What was television like in the 1950s?

Question

I need to know if it was just black and white. For communication/advertisment? Did people sit down as a family to watch it? Certain times people would watch tv? Favorite tv shows? And LOTS of detail please!

Answer 1

Black-and-white. Programming included entertainment and some news, along with commercial advertising. As more and more families came to own television sets, evening family viewing was common. (Remember, there weren't 900 channels as there are now, so most programs had to have broad rather than segmented appeal.) Variety programs--music and comedy--starring, among others, Milton Berle, Arthur Godfrey, Sid Caesar, Steve Allen (the original "Tonight" show) were among the most popular shows, as were shows like Playhouse 90 that presented different dramatic stories, plays really, every week. Also westerns like "Gunsmoke," crime drama ("Peter Gunn") and kid's shows like "Howdy Doody" Early sitcoms like "The Donna Reed Show", and "Father Knows Best" were big, as well as the all-time classic, "I Love Lucy" It was also during this period that TV news began taking shape (see "Good Night and Good Luck" --Edward R, Murrow and his gang basically built TV news)

Answer 2

Yes it was black and white and there were 3 channels at first. ATN 7, TCN 9, and ABC 2. They used to close down at about 11 or 12. The whole family still ate dinner together at the table then would go to the lounge room and watch telly. It was like a miracle!

Only a few families had tv back then, and the shops that sold them would leave them on in shop window and lots of people would stand outside watching for hours. We had tv but our neighbours didn't, so they used to come over to our house in the evening after dinner to watch. There was always a movie at 8 30 Sunday evenings, without fail. It would be a big decision whether to watch the 9 or 7 movie!

We used to watch alot of westerns in those days. The Rifleman, Wagon Train, Bronco, Cheyenne, Sugarfoot, Maverick, The Restless Gun, Trackdown, The lawman, Have Gun, Will Travel, Gunsmoke, Wanted Dead or Alive, Lots of others.

Lots of other shows as well. Superman, Robin Hood, and quiz shows , Concentration, Say When, Pick A Box and music shows , Bandstand, Six O'Clock Rock, Saturday Date.

Life didn't revolve around tv then, we just used to enjoy it as a treat. We always complained about the ads though. The shows we used to watch would seem corny today, but we thought they were great! Those were really the good old days.

Answer 3

Ok, my mom grew up in the 50's. My grandfather every Christmas season would be able to borrow a TV from work. They HAD to sit down and watch it as a family. Often people would be invited over to watch TV with them. It was a very special thing. Not everyone was able to own a TV. In later years my mom was not allowed to go out until AFTER the Ed Sullivan show was over. Imagine that being forced to watch TV. Ads were done in black and white and apparently done live as well. So there were lots of mistakes lol. And I believe colour TV did not come around until the 70's. Definately a lot different back than. :)

Answer 4

B&W. Most shows were sitcoms, westerns, variety shows. My parents and I would watch television after dinner was over and the kitchen cleaned up (couldn't watch TV if dishes weren't washed). It became a focal social point of the family; my father and I liked to watch boxing together. My mother enjoyed variety shows, i.e. Ed Sullivan Show, Nat King Cole Show, Your Show of Shows, GE Theater. People don't realize now the difference that it made; especially in reporting the news. Being Black, my first real memories of the news were stories involving pictures of police spraying Black protesters with fire hoses and setting dogs to them. My parents didn't have those images growing up - I did. I got to see JFK's funeral. I got to see the first Moon Landing. I got to see Bobby Kennedy get shot. Those are the images that influenced my life.

Answer 5

Actually Professional Wrestling drew a larger audience in 1949 than Milton Burl when Gorgeous George (Wagner)wrestled on the Dumont Network. The Lone Ranger. Rescue 8.

Answer 6

Lots and lots of wholesome family entertainment, all in black and white. "I Love Lucy" was probably one of the most watched shows. Red Skelton had a comedy show, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Dragnet, American Bandstand, We were one of the first families on the street to get a TV, the neighbor children would come over at night and watch with us until they fell asleep, then we would awake and they went home. I don't really remember commercials I guess they had to have had them. It was so entertaining and we rushed home from school just in time for American Bandstand with Dick Clark. Such fun!!!

Answer 7

television has improve into far extra integrated into people's lives than it ever grew to become into in the Nineteen Fifties. returned then, it grew to become right into a luxury to have a television, and television time grew to become into specific. Programming grew to become into plenty extra constrained. There weren't as many channels, and there have been no longer as many varieties of shows - you distinctly plenty had to take what you ought to get. No ESPN, no movie channels. a great form of social adjustments have handed off, too. in the '50s, television grew to become into many times "cleanser" and extra healthful - couples on sitcoms did no longer even share beds.

Answer 8

The TV was black and white, and we only got three channels...I remember sitting with my parents to watch Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Rawhide, Whirlybird, etc. No remote control back then...

Answer 9

Television has changed a lot since then. It has changed from black and white to color. It changed from big heavy boxes of plastic, to thin pieces of plastic. There are all kinds of different televisions today.

Answer 10

Yes, we sat down as a family and DAD chose.

Perry Mason was popular.
Lone Ranger & Roy Rogers.
Captain Kangaroo -- kids show.
Father knows best & Leave it to Beaver.