher (1970-77), and The Carol Burnett Show (1967-78). When I first moved to LA in ’77, my buddy Ken and I went to see a live taping of Carol’s show. That was fun. I miss those types of shows. But if my buddy Martin Short couldn't make it work when he tried with Maya & Marty in (2016), nobody can. Screen actors don't want to be over-exposed on the small screen and may be made fun of. And musical acts can't control their brand. So, song, dance and skit comedy shows don't cut it anymore. But, of course, we still have Saturday Night Live (1975-). Hit and miss as it is.
Then things changed, and I was exposed to Walter Cronkite’s CBS Evening News (1962-81) "...And that's the way it is" perspective. Watching the news broadened my outlook on life and brought the whole world to me. I learned about the war, inflation, busing, Hippies, Bangladesh’s bloody birth, the Six-Day War, and the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. And I remember being on a road trip with my parents during the summer of the Watergate Hearing, learning all about lies and corruption at the highest levels. The world was no longer remote and abstract to me.
And boy, I remember the beginning of the cultural wars on All in The Family (1971-79). All that ranting and raving about racism, war, antisemitism, homosexuality, women's liberation, religion and abortion. It caused a stir once or twice in our house. Interestingly, I have since worked with Rob Reiner on a few political projects. Even been to his house a few times. And Rob is still a political animal, as he was in the show.
My TV viewing radically changed in high school. First, there were just too many sports to play. And then, when I moved away to college and spent years nested in an Ivory Tower, I did not have a TV for over a decade between 1977 and 1987. So, I missed Dallas (1978-91), The Love Boat (1977-86), Dynasty (1981-89), and the Dukes of Hazzard (1979-85). Awe shucks. And then, between 1993 and 1999, TV became a complete void to me. Of course, having kids and a lively profession will do that. Real life.
I also remember how revolutionarily MTV changed so much of youth culture when it first aired in 1981. Music played before our eyes, and it was no longer about three cords and the truth; it was about three chords and the truth…and How’s my hair look? Am I too fat? What’s my Q-rating? Then remote clickers arrived and suddenly we had cable and “57 Channels (and Nothin’ On)" by 1992, ironically, while I was attempting a start-up called VDO-411. VDO-411’s big concept we were hawking was that it would be a video magazine version of 60 Minutes meets Rolling Stone delivered to your door monthly. VCRs were big back then. Too bad computers and CDs put a kibosh on our not-so-great big idea #876.
Reality TV also took off in the 90s with MTV’s The Real World (1992-2019) and then got really big with Survivor (2000-) and The Amazing Race. (2001-). Admittedly, I have never seen an episode of The Amazing Race. Still, we are continually told that our annual around-the-world world travel championship event The Global Scavenger Hunt, shares similarities with it. Hmm. They say imitation is the highest form of flattery. And I agree, we started in 2000!
They say we live in the Golden Age of TV. There’s just so much available. I prefer TV today, too, watching what we want on our schedule and without ads on a really freakin’ big TV screen. Can’t imagine watching a show on my phone, though. Today’s TV programs are more serious and don’t have laugh tracks. I hate laugh tracks. I read the other day that for the first time in the US, streaming captured 35% of viewership in July, more than cable at 34%, and broadcast TV came in third at 22%. Things have changed a lot since we only had four channels growing up in Canada: ABC, CBS, NBC, and the CBC.
As a family, we occasionally try to watch something together in months with blue moons. Quality family time, I’m told. But if it’s not Jeopardy (1984-2021) (Damn, I miss Alex!) or Chopped (2009-), things don’t go well. Because sadly, after spending long minutes choosing something that works for everyone, my interest quickly wanes. And after a few minutes, my mind starts to wander, and then I just wander away to read a book or write a piece like this. Commercials are absolute killers for me.
Now, if they just decided to watch an LA Kings or LA Lakers game, then I'd stick around. Especially taped and without commercials. Now that would be real quality time.
For those interested, my wife and I quickly put together this below list of TV shows we’ve somehow watched together over the last few decades. A few, I even recall. (* for I recommend)
Six Feet Under (2001-05)
Street Time (2002-03)
Anthony Bourdain (2002-18)*
Entourage (2004-11)
Weeds (2005-12)*
Rome (2005-07)
Big Love (2006-11)
Brotherhood (2006-08)
Califorinacation (2007-14)
Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2007-11)*
Flight of the Conchords (2007-09)
Breaking Bad (2008-13)*
Nurse Jackie (2009-15)*
The Big C (2010-13)
Boardwalk Empire (2010-14)*
The Borgias (2011-13)
Homeland (2011-20)
House of Lies (2012-16)*
Newsroom (2012-14)*
Veep (2012-19)*
Ray Donovan (2013-20)
House of Cards (2013-18)*
The Knick (2014-15)*
Better Call Saul (2015-22)
Fleabag (2016-19)*
Billions (2016-)*
Big Little Lies (2017-19)
Ozark (2017-22)*
The Deuce (2017-19)
Lodge 49 (2018-19)
Mr. Inbetween (2018-21)*
Killing Eve (2018-22)
I Hate Suzie (2020-)
Your Honor (2020-)*
Queens Gambit (2020)*
Shantaram (2022)
So, what do you watch and why?
Thanks for the privilege of your time, it is the most precious thing we have, and I appreciate it. Be well.
William D. Chalmers © 2022 GreatEscape Adventures, Inc. All Rights Reserved.