TV shows that were a no-no for some children to watch...

Mid-60's ...Peyton Place. Yup, had to be in bed by 8:30 Central time.

Once my brother and I had our own TV by about 1969, I don't recall any prohibitions at all.

Of course we ad NO UHF until 1973, so there were a few years missed of content I would have enjoyed if we'd had it earlier.
Like Roller Derby.

In its last season, 1968-69, "Peyton Place" aired at 8:30
Eastern Time on Mondays and Wednesdays. By then I
was old enough to understand what was going on but I
never bothered to watch; on Mondays I'd watch "Laugh-In,"
and on Wednesdays the Bob Denver/Herb Edelman sitcom
"The Good Guys."

No real no-no's in my house, though we would occasionally be shielded from the occasional HBO R-rated movie (or get "parental guidance", which, as a kid, can be worse than an outright ban). Eventually we had HBO/cable in our rooms, though.

The edgier comedies (All In The Family, Maude, Soap, etc) were standard fare, most of the more choice humor was "over our heads" as kids anyhow. No bans along racial lines, either. Sanford And Son, Chico And The Man, and The Jeffersons were AOK.

My folks would usually suffer through the stuff we liked (Happy Days, Welcome Back Kotter, Three's Company, Mork And Mindy, etc). until 9pm.

MTV didn't arrive in our house until my brother and I were well into our teens (folks wouldn't pay the extra few bucks a month for it). We were allowed to listen to whatever music we liked, as long as it wasn't played too loudly while the folks (esp. Dad) were home.

bpatrick said:

In its last season, 1968-69, "Peyton Place" aired at 8:30 Eastern Time on Mondays and Wednesdays.

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I don't recall if KGUN-TV Tucson (Mountain Time, no DST) "warned" parents, but for the '68-'69
season they went in a strange direction and took most/all of prime time live from ABC. Maybe
they finally concluded that the 16mm film prints coming from KTVK Phoenix were not exactly
up to snuff...after many years of suffering through just that.

Until the late October time change, Peyton Place aired at 5:30 PM! 6:30 when standard time
returned. The "during DST" scenario was to go live 5:30-8 and flip the first (7:30 ET) hour to
8:00. After the time change it was all live 5:30-9 PM.

Early news was at 5:00 (ABC at 4:30), late news still at 10, with Joey Bishop on tape delay at
10:30. A syndicated Steve Allen show aired 9-10 PM.

ixnay said:

I never bought the Lucy-Ethel/Fred-Barney/Felix-Oscar/Bert-Ernie gay angle.

OTOH you had Johnny Cymbal and the bass man on "Mr. Bass Man", which I heard in a drugstore yesterday. Hmmmm......

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On *another* hand there’s “Totally Spies”, which aired in reruns on CN during summer ’10 but which CN is now resting (permanently? IDK.). On the forums at tsug.net , there was scuttlebutt on perceived (but probably nonexistent) lesbianism in TS’s artwork, scripts, etc. That site is currently down.

For those unfamiliar with TS, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totally_Spies .

Here’s a vidcap from another TS fan site:
http://www.woohp.org/gallery/displayimage.php?album=5&pos=5
Looks like redhead Sam and blonde Clover are getting the hots for Alex, no?

And here they are in uniform, after Alex has bollixed a mission:
http://www.woohp.org/gallery/displayimage.php?album=5&pos=3

And moving back towards the topic, the closest thing to a TV ban in our household came one time when I was little and my (then divorced) mother caught me playing with matches. She banned cartoons/kidvid for a month as a result (although she overlooked Peter Puck shorts on NBC's NHL telecasts).

ixnay

In its last season, 1968-69, "Peyton Place" aired at 8:30 Eastern Time on Mondays and Wednesdays. By then I was old enough to understand what was going on but I never bothered to watch; ...

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In high school, I never had time - nor interest - for soap operas, and when I found out Peyton Place was "a prime-time soap opera", that sealed it for me; never saw the show.

mleach said:

johnnya2k6 said:

I remember spending a few times at one church family's house a few times in the mid-'80s for bible study (we attended the same church until I moved to Mississippi in 1989), and there...NOT ONE SINGLE TV!!!!!! Yeah, things were very strict in that household!

And believe it or not, this was around the time when "The Cosby Show" was #1!

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Actually thats not too hard to believe since back then there were quite a few families who didn't allow TV and radio into their home for religious reasons. However the difference between then and now is that today those who are anti-media tend to go into your face about it and try to make one who does watch TV or listen to the radio feel like worthless trash while at the same time in some cases their comments/actions make them look like they have some kind of mental illness. For example such as that middle aged woman who had posted on the www.city-data.com site who felt that she needed to tell the world that she "isn't allowed to watch TV", calls up hotels and ask them to remove their TV before she arrives, when visiting friends who have the TV on she sticks her fingers into her ears and sing LA LA LA LA LA to herself so she can block out that evil TV and radio...you tell me is this normal behavor?

Back in the day those who had made the personal decision to NOT watch TV or listen to the radio kept their decision to themselves and for the most part most of those people didn't have the need to get others to join thme in going tv-radio free.

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People in general these days are more vocal about expressing their lifestyle choices. It is a way of affirming their choices, and then for some, there's the "I'm superior" angle. That's probably the bug the city-data lady had.

I don't remember any outright bans for shows back in the day. And we watched a lot of tv.

I have met families who have no tv, families who only watch videos with their kids, families who only watch tv together, all sorts of mechanisms by which parents parent when it comes to tv viewing.

I'm thinking my parents probably did like my wife and I do today for the pre-teen kids: don't make the outright ban just because that makes the show more interesting. Instead, provide them with something else to do during the time a show is on. Better yet, guide them and inform them about other shows that are on when a SpongeBob marathon or the new Hannah Montana is on [it's mindless comedy, and different aspects of all shows can make them more "mindless" at different times]. Mostly, "what the kids don't know about what's on tv won't hurt 'em." Amusement shouldn't be too consuming a focus. That's also part of why our kids don't have tv's in their rooms: they don't need them. Lots of people seem to be addicted to tv anyway, and it becomes less "useful and productive" and more "mindless reflex."

quadraphonic said:

I have met families who have no tv, families who only watch videos with their kids, families who only watch tv together, all sorts of mechanisms by which parents parent when it comes to tv viewing.

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Smae thing pretty much with radio listening too. For example everytime I do business in Denver, I meet more and more familes who have stopped listening to the radio all together even in the car ( yes including KOA ) in favor of Ipods, Mp3s, books-on-tape, cds and even old fashioned cassettes. And the ones who do allow their kids to listen to the radio do so, well as a family.

In my hometown some years back some county school buses had AM/FM radios until a number of parents complained about it since they didn't want their kids to hear "Howard Stern and Don & Mike trash", commercials, questionable music..today those radios are gone.

mleach said:

In my hometown some years back some county school buses had AM/FM radios until a number of parents complained about it since they didn't want their kids to hear "Howard Stern and Don & Mike trash", commercials, questionable music..today those radios are gone.

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In 2004, a company called BusRadio took advantage of the radio-on-the-bus concept and established a special radio service for students as they ride the bus. Nevertheless, parents still complained over the quality of music and the overcommercialisation. The company folded in 2009.

More here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BusRadio

quadraphonic said:

People in general these days are more vocal about expressing their lifestyle choices. It is a way of affirming their choices, and then for some, there's the "I'm superior" angle. That's probably the bug the city-data lady had.

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The "city-data" lady..ah actually she has "mental issues" which didn't take long to figure out. Today I had received a private msessage from her about the comments she had posted only to get that she hasn't watch a TV show in full since the Beatles had done the first Ed Sullivan and how she was "forced" to have had watched that. At gunpoint perhaps? Also some of the other stuff she had mentioned to me in the message...was well weird.

People like her kinda reminds me of those who post online on sites such as Yahoo only to start something such as to how they "support" Shirley Phelps and her pickets of funerals and how Barbara Billingsley was "murdered" by President Obama and his "OBAMCARE".

mleach said:

quadraphonic said:

People in general these days are more vocal about expressing their lifestyle choices. It is a way of affirming their choices, and then for some, there's the "I'm superior" angle. That's probably the bug the city-data lady had.

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The "city-data" lady..ah actually she has "mental issues" which didn't take long to figure out. Today I had received a private msessage from her about the comments she had posted only to get that she hasn't watch a TV show in full since the Beatles had done the first Ed Sullivan and how she was "forced" to have had watched that. At gunpoint perhaps? Also some of the other stuff she had mentioned to me in the message...was well weird.

People like her kinda reminds me of those who post online on sites such as Yahoo only to start something such as to how they "support" Shirley Phelps and her pickets of funerals and how Barbara Billingsley was "murdered" by President Obama and his "OBAMCARE".

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Some of the most anti-TV folks I've ever met are academic-types who are dyed in the wool liberals. So, I don't think that your political analogy is apt.

BRNout said:

Some of the most anti-TV folks I've ever met are academic-types who are dyed in the wool liberals. So, I don't think that your political analogy is apt.

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And there are those who had spent time in broadcasting ( radio and/or TV ) only for one reason or another ending up hating it. The most anti-TV person I myself had ever known was a cameraman for then Washington, DC's WDVM (WUSA-TV). Despite his employment at channel 9 he would often speak out against TV ( even against WDVM ) in public and nor would he allow one in his home either...yet he would still continue to work for WDVM.

Similar when Clear Channel and their 'bloodbath" a few years ago. I like many had friends who ended up losing their job after many years of service. I can think of at least 5 who were so heartbroken and upset at how they were fired by Clear Channel it had got to the point where they not only stop listening to the radio but they no longer want anything to do with it such as contacting friends who are still in the biz, starting deleting profiles on media sites, took the radios out of their cars.......

I remember vividly when I was 10. On a Friday evening, around 7PM, when channel choices were limited, after the cartoons were finished for the day, I happened to pawn the Newlywed Game. I couldn't understand what they were saying. I didn't pay too much attention. Until my mother stepped in and told me I shouldn't be watching this and I simply agreed --- innuendo! Back in winter/spring 1979, my cable company only offered channels 2 thru 13 only! In the end we found the Muppet Show.

As I got older, by age 11, my older brother turned me on to the Benny Hill show (downright naughty). We would stay up past 11PM to watch it without our mom noticing. Now here's another show that my mother would freak over! This is before I discovered HBO (and 3 years later, MTV)!

Now, mleach, be more specific. What parts of Sesame Street and Electric Company should kids NOT be watching. I happen to grow up in the '70s as a child, yet some segments I found a bit strange, but overall they were downright funny indeed --- especially the ones on Electric! I must admit, the sketches that they do on that show were so outlandish that they were no match for Sesame!

pkffrom724 said:

Now, mleach, be more specific. What parts of Sesame Street and Electric Company should kids NOT be watching. I happen to grow up in the '70s as a child, yet some segments I found a bit strange, but overall they were downright funny indeed --- especially the ones on Electric! I must admit, the sketches that they do on that show were so outlandish that they were no match for Sesame!

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A lot of parents I can remember didn't allow their kids to watch Sesame Street due to the show teaching spanish to children. True whats the big deal but for some parents that was a no-no. Then you had the "rumors" about the Bert-Ernie "gay" angle and how plans were in the works about having a puppet with HIV ( though the latter did ended up being true in Africa I believe ). Then there was the scandal involving the guy who had the role of "David" on SS, Northern Calloway even though his personal actions had nothing to do with Sesame Street but still it had a few parents being "concerned" to the point that they had stop letting their kids watch Sesame Street. I guess some had the idea that for the actors who had appeared on the show, their personal lives should had been the same as they had projected on the show.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Calloway

Electric Company...the complaint I can remember hearing about that show was from parents who had felt the show's pace was "for youngsters way too fast". I remember reading a few letters in TV Guide back then from parents who were cocerned about that.

Of course looking back now both shows were great and it does make one wonder why would anyone be concerned at all when it came to The Electric Company and Sesame Street..but then again back in the 1970's and even into the 80s there were still many adults who were "old school" when it came to education and felt the neither show shouldnt be a part of it.

I wasn't supposed to watch Benny Hill but sometimes got away with it until someone got their dress ripped off, then dad would flip it or tell me to go to bed. Same with Carson. I wasn't supposed to be up that late anyway!
Mary Hartman was a big no-no. When I did sneak & watch with my older sister I just got bored with it. My parents really didn't care about my music or MTV. I took it all in in the '80's. Showtime had just come out in my area & THAT my dad did make me get outa there so he could watch...it was embarrassing to be around them when something "naughty" happened anyway! :-\

I'd also like to see what a kid of today would grow up like being raised on nothing but old classics like Mork & Mindy, Welcome Back Kotter, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Silver Spoons, Family Ties, Different Strokes, Woody Woodpecker, Brady Bunch, My Three Sons, My Favorite Martian or Bewitched. Oh, and Lassie, Beverly Hillbillies, reruns of Friday Night Videos & Night Trax.

http://tsug.net/ , which I referred to earlier, is back up.

ixnay

mleach said:

Then there was the scandal involving the guy who had the role of "David" on SS, Northern Calloway even though his personal actions had nothing to do with Sesame Street but still it had a few parents being "concerned" to the point that they had stop letting their kids watch Sesame Street. I guess some had the idea that for the actors who had appeared on the show, their personal lives should had been the same as they had projected on the show.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Calloway

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In the books commemorating the 30th and 40th anniversaries (the 30th was "Sesame Street: Unpaved"; don't know the 40th anniversary title), both mentioned that Calloway died in 1989 of stomach cancer, though his actual 1990 death, and the circumstances leading to it, was revealed in "Street Gang", which was published before the 40th anniversary book.

Even today, was Sesame Workshop still worried over the actual circumstances over Calloway's death?

mleach said:

BRNout said:

Some of the most anti-TV folks I've ever met are academic-types who are dyed in the wool liberals. So, I don't think that your political analogy is apt.

Click to expand...

And there are those who had spent time in broadcasting ( radio and/or TV ) only for one reason or another ending up hating it. The most anti-TV person I myself had ever known was a cameraman for then Washington, DC's WDVM (WUSA-TV). Despite his employment at channel 9 he would often speak out against TV ( even against WDVM ) in public and nor would he allow one in his home either...yet he would still continue to work for WDVM.

Similar when Clear Channel and their 'bloodbath" a few years ago. I like many had friends who ended up losing their job after many years of service. I can think of at least 5 who were so heartbroken and upset at how they were fired by Clear Channel it had got to the point where they not only stop listening to the radio but they no longer want anything to do with it such as contacting friends who are still in the biz, starting deleting profiles on media sites, took the radios out of their cars.......

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The person you mentioned on Channel 9 reminds me of the news director at WXIA who, not long ago, dismissed television news (especially local news) as anachronistic in its present form. While she may be right, still, if I were 11 Alive's g.m.. I'm afraid we would have had a meeting in my office and it would not have been pleasant for her--either go with the program or take your talents elsewhere.

As for Benny Hill, I was already in my 20s when he started showing up on stations in this country, and for some strange reason. my first reaction to his show was, This is on about the same level as "Hee Haw" (minus the music). (There were some scantily-clad young women on the "pickin' and grinnin'" show, too, you know.) Benny had a fairly high batting average when it came to funny bits, I suppose, and I have the impression he was a pretty nice guy doing what's part of the British show-business tradition, but I never really took to his show.