::) So, my mother told me that in the fall of 1941, in our apartment in Rego Park, Queens, we had a television set.  My family was always in the furniture business and we sold TVs...Admiral, Zenith, Westinghouse, Philco.  Anyway, the program in the afternoon was Ray Forrest's Children's Theater.  All the neighbors in our building came down to see our television set.  The main station was WNBT which was the NBC TV station in New York. (I really don't remember actually seeing Ray Forrest on TV until I was two or three...he had a wonderful show.)

It must have been 1945 or so, when we moved in with my Grandpa in his house on Summerfield Street, in Ridgewood, Queens. We had a TV set on top of the phonograph/radio.  It had a big magnifier attached to the sides of the cabinet which enlarged the picture somewhat.  I recall wrestling...Gorgeous George, Basketball...local college teams like LIU and St. Johns..

And...those cartoons.  Maybe 1946 or 1947, from WATV, channel 13, from New Jersey.  Uncle Fred was the host...we never saw him, but we heard him...and he told us about Farmer Gray...the main character on most of these cartoons.  I loved where mice all ran into a skyscraper and the building's walls bulged...and then somebody dropped a cat into the chimney and out came this long long line of mice...and the building shrank (?).  Which reminds me of the Great Alaskan Earthquake of Good Friday 1964...where the buildings looked like that cartoon skyscraper.

Let's see...there were baseball games in 1947...I was a Dodger fan and we had Red Barber and Connie Desmond, WOR Channel 9, Giants and Yankees shared WPIX channel 11.  Mel Allen for the Yankees and Russ Hodges and Ernie Harwell for the Giants.  By 1947 we had a round- sceenZenith with a remote control channel changer...It was a mechanical attachment on the back of the set that changed the channels when you pushed one side of the gizmo...which was attached to the set by a wire.

The programs I loved were Kukla, Fran & Ollie, Foodini and Pinhead and Jolo, of course, Howdy Doody...with my favorite TV girl, Princess SummerFallWinterSpring...played by a wonderful actress named Judy Tyler who I think died in an auto accident some time in the 1950s.

I know there were a ton more of TV memories...but I'll leave these for now.  I was born July 1, 1941...so you can gauge my memory span through the earliest days of television.

peace...Lee ::)

I think the earliest I remember was a show called "Winky Blink and You" where you bought a "magic screen" that was placed over your t.v. and you could draw on it. I had the "magic screen" but it never stuck onto the t.v.  :\'(


BTW, I also remember Kukla, Fran, and Ollie.



Cat

I have seven BIG memories of TV from my childhood...

My first memory of television was being very very little, possibly about two years old (1974) and watching Australia's Aunty Jack show...

My next memory is of just after Christmas 1974 seeing the devastation in Darwin caused by Cyclone Tracy which hit Christmas Eve and the early morning of Christmas Day. Back then it took a day or two before we knew that anything had happened in Darwin.

In 1975 I remember staying up late and watching the transition from black and white to colour TV.

I remember in November of 1975 watching the Gough Whitlam Dismissal.

In 1977 seeing news reports of the New York City blackout.

I remember watching all the TV news shows about the 1970's being aired on New years Eve 1979.

I also remember in 1981 watching Prince Charles and Princess Diana's engagement and wedding being played out on TV, culminating with the wedding.



tokjct, thats an amazing memory you have!!! I wish I could remember so much about the early days of TV...However here in Australia TV first aired in 1956, colour in 1975.








AN

I think the earliest I remember was a show called "Winky Blink and You" where you bought a "magic screen" that was placed over your t.v. and you could draw on it. I had the "magic screen" but it never stuck onto the t.v.  :\'(


BTW, I also remember Kukla, Fran, and Ollie.



Cat

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Winky Dink and You,  hosted by Jack Barry...Great show...but the plastic screen kept falling off.  I used to scotch tape it to the top of the screen.
peace...Lee

One of my earliest and most favorite was watching the little mouse, Topo Gigio on the Ed Sullivan Show! Mid 60s I believe. Captain Kangaroo, and a local kids show out of Cincinnati called The Uncle Al Show were a couple more we watched alot.

Let me name a couple more of the kid's shows I used to watch...Time for Beanie, with Cecil the seasick sea serpent... Pat Michael's Magic Cottage... Buzz Corey, Space Patrol...Hopalong Cassidy, The Lone Ranger, and their was a program that, I think, was one of the first LIVE western programs. It was called "Action in the Afternoon" and it was on 1953 to 1954.

Kukla, Fran, and Ollie was produced by a puppeteer named Burr Tiltstrom.  Fran Allison was a regular member of a radio show I used to listen to on the RADIO...(remember "radio")...She played Aunt Fannie on Don McNeil's Breakfast Club out of Chicago, I think.

(I think I'll start a thread about radio during the 1940's until it gave way to TV for dramatic programs in the late 40's and early 50's.)

Meanwhile...early TV in the evening we had Mama with Peggy Wood and Judsen Laire, and Dick Van Patten, Rosemary Rice, and the gal who was to become a well known Women's Lib advocate, Robin Morgan.  
Then there was Uncle Miltie, Milton Berle on the Texaco Star Theater.
Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca on Max Leibman Presents and then it had another name...I cannot remember.
I Love Lucy, with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez.  
Man Against Crime, with Ralph Bellamy as detective Mike Barnett.

Enough for now... My memory is now severely strained... ;)
peace...Lee

Captain Kangaroo, and a local kids show out of Cincinnati called The Uncle Al Show were a couple more we watched alot.


Did you ever listen to "Big John and Sparky" on the radio on Saturday mornings...out of Cincinnati?

peace...Lee

Did you ever listen to "Big John and Sparky" on the radio on Saturday mornings...out of Cincinnati?

peace...Lee

No, sure didn't. Too busy being glued to the TV on saturday mornings!  :)

One of my earliest and most favorite was watching the little mouse, Topo Gigio on the Ed Sullivan Show! Mid 60s I believe.


Let us never forget Senor Wences on Ed Sullivan.
Here's the youtube reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA6xNwZ2A-Q

peace...Lee

No, sure didn't. Too busy being glued to the TV on saturday mornings!  :)


You missed a wonderful progam...and right in your hometown.

http://www.otrcat.com/bigjonsparkie.htm

peace ...Lee

I remember watching the Today show in the morning with Hugh Downs and Jack Lescoulie, and the Arthur Godfrey show.  Then there was The Buccaneers and Robin Hood.  I loved some of the westerns, The Restless Gun, Lawman, Sugarfoot, Maverick, Wyatt Earp, Cisco Kid, and of course the Lone Ranger.  Sky King was a fave, and My Friend Flicka, Circus Boy, and Walt Disneys Wonderful World of Color.  I loved it when the schedule stayed the same every week and you went all season with new shows, reruns were only in the summer.  Now it seems the weekly schedule is out the window and you never have more the 2 or 3 in a row before a couple of weeks of reruns appear.

You missed a wonderful progam...and right in your hometown.

http://www.otrcat.com/bigjonsparkie.htm

peace ...Lee

I wasn't from Cincy, but the Dayton area. We got a tv station out of Cincy though.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winky Dink and You,  hosted by Jack Barry...Great show...but the plastic screen kept falling off.  I used to scotch tape it to the top of the screen.
peace...Lee





You had one of those screens, too? So I guess mine wasn't the only one that didn't want to stay on-and I wasn't smart enough to think of scotch tape-or maybe I did and that didn't work either.


I also remember watching Winchell & Mahoney Time with Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney (for those who don't know, Jerry Mahoney was a dummy).



Cat

I remember watching the Today show in the morning with Hugh Downs and Jack Lescoulie, and the Arthur Godfrey show.  Then there was The Buccaneers and Robin Hood.  I loved some of the westerns, The Restless Gun, Lawman, Sugarfoot, Maverick, Wyatt Earp, Cisco Kid, and of course the Lone Ranger.  Sky King was a fave, and My Friend Flicka, Circus Boy, and Walt Disneys Wonderful World of Color.  I loved it when the schedule stayed the same every week and you went all season with new shows, reruns were only in the summer.  Now it seems the weekly schedule is out the window and you never have more the 2 or 3 in a row before a couple of weeks of reruns appear.

I forgot all about the Wonderful World Of Disney. I loved when they would have a story about a bear or other animal out in nature and they had that announcer narrating in the background. Do you know who that was? I loved those shows.

Paul Tripp starred in and produced a very interesting program called "Mr. I Magination."
Also, Don Herbert and the fascinating "Mr. Wizard" show.

i remember watching "neptunes daughter" with my dad late night one night. it's one of my favorite memories.

i was watching an afterschool special once and one of the kids said something about being in the "seventh grade" and i remember thinking, there's no such thing as "seventh grade."

i remember staying up late one night watching "patrick", about a guy who could move stuff with his mind witch mountain style, and getting caught and getting in lots of trouble.

i also stayed up late one night watching "the crawling eye" and getting really freaked out when the dude got his head cut off in the beginning.

The earliest show I remember on TV would be one of 3 shows.

The A team

Rainbow

Pot black (snooker championships)

I forgot all about the Wonderful World Of Disney. I loved when they would have a story about a bear or other animal out in nature and they had that announcer narrating in the background. Do you know who that was? I loved those shows.


"True Life Adventures" or something

Several of those Disney nature specials (not sure if they aired in the theatres or on tv) are on the "Legacy" DVD set

Adventures in Paradise

I forgot all about the Wonderful World Of Disney. I loved when they would have a story about a bear or other animal out in nature and they had that announcer narrating in the background. Do you know who that was? I loved those shows.


Oh my goodness!!!  I remember the voice of the narrator you mention even today.  He was just so wonderful.  He made you really believe you were right there with all the animals or on the dessert or under the ocean.  I always wanted to know his name.  Wonder if he is still around.  That seems like just yesterday!!!!!!!!

I remember every year my folks would take us to visit friends who had a color tv so we could watch "The Wizard of OZ" in color.  Because we only had black and white at home the moment when Dorothy opens the door on the land of OZ was such a breath taker. The witch scared us to death!!!!  ;)

I lived in Houston and remember the children's shows that came on in the morning while we were having breakfast and watching Dad get ready for work.  There was Captain Kangaroo of course but locally, there was Cadet Don and his alien puppet, Seymour (I think!).  The call letters for channel 13 were KTRK so when they created a wonderful kids show with a lady dressed in a black cat's outfit, she was called Kitirick.  Black tights and leotard and black over her hair with perky cat ears.  She was a very pretty lady with whiskers.  When I was about 6 or 7 my Mom took several of my friends to the show to celebrate my birthday.  I turned up sick that day and had to stay in the "green room" at the station and watch all my friends have fun on her show.  She did talk about me being sick on my birthday and they showed me all by myself in the little room sitting on a couch.  I was so sad.....  :\'(  Plenty of really nice birthdays since then!  Including today.

Thanks for starting this chain of memories.  Sherry

Oh my goodness!!!  I remember the voice of the narrator you mention even today.  He was just so wonderful.  He made you really believe you were right there with all the animals or on the dessert or under the ocean.  I always wanted to know his name.  Wonder if he is still around.  That seems like just yesterday!!!!!!!!


I think I found it. His name was Rex Allen. He narrated Charlie the Lonesome Cougar, among others. He passed away in 1999.

I think I found it. His name was Rex Allen. He narrated Charlie the Lonesome Cougar, among others. He passed away in 1999.


You are absolutely right!  He was wonderful.  His voice conjured up all the feelings of being right there with him, experiencing whatever Disney wanted to share...  Thanks so much!

The earliest ones that I remember are of course Sesame Street, Mr Rogers, Electric Company. I also remember watching The Flip Wilson Show, Wonderful World of Disney.
I also remember going to bed early and I couldn't sleep so after my dad went to bed, I'd sneak out and watch tv with my mom. That's when I can remember the line up on Saturday, All in the Family, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett etc. Then on the weeknights, I remember the CBS Late Night Movie. I believe they used Love's Theme with these shooting stars coming at the camera that were multi colored.
Boy, I miss those times. :(

Romper Room
Captain Kangaroo
The Electric Company
New Zoo Revue
Sesame Street

The first time I remember tv was when I was at a friend of my dads, and I saw Tarzan swinging on a vine on this round picture tv set. I was really little, but I do still remember that.
there was a show here called Ding Dong School too. maybe I was 3 or 4.
I remember my mom putting something like saran wrap on the tv so I could draw on it.

Probably the earliest TV I can remember was The Brady Bunch and Adam-12 (still love that show, IMO one of the best cop shows ever). Also I vaguely remember watching Baretta and a detective show called Petrocelli that was on NBC.
That's when I can remember the line up on Saturday, All in the Family, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett etc. Then on the weeknights, I remember the CBS Late Night Movie. I believe they used Love's Theme with these shooting stars coming at the camera that were multi colored.
Boy, I miss those times. :(
    Ah yes, back in the days when CBS had the killer Saturday night line-up. My mom absolutely loved Carol Burnett, and then right after that All In The Family came on. All In The Family kinda weirded me out a little, in my five-year old eyes all I saw was a bunch of grown-ups yelling at each other (not to mention that Edith kinda creeped me out, with her herky-jerky mannerisms and all). My mom and dad used to just howl at that show, and it wasn't until many years later that I understood why.
 
  Speaking of CBS in the 1970's, do you remember how they used to have that "bong" tone that would come on at the top of the hour right before the shows began? I think it'd be kinda neat if they brought that back.

(Edit: If you click on this link, it plays the old "CBS Bong" tone as soon as the page loads: http://www.tvparty.com/index.html )

Before 1993, I remeber watching My Little Pony and Shoe People videos. My TV memories from 1993 include Rugrats, The Flintstones and a Saturday morning variety show called Live and Kicking, which was sadly cancelled in 2001.

The earliest show I remember watching is the original Mickey Mouse club.

Apart from the typical kids shows, the earliest TV show I can remember watching was a long running series called 'The Beachcombers'.  It was a Canadian dramatic series about log drivers and workers, and it eventually ran some 18 seasons (1972-1990).  Anyone who was anybody in Canada watched this show, and right from the crib, I watched it with my folks :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C73MgyeblHs

For me, probably Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Saturday mornings in 1989 or 1990.

A few snapshots of MTV c. 1985 as well as kids' movies on VHS around the same time.

Video games probably don't count, but I only residually watched TV or knew about it in a vague sense for the next few years. When we moved to a new house in October 1990, that was when I began getting acquainted with television as well as movies. First it was VH1, then sitcoms or anything else on network channels.

The first time I remember tv was when I was at a friend of my dads, and I saw Tarzan swinging on a vine on this round picture tv set. I was really little, but I do still remember that.
there was a show here called Ding Dong School too. maybe I was 3 or 4.
I remember my mom putting something like saran wrap on the tv so I could draw on it.


How'ya doin' schmartypantz, I'm guessing you might remember these shows too. Ding dong school does ring a bell in my memory, actually I learned how to tie my shoe laces from that show, it was on in the mornings in the very early 50's, the Merry Mailman with Ray Heartherton, then Junior Frollics with silent black and white cartoons featuring Farmer Gray, Howdy Doody at 5:00, Superman at 6:30. Kukla Fran and Ollie, and all the Westerns and the sci-fi Captain Video and all the sports like Roller Derby and Wrestling were as popular as baseball on the tube back then, football basketball and hocky start televising about 53'. Sometimes I had to watch the Kate Smith Show with my mom at 5:00 and the Nat King Cole's 15 minute show which I liked very much.

There was a lot shows for kids but there many adult shows at in 49' 50' 51' too, by 52' more stations where added to that 13 channel dial and we watched them all on a luxury size 9 inch RCA tv. I remember a lot of the commercials back then too, but that's for another day. 

Let's see, I remember:
Claude Kirshner, ringmaster of the Sealtest Bigtop
Rootie Kazootie Show with Polka Dottie, Dishonest John, and the Robot Ants. (my little brother's favorite)
The Herb Sheldon Show
Corny and Pudgie
Andy's Gang with Andy Devine
Cisco Kid and Pancho (Duncan Rinaldo and Leo Carillo) also on radio.
Wild Bill Hickock - Guy Madison
Rocky Jones, Space Ranger -Still remember the "blast-off synchronizers"
Captain Midnight (I'm SQ-61051)
Pat Michael's Magic Cottage - Anybody remember the story where the guy cut down the May Pole looking for "maypole syrup"or the one where the girl lost her voice from taking too much anti-giggle medicine?
Winky Dink and You
Ding Dong School with Miss Francis ( my sister's favorite)
And because mom worked for the old DuMont network (WABD, Channel 5 NYC):
I was on Captain Video's ship, The Galaxy" - what a disappointment -all paint and cardboard. After the show folded, Al Hodge ended up doing Dentyne Commercials for a while and died ina run-down dump of an apartment in NYC ca.1980
Mr. Adventure - what a disappointment - fake campfire, no horse.
Son of the Eagle - First live TV show with a Native American host. I think he got drafted for Korean War ending show.
The Orient Express
"Stagecoach Theatre" - Old westerns
The Continental
Terry and the Pirates - loved the Dragon Lady
Gilette Saturday Night Fights

My earliest TV memories include the Smurfs, Sesame Street, Scooby Doo, Archie Bunker's Place and Barney Miller (I used to watch the last two with my dad, because they were some of his favorites).

1941- was the electronical TV or mechanical TV? For those who don't know there briefly existed in the US between the late 20's and early 30's TV broadcasting via "mechanical TV". While regular TV didn't kick off in the US until the late 40's, places like England experimented with both types of broadcasting in the pre and war years.   


The first program I allegedly watched in 1941 was the WNBT (New York) program called Children's Theater, hosted by a man named Ray Forrest. (I was born July 1st so I don't really have a memory...but my Mom said I used to sit on her lap and people from all over our apartment building used to come in and watch.)  I believe that the television sets were electronic but, as I said in my previous post, the channel changer was mechanical...it had a wire attached to the back of the set with a black and white button for up or down and made a very loud "ka-clunk" sound as it switched channels from one to another...from 2 to 13.  We had a furniture store and my Dad wanted to be cutting edge on appliances...(before the days of VIM and Davega, etc and the cut-rate appliance stores.) The brands I remember were Admiral, Dumont, Westinghouse and others that I cannot recall.  I do remember seeing my first COLOR television up in Connecticut at the Danbury Fair around 1948...oooo...I was really impressed.  :o

The first thing I can remember watching was the obligatory programmes for the youngsters...collectively titled 'Watch With Mother'...

Ironically at the time, I wasn't 'watching with mother'...she was out at work and I was ceremoniously dumped on my Gran's doorstep before school beckoned!

If it was "Listen with Mother" it will show your age.

If it was "Listen with Mother" it will show your age.


Promptly shows his age thus...

'Are you sitting comfortably?

Then I'll begin...'

This programme just about managed to last until the start of the 80s...heaven knows what children would make of it now!

Promptly shows his age thus...

'Are you sitting comfortably?

Then I'll begin...'

This programme just about managed to last until the start of the 80s...heaven knows what children would make of it now!
"Listen with Step-Mother"?

I guess I was not the first kid whose parents parked him or her in front of the electronic babysitter, but I was parked thus in the early 1950s, so I watched pretty much whatever channel the TV was tuned to until I eventually learned to change the channel myself. I lived in Massachusetts. I remember a lot of 1920s and 1930s cartoons (TV didn't have enough of its own product stored up yet), and some children's shows like "Romper Room." Around the holidays there would always be a cartoon with the song "Frosty the Snowman." There were also shows for adults like a talk show with a hostess named Louise--I want to say Louise Morgan(?). Her theme music was "Every Little Breeze Wants to Whisper Louise." Eventually you could watch Abbott and Costello's TV series and "I Love Lucy," but that was a little bit later that they became available in the daytime. I became a big Marx Brothers fan because they showed their movies on TV in the mornings during the early 1950s. I remember, as well, some World War II propaganda movies. I think there was a deal where TV couldn't show any movies made after 1941, but that was a late enough date to allow the showing of British World War II flicks. A most traumatic memory was seeing pictures of Nikita Krushchev, of the Soviet Union, screaming, and then an announcer telling me that this man was saying, "We will bury you!" Listen, I was only three or four years old. What did that announcer expect me to do about it besides try to crawl under the coffee table?

BTW, I have heard that "Time for Beanie" was Albert Einstein's favorite show.

Also, if you think memories of 1941 TV are early, I understand there are people accross the big pond (that's the Atlantic Ocean) who might remember watching BBC TV in the late 1930s. (If someone already brought this up, sorry I missed your post; I've read quickly through most of the posts on this thread but might have missed something.) The BBC showed TV from 1936 to 1939, I think. The last thing aired in September 1939 was a Mickey Mouse cartoon. It was cut off and the BBC didn't broadcast TV again until after the war. There was no explanation on the TV; you had to turn on the radio to find out that it was because Britain and Germany were at war.

Probably one of my earliest memories is watching "Dumbo" on TV, I think on channel 12 or something. I may have been 3 or 4 years old. I also remember love coming home from preschool around noon and catching The Flintstones and the Jetsons. I'd also watch Mr. Rodgers in the early morning hours.

The first program I allegedly watched in 1941 was the WNBT (New York) program called Children's Theater, hosted by a man named Ray Forrest. (I was born July 1st so I don't really have a memory...but my Mom said I used to sit on her lap and people from all over our apartment building used to come in and watch.)  I believe that the television sets were electronic but, as I said in my previous post, the channel changer was mechanical...it had a wire attached to the back of the set with a black and white button for up or down and made a very loud "ka-clunk" sound as it switched channels from one to another...from 2 to 13.   We had a furniture store and my Dad wanted to be cutting edge on appliances...(before the days of VIM and Davega, etc and the cut-rate appliance stores.) The brands I remember were Admiral, Dumont, Westinghouse and others that I cannot recall.   I do remember seeing my first COLOR television up in Connecticut at the Danbury Fair around 1948...oooo...I was really impressed.  :o


Electronic TV was invented in 1927. By 1941, it was the industry standard worldwide.

Electronic TV was invented in 1927. By 1941, it was the industry standard worldwide.
The first concept of the television was a sketch done by a 14-year-old farm boy named Philo T. Farnsworth in 1922. On September 7, 1927, he finally created a television system that could not only display, but transmit signals between seperate rooms.

Phil Eno is essentially right although his dates and ages might be off--Philo Farnsworth was 14 in 1920 and 16 in 1922. His diagram is significant because he gave it to his high school science teacher. In the 1930s, Farnsworth was involved in a hearing by the U.S. Patent Office to determine whether Farnsworth or Vladimir Zworykin of RCA invented electronic TV. Farnsworth's old high school science teacher was tracked down and testified on his former student's behalf, and he still had the piece of paper on which Farnsworth had drawn his original diagram. The Patent Office ruled, on the basis of this and other evidence, that Farnsworth was the true inventor of electronic TV, but they subsequently approved Zworykin's re-packaging of his patents so that he could roll together his 1930s improvements on Farnsworth's devices with his own 1921 patent of a mechanical television system. This has created confusion ever since. In the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson gave Zworykin an award calling him the "Father of Television," but there is also a statue of Farnsworth in the U.S. Capitol, the plaque on which identifies him as the "Father of Television." As I've said elsewhere, television has often seemed in need of a paternity test.

Another issue that often puzzles people: If television was invented before World War II, why did it not take off until afterward? A book could be written to answer this question. Essentially, the war prevented television from taking off in the early to mid-1940s. Another problem was that there were too few TV stations broadcasting for too few hours on too few days of the week. This was especially a problem in the United States. Add to that the expense of a televison set in those days--several hundred dollars--and that was a lot of money when people were still in the Depression. There was an industry joke in 1939: "There are 100 television sets that have been sold in New York City, and 99 of them belong to RCA executives."

Great Britain was ahead of everyone else in electronics on the eve of World War II. They invented the cavity magnetron, which is the guts of every microwave device, they had the best radar defense network in the world, and they had television up and running between 1936 and 1939. TV sets were prohibitively expensive in England just as everywhere else, but the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was able to broadcast TV signals over much of the small nation. They could easily reach most of the Britons who could afford to buy a TV, and they broadcast six hours a day, six days a week at a time when most of the few and sparsely distributed U.S. television stations were broadcasting less than four hours a day and less than four days a week. It just wasn't worth it to buy a TV in the U.S. not only because they were expensive but also because there was so little to watch.

Interesting trivia: After television went off the air in Britain during World War II, the factories that had built TV sets were kept busy making radar screens.

The first concept of the television was a sketch done by a 14-year-old farm boy named Philo T. Farnsworth in 1922. On September 7, 1927, he finally created a television system that could not only display, but transmit signals between seperate rooms.


Here ya go Phil... a photo of me and my friend Marc.  We found this statue of Philo Farnsworth (the Father of Television) and decided to worship at his feet!  ;D

My earliest memory of something on t.v was when the broadcast came across that Elvis Prestly was found dead in his bathroom.
The image of Elvis dead on the toilet cracked me up and I fell to the floor laughing. That was August 16th 1977, oops, sorry I am only 24(?), how could I remimber that. I am not old enough. Or am I 2? I am confused again.

The earliest Ican remember is The Andy Griffith Show,Gomer Pyle,Hogans Heroes,Family Affair,Big Valley,Bonanza,The Addams Family & The Munsters

I can remember when NBC still used this logo (they changed it in the early 70's):

http://www.big13.net/NBC%20Peacock/Static_Snake.JPG

Here ya go Phil... a photo of me and my friend Marc.  We found this statue of Philo Farnsworth (the Father of Television) and decided to worship at his feet!  ;D





That looks like it might be the statue in the U.S. Capitol.

I have lived in a number of cities and was puzzled by how many of them had ABC on channel seven. This was true for example in Boston which was the source of much of the TV I watched growing up. (In the 1970s there was a switch in Boston, and channel five became ABC while channel seven became CBS.) Channel seven was also ABC in San Francisco where I moved in the 1980s. Turns out that this channel-seven-equals-ABC rule is not a coincidence; ABC started out as a radio network, created out of and spun off from NBC, and it came late to the TV game. ABC had to scramble to get the first five local TV stations in its network, and for many years the FCC didn't let ABC get any more stations. The point is that these first five stations were all on channel seven in each city. Originally, it was because they thought that channels two through six were going to be unavailable and that seven would be the first channel on the TV dial. ABC seemed to stick with this pattern and often tried to get channel seven as if that number was good luck. Don't know why they still went for channel seven even after channels two through five became generally available, but channel six was often blank in many markets because channel six was also the location of many FM radio stations. I recall in the early 1970s listening to an NBC soap opera on an FM radio in New Hampshire because the local NBC affiliate was on channel six. That's what you might call the exception that serves as the reason for the rule of not having TV on channel six. Anyway, since channel six was blank in some markets, as it was in Boston, ABC did have the advantage of being the only channel between five and nine. (Eight seemed to be blank in our area, too. I don't know why.) If you had a really good antenna in Massachusetts you could pick up stations in Connecticut and Rhode Island which did use channel six and possibly eight as well. In my neck of Massachusetts, we used to get a just barely watchable channel nine out of Manchester, New Hampshire. The most popular show they had in my household was "Uncle Gus" who wore what I believe is called a Tyrolean hat with a narrow brim and possibly a feather in its band. I remember his show was always snowy because the reception was so poor, but we watched anyway. Channel nine in New Hampshire was an ABC station BTW, so not all of them were on channel seven.

This would have to go to the very early 80's. I would say watching the curtain rise on Johnny Carson's show. My parents went to bed then and wouldn't let me watch it. Actually I was pushing it anyway. Although I had to go to bed at 7 and 8 during school time, I could stay up to 10:30 durig summer vacation.

One of the very first things I remember watching was "My little Margie", also Ed Sullivan and Ted Mack's original amateur hour.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3015/2969001555_ab9a6a48b7.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3006/2969845458_0f5273e5db.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3293/2969845528_df43ccd858.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3045/2969001803_81c9317d5d.jpg?v=0

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This is the earliest TV Broadcasting that I know of.




Dan

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3015/2969001555_ab9a6a48b7.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3006/2969845458_0f5273e5db.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3293/2969845528_df43ccd858.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3045/2969001803_81c9317d5d.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3141/2969845730_fc1a02e23f.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/2969845666_72eae444bf.jpg?v=0


This is the earliest TV Broadcasting that I know of.




Dan



FUNNY!

Interesting they had color TV in the stone age but reverted to B&W in the 1950s  ;D

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3015/2969001555_ab9a6a48b7.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3006/2969845458_0f5273e5db.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3293/2969845528_df43ccd858.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3045/2969001803_81c9317d5d.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3141/2969845730_fc1a02e23f.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/2969845666_72eae444bf.jpg?v=0


This is the earliest TV Broadcasting that I know of.




Dan
Was it Analogue or Digital back then?

Here is a Prewar 1938 BBC broadcast on an original machine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyvTNr49_2c&feature=related



This was so cool.

Probably Sesame Street and other kids' stuff when I was about 4 (in like 1985). Alot of the first stuff I remember was on videotapes too, so that probably doesn't count (either would Nintendo games). I also have some of the vaguest memories of MTV, either when my mom watched it or if it was on at somebody's house. I didn't really watch much, I just kinda noticed it.

I didn't really get into tv on a regular basis though until I was at least 9, and not hardcore until like 1993 when I was 12. It was usually sitcoms, VH1 and that was when I discovered Unsolved Mysteries and Rescue 911. I also still liked kids stuff, but more in secret lol.


EDIT - Wow I responded last year here and said almost the same thing! ;)

  The earliest TV I can remember are things like "Land of the Lost", "Hogan's Heroes", "The Flip Wilson Show", "Sonny and Cher", "Donnie and Marie"...

  And a particular NBC network ID that scared the crap out of me... 

What's the earliest TV you can remember?

Vague memories of mid 60's watching The Telegoons, Doctor Who in 1963 and 1964, but distinctly remember July 1966 the World Cup Final (England won!) and the moon landing in 1969.

I recall watching colour television for the time, it was at my grandmother's and she invited the whole family round to watch the Grand National.

johnny test

Sesame Street, Electric Company and Mr.Rogers Neighborhood.

Nick At Night

because kids  go to bed




car 54 where are you,  the famous Mr. Ed 

The earliest TV memories I can remember is when I first started watching MTV and VH1 in the early/mid '80s. I use to watch with my mom and siblings. Fun times!

I did not watch that  pitiful neighborhood

Vague memories of mid 60's watching The Telegoons, Doctor Who in 1963 and 1964, but distinctly remember July 1966 the World Cup Final (England won!) and the moon landing in 1969.

I recall watching colour television for the time, it was at my grandmother's and she invited the whole family round to watch the Grand National.
I was reminded last week of watching the live coverage of funeral of Winston Churchill on television in January 1965. I think it is the first program that I can actually date.

http://www.tvparty.com/bgifs16/romperclownsillo-big.jpg

http://www.tvparty.com/lostromper.html

http://www.tvparty.com/banners/claster2.gif

http://www.tvparty.com/bgifs16/romperclownsillo-big.jpg

http://www.tvparty.com/lostromper.html

http://www.tvparty.com/banners/claster2.gif


I definitely remember the old Romper Room.

Batman

Batman
O0

Also, running around the school playground, acting out Batman scenes and shouting/singing the theme tune, Dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, Bat.... man!

The earliest I can remember:
Watching shows like Perry Mason, Hazel, Dick Van Dyke show with my parents, Andy Griffith too, Ed Sullivan, Lassie, Lucy Shows, My three sons first with Bud, then Uncle Charlie.
Cartoons, lets see now, TopCat, Wally Gator, Underdog, Bugs Bunny, Jetsons, Deputy Dawg and so many more
These were all on a black and white TV, early 1960s to mid 1960s. As a family we have 1 TV, I think it was an RCA but it was a long time ago.
I liked all the TV shows back then, with the exception of some westerns and medical shows.

No converters, we changed the channels and adjust the volume manually, we fiddled with the antenna to receive a better and clearer picture. The TV took a little bit of time to warm up when you turned it on.

No converters, we changed the channels and adjust the volume manually, we fiddled with the antenna to receive a better and clearer picture. The TV took a little bit of time to warm up when you turned it on.


And when you turned it off the picture turned into a horizontal line across the screen which eventually became a dot which got smaller and smaller until it vanished. I used to watch it until the dot vanished all the way.

And when you turned it off the picture turned into a horizontal line across the screen which eventually became a dot which got smaller and smaller until it vanished. I used to watch it until the dot vanished all the way.


So did I! 

So did I! 
...and there was no television overnight, till the following morning.

BTW, I would love to look at an old television program schedule magazine (like the Radio Times) from that time.

...and there was no television overnight, till the following morning.


And this test pattern was so mysterious looking. If I woke up early enough I would stare at it. Usually there would be some channels on, but maybe not all. What was the significance of the Native American, I wondered. And the numbers? And the wheels within wheels? Watching this thing in the silence (there was no sound accompanying it) was a trip.

https://ctl.s6img.com/society6/img/AeX7NpJgKbIT9OWkj_qrcRkj710/w_700/prints/~artwork/s6-original-art-uploads/society6/uploads/misc/396b9778e3d84f93895a88b8ccf944dd/~~/indian-head-test-pattern611390-prints.jpg?wait=0&attempt=0

And this test pattern was so mysterious looking. If I woke up early enough I would stare at it. Usually there would be some channels on, but maybe not all. What was the significance of the Native American, I wondered. And the numbers? And the wheels within wheels? Watching this thing in the silence (there was no sound accompanying it) was a trip.

https://ctl.s6img.com/society6/img/AeX7NpJgKbIT9OWkj_qrcRkj710/w_700/prints/~artwork/s6-original-art-uploads/society6/uploads/misc/396b9778e3d84f93895a88b8ccf944dd/~~/indian-head-test-pattern611390-prints.jpg?wait=0&attempt=0
Like the television screen in "Poltergeist"? ... they're here!

And for the UK:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/52/Testcard_F.jpg
Test Card F is a test card that was created by the BBC and used on television in the United Kingdom and in countries elsewhere in the world for more than four decades. Like other test cards, it was usually shown while no programmes were being broadcast. It was the first to be transmitted in colour in the UK and the first to feature a person, and has become an iconic British image regularly subject to parody.

The central image on the card shows Carole Hersee playing noughts and crosses with a clown doll, Bubbles the Clown, surrounded by various greyscales and colour test signals used to assess the quality of the transmitted picture. It was first broadcast on 2 July 1967 (the day after the first colour pictures appeared to the public on television) on BBC2.

BTW, I would love to look at an old television program schedule magazine (like the Radio Times) from that time.

Have you tried to find them online or perhaps make an inquiry to them (radio times) OR in a facebook type related group?

Have you tried to find them online or perhaps make an inquiry to them (radio times) OR in a facebook type related group?
That will be tried out when I am on the computer next.

I have a pic of my grandfather with one of the earliest televisions circa around 1930s or so. I would post it but it is not not scanned into the computer. He was salesman for appliances can't recall the company-Gibson? RCA? Maybe both or more. 


Cat

That will be tried out when I am on the computer next.


https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Radio_Times:_The_1960s

And this test pattern was so mysterious looking. If I woke up early enough I would stare at it. Usually there would be some channels on, but maybe not all. What was the significance of the Native American, I wondered. And the numbers? And the wheels within wheels? Watching this thing in the silence (there was no sound accompanying it) was a trip.

https://ctl.s6img.com/society6/img/AeX7NpJgKbIT9OWkj_qrcRkj710/w_700/prints/~artwork/s6-original-art-uploads/society6/uploads/misc/396b9778e3d84f93895a88b8ccf944dd/~~/indian-head-test-pattern611390-prints.jpg?wait=0&attempt=0


Yeah it was really strange. It resembles a potential new religion. Chief Indian is the leader with all these mathematical shapes and numbers, definitely Incan or Mayan related  ;D
Let's praise our chief Indian leader, the god of TV!  :P


I have a pic of my grandfather with one of the earliest televisions circa around 1930s or so. I would post it but it is not not scanned into the computer. He was salesman for appliances can't recall the company-Gibson? RCA? Maybe both or more. 

Cat

From the 1930s?  :o :o Super cool.

The earliest I can remember:
Watching shows like Perry Mason, Hazel, Dick Van Dyke show with my parents, Andy Griffith too, Ed Sullivan, Lassie, Lucy Shows, My three sons first with Bud, then Uncle Charlie.
Cartoons, lets see now, TopCat, Wally Gator, Underdog, Bugs Bunny, Jetsons, Deputy Dawg and so many more
These were all on a black and white TV, early 1960s to mid 1960s. As a family we have 1 TV, I think it was an RCA but it was a long time ago.
I liked all the TV shows back then, with the exception of some westerns and medical shows.

No converters, we changed the channels and adjust the volume manually, we fiddled with the antenna to receive a better and clearer picture. The TV took a little bit of time to warm up when you turned it on.


Getting up off the sofa was a pain in the ass back then and you didn't want to keep changing the channels all the time. I can remember Sesame Street, The Electric Company and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, shows I grew up watching.

...and there was no television overnight, till the following morning.

BTW, I would love to look at an old television program schedule magazine (like the Radio Times) from that time.


And when the morning came, you turned on The TV just to hear The Star Spangled Banner.

And what was those Morning Editorials about?

And what was those Morning Editorials about?

What morning editorials ?

And what was those Morning Editorials about?


???

And what was those Morning Editorials about?
News reports?

News reports?


Editorials are not news, they are opinions.

What morning editorials ?


I think it was called a editorial, I'm not sure but this guy Richard Hughes back during the 80's would discuss a small piece of news.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RReIQomDgO8

Editorials are not news, they are opinions.


OK, I must've gotten them mixed up.

On morning television in the UK back then was set for educational programs for schools (all levels) and university.

When Match Game returned to TV in a revamped format in 1973, they also added the last two numbers of the year to the title. The first year I can remember for sure watching was Match Game '74.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIETZ35QHvw&list=PLCnvmZ8KpyOp1xGcvW8wal0y8Ibbtty4b&index=39

I remember sitting on the floor of the living room looking up at the TV and watching it. Obviously when I was 3 years old I had absolutely no understanding of the risque humor, but I recall liking the lights and the sounds and the music of it.

Watching it now, it's even greater than I remembered. Gene Rayburn (with his iconic 3 foot-long microphone) was almost like a substitute teacher who was trying to keep a group of goofy, rowdy schoolkids under control. This episode is particularly infamous, and the fun begins just after the 10 minute mark.  ;D

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/hxYAAOSw~O5gHxjj/s-l500.jpg

I've seen these many years ago and I'm not sure what a "Space Command" remote control is, it was made by Zenith.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/hxYAAOSw~O5gHxjj/s-l500.jpg

I've seen these many years ago and I'm not sure what a "Space Command" remote control is, it was made by Zenith.

The TV remote commands the space between you and the television set.

Watching it now, it's even greater than I remembered. Gene Rayburn (with his iconic 3 foot-long microphone) was almost like a substitute teacher who was trying to keep a group of goofy, rowdy schoolkids under control. This episode is particularly infamous, and the fun begins just after the 10 minute mark.  ;D


It's well known that the panelists on Match Game would "have a few" before taping. Especially Brett Somers. On some episodes she even slurs her words. Sometimes you can see them smoking as well. Ah, that's how it was in the 70s.  :D

The TV remote commands the space between you and the television set.

OK Thanks for the explanation I thought it had something to do with NASA.

Obviously I'm not NEARLY as old as some members here (sorry) but I'll give my earliest TV memories for what they're worth. Me & my sister were huge Nickelodeon kids. So the first shows I can remember watching in the mid 2000's were Spongebob, Dora, Diego, Backyardigans, stuff like that. I also remember really liking Legends Of The Hidden Temple. That's from the 90's but they aired it sometimes before I left for school

Obviously I'm not NEARLY as old as some members here (sorry) but I'll give my earliest TV memories for what they're worth.


No need to say sorry, young or old every opinion and life experience matters and is valued.
8)

I'm nearing 50 years old so I can remember watching children's shows such as Sesame Street, The Electric Company and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.

I meant sorry for calling you guys old lol

I meant sorry for calling you guys old lol

;D ;D :D

I meant sorry for calling you guys old lol


You don't need to apologize for stating a fact. If you call somebody old who is old you are being factually correct. It's all in the intent. If a person means it as a nasty insult they are being a jerk. But I am not offended at somebody speaking the truth that I am old. Why should I be? I'm not ashamed of it. It simply is. It would be like being ashamed of having a right arm or a left leg.

I meant sorry for calling you guys old lol



We are not old. We are "chronologically challenged."  ;) :D ;D ;D ;D



Cat

I meant sorry for calling you guys old lol

I'm not old, I'm still in my prime.

You don't need to apologize for stating a fact. If you call somebody old who is old you are being factually correct. It's all in the intent. If a person means it as a nasty insult they are being a jerk. But I am not offended at somebody speaking the truth that I am old. Why should I be? I'm not ashamed of it. It simply is. It would be like being ashamed of having a right arm or a left leg.


yeah but old people just aren't as good as young people (joking of course)

yeah but old people just aren't as good as young people (joking of course)


You know what they say.  "Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art."