As I've stated before, I watched a lot (too much?) TV growing up. I remember Bill Cosby had a variety-type show! I remember Flip Wilson's show - Geraldine was hilarious, but he had several other characters he did as well, & his show was pretty fun to watch. Red Skelton had a show on that I begged my mother to let me stay up & watch - she usually said yes! When Laugh-In came on, I was lucky if I got to watch it, because it was too "adult" for a kid, according to my folks. *sigh* They just didn't understand that comedy is COMEDY. Yet they'd let me watch Dean Martin's show!

Ah, Dino... I could wax lyrical about him for several blog posts! I remember he had at least 2 different "barbers" on his show - Nipsey Russell & Dom DeLuise - both funny as heck! The barbershop skits were among the funniest on Dino's show, he had a lot of fun with them, & usually cracked up in mid-skit - it was pretty obvious that Dean loved to laugh!

Then there was Diahann Carroll, Doris Day, Juliet Mills, Marlo Thomas, Hope Lange - all women starring in their own shows & making the female presence on TV even stronger! Some really fond memories there - most shows featured men, with women being mere props. And of course, we can't forget the illustrious Lucille Ball & her beautiful pal, Vivian Vance! You did good, girls! Thanks!

Yeah, these are some of my "old friends", & many I'm not going to name here - just check my favorite shows & you'll see plenty of others!

I've been hooked on TV since I was a small child, home sick with chronic ear infections & watching game shows & soaps with my 2nd-shift working dad. I miss Match Game; Gene Rayburn always made the show a lot of fun to watch, & the panel was hysterically funny! Rumor has it that they were imbibing a bit, but who cares?? They were great!

I miss some of the old soaps that used to be on: The Doctors; Texas; Santa Barbara; Another World. I grew up watching them, & now it seems like daytime TV is trying to get rid of most, if not all, of the soap operas! Even game shows are being phased out, it seems. What are we supposed to watch during the day?! I suppose there are a few people left who don't have cable/satellite, & they're going to be stuck watching what? Since Hallmark removed TBAA from it's schedule, I have nothing to watch during the daytime except Days of Our Lives. *sigh*

Old but good comedies: see my favorites! I'll be adding more eventually, I'm going to concentrate on some drama for now, I think. I have definitely watched a lot of TV - I used to even read all the credits at the end of programs/movies! It's nice to see a lot of the old names are still there - new generations! Just like any other profession, folks in the TV/movie biz pass on their trades to the kids & grandkids, & it's all good! Do someone a favor - read the credits the next time you watch a show you enjoy; those behind the cameras deserve recognition too!

What comes to mind when I think of the good ol' days of TV? The 70's & 80's, at the moment! I grew up watching shows like All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Sanford & Son, Barney Miller, Happy Days... seeing a theme here yet? Yes, I love to laugh!

I remember how worried my Baptist mother was, catching me watching All in the Family - as if I weren't smart enough to know that Archie was to be laughed at (& sometimes pitied) because of his blatant ignorance about other races & other cultures. She finally came to understand that I wasn't picking up any bad habits from ol' Arch. 8)

The 80's were a different time, to be sure. I did start watching The Waltons in the 70's, true, but I didn't really appreciate them until the 80's. Then there were other shows like The Golden Girls, Highway to Heaven, Cheers, etc. etc. But the best one of all, in my opinion, was Turkey Television! "I want my Turkey TV!" we all shouted, LOL! Funny funny show, very sad that Nickelodeon has it locked down now. It's difficult to find much about it on the internet even - sad.

This blog in no way discounts or denigrates the shows of the 90's to present day - in fact, I'm a big fan of Touched By An Angel (henceforth to be referred to as TBAA, for brevity's sake). Wonderful show, not everyone's cup o' tea, I realize, but I really enjoy it. Enough to go buy the DVD sets! And there have been many wonderful, more recent shows that I enjoy - House, The Office, Whose Line Is It, Anyway, etc. etc. (again)... Fact is, if it touches my heart, &/or makes me laugh, I like it!

Cuddles