Remember when getting a color TV was a big deal? And when getting a television with a remote was a big deal? Remember when more than a dozen channels was a big deal?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you’re my people. (Of course, if you answered “no” to all of them, probably you should get off my lawn.) I cannot tell a lie: I grew up slack-jawed in the glow of the television, wasting countless hours of my life watching reruns. (Some might argue that not much has changed. Heh.)
As a parent, I limit screen time. As a person, though, I still have more than a few twinges of “I watched a ton of TV and it didn’t hurt me” going on. And now you know what I wrote about today over at Feel More Better, because TV is still one of my guilty pleasures.
Mine too! It relaxes me. I can’t go to bed without first turning on the TV….even if I just got off the couch from watching it. :)
This just reminded me I had a conversation last week with someone about the fact that our kids have no idea what VHF or UHF means. Or the fact that they were on separate dials, and there was that part you turned to tune them once you clicked it to which channel you wanted.
I remember the satisfying clunk clunk clunk of turning the VHF dial and the titititiitit of the UHF always worried I would overshoot the cartoons and into more snow. It is probably good that I didn’t have cable until my 20’s. I wasted plenty of time on regular sitcom repeats without adding all of Nikelodeon to my “need to watch” list.
I told my son that back in my day, we didn’t have a remote. We had to get up to change the channel!! He asked, “but how did you fast forward?”
Yeah, I have no idea what UHF is; and color, remote and 55 channels were standard to my basic television experience from first contact to 2006…in which my rich-kid friend invited me over to her home, that just happened to have a high-def flatscreen from Costco. WITCHCRAFT! Where is the back of it? Why is it so tall? The football players are almost as big as me! Why is it so clear? I’ve seen this commercial before, and I had no idea the grape juice girl had freckles. WHAT IS HAPPENING??
The tradition of memorable revolutions in entertainment is going strong…and my younger acquaintances will some day look me in the eye and say “I have no idea what a CD is. Now, remind me – were you alive before microwaves were invented?” Yes, and also, shut up. And stop mixing up the 1800s and the 1900s, THEY WERE TOTALLY DIFFERENT TIMES BECAUSE I LIVED IN ONE OF THEM.
Ah yes … I am currently vegetating in front of HGTV :P
Yes, yes, yes and yes!
But…
Confession time. While I have two televisions in my house, neither one of them is plugged in and I no longer have cable. In fact, neither of them is in my living room. I may have to resign from the human race for that alone.
I know. FREAK!!!
I watch the few shows I want to watch on the internet. But I spent a lot of my youth watching TV. Frankly, I spent a lot of my adulthood doing the same thing. And my kids watched a lot of videos. Their TV viewing was carefully monitored for content, but looking back, they probably spent way too much time watching TV. And yet, they appear normal.
I think TV lost me with the advent of the ‘reality’ show and the sitcoms with the hot wife, homely, stupid husband.
Remember standing next to the TV to change the channel for your parents until they found what they wanted?
My parents had a cable box with a slider, and it had a satisfying click.
Now- I am only 32, but we only had a 9in black and white TV until I was about ten or so. Yep. I watched wheel of fortune, during dinner, in black and white. Vanna’s dresses didn’t make much of an impression.
Ha, was just watching the 7-year-old play with her ipod nano, and set up the Wii to play and stuff . . at her age, having a channel on the VHF dial was fancy and hi-tech.
Yep. All of the above. Howdy everybody. And after school was a race home to watch My Three Sons, I Dream of Jeanie, Bewitched, or (animated) Spiderman before the folks got home. It was the only time the tv was all-mine and during commercials I would do house/homework so no one would be the wiser. Ah, the good old days of thinking I was getting away with something. I’m sure they knew and didn’t really care. ha.
I have gone years without tv, it doesn’t hold my interest, yet wonder if we replaced tv watching with internet/blog surfing or facebook/twitter? I don’t do facebook, but my mom has an iPad and is on there everyday. Go figure.