Things I remember from the 60's:

Television worth watching, where the most violence you saw
was on Road Runner cartoons.

An odd remark, as we're now living in the Platinum Age of television... The
Soparanos, Mythbusters, and The Simpsons/King of the Hill/South Park, to
name just a handful of great shows. I ought to throw in the live version of
The Tick, one of the most wonderfully written TV shows I've ever seen.


I could walk into a radio shop and watch the tech work on things
for hours, and not only did he not get upset, he tought me as he
went. Virtually no repair shops are left, and most of the ones that
are, don't repair, they exchange.

This appears to be because most modern electronics cannot be economically
repaired. And even if it's built to last, changing technology has an
irritating way of rendering it obsolete 5 to 10 times as fast as it used to.


A hamburger was 19 cents. * If you wanted fries and a Coke,
it was 45 cents. If you felt like going to eat at a real cafe, sit
in a booth and have someone serve you, the price went up to
a dollar.

You're looking at Ye Olde Days through rose-colored glasses. How did those
prices compare to your disposable income?

* More like 15 cents.


You weren't worried about whether your neighbor was a serial killer,
abductor, or politician.

grin


You could go out all day, and never lock your door.

In Bermuda, perhaps, but that was hardly common in the US.


So, yeah. There was Richard Speck, Sirhan Sirhan, Jack Ruby,
Herbert Hoover's dossier's, the Cuban missile crisis, the Watts riots...
but overall, things were not so bad. The Russians did a lot of sabre
rattling, but I don't recall any bombs.

You are ignoring WWII, as it occurred before you were born (or you were very
young). Post-WWII America was certainly its Fat 'n Stupid era.

I'll agree with one thing... We're entering an era where it appears that the
utter stupidity of world leaders (and I'm condemning all of them) will lead
us into a global war that will make double-u double-u 2 (punning reference
intentional) look like a tea party.

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
. ..
Things I remember from the 60's:

Television worth watching, where the most violence you saw
was on Road Runner cartoons.

An odd remark, as we're now living in the Platinum Age of television...
The
Soparanos, Mythbusters, and The Simpsons/King of the Hill/South Park, to
name just a handful of great shows. I ought to throw in the live version
of
The Tick, one of the most wonderfully written TV shows I've ever seen.

When we were kids, William, shows like those you listed would never have
been allowed on television, let alone during primetime or any time kids
would be watching. And that includes "The Tick" (which, BTW, I agree with
you that it is a very well done show. Patrick Warburton does The Tick to a
tee.. he was made for the part). But it would never have passed the
Television Code.

A hamburger was 19 cents. * If you wanted fries and a Coke,
it was 45 cents. If you felt like going to eat at a real cafe, sit
in a booth and have someone serve you, the price went up to
a dollar.

You're looking at Ye Olde Days through rose-colored glasses. How did those
prices compare to your disposable income?

Actually pretty favorably. As a preteen/early teen I spent a lot of my time
working and earning money. At 12 I worked the strawberry fields (ate up half
their profits... LOL), at 13 and 14, I worked in the (sugar) beet fields.
Early season I would thin (weed), late season I would help with the harvest.
I made up to $8 a day. That may not sound like much, for so much work, but
for a kid back then, it was a lot of money, considering our largest outgo
was 10 cents for a bottle of soda from the machine (5 cents if we bought it
by the glass in a cafe) or a nickel for a candy bar. For the 'bad kids',
the big money was 30 cents for a pack of cigarettes from a machine (a
quarter if they could forge a note from mom or dad and buy them at the
store..)

* More like 15 cents.

The 19 cent figure was at Dee's (at the time the only chain in the Salt Lake
Valley) at a time (1968) when I was actually interested in going to fast
food places.

You weren't worried about whether your neighbor was a serial killer,
abductor, or politician.

grin


You could go out all day, and never lock your door.

In Bermuda, perhaps, but that was hardly common in the US.

In most any place, except maybe the larger cities. Nobody in Salt Lake ever
locked their doors (except businesses), let alone any of the several small
towns I lived in growing up. It was also quite common for people to leave
the keys in their car or pickup so they didn't have to look all over the
house when they wanted to go out. I actually lived in houses that never had
a lock on the front door at all.

Television worth watching, where the most violence you saw
was on Road Runner cartoons.

An odd remark, as we're now living in the Platinum Age of television...
The
Soparanos, Mythbusters, and The Simpsons/King of the Hill/South Park, to
name just a handful of great shows. I ought to throw in the live version
of The Tick, one of the most wonderfully written TV shows I've ever seen.

When we were kids, William, shows like those you listed would never have
been allowed on television, let alone during primetime or any time kids
would be watching. And that includes "The Tick" (which, BTW, I agree with
you that it is a very well done show. Patrick Warburton does The Tick to a
tee.. he was made for the part). But it would never have passed the
Television Code.

My point was about "television worth watching". There was little
"entertainment" programming really worth watching in that era.

William Sommerwerck wrote:
snip
My point was about "television worth watching". There was little
"entertainment" programming really worth watching in that era.


Yet we all watched with rapt attention. There were some shows which I
will still catch today, notably 'The Twilight Zone'. It was the best we
had, and for those of us in rural areas, perhaps the best that can be
imagined at the time.

Like Brenda, I did a lot of odd jobs...mostly farm stuff. I was bucking
hay bales at 14. Before that I drove the tractor and the trucks in the
field. Machinery played a big part in my life, and sometimes I think I
missed my calling as a heavy machine operator. OTOH, being a farm boy,
animals were a constant concern and joy as well...horses especially.

The atmosphere, despite the Cold War, Vietnam and the Six Day War (among
others), not to mention the almost annual political assassinations, was
somehow more relaxed.

jak

The atmosphere, despite the Cold War, Vietnam and the
Six Day War (among others), not to mention the almost
annual political assassinations, was somehow more relaxed.

This was probably because "things" changed more slowly, and we weren't
deluged by what has become nearly omnipresent media.

William Sommerwerck wrote:
Television worth watching,

The Soparanos, Mythbusters, and The Simpsons/King of the
Hill/South Park, to name just a handful of great shows.

My point was about "television worth watching".

Well, "worth watching" and "great shows" must be a matter of personal
opinion...

I'm not a particularly religious person and certainly not a member of
the "Religious Right" (and will gladly swear like a sailor when called
for), but IMHO, South Park is, for lack of a better term, quite
degenerate. Talk about morality "sliding down the slippery slope", that
show seems to have to slid down to just about the bottom of said slope.

A large majority of the "popular" network shows are infantile. Had a TV
on the bench a year or so ago, can't remember the name of the show but
my wife said it was one of the top two or three.

On the show, they were talking about having attended a lecture about
"homo erectus".

First actor: "He said homo". Tee-hee, giggle giggle, canned laughter

Second actor: "Oh, he said erect". Tee-hee, giggle giggle, canned laughter

Maybe that's funny--if you're in the Third Grade.

Sorry, but IMHO, a large majority of network TV is truly mindless pap.

You're welcome to your opinion, but if you think this is the Golden (or
Platinum) Age of TV, then I've got some nice Florida land I'd like to
sell to you... :-)

I'm not a particularly religious person and certainly not a member of
the "Religious Right" (and will gladly swear like a sailor when called
for), but IMHO, South Park is, for lack of a better term, quite
degenerate. Talk about morality "sliding down the slippery slope", that
show seems to have to slid down to just about the bottom of said slope.

This is a highly moral -- though utterly vulgar and outrageously tasteless
show. I think you're looking too closely at the surface and not paying
attention to the point -- and there is a point.


Sorry, but IMHO, a large majority of network TV is truly mindless pap.

Most of the shows I referred to were not network shows.


You're welcome to your opinion, but if you think this is the Golden (or
Platinum) Age of TV, then I've got some nice Florida land I'd like to
sell to you... :-)

How much?

Carter-k8vt wrote:

I'm not a particularly religious person and certainly not a member of
the "Religious Right" (and will gladly swear like a sailor when called
for), but IMHO, South Park is, for lack of a better term, quite
degenerate. Talk about morality "sliding down the slippery slope", that
show seems to have to slid down to just about the bottom of said slope.

William Sommerwerck wrote:

This is a highly moral -- though utterly vulgar and outrageously tasteless
show. I think you're looking too closely at the surface and not paying
attention to the point -- and there is a point.

Well, as you probably can presume, I do not watch the show, so can't
respond to your claim of it being "highly moral" or getting its point.
However, with the little snippets I have seen, I -do- equate your
"utterly vulgar" and "outrageously tasteless" with my "degenerate".

FWIW, I do watch and enjoy 'King of the Hill' and would agree that it is
highly moral-- and amazingly, they seem to be able to do it without
gratuitous vulgarity and outrageous tastelessness.

Sorry, but IMHO, a large majority of network TV is truly mindless pap.

Most of the shows I referred to were not network shows.

Yes, I realized that and that is *specifically* why I did spell out
"network" TV in my response. However, it (network) is still watched by
tens of millions and it is still mindless pap.

You're welcome to your opinion, but if you think this is the Golden (or
Platinum) Age of TV, then I've got some nice Florida land I'd like to
sell to you... :-)

How much?

Best offer!

....but in the meanwhile, it looks like we can respectfully agree to
disagree as to if we are experiencing another "Golden Age" of TV.

On Sat, 14 Jul 2007 07:47:04 -0700, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:

Most of the shows I referred to were not network shows.

Do you find it somewhat ironic that the only broadcast network shows
that you mentioned are Fox Network shows?
Brian McAllister

Sarasota, Florida

email bkm at oldtech dot net

Most of the shows I referred to were not network shows.

Do you find it somewhat ironic that the only broadcast network
shows you mentioned are Fox Network shows?

I was aware of that when I posted. Technically, Fox is a network, but not
one of The Big Three. Fox has a bad reputation for putting on innovative
programming (The Tick, Brisco County), then abandoning it.