In the late 60’s I remember that Sunday night was Family TV night. What was and has been referred to as good family entertainment. We seldom missed gathering up on Sunday night to “fix your own” dinner and watch TV. The “fix you won” was because Mom usually had a really good Lunch set for us when we got home from Church – she would get up early and have most of it prepared before we left and may have a ham or roast set to cook while we were at church then as soon as we got back she would have it all out before we could get shed of those Sunday best clothes. So dinner was usually left-over’s but could be hamburgers and hotdogs. In the winter we would probably have a fire in the fireplace so we would have hotdogs cooked over the fire like being camped out. We might even have marsh mellows and smores cooked in front of the fireplace. But we all got settled in quick when Walt Disney came on. I found this logo of the show and partially remember it. I think it was a splash to focus on the color aspects when the show moved to NBC.
How ever I better remember this log as the main theme and I am sure it was brought back as I seem to remember it being used a lot more..
The “Wonderful world of Disney” or Color as it changed to was first up and there were some great shows back then. Movies, series, man that was good stuff. I remember the Davy Crocket series but think it was done in the 50’s on a different night but replayed some during the 60’s, and we were really hooked on that and the Swamp Fox and the cartoons. I remember shows like Daniel Boone, Moochie, Thomasina, Hans Brinker, Tenderfoot, and Gallegher. They even had wildlife shows mixed in that we all learned a little watching. They usually made us want to visit far off places and see some of the things they covered. It was amazing how they got so up close to the wildlife and told a really great story about them.
I did a little looking while thinking about those great times and thanks to Google and the internet I found a list of all the Disney movies and series. That is so cool that someone has that all listed out. There were a lot of them I had forgotten but looking at the names brought those memories back. Now I want to go watch them all again. Well, not all of them, like everything there were some that just didn’t appeal to me that much but I can’t find too many of them I didn’t at least watch.
After Disney came Bonanza.
We watched Hoss, and LIttle Joe get into every imaginable problem and big brother Adam or Ben would figure out how to fix it. Every episode was great family stuff. Amazing how they always managed to be strong, stay together and even the fights were minor. We loved the strength of the story and the presentation. I had to search a bit on this too and found the Wikipedia page to be very informative. When I was watching that show I never really knew or cared about the interaction of the real people behind the characters. It was the show that I was interested in.
I know even today my Dad will set and watch an ancient re-run of Bonanza before much of anything else. Although he does like his Gun Smoke and other westerns too.
I think that was a golden age of TV. The shows were still “G” rated for the most part and generally had some real character to them. Today we have gotten to more “effects” and “R” rating. I think maybe they are beyond real and for the most part are not even family rated. The over abundance of “reality” shows that are not real in any stretch of your imagination. In fact I equate most of them in the same category as the fake fights and wrestling of the old days. I really can’t stand to set and watch any of those shows as they just have no draw for me. I know a lot of people, and by the number most, really like that stuff but I miss the show that is done for the content not the shock and effects. We need a few more shows that just make you feel good. Things where good guys win, bad guys loose, and comedy is funny with out being mean or derogatory to anyone. Sorry, showing my age. – WD0AJG