Speaking
of getting up early, I used to love to stay up late. No more. I might not
sleep, but I shut down about 9:30 and move off to bed. In my growing up years, though,
I thought that staying up late was the best treat in the world.
When
I was about 12 (in the 1960 timeframe, let’s say), my mother began to let me stay
up to watch the Saturday “late late show” on television, especially in the
summer. Imagine if you will -- We could actually watch a full-length movie out
of old Hollywood on our t.v. sets, and this was the stuff of dreams. Mother said
she and Fairly used to talk about how one day they would be able to watch a
movie in their own living room. And that day had arrived.
I
think the movie began at 11:00 – maybe 11:30 after the news -- and was over about
1:00, give or take. Of course, there were commercial interruptions, most of
them amateurish – because the movie was a presentation through the local station
(Spokane) and not the network. All three of our network stations came through
Spokane, and that’s all there were. Yes – just three channels for most of us.
It
was such fun just getting to stay up and see an old movie. Today I might not
even consider watching that same movie. Some of them weren’t so good, others
were oldies but goodies. I remember seeing Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice –
still two of my all-time favorites – for the first time on the late late show, and I was
thrilled because I had read the books.
And
what happened when the movie was over? Well, obviously we went to bed, but I
mean, What happened with television? The television station went “off air.” No,
I’m not kidding you. They played the national anthem and the announcer intoned,
“This is KHQ-TV, Spokane, signing off. Join us again at 6:00 a.m for
the ‘grain report.’” If you checked the other two stations, you would likely find
that they were already off-air. Your screen went blank. Then you had “snow.”
And you would say, “There’s nothing on,” because there was nothing on –
literally.
When
my kids were still at home – in the ‘90s -- they would surf through 30 channels
and say, “There’s nothing on,” meaning there was nothing on that they wanted to
watch. When I was growing up, I don’t believe I thought in those terms. We checked TV Guide and turned t.v. on to watch something we wanted to see.
I
suppose we look back now and think of that old-time programming as simplistic
and valueless. I probably wouldn’t watch it now if I had the chance, but I still think of those
early years of television fondly. And television went on that way for a long
time – mostly series (sitcoms, variety shows, westerns, detective shows). We’ve
watched “Pioneers of Television” on PBS in recent years, and to me they just
don’t capture the essence of those first 25 or 30 years when television was
truly in infancy. I have to stretch to think of programming out of the ‘70s and
‘80s as pioneering, but maybe it’s all in the way one thinks of it. KW
And do you remember "Saturday Night at the Movies"? Don't remember which of the three channels did that, but I loved those movies! They were "close to" new releases, like say maybe five years old. Hot stuff!! This was the early sixties (I just checked with Dan and he remembers them, too) and the whole family would gather 'round the TV to watch.
ReplyDeleteI like to watch old shows on the several channels we get that feature them. I still love the Andy Griffith show and Perry Mason from the '50's, and I will always stop channel surfing for M*A*S*H although, of course, it's of later vintage.
Thanks for the memories!! Oh, and I sobbed over Goodbye Mr. Chips, Mrs. Miniver, How Green Was My Valley, and those other golden goodies.
Yes, I do remember "Saturday Night at the Movies." NBC, I think. We watched those as a family, too.
ReplyDeleteYes, I might get teary -- but only once. I don't re-watch a movie that makes me sad.
I remember getting up in the middle of the night with one of the babies and watching "I Married Joan." It was a nostalgia trip because when I was little -- I mean little -- I'd watch that program on Saturday mornings. Would love to see it again.
Technology is moving so rapidly now that it's dating even our recent programing. "Look at the funny computer monitors," we'll say. Or, "Look! Della Street is dialing the phone."