The "Idiot Box" Revisited -- Teen Years

Chronicles of an Adult Child of the Media

There's ALWAYS something on TV now!

My teen-aged years cover a lot of ground.... In 1964, just shortly before my eleventh birthday, we moved to Oregon. My mother died a few months before I turned 14, and I married my first husband when I was only 17 years old. So, I made a transition from my family of origin, which consisted of three females and one male, to my own marriage; there was just the two of us, and he was the new "head of the household." There was only ME to counter my husband's television viewing preferences.

And a whole lot happened in the world between '63 and '73.

By the time I was ten years old, I was bringing schoolwork home to do at the kitchen table, myself. My sister, 6 years older, still had homework to do, too, but she pretty much stuck around in the library after school to complete it before coming home. I recall sitting in my father's chair at the dinner table so I could sneak peeks at the TV set while I worked on my homework.

My mother took pains to scour the TV listings in the paper (and the TVGuide, once we discovered it at the grocery!) for programs that would be educational, informative, and worthwhile to her daughters' intellectual growth. If there was something really special on, and I wasn't through with my homework yet, I might be allowed to watch it. But The Avengers and Get Smart! didn't fit THAT profile!

What were some of the programs I hurried through my homework to watch?

• Night Gallery
• The Carol Burnett Show
• Gilligan's Island
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show
• I Dream Of Jeannie
• Lost In Space

Oh, wait, we moved to Oregon without my father -- one of those "things that happen" situations, and my mother, sister and I lived with my maternal grandmother. Suddenly, there were NO men in the household, and even though I still had to finish my homework before settling down to watch TV, the choice of programs seemed to change somewhat. Less broad humor and more variety -- and I was responsible for my grades even though my "bed-time" was less strictly enforced. Since I was very conscientious about my school work, I seemed to watch more late evening programs than early afternoon ones, and I NEVER became enamored of Dark Shadows or any of the stuff just before the "dinner hour."

In this household of women, I was an equal. We discussed everything (although there WAS that time when my sister was shushed for bringing up the subject of Miss Kitty's "real" profession on Gunsmoke) and nothing broadcast on TV was prohibited as being "too adult" for me. This was, of course, long before cable TV.

For the most part, the "matriarch" (my grandmother) controlled what we watched.... but it was all stuff I liked (except for Liberace and Lawrence Welk). We ALL watched the news together during the evening meal. Granny liked Dean Martin, Sonny and Cher, and Johnny Carson. Oh, yes, and The Ed Sullivan Show was a "don't miss" program; when I was thirteen, the Beatles made their American debut --- boy, what a change from Topo Gigio and the Amazing Chinese Acrobats with their spinning plates!

That night was the first time I realized my older sister had any interests worth emulating....although I never did learn to appreciate Elvis Presley -- as a singer. His movies, however, were always watched in our household. "Blue Hawaii" was my favorite....

Junior high and High school years required a lot more time at homework, and I started after-school activities (and dating, a bit later) during the latter part of 1968, so I didn't really get a chance to watch much "family hour" or "Prime Time" TV. I do recall a few of the programs I followed as much as possible.

• The Monkees
• The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
• Emergency!
• Twilight Zone
• Get Smart!
• Outer Limits
• Adam-12

Of course, I followed the late night news a great deal; 1967 - 1971 were violent and interesting times! ...I still miss that "Good night, David" -- "Good night, Chet."

Getting married (during my senior year of High School), was an opportunity -- among other benefits, I guess -- to have a 50/50 chance of being able to choose what was on the set. Yeah, right!

I divorced in 1974, which gave me TOTAL control over the TV remote -- just in time to legally purchase alcohol. I could watch The Streets of San Francisco and Starsky and Hutch without snide commentary from a spouse who wondered just WHAT was so intereting about those pretty boy cops, anyway?

What more freedom could anyone want?