Of course at first my favorite shows were the cowboys and Robin Hood. Zorro and cartoons of every type. The cowboy show was king in the 50's, and here in 1961 the top three most watched shows were westerns: Wagon Train, Bonanza and Gunsmoke. Up until '61 Gunsmoke had been my favorite program of all time. The adventures of the classic good guy Marshal Dillon in Dodge City. Did he love Miss Kitty or not? Gruffy old Doc and Chester, the good-natured deputy who limped and brewed a mean cup of coffee. I had to-I mean absolutely had to see Gunsmoke every Saturday night. It was tradition!
There were lots of situation comedies, mostly about families with kids, or about kids going to school. There were plenty of wise parents giving out advice; little morality tales designed to show us all how to behave and to do the right thing. We never really knew what most of the fathers on those shows did for a living, though.
We might see Ward Cleaver in the office, but we were never too sure what he did there, and Ozzie Nelson was always home puttering around the house. What did he do to support his family anyway?
Jerry Mathers was getting older, and Leave It To Beaver was losing its charm. Opie Taylor was the cute kid on TV now, learning about life from his Pa Andy Taylor, Sheriff of Mayberry, and his surrogate mother, Aunt Bea. We knew what Andy Taylor did for a living. He kept the peace on the streets of Mayberry while keeping an eye on his ever frantic deputy Barney Fife, played to manic perfection by Don Knotts.
We knew what Rob Petrie did too. We watched him and Buddy and Sally create a TV show. We got a glimpse of what it was like to be in on the creative process as writers tried out their ideas on one another. The Dick Van Dyke show was the first "sophisticated", more adult-oriented sitcom, and it helped to change the look of American comedy on TV.
Things were changing on the Tube here in 1961. The westerns were still on top, but they were slowly losing their grip. The staples of the 1950s were fading and in their place were young detectives in exotic locations. 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye and Adventures In Paradise involved hip, swinging private eyes and lots of young and beautiful girls. Kookie, Kookie, lend me your comb!
We watched Tod and Buz search for America in their Corvette on Route 66, and women everywhere were entranced by young and handsome Dr. Kildare.
Animated shows cropped up in 1961. The Flintstones and Bugs Bunny were joined by Bullwinkle, Top Cat, The Alvin Show, Calvin and the Colonel and Matty's Funday Funnies, which would become Beany and Cecil the following year. Cartoons in prime time! Yeah, it would be a great year for TV. A lot harder to schedule, more difficult to choose. Which to watch now and which to watch in summer reruns?
Saturday nights would change. NBC made a deal that would bring recent movies to the small screen. Up till then the movie studios didn't want any part of the television business. They didn't want to help the competition, so most movies on television were low budget affairs that weren't very good. NBC's Saturday Night At The Movies would change all that, and if a really great picture was being shown that night, I'd even forsake watching my beloved Gunsmoke.
But for me, that television season brought us the funniest show ever seen. The actors were plain-looking every day people. They were New York's finest. The crazy, wacky antics of Gunther Toody and Francis Muldoon as they patrolled the Bronx in Car 54, Where Are You?
Car 54 was different. It was funny and crazy, and its characters gave us the full spectrum of America. It was one of the few ethnic shows in which everyone was equal. There were black policemen who were sergeants and dispatchers and regular patrolmen. There was Jewish humor and Irish humor, and it was all just plain hilarious. The patrolmen of the 53rd Precinct were regular guys just doing their jobs until things got complicated by the bumbling, ever confused Gunther Toody. The Precinct was run by Captain Block, who was always trying to control things without losing his temper.
Leo Schnauzer and his wife Sylvia, the Costanzas of their day. Gunther's wife Lucille would stick her head out of their apartment window and exclaim: "My husband's a nut! Did you hear me world? My husband's a nut!"
Whenever Gunther Toody would have an idea, he'd say, "Ooh-ooh," and you knew there would be something outlandish brewing.
There were so many crazy episodes that it's difficult to pick a favorite, but the one in which Gunther baby sits Captain Block's parrot Be-Be is one of its most memorable. The bird can't talk, and it's a source of embarrassment for the poor captain. Gunther decides to surprise the captain by teaching her to talk by the time he gets back from vacation. He attempts to teach Be-Be how to say "I love Captain Block," but gets so frustrated that he blurts out "I hate Captain Block!" Of course, this is what Be-Be learns how to say. Great characters, imaginative scripts and a wonderful cast had me looking forward to every Sunday night at 8:30. It was only on for two years, but it was two years of great TV.
TV was changing. It was looking for something new, searching for a younger audience. Soon Father wouldn't know best and Beaver would just leave. For whatever reason, Ozzie and Harriet would keep on having adventures, and the Douglas family would have more than three sons. More movies would be shown, and next summer I'd get to stay up and watch The Late Show and sometimes even The Late Late Show, watching Tarzan and the Marx Brothers and W.C. Fields.
Most of the prime time cartoons would go back to day time programming, but we'd get The Jetsons in '62.
There was a lot to like on TV. Only three channels meant the competition was strong, so there was always something good on at least one of the Big Three.
Yeah, there was a lot to like, and most people still loved Lucy.
But me, "I love Captain Block!"
"Oooh-ooh."
No comments:
Post a Comment