Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Blast from the Past
Okay, it's time for a blog entry that is completely frivolous and lacking any redeeming social value. (I know some of you are thinking, "How is that different from your other blogs?") Today I want to talk about 70's and 80's TV shows. More to the point: shows that I loved to watch when I was a little kid.
The reason I started thinking about this (not that old TV shows are ever that far from my mind), is the announcement this week that one of the "General Lee" cars from the "Dukes of Hazzard" was sold on Ebay for $10 million. That was one of my all-time favorite shows from my youth. I couldn't wait for Friday night when the classic Waylon Jennings song would kick off the show. "Just some good old boys... never meanin' no harm..." The fact that the Duke boys slid across the hood of their cool hot rod and climbed in the window just blew me away. And, yes, like every other youngster, I wanted to climb in the window of our family's car. It drove my parents crazy.
Cars and other vehicles were a fixture on my favorite shows. "Knight Rider" was a great show, featuring "KITT," a talking Trans Am and some actor who would later produce a wildly successful show based on a California beach and then a less successful home video. There was "CHiPs"... a show about two California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers. I knew Ponch and John would always end up catching the bad guys. I also loved a show called "B.J. and the Bear." Does anyone else remember that one? It was about a big rig driver who drove around the country with his pet chimpanzee, running into adventures along the way. Brilliant.
Even the "A-team," another of my favorites, featured a signature automobile, in this case a black van with a red stripe and spoiler, which seemed odd for a van. Apparently, it could hold a whole cache of M-16's, which the A-team guys needed to settle the score for some hopeless person who hired them. The feds couldn't find these guys, but somehow these hapless people could. Didn't matter to me, I loved every show.
I don't want to leave out all the great sitcoms from my youth. The list is long: "Diff'rent Strokes" and "Silver Spoons" ran back to back, which meant a great night of entertainment for me. Other favorites: "Three's Company," "The Facts of Life" and "The Cosby Show."
I wonder if my son, who's 5, will look back on TV shows from his youth the same way. When I was a kid there were only 3 or 4 channels (and we walked in the snow uphill both ways to school.) Now, there are hundreds of channels, so in some ways there are fewer "community" shows that everybody watches. Now, everyone is watching something different. Or they're on the internet. Or the Playstation. Or watching a DVD. See what I mean? Will Jack have a "Dukes of Hazzard?" Maybe. But there's no way it will be as cool as Bo, Luke, Uncle Jesse and Boss Hogg. They don't make TV shows like that anymore. Perhaps for good reason.
The reason I started thinking about this (not that old TV shows are ever that far from my mind), is the announcement this week that one of the "General Lee" cars from the "Dukes of Hazzard" was sold on Ebay for $10 million. That was one of my all-time favorite shows from my youth. I couldn't wait for Friday night when the classic Waylon Jennings song would kick off the show. "Just some good old boys... never meanin' no harm..." The fact that the Duke boys slid across the hood of their cool hot rod and climbed in the window just blew me away. And, yes, like every other youngster, I wanted to climb in the window of our family's car. It drove my parents crazy.
Cars and other vehicles were a fixture on my favorite shows. "Knight Rider" was a great show, featuring "KITT," a talking Trans Am and some actor who would later produce a wildly successful show based on a California beach and then a less successful home video. There was "CHiPs"... a show about two California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers. I knew Ponch and John would always end up catching the bad guys. I also loved a show called "B.J. and the Bear." Does anyone else remember that one? It was about a big rig driver who drove around the country with his pet chimpanzee, running into adventures along the way. Brilliant.
Even the "A-team," another of my favorites, featured a signature automobile, in this case a black van with a red stripe and spoiler, which seemed odd for a van. Apparently, it could hold a whole cache of M-16's, which the A-team guys needed to settle the score for some hopeless person who hired them. The feds couldn't find these guys, but somehow these hapless people could. Didn't matter to me, I loved every show.
I don't want to leave out all the great sitcoms from my youth. The list is long: "Diff'rent Strokes" and "Silver Spoons" ran back to back, which meant a great night of entertainment for me. Other favorites: "Three's Company," "The Facts of Life" and "The Cosby Show."
I wonder if my son, who's 5, will look back on TV shows from his youth the same way. When I was a kid there were only 3 or 4 channels (and we walked in the snow uphill both ways to school.) Now, there are hundreds of channels, so in some ways there are fewer "community" shows that everybody watches. Now, everyone is watching something different. Or they're on the internet. Or the Playstation. Or watching a DVD. See what I mean? Will Jack have a "Dukes of Hazzard?" Maybe. But there's no way it will be as cool as Bo, Luke, Uncle Jesse and Boss Hogg. They don't make TV shows like that anymore. Perhaps for good reason.
Posted at 5:42 AM
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