Well, back to the list; this is the blog I intended to write yesterday before I realized the cosmic influence TV has had on my life and wandered down that hole. What surprised me the most about this list was how hard it was to get it down to 10. Yeah, I know, I watched too much television as a kid.
#1 – Star Trek – for a young kid in the 1960s caught up in the space race to the moon between the US and USSR this was pure heaven to watch. I know that watching it now, it seems very camp and quaint but at the time it came out it was cutting edge stuff, to include the special effects which are laughable by today’s standards. I loved the optimism and the emphasis on doing the right thing, the show really did strive for social relevance. Gene Roddenberry, long after the series was canceled, came to my college and I snuck in (no money in college) to watch his presentation. For me he was a much bigger deal than any rock band – okay I was a nerd. I was mesmerized and hearing him talk about Star Trek only reinforced my love of the show. The original pull of the show has been diluted by the movies and innumerable other TV shows that are based in the Star Trek universe. This will always be #1 in my universe.
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| Uncle Walt |
#2 – Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color – This was a Sunday night tradition from the earliest recesses of my memories. I can clearly remember anxiously waiting for Lassie to finish while sitting with my three sisters on the floor waiting for Disney to start. The NBC peacock proclaiming the show was brought to us (on our black and white TV) in living color. I can remember the awe I felt when we finally got a color TV and watching the intro to the show in color for the first time. For me, Walt Disney was just the coolest guy the world has ever seen, a true dreamer who had the ability and drive to make those dreams reality and he did it for millions of us kids growing up in the 1960s. Disney was like that cool uncle that came to visit each Sunday and told us to follow our dreams. When I went down to Florida for spring break in college I went to Disney world, which we watched being built over the years on the show, for the first time, in homage to all the comfort the show had brought me.
#3 – Combat – I was born ten years after the end of World War 2 and every single adult that I knew had served in the military, including my father’s entire family, all of whom I idolized. I loved this series surrounding the exploits of an infantry squad fighting its way across France after D-Day. Vic Morrow and Rick Jason as Sergeant Saunders and Lieutenant Hanley were super heroes to me. You always knew who was going to get killed because if they weren’t part of the regular crew (Kirby, Caje, Little John or Doc), they were doomed. The most common game we kids played in the 1960s was “War” in which we formed up two armies (squad sized) and then stalked each other across the neighborhood, sometimes spending entire summer days doing it. We always looked to SGT Saunders for the right way to do things. After a career spent in the infantry, I caught a couple of re-runs recently and realized they got it right. God I loved that show – the opening theme can still get my blood up.
#4 – Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone – This was one of the shows that preached to you about doing the right thing but did it so subtlety that you didn’t realize it at the time. Serling had an immense ability delve into the human psyche and present object tales “for your consideration”. I learned later that he had to fight censors for his entire career as he fought to send socially relevant messages through his work. At the time I didn’t realize it – all I knew was that when I was finally old enough to stay up and watch the Twilight Zone, it was a Godsend. Serling introduced each show and his voice had such gravitas and texture. You can watch these shows now and still be caught up in the drama and slightly off kilter world of Rod Serling. This was one of those shows that was always better in black and white.
#5 – Bewitched – This may be a surprising choice but I was seriously infatuated with Elizabeth Montgomery who starred as Samantha, the witch who marries a normal human. I can honestly state that she was my first true crush – I always thought it would be so cool to have a witch as a girlfriend – which may explain my early dating patterns (but I digress). I always thought Dick York as Darren was not worthy of her but the rest of the cast was awesome, including Paul Lynde, one of the funniest guys the current generation has never heard of. I was abjectly horrified when they made a movie based on the TV series and cast Nicole Kidman (whom I loathe on a very base level) as my beloved Samantha. This show was funny and sweet and I always planned on having a house like the one the Stevens lived in.
#6 – Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In – Possibly the funniest show ever conceived. Rowan and Martin acted as emcees of a truly manic cast that captured the turbulent political times of the 1960s and turned them on their head. So many catch phrases of that time can be traced back to this show, “Sock it to me, Verrrry Interesting, Here Comes the Judge, Beautiful Downtown Burbank, and You Bet Your Sweet Bippy” just to mention a few. The show combined a cutting edge humor with a social conscience and hid it all behind a façade of insanity. This show really set the stage for Saturday Night Live. They even had Dick Nixon on and he credited his appearance with helping him get elected. The cast included Ruth Buzzi, Judy Carne, Henry Gibson, Larry Hovis, Arte Johnson, Jo Anne Worley, Gary Owens (announcer), Eileen Brennan, Flip Wilson, and Goldie Hawn. As mentioned earlier I had a serious crush on Judy Carne and she along with Goldie Hawn in bikinis was a true highlight of the show. I loved Dick Martin playing the clown to Rowan’s seriousness – perfect comedic timing.
#7 – Lost in Space – Another campy sci fi show that captured the imagination of a young boy. The space faring family Robinson along with the comically evil Dr Smith, stalwart Major West, and the “Danger Will Robinson” robot. I think every single boy my age wanted to be Will Robinson and share in the adventures of the Jupiter 2. I can remember being really concerned that the Robinsons might never make it back to earth. The show was very exciting for a very young kid and really “jumped the shark” in its later seasons when the focus shifted too much to Dr Smith’s silly adventures but I still cherish the memories of those early seasons. This was another one of those shows that challenged the imagination at the time but now just looks silly, you kind of had to be there.
#8 – Get Smart – I challenge anyone who watched this show not to admit they tried to count the doors Maxwell Smart entered at the start of each show. Don Adams played the lovable idiot secret agent Agent 86 from Control with such aplomb that you had to love him. Both Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, two of funniest men to have ever lived, were involved in writing for this series and it showed. There were so many funny double entendres and just totally goofy sequences, although if you truly listen the show was smarter than it seemed. I loved the shoe phone, the cone of silence, and Hymie the human robot. This show was a great send up of the secret agent theme so popular with the James Bond movies and Man from U.N.C.L.E. TV series, not to mention the very real Cold War that was at its height at the time.
#9 – Johnny Quest – An animated series, I had to have one on this list, that ran in prime time and was really high quality animation as well as adventure. Every young boy idolized Johnny in his adventures with his friend Hadji, his dog Bandit, his father Dr Benton Quest and of, course, the hero, Race Bannon. I liked the show because it played it straight – it didn’t try to appeal to comedy. It was like seeing a comic book brought to life and I loved it.
#10 – The Time Tunnel – Another science fiction themed show, something of a trend here, but one that totally captured my imagination in the late 1960s. I am a bona fide history nut so this combined a couple of my passions. Two scientists, Tony and Doug, accidently are stranded in the Time Tunnel where they experience some of the great episodes of history. The series was well written and I loved the epic battle scenes, all stolen from movies, which I tried to guess at. James Darren, a crooner from the 50s played the lead and was actually pretty good as an action star. This series also lost track of what made it good after a short time, but during its run it was interesting and a lot of fun.
Well that’s the list, for at least for one child of the 1960s and I’m proud of what these shows did for me. Some of the last cuts from the list were: 12 O’Clock High, The Addams Family, The Wild, Wild West, I dream of Jeannie, The Man from UNCLE, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
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