Television Memorabilia

Thanks For the Memories

Many of us have grown up in the era of television from the flickering black and white image days to now where we are being touted with Flat Screen High Definition and 3D television sets. Regardless of the delivery media we have been pampered with numerous great shows, serials, epics, mini-series, children shows, documentaries and movies. On the other hand we have also been bombarded by endless garbage and countless re-runs. But its all in one’s choice and taste. Many of the shows I like my wife detests as she abhors violence and prefers sweet romantic shows (chick flicks). Limits my viewing a bit. The idea of this site then is to bring together some of the memories of the old shows and stars we love and grew up with.

History

What has happened to some of the stars of the fifties, sixties where we had shows like The Honeymooners, Leave It To Beaver, I Love Lucy, Cheyenne, Bonanza and Maverick to name a few? In the late sixties and early seventies we all moved to color and enjoyed shows like Happy Days and Little House on The Prairie. Who would have thought that Ron Howard would be become one of our great file Directors along with Clint Eastwood from Rawhide. Many of you will remember their favorite shows. It is interesting therefore to bring out snippets about some of those stars of those years and behind the scenes news of the productions of the day.

The Stars

Many of the television stars made successful transitions to the big screen and vice-versa. It wasn’t always like that and were looked on almost as second rate actors. How could they produce award winning dramatic acting under the grueling pressure of pumping  out 39 episodes a year? Day time serials can even be more taxing where the viewers expect their fix every days with the endless plot twists and climatic finishes to roll onto the next day. Yet it was done and many television shows have created the ideas for cinema and also numerous television shows have been inspired by movies.

Cable Television

Cable Television enriched our lives more as the television industry moved to a insatiable phase of 24/7 television. More productions were made possible and the industry flourished. Again this also created some television moments or shows which are best forgotten. Some pilots never got past that stage. But cable also gave many of the How to Shows from cooking, renovating, car repairs, escaping the rat race, money budgets, etc. Perhaps not riveting viewing but very educational. Cable Television also provided hundreds of channels at a subscription price. Channel surfing became a sport to try and find a show worthwhile watching. Who hogs the remote in your house? We are spoiled for choice unlike the early halcyon days. Now we can watch hundreds of channels through our computer and best of all live sports events as they happen.

Concerns

We have so much television today that we now have cause for concern in that we have created generations of couch potatoes.If they are not on their iPhones, Games console they are watching television mindlessly flicking through the channels. This blog is not for them. I could be hasty here because cable television has brought back many of the old shows and I Love Lucy can still be seen around the world. So perhaps we are educating these couch potatoes that things are probably better now than in the past or is it the other way around. Is it really a case of ”the good old days”?

Summary

Despite the concerns, production problems, stars, budgets and the woes of the world, television continues to touch our emotions enriching our minds and even educating us. We can rejoice in the past as what we now describe as television memorabilia provided the essential steps to the riches we enjoy today. I hope that many of the pieces that we can pull into this site will revive some of those pleasant memories.

Arnold Vee