Anyone still out there watching TV?
I’m old enough that the concept of ‘watching TV’ still resonates as viewing network programs.
So, I don’t watch much (any) TV these days.
I was reminded of those halcyon viewing days this week, when (while I was on my laptop, not watching TV), the algorithm overlords from YouTube recommended an old episode of ‘Battle of the Network Stars.’
Howard Cosell! Mr. Kotter running track! Daisy Duke in a dunk tank! I mean, who could resist.
As a very young lad, our TVs (one giant console beast with me serving as the remote control, another small version in my parents’ room and an old-black-and-white beauty in the basement where I watched sports) had the standard 2-through-13 channels.
We had the big three American networks (ABC, CBS, NBC), plus CBC (English and French), CHEK-6, BCTV and KSTW out of Seattle. I may be forgetting one or two, but that was about it.
If you had a sports game on Tuesdays, you probably missed ‘Happy Days’, ‘Laverne and Shirley’ and ‘Three’s Company’ and would never get to see it again until summer reruns (unless your family bucked up for a $1,500, 1,500 pound VCR).
ABC also introduced me to Farrah Fawcett, Charlie’s finest angel, a boyhood crush that will never fade.
It was appointment television. After dinner, the parents watched the nightly news. If I was home, I watched the last 10 minutes to catch the sports highlights, before resuming play until 8 p.m., when everyone settled in to watch the evening’s offerings.
If we didn’t like the chosen program, I had to watch it in black and white and my sister was sometimes allowed to watch the bedroom TV. Nielsen ratings were a huge thing, the network battles really were just that.
My same algorithm overlords presented me with a list of those ratings from April 1985.
No. 1? ‘The Cosby Show’. Tough to watch those these days without a decided ick factor.
‘Dynasty’, ‘The A-Team’, ‘Family Ties’ and ‘Who’s the Boss’ rounded out the top five.
Even down near the bottom of the list were ‘Benson’, ‘St. Elsewhere’ and ‘Silver Spoons’. We watched ‘em all, mostly because there was little choice.
One of my finest moments was receiving an old RCA XL-100, a 13-inch colour model that I had to have within a foot of my bed if I wanted to reach over to change the channels. At my disposal at any time! Such freedom. Mostly just Sports Page at 11, then off to sleep. But still…
Now, there are more programming choices than you can shake a remote at. And you can watch them any time of day or night with the push of a button.
In our home today, we have a variety of large smart televisions. And on a given day, pretty much none of them are ‘watching TV’ as I’d come to know it.
The teenager is watching YouTube or playing video games on a monitor bigger than any TV young me could have ever hoped for. His mother is streaming ‘Conjoined Twin Bachelors With Strange Addictions to Amish Construction’ or something along those lines. I watch sports while on my laptop, mostly ignoring the giant TV itself.
I couldn’t tell you a single network TV show. Any of my limited knowledge of what’s on comes from snippets on X or TikTok.
And that’s a shame. Progress? I’m not so sure.
So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to spend a few minutes watching Wonder Woman cheer on Mister Kaw-Tair beat the little ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ guy in a sprint, for old-time’s sake.
What are you watching these days? PQB News/Vancouver Island Free Daily editor Philip Wolf can be reached at philip.wolf@blackpress.ca.