1950s TV Shows
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Topic: 1950s TV Shows
Posted By: presdoug
Subject: 1950s TV Shows
Date Posted: September 05 2015 at 20:09
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Though I wasn't around in the 1950s (I was born in '62), and I didn't grow up watching them, I have developed a fascination for 1950s TV series. It is a window onto a lost world, in a way, and since I have always liked learning about history, it is a real draw for me. Television was in it's infancy back then, and that was both a good and a bad thing; in looking back, I find the material dated, but I love it all the same! The shows I currently have on dvd from the fifties are: One Step Beyond Ramar of the Jungle The Adventures Of Robin Hood The Adventures of Sir Lancelot Sky King Dragnet Racquet Squad Northwest Passage Wagon Train The Victor Borge Show The Adventures Of Jim Bowie Does anybody else have a penchant for this kind of thing?
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Replies:
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 05 2015 at 20:54
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More '60s shows than '50s were being rerun when I was a kid and they were already ancient, but did have a strange hold on me, e.g. Twilight Zone, Wild Wild West, Outer Limits, Lost in Space. Things like 'One Step Beyond', 'Sky King' or the British 'Robin Hood' weren't being shown. But I do love the style and atmosphere of that era. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: September 05 2015 at 22:58
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I was born in 1951...but I didn't start watching tv until about 1956-7 when my dad finally brought home out first set. I did watch many of the ones you listed....and also liked Have Gun Will Travel ,Gunsmoke, The Lone Ranger. ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 05 2015 at 23:27
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I also love the radio broadcasts of the 30s and 40s ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 05:01
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We didn't get a tv until 1964 but remember watching it when visiting some of our more affluent relatives before then. Being a kid, I enjoyed cartoons and animations more than live action or sit-coms so most of what I remember are cartoons from the early sixties (Quick Draw McGraw, Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, etc.) and the early output from Gerry Anderson (Torchy The Battery Boy, Supercar, Fireball XL5 and Space Patrol) However, some shows made in the 50s that were still being shown in the 60s were "must watch" programmes such as Robin Hood (the British series with Richard Greene), I Love Lucy and of course The Phil Silver's Show, without which we would never have got the indisputable Top Cat.
------------- What? |
Posted By: timothy leary
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 10:52
| The Real McCoys with the great Walter Brennan |
Posted By: TeleStrat
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 11:25
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Back then when it came to evening TV shows the parents decided what to watch. Around our house these were some of the regulars... Gunsmoke The Honeymooners The Red Skelton Show The Ed Sullivan Show I Love Lucy Father Knows Best Sea Hunt 77 Sunset Strip Lassie Make Room For Daddy (Danny Thomas) When we got our first TV ('54 or '55?) there didn't seem to be a lot of shows to watch. By the late fifties the industry had grown and there were more channels and many more shows. That could be because we lived in the midwest and moved to Southern California in 1957 and there was more to choose from here. |
Posted By: aglasshouse
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 12:06
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The Twilight Zone. ------------- http://fryingpanmedia.com |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 14:21
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Dean wrote:Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 14:22
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Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 14:24
And Red Skelton was so funny!
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Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 14:32
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A few others I liked back in the day.... Wagon Train/Rawhide Maverick Sea Hunt Adventures of Superman Peter Gunn ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: TeleStrat
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 15:33
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^^ Red Skelton was funny and his show was very popular. He played a few characters but I think Freddie The Freeloader was the most well known.
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Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 16:49
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One of the most disturbing cartoons of the late 50's/early 60s was Clutch Cargo. It was weird to watch when I was kid, and the years have not changed the overall strangeness of the moving lips: ------------- ...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology... |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 17:26
| ^I just watched that, and I did find it a little weird. I wonder what the point is with the odd lip movements and colouring? |
Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 17:29
I believe it is piss-poor animation with live-action real actors' lips superimposed on the toons. ------------- ...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology... |
Posted By: dwill123
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 17:33
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Today (2015) people watch midday TV that consists of Jerry Springer, Maury and\or Ellen. Back in the early 60s and 70swe used to watch these 50s shows and they were great. I believe all are available on dvd and you can find complete episodes on YouTube. Topper
Highway Patrol Have Gun - Will Travel Whirlybirds The Millionaire Colonel Bleep (the first color cartoon made for TV) |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 17:38
It was done to keep costs down, it was cheaper to superimpose real lips than redraw each cell of the animation. It's as creepy as hell thou' ------------- What? |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 17:40
It was cheaper-- animating accurate speech is tedious and time-consuming. It's the same reason comix artists began drawing characters in tights: it was much quicker and easier than drawing realistic clothing, and allowed comic books to be knocked-out fast, printed, and out to the newsstands. This is why the artists who drew the Spiderman cartoon of the '60s never bothered to put webbing on anything but his mask, it would've taken far too much work. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 17:46
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In the UK they didn't even attempt to lip-sync cartoons... ------------- What? |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 17:46
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Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 17:53
I vaguely remember this, but as my overriding memory of it is that it starred the guy that played Mr Waverly in the Man From U.N.C.L.E. then I doubt I saw it in the 60s. ------------- What? |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 17:54
Sure, too much work. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 17:58
| ^that Ivor cartoon was cute, Dean |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 18:16
Oliver Postgate created another much-loved cartoon series called Noggin the Nog. Ian on the ZART team here has a Noggin related username, Nogbad the Bad. ------------- What? |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 18:30
| ^neat, thanks |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: September 06 2015 at 18:32
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One programme that started in 1958 that is still being made and broadcast is Blue Peter. Unfortunately nothing of the early programmes exist (the BBC had a policy of wiping and reusing video tape in the 60s and 70s, they even wiped their recordings of the Moon landings). Here is a clip from 1979 featuring some snot-nosed kid who recorded music in his home "studio" ------------- What? |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: September 07 2015 at 08:11
| ^that's cool, seeing and hearing MIke Oldfield in that context |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: September 07 2015 at 08:35
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Posted By: Stann
Date Posted: September 07 2015 at 08:48
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Sea Hunt The Millionare were big ones for me back then. I dreamed of becoming a skin-diver. First song I wrote as a kid was about that. Most of those shows are unwatchable nowadays - and I don't mean unobtainable. Westerns became spy-sh*t. All tv became spysh*t or doctor programs. They were reluctant to take chances then. Always with what they thought was the proven formula. (Im talking American tv) |
Posted By: Stann
Date Posted: September 07 2015 at 08:51
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"Danger Man" (Secret Agent Man") broke the mold. Every episode was a - then- different exotic location. But Danger Man was not 50s, of course. The only oldentimes series I bother watching are Danger Man and the early episodes of Twilight Zone (where the acting was absolutely superb). |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: September 07 2015 at 09:57
I think I've mentioned this in another tv nostalgia thread, but Danger Man was my absolute favourite tv series in the 60s, more so than The Avengers or even Dr Who.  ------------- What? |
Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: September 07 2015 at 10:09
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I recall 4 series from the 1950s that I watched as reruns as a youngster in the 60s: The Adventures of William Tell (a British series, if I recall) The Last of the Mohicans (featuring Lon Chaney Jr. as Chingachgook) The Adventures of Robin Hood (another Brit venture) Davey Crockett (a Disney series with Fess Parker playing virtually the same role in the 60s Daniel Boone) I remember having a 'coonskin cap when I was 4 or 5, just like Davey.  ------------- ...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology... |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: September 07 2015 at 10:22
That reminded me of the Billy Connolly quip: "My definition of an intellectual is someone who can listen to the William Tell Overture without thinking of the Lone Ranger." In the UK The Adventures of William Tell and The Lone Ranger themes were both based upon the same section of Rossini's William Tell Overture... ------------- What? |
Posted By: Rando
Date Posted: September 09 2015 at 23:40
Oh god this is taking me down childhood memory lane! Well at the risk of giving away age here! I was born in the 50's and as a child I remember some great shows somewhere between 1958-64; some overlapped into the 60's: The Loretta Young Show The Millionaire Ted Mack's Original Hour Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Show The Donna Reed Show The Rogue's Gallery (I think that's the title(?)) Half Gun Will Travel (?) Kids' Shows: Howdy Doody Beany & Cecil Clutch Cargo Bullwinkle & Rocky Crusader Rabbit Captain Kangaroo (I loved this morning show-with a list of beloved characters, Mr. Green-Jeans ( the Captain's sidekick), Bunny Rabbit, Mr. Moose, & Dancing Bear). I'm sure some of these (hopefully) are available on DVD or Youtube-  ------------- - Music is Life, that's why our hearts have beats - |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 09 2015 at 23:55
 This is the original '64/'65 series ... totally killer show ahead of its time with great tech and supercool animation. More like comix than cartoons. Great show. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: Rando
Date Posted: September 10 2015 at 21:16
 I loved Jonny Quest! Was there a movie version ever made?
------------- - Music is Life, that's why our hearts have beats - |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 10 2015 at 21:57
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Yes there was a TV movie called Jonny's Golden Quest in '93 on USA (which was pretty damn good as I recall if a bit different from the original, more modern), and then a sequel Jonny Quest vs. the Cyber Insects. Before that there was a series in the 80s, 'The New Adventures of Jonny Quest', with him grown into a young man. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: Dragon Drop
Date Posted: September 15 2015 at 19:52
| I've never watched a lot of TV, but the Twilight Zone was good. |
Posted By: dwill123
Date Posted: September 16 2015 at 18:32
I believe this classic was missed: The Untouchables. Staring Robert Stack as Eliot Ness. To our younger viewers, Robert Stack was more known as Rex Kramer from the movie "Airplane" or ATF Agent Fleming ("cavity search") from the movie "Beavis and Butt-head Do America". |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 16 2015 at 19:10
and Unsolved Mysteries . Untouchables was an excellent show, very tough and gritty for 1950s TV. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: September 16 2015 at 20:42
| ^^Don't know The Untouchables, guys, will have to check that out-sounds interesting. |