Posted on 07/14/2005 1:30:16 PM PDT by qam1
A couple weeks ago, I received a cool e-mail from Janet, an amigo and close pen-pal of mine.
It was the “Older Than Dirt” quiz. It consisted of lots of things of yesteryear that only us “older” Baby Boomers would remember. I took the quiz because I love nostalgia. Sad to say, I must be older than dirt, because I knew every single item that was on the quiz. Some of them I had totally forgotten about, but after seeing them listed, I recalled all of them with great detail.
Things like a tri-colored plastic film that you could put over your black and white TV screen to give the illusion that you were watching a program in color. The top of the plastic was blue (the sky) the middle was red (don’t know why), and the bottom third was green (grass). There was also a plastic magnifying film you could apply to make the images look bigger.
For kids there were the magic “Winky-Dink screens that would let you trace a picture along with the TV show using a crayon. Television has come a long way since these early and clever gimmicks.
I thought it might be fun to take a look at an old TV Guide so I rummaged around in my collection of vintage magazines and paper items and selected a TV Guide from December 1961.
This particular issue came out right before Christmas, 44 years ago. On the cover was Dr. Kildare (Richard Chamberlain) and Raymond Massey (his mentor). Opening it up I saw a full color ad for a gift-wrapped carton of Marlboros which stated that they were the sponsor of shows like “Dobie Gillis” (Tuesdays), “Rawhide” and “Route 66” (Fridays), and “NFL Pro Football” (weekends). All of these shows aired on CBS.
I learned that Bing Crosby Productions turned out the popular series “Ben Casey”. Tussy’s latest ad for “Midnight Perfume” warned that nothing much happens at midnight until you wear it (“Careful, not too much”).
There were basically the three main networks, no matter where you lived. ABC, NBC, and CBS. I don’t think that the educational channel PBS was in existence yet. This was also during the days before the UHF channels came out, so you got to watch three channels, take it or leave it.
And you know what? Somehow we managed to survive, fancy that! I had a lot of fun looking through this old guide. It brought back lots of memories from my childhood.
Shows like Sea Hunt, The Jack Benny Program, Have Gun Will Travel, Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour, Red Skelton, Bonanza, Adventures in Paradise, Candid Camera, Burns and Allen, The Loretta Young Show, Make Room for Daddy, and who could forget “Queen For A Day”? This show was a real tear-jerker.
I used to watch this program while I was playing hooky, as it came on in the daytime. I can’t believe what the producers of this show used to put these poor ladies through.
The best I can remember, is that three or four women would get on national television and proceed to cry and relate some of the saddest tales one could imagine that had occurred in their life.
Then the audience would actually vote for the one they thought was the most pitiful and deserving. An applause meter would record the loudest claps and that’s how the winner would get to be “Queen for a Day.”
The other ladies got absolutely nothing and were quietly ushered behind the curtain while the winner was being crowned. The thing that really got me was how cheap the show was.
The poor and unfortunate lady would usually get a washer and dryer with a red bow tied around them! Sometimes, it would be a new stove or a refrigerator. WOW! With that kind of prize, her whole life should take on a whole new meaning!
The “losers” would be consoled with a “better luck next time” before being booted off the stage, sobbing.
I guess you could say that there’s nothing new under the sun.
Even after 44 years, reality shows bite – big time.
Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.
Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.
LOL!!!
Didn't Mrs. Cunningham gone on this show on Happy Days?
Unless I miss my guess, reality show contestants (then and now) knew the possible outcomes, knew that the network was doing it to entertain their audience and not for the benefit of the participants, and willingly agreed to sell a piece of their lives for the fame and a chance to win.
I don't much care for these type shows myself, but if there is a market for them (and there apparently is) and no one is forced to participate then I don't see any reason they shouldn't be aired.
My wife LOVES American Idol and I enjoy Trump's show. Those are actually the only two tv shows we watch in our house.
There were basically the three main networks, no matter where you lived. ABC, NBC, and CBS. I don’t think that the educational channel PBS was in existence yet. This was also during the days before the UHF channels came out, so you got to watch three channels, take it or leave it.And you know what? Somehow we managed to survive, fancy that!
That is STILL the mentality when it comes to news broadcasts. An upstart comes in and offers a slightly different perspective and they are considered "partisan balance to any perceived bias among the rest".
Queen For A Day was rigged. Lenny Bruce disclosed this in an account of one of his relatives in his autobiography, "How To Talk Dirty And Influence People"
My Mother frequently helped folk who were down on their luck but she always remembered being ripped off by a con in the 1920's that had kids collect money for the "poor starving Armenians" (which there were in large numbers) but the collected money ended up in the pockets of some sharp promoters (sounds like today's UN). As a result, her aid was usually "face to face".
While the vast majority of reality shows cater to the lowest common denominator amongst viewers, there are some that provide a fascinating look into human psycology and sociology. Big Brother on CBS is a good example of this.
Queen for a Day.”
Nowadays that takes on a whole different meaning.
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