20 January 2006

The Lone Ranger

Gonna show my age:

We got our first TV in the early 50's.
I can remember getting up in the morning, turning the TV on, and watching the "Test Pattern" until programming began.

I have fond memories of many of the shows on the tube back then:
"I Love Lucy".
"The Honeymooners".
"20th Century".

Some time back, one of our independent stations advertised they had acquired the rights to show a real favorite of mine from those days, "The Lone Ranger".
They were going to air the show early in the morning, in a time slot where I could watch as I ate breakfast while getting ready for work. I can remember being pretty excited when I heard the announcement!

Boy, Oh Boy!......
Something sure happened to the acting on that show during the time it was dormant.....
Acting was terrible, plot lines were thin to non-existent.
I didn't watch long, and apparently others didn't either. The show didn't stay in that time slot for more than a couple months.

The shows I listed above have aged well, and along with "The Twilight Zone", "Dick Van Dyke", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", some can be seen in syndication today.

Some that I enjoyed then that I would love to see but haven't seen since their original airing, maybe because there weren't enough of them made to sell in syndication, are: "Make Room For Daddy", "Have Gun Will Travel", and "Father Knows Best".

Of course maybe, like "The Lone Ranger", I'd be disappointed to find my memory of the quality of those shows was better than the reality!

8 comments:

the golden horse said...

Ohmigod, how fun, you can't leave out Skyking, Jack Benny, Danny Thomas, Rifleman, Ozzie and Harriet and of course Alfred Hitchcok, and some of the first cartoons, much better than today. Remember going to the Meridian drive in and see 3 movies for 50 cents and then it went to 2 movies for 75 cents. I always went early to see the cartoons at the beginning.
I think the early Road Runner cartoons were some of the best ever.
The old I love Lucy were always good for a laugh.
Living here, I am actually getting into Korean Dramas, that have seemed to have taken off all over the world.
The are completely different than American soaps, They last for just a few weeks or months, then an entirely different one is on.
I am learning alot about different cultures and I find it fascinating.
I watch alot of Japanese TV also.
I get a kick out of watching a program and when they go into a bar, they are playing American music and are always refering to American movies and actors they want to be alike, usually ones from the 40's and 50's.

Oshawapilot said...

Somehow my own "Old Timer" stories about the days of 300 baud modems, Vic20's and C64's, and no colour TV's seem to pale in comparison. :-)

Then again, I'm only (just turning) 32. I shouldn't complain, I guess.

THIRDWAVEDAVE said...

Sky King--Never missed that one, ever.

Roy Rogers was another Saturday show for me. Remember Pat Garrett and Nellie Belle?

The shows GB watched in the 50s were enjoyed by me in rerun during the 60s.

THIRDWAVEDAVE said...

Pat Garrett must've been another show--meant Pat Brady. Gettin' old, I guess.

Mommanurse said...

The "Invisible Man" made me hide behind a chair until he was finished unwrapping his head. Mom thought it was funny.

the golden horse said...

How about the Cisco Kid, I loved that guy's horse. Best lookin paint I ever saw. The original Zorro.
And we had the Bigtop Circus on Sat am.
Howdy Doody and of course the Capt. and Mr. Greenjeans.
Mickey Mouse club and their serials they had going with Spin and Marty at the ranch.
Wow these kids nowadays don't know what they are missing.

Purple Tabby said...

When I was about five, we got our first TV, small, black and white and mesmerizing.
When I was about six, I came down with measles, mumps and chickenpox, one right after the other!!
It’s a wonder I didn’t have to repeat the first grade. But it was great for watching TV

Guy Madison was MY guy. I planned to marry him just as soon as I could figure out exactly where all those cowboys really lived.

I knew it was somewhere west of Bargersville, but I couldn’t get a good fix on it. (Now, I can’t even remember what show Mr. Madison was in)

Ding Dong School was awful. Miss Francis must have felt that if she spoke very slowly to children, they would learn. She put me in a coma.

Daddy was sure the TV was worth the expense when Uncle Milty was on the Texaco hour. We HAD to be home to see it no matter what.

When I was a teenager, I was in love with Kookie on 77 Sunset Strip; I thought I would die if I didn’t see it. I was such a good Drama Queen! LOL

Once there was a tornado that took out the electricity on that night. Plus Daddy thought we ALL had to drive around the township for a while to see what the damage was.

I knew my life was over and NO ONE CARED! LOL

Thank God we never have to re-live adolescence!

the golden horse said...

Rest at ease purple tabby

Your man Guy Madison was in the Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok as US Marshall James Butler. And what a good looking cowboy he was.
You can't forget Death Valley Days and the 20 mule team and Wagon Train and Rawhide, and of course, Winky Dink, where the guy wrote on the clear glass backwards.
Our first TV was a Sylvania I believe, all 13" or so. We were such a proud family, then when Bonanza came on and was one of the first shows in color, dad ran out and bought one so he could watch it. All the neighborhood kids would come up on our porch and watch through out picture window. Ah those were the days.