TV from Childhood

(image by Mondo Gasparotto, March 6, 2012)

I am clearly aging myself here as I reflect back on what was cutting edge TV and what made us laugh in the 70’s. It all seems so low-tech and ridiculous now, but it amazed us and shaped our sensibilities as kids.

There has always been a taste for magic, so I Dream of Genie and Bewitched were favorites. It is interesting that both these shows flipped the script and gave the women the power in the relationships so they could control their men. This was the comedic recipe. For some reason, we loved seeing the men lose their cool and flounder.

We loved Get Smart because the spy, Maxwell Smart, was a complete idiot who somehow landed on his feet with the help of a smart woman called “Agent 99” and his boss “The Chief”.  Another protagonist who played the fool was the lead on Gilligan’s Island. It was the closest thing we had to Survivor at this time. We never questioned how May-Anne baked all those pies or how the Professor always had the right equipment to jerry-rig whatever they needed.

I miss the one-hour variety shows that were built around skits and talent performances, like Carol Burnett and Sonny and Cher. The closest thing we have now is SNL. We need more shows like Kids in the Hall and SCTV to fill this void.

Cartoons were always a Saturday morning staple. I loved the Wacky Races with Dick Dastardly, Muttley, and Penelope Pitstop and Peter Perfect. I also loved the futuristic Jetsons family, who demonstrated the incredible idea of “facetime” calls forty years ahead of schedule. We are now just moving into the flying car technology they predicted.

What were your favorite shows growing up? Please subscribe / leave a comment.