Television is changing. So is everything. It’s the nature
of Pop Culture. Each generation is a litmus test, a time capsule of what was
liked, appreciated, valued, and believed. One need not look much further than sitcoms,
like
I Love Lucy in the 1950s to realise that; then Dick Van Dyke in the
1960s; Mary Tyler Moore, Maude, and the Bunkers in the 1970s;
Family Ties,
and
Night Court in the 1980s;
Seinfeld, and
Friends in the
1990s. Tastes evolve, Outlook changes. What was beloved in one decade is
laughable (and not in a good way) in another.
So too did I change. Obviously. I was born in the 1960s,
grew up in the 1970s, became an adult in the 1980s, began working in the 1990s,
and matured in the 2000s. I first consumed the viewing preferences of the Greatest
Generation, cut my teeth on that of the Silent, and ultimately was influenced
by the Baby Boomers. It was only after leaving school that the pragmatic cynicism
of Generation Jones, and the pragmatic distrust of GenX reared its head, and
demanded that “Here we are now; Entertain us.” That’s a whole lot of world view
to digest.
Are you sitting comfortably? Then let’s begin.
The 1960s
I don’t remember much of the 1960s, being born midway
through. Living in the North (not the arctic, but the James Bay Frontier, where
media was still relatively limited: two tv channels – one French, one English –,
radio – I imagine the same split –, you can appreciate that choice was limited
to the set either being on or off. What I do remember is pretty trippy.
H.R.
Pufnstuf, and the
The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. Witchypoo on her
broom, cracking mirrors, it was all shades of
The Wizard of Oz, as I recall.
Everything else fades into the background, shadows in the fog of time. I don’t
think I watched much tv. I played outside. I went to bed early. I imagine most
of my viewing was very early morning and weekends, mainly Saturday Morning
Cartoons.
The 1970s
I recall far more from the 1970s, more as the decade
progressed.
The Hilarious House of Frightenstein,
Land of the Lost,
and
The Starlost, to begin. Science fiction had a decidedly Magicam took
to it, with people appearing to float in a world of minimalist high-tech
dollhouses and puppetry. Need I mention that I watched
Star Trek, in
syndication? I expect not.
However indulgent my parents might have been concerning
what was aired before bedtime, I mostly watched what my parents watched. In
that regard, I recall the background hum of the Vietnam War. And Watergate. I
was especially annoyed by Watergate: it pre-empted all our regular viewing with
stodgy old men in glasses blathering on about Nixon and a whole host of
apparently meaningless drivel concerning events I could not care less about,
then. It was all blah-blah-blah, talk, talk, talk, when I wanted to watch Planet
of the Apes and Hawaii 5-0.
It wasn’t all
Hawaii 5-0 and
The
Six Million Dollar Man, or even
The Wonderful World of Disney. I
might have been allowed to watch
Logan’s Run, but I was just as likely watching
The Waltons and
Little House on the Prairie; Carol Burnett and
Lawrence Welk. It turns out that networks on both side of the border were
concerned by a falling sense of morality on the tube: there was too much
violence on tv, too much sex. Something must be done! Thus, the wholesome content
of
The Waltons and
Little House. We collectively remember them
now with revulsion (more a feeling than a memory); but honestly, we turned in
week after week, so how bad could they have been? The worse we can say about
them, now, would be that they were saccharine, tales about family, and family
values, lacking in car chases and violence – which, honestly, was the point.
North of the border there was greater concern about the
lack of Canadian Content. Why should our networks produce our own expensive
shows when there was abundance flowing out of the cornucopia of the American
entertainment machine? Most viewers here did not seem to care. I did not; not
then. We produced what I remember my mother calling Canadian Crap!
The
Beachcombers comes to mind,
The Forest Rangers,
The Littlest Hobo,
Wayne and Schuster. But most shows were like
Front Page Challenge.
They were pale when compared with “high quality” American shows. It turns out
that we could compete when we put our minds to it.
The King of Kensington
was the first Canadian produced sitcom that received high acclaim, from both critics
and viewers. Some of it is even now considered exceptional: SCTV, for instance.
What I remember most of 1970s tv was emerging Social Consciousness.
Norman Lear coms to mind. He looms large in my tv memory: All in the Family,
The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, Maude, Good Times,
One Day at a Time. Shows that had a point. Gone were the like of Green
Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies. So too The Brady Bunch and
Gilligan’s Island. And Happy Days.
The 1980s
I have less recollection of 1980s TV. School looms larger
in my memory. I recall I retained a love of SF:
Star Trek,
Doctor Who,
V,
The Martian Chronicles. It was hit or miss, however:
Alien
Nation,
Buck Rogers in the 24th Century.
Airwolf,
Night
Rider,
Quantum Leap. Some of it is abysmal now. Others hold up well.
One short-lived show I was obsessed with was then was
Kolchak: The Night
Stalker. Yes, it was produced in the 1970s, but I did not see it here until
High School, in the 1980s, on late night. Like a lot of TV, then, its
production value was sketchy, but its influence was profound. So too
The
Twilight Zone. Same deal: I did not watch this show until the ‘80s.
My tastes were migrating, however. I was as likely to
watch St. Elsewhere and Hill Street Blues, as I was Mork and
Mindy. TV was definitely changing: Elsewhere and Blues might
not enjoy the vitriol The Waltons and Little House did, but they
were direct descendants, to my mind, Family Values meets Norman Lear. Honestly,
what I remember most about 1980s TV are miniseries, when just about everyone
tuned in for week-long airings of Roots, and Shogun, and The
Winds of War, and the like. They were spectacular, the limited series of
today in their time, novels come to life.
Family viewing in my house was
Saturday Night at the
Movies, with Elwy Yost, on TVO. It was TCM here in its time, before
excessive abundance drowned it in a sea of possibility. Before then, movies were
either aired blockbusters of years past, or made-for TV affairs. SNatM was
different, it was classic film, hosted by a movie nerd who was so uncool he was
beloved. Prior to Elwy my only ongoing exposure to classic film was what was
aired Sunday mornings when I was very young, Ma and Pa Kettle, Abbot and
Costello, Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang shorts. Elwy introduced me to a love of
film. Not spectacle blockbusters, but Noir, and New Wave Cinema, Silents, and
the like. To Bogart, Cary Grant, Barbara Stanwick, etc. I carry that love with
me to this very day.
Then post-secondary school reared its head, and TV all
but disappears from memory for a while. I watched. But it all slips from my
mind. I’ve memory of The Smurfs, and Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, and SNL. I suppose
the only thing that stands out is “Must See TV,” Thursday nights on NBC. How’s
that for marketing! Four sitcoms and a drama to obsess on: Taxi, Cheers, Family
Ties, Cosby, Night Court, A Different World, Seinfeld, Mad About You, Friends. ‘Nuff
Said.
TV faded into the background in those years, with little
other titles rising to the status of Must See TV, until Star Trek: The Next
Generation found its way to the screen.
The 1990s
SF came back into TV consciousness with ST:TNG.
The X
Files iced that cake, for me. But TV was not what it tickled my fancy, for
the most part. I’d broken the addiction while away at school. I was more about
film now than TV. Because TV was an endless supply of stuff I had little to no
interest in:
Dawson’s Creek,
Party of Five,
Beverly Hills
90210, etc. There were those head and shoulders above the rest, like
My
So Called Life, for instance; but I did not watch that – you can’t watch
everything. I was attracted by what might be (and was) referred to then as “TV
Too Good for TV.” Some of it hit a nerve with the public and lasted, most did
not, hence the tag:
Twin Peaks, and
Northern Exposure come to
mind. I wanted something different, something beyond the pale. I suppose I got
that more from film now, and less from TV. I was also working shiftwork. So,
unless I taped something, I was unlikely to see it with regularity.
You’d think I’d have watched more: this was the age where
my generation began to loom large, but, TV was becoming more formulaic as the
decade advanced, in my opinion, until it was of little of interest to me anymore.
The 2000s
Some TV was less formulaic:
The West Wing, for
instance; but, by this time I was watching less TV than ever. But the TV I was
watching was what had always appealed to me: difference. It matters not that
some of it was wildly popular, it was its difference to what had come before
was what drew me in. It was ever more cinematic.
The Sopranos was not
just about the mob; it was about a man losing his mind.
Six Feet Under
was about both the lives of those recently dead, but those who buried them
(still the best series finale I can think of).
Freaks and Geeks was what
I remembered to be my youth, in a nutshell.
Band of Brothers. Mad Men.
Deadwood. Lost. Entourage. Bleak House. Rome. Firefly. The reboot of
Battlestar
Galactica. I’d never seen such TV. I was somewhat addicted. Lat said, what appealed to me was their complex plots and character studies. Cinematic stories are fun to watch, but they are meaingless without the otther two, mere spectacle. These, however, blended both. Loved 'em!
Until it all came crashing down.
The 2010s
There were outliers, but TV has paled for me again.
Perhaps because my age group had been ushered to the wings again. Perhaps. We
were the parents. The sinister bosses. The villains in a world that
increasingly worships youth.
I wonder if I liked Stranger Things as much as I
have because it is set in the 1980s. It’s nostalgic, paired with Lovecraftian
Cosmic Horror. True Detective appeals because its stars are in my ballpark
generation, and its Cosmic Horror oblique.
If I’m being honest, there are still a lit of shows I
enjoy, but most are historical fictions, or cast with familiar actors, film
stars who’ve migrated to the small screen. I expect this trend to continue, as
I find that I hardly ever recognise new celebrities. They come and go with
staggering regularity now that the we’re flooded with ever increasing content
on streaming services. Who can keep up?
And Beyond
As networks flag, and soon to be swept into the dustbin
in this brave new world of streaming, I know I will fall further and further
behind, until, ultimately, I care little for what is on, on either the big or
small screens. We, I believe, will all become our parents, baffled by what
people choose to watch, it all so alien to our world-view and values. I realise
that my mother indulged my viewing preferences, back in the day, when it was
easier for her to let me watch whatever strange show I wished, only
occasionally demanding I watch those other, more “wholesome,” family-oriented
fare she would insist on: those
Waltons, Little House, St. Elsewhere
types. And to be honest, I do so miss some of that type of entertainment,
series not drowning in melodramatic angst, or overwhelmed with all too
stunningly beautiful superheroes that defeat all forms of evil, not because
they are clever and courageous, but because they believe in themselves.
