Sunday, May 8, 2011

Classic Television Memories

Memories of my childhood are often peppered with what are now considered classic television programmes. There are many experiences where I can recall in some form or other an association with a television programme I loved or disliked. Many people I talk to often remark on the same thing, though sometimes the stories we swap, and in particular, the TV shows we reminisce on are different. Mainly that is because I grew up in Australia but now live in the UK, where most of my friends live. Australian TV scheduling was, and I think still is, far more American than UK TV.

For example, one of my first great TV programme memories was The Love Boat. I haven't met anyone yet in the UK that remembers or watched the Love Boat. Cheesy the programme was, it's true, but a pivotal point in my growing up. It was always shown at 7.30pm, half an hour after my bed time. I still remember the first time I was allowed to stay up to watch it. I felt so grown up. The next day I went to school and recounted the adventures of Denise, Captain Stubbing, Isaac and Vicky. My firends thought I was so cool because I was the first of my group to be allowed to stay up that late.

Knight Rider ushered in my love of cars and appealed to my sense of fantasy and adventure. Unfortunately, yes, I confess, I also had a childhood crush on David Hasselhoff - shh! Don't tell anyone!

Science fiction became a new love of mine with the introduction of Buck Rogers in the 25th century and Battlestar Galactica, 1999 and of course, Star Trek, (The Original,  TNG and DS9) , all watched avidly with my sister. This was the time when I began collecting memorabilia- particularly Star Trek. Yes I became a Trekkie, without the costume! I was even dreaming about attending the Star Trek conventions in the States ( I was only young!) and collected every ST episode on video, which you can now buy on DVD from just about any online retailer such as Play, Amazon, ebay and more. I notice that they also have a huge selection of t-shirts, games, books, phasers and other memorabilia.
So what are your greatest TV memories?

2 comments:

  1. We used to get The Love Boat too, but I have a memory that it was on a Sunday afternoon. Cheese at its very best and a vintage mature one at that.

    We loved gritting Brit dramas like The Professionals and The Sweeney, although they were usually on quite late - 9pm at least - and I remember trying to be quiet as a mouse, not drawing attention to myself lest I be packed off to bed.

    And who could forget the original and best Charlie's Angels? We spent forever trying to make our hair flick like Farrah's and would spend our school breaktimes recreating the scenes we'd viewed on TV the night before. I'm sure my karate kicks were just as good as Kate Jackson's ;)...

    I hear they're going to remake Charlie's Angels, but I bet it won't be half as good and school kids today won't be allowed to pretend they're on a secret undercover mission in the playground thanks to 'elf and safety.

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  2. I loved Charlie's Angels! I dreamed of being an Angel, though Jaclyn Smith was my favourite.

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