What is the difference between TV in the 1950's and TV today?

Question

Comparing and contrasting the two.

Answer 1

That's right, we had three channels if you were lucky and they did not broadcast 24 hours a day. That's how we got the term late late show. Movies that came on late at night. Late like 11 pm,, and most stations stopped broadcasting around 1 am. I keep saying broadcasting because there was no cable only over the air broadcasting. Everyone had an antennae and if you were well off you had one with an electric motor on it that made the top turn when you twisted a knob on a unit that was kept on top of the set. Turning made the picture come in clearer which by the way was usually in black and white. My family once dressed up and drove 40 miles just to see a color TV. A lot of TV was live as well as were the commercials. One example is you never heard the word pregnant. A woman and a man were rarely even shown in the bedroom and if so there was always twin beds. Those Victoria Secret commercials you see today along with a lot of the beer ads would have been considered pornography.

Answer 2

Well in the 1950's you could not say the word pregnant on a sitcom. When Luci and Desi had their little boy they had to use the euphimism that she was "expecting".
In movies and on tv you could not show a man and woman on a bed unless both had their feet on the floor.
In the 1950's we paid 25cents a gallon for gas.

On the other hand there was rampant racism everywhere in the US. Black people had few rights and what few they had were usually not actually given to them.
If a woman applied for welfare they would call all her relatives and ask if they couldnt help her out instead of her being on welfare.
Almost all women who became pregnant when not married either married or gave the child up for adoption.
Most women stayed home and took care of the kids and did not work outside the home leaving the men with the whole financial responsibility.
All of this was shown on tv except the part about the pregnancies, the racism, and the womens rights issues.
Really they gave a sugar coated version of real life. Remember when Lucy and Ethel tried to get a job at the candy making factory - it was funny then but now its sad that they showed this wonderful actress looking dumb to make her useless husband look better.

Answer 3

To continue the technical aspect of things today's TVs have a much higher video bandwidth limit due to being solid state and using modern components meaning that they can display higher video signal frequencies. Higher frequencies equal sharper edge detail such as going directly from black to white. The bandwidth limit is also the reason that up till now all TVs have been interlaced meaning that they scan lines 1,3,5,7 etc first then 2,4,6,8 etc. If they had tried to use progressive scan like computer monitors and some modern TVs do now the picture would have been twice as blurry as it already was and probably would not have been watchable. For a good example of how the detail has improved over the years watch the game show network during a 70s episode of Match Game etc. and compare the picture quality during the show to the fine print during the commercials. By the way the reason that the vertical frequency almost matches the power frequency (60 fields per second/30 frames per second with 60HZ power in the USA and 50 fields per second/25 frames per second with 50HZ power in the UK) is that old TVs had large power transformers in them and the magnetic field from the transformer would distort the picture. With the power and scan frequencies the same the distortion was fixed and mostly not noticeable but if the frequencies were different the distortion would have rolled vertically and become visible.

Answer 4

Far less industry, higher unemployment, more violence in schools, more children being dumped in daycare rather than being raised by their parents, more divorce. A morbid obsession with health and safety, more and more petty regulations about what people can and cannot do. Children less likely to be out and about on their own. people more sedentary, going everywhere by car rather than walking or taking buses or riding bikes. Endless tiresome harassmetn of smokers. Far more teenagers beings sexually active, and more girls getting pregnant. Many modern conveniences they didn't have in the 1950s, computers, DVDS, CDs, mobile phones etc. IFar more TV stations than were availabe in the 50s (in the UK we only had two then) In the UK, the variety of food available in the shops vastly wider and more varied than it would have been in the 50s(it was a terrible era for food here). More supermarkets and chain stores, fewer small independent shops. The fact that there is about to be a black president of the USA would probably strike many visitors from the 50s as interesting, whether they approved or not. The segregation that prevailed in the 50s has been dismantled. Some occupations that were not considered suitable for women in the 50s are now allowed. it would probably surprise 50s visitors to see lady firefighters and soldiers, for example. Far more women 'juggling' nowadays (that is, combining marriage with a career, not considered a desirable choice in the 50s).

Answer 5

On a technical note. The sets of the 50's were all manual tube sets. You actually had to get off your duff to change channels, and sound levels, even fine tuning was manually done. Unless you were one of the lucky few to be able to afford the wired remote Zenith called "Lazy Bones". The sets were very inefficient with their use of power. Most TV sets were a piece of furniture. All sets were black and white until 1955, and color broadcast did not happen until the early 60's.
When the set broke down, you called the neighborhood repair man to come to your home and fix it. We kept the set running for as much as 20 years since it was cheaper to do that than to buy another.

Now, we have infra-red remote with digital tuning and surround sound. We have high definition, and digital broadcast. The sets are all solid state, NO TUBES even the CRT (picture tube) is becoming obsolete. All sets are automatcally fine tuned and automatically monitored for color accuracy. The "console TV" has been a thing of the past since 1999-2000. You have to buy a separate stand for it now. Newer sets have a lot more features, while being less expensive. (again due to solid state and computer controls). The miniaturization of the circuitry has all but eliminated the repairman being able to do a house call. If the set is a 25" (used to be considered a big screen) or smaller, when it breaks, you just throw it out and buy another.

Answer 6

There was nothing even remotely similar. In the 1950's TV stations were only on the air 8 to 10 hours a day... all in Black and White. We got our first TV in 1953 and would sit for several hours watching a snowy test pattern until the programming would start on one of the 3 TV stations we could get.

Answer 7

...in the '50's a lot of TV programming was:

FUNNIER with a simpler humor:
Milton Berle (Uncle Miltie! ..remember him in a dress!?)
The Red Skelton Show (I loved Clem Kadiddlehopper)
Red Buttons Show

Had great WESTERNS!:
Rawhide (Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates, Yumm!)
Gunsmoke
The Rifleman

VARIETY SHOWS:
Ed Sullivan (Remember plate spinners?)
The Perry Como Show
Jackie Gleason

BETTER SITCOMS:
The Honeymooners
Father Knows Best
I Love Lucy

BETTER "AMERICAN IDOL SHOWS":
Ted Mack's Original Amateur Show
Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts

NO CABLE NEWS, but...
NBC, CBS News, Meet the Press

LESS/SHORTER COMMERCIALS:
Programs usually only had one commercial that ran for 1 1/2 minutes, or else much shorter commercials.

CIGARETTES were advertised...
Taryton, Lucky Strike, Oasis, Philip Morris, Winston and
Chesterfield

COMMERCIALS WERE EASIER TO UNDERSTAND:
Brylcreem (..a lit'l dab'l do ya')
Wonderbread (..made from batter, not dough)
Ipana Toothpaste
Kool-aid (..only 5 cents)
Pillsbury Cake Mix (..Nothin' says lovin' like somethin' from the oven..)

TRIVIA...Mr. Clean has his earring in his Left Ear in the 50's; and children appeared in some cigarette commercials.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS:
Violence was tempered and sex was subtle. A married couples' bedroom usually had twin beds! Everything was not so graphic, even the language. Sex was more fun because it seemed more innocent. Kids were kids.

Oh, and a LOT of the programming in the 50's was still black and white!

SO - TO CONTRAST? TV today certainly isn't as funny, the great westerns are gone and the closest thing to a variety show today is Jay Leno. The sitcom selection sucks (pardon the term) although I do like "Reba", I am grateful for MSNBC on cable, and I do like SOME of the funnier/thoughtful commercials shown on tv today (please bring back the Budweiser frogs) I don't miss cigarette ads, but could do without all the medical and male enhancement products. The violence is horribly graphic, sex is everywhere and in your face. There are more channels and less to watch.
And, I usually end up watching cable channels carrying old tv programming......
But, I do like color tv!

Answer 8

1950's everyone drinking and smoking sometimes even when the are pregnant

today no drinking and smoking and generally not even cigarette advertisements

1950's no couples sleeping in the same bed
today couples all share a bed
1950's family problems are tame like kids learning responsibility, ethics, etc. Parents always knew best
today families deal with sexual issues, divorce, drugs, etc

1950's cowboys are heroes, telivision is for kids
today cowboys are usually rough, killers

1950's very patriotic, pro-establishment
today social and political dissent is accepted, politics satirized, and president is not always right

today late night porn!! murder, rape, drugs
1950's dancing and kissing and rock n roll were obscene

need I go on? Read your notes and book, silly

Answer 9

Are you talking about TV shows or the equipment?
Well if you are talking about the shows then back then they were more strict and overly politically correct. Plus they portrayed families on TV as being "perfect"
Where as today almost anything goes and most TV families are portrayed as being real with real problems

If you are talking about the equipment well huge difference, 50's were not as reliable as today's TV and today's TV are much more advance.

Answer 10

Well, June Cleaver left the kitchen, Lucy no longer entertains...More boobs, legs and lip closeups, more sex, the word "b-itch" is used without batting an eye, advertising has taken a whole new course (for lack of a better word), and people don't necessarily watch the same shows as their neighbors....there is more choice, more reruns, more violence, more news, it's just more...but then again, is it?