The content of old TV shows

[tashirosgt]

In the Fun-N-Games sections there is a quiz for oldsters that includes many questions about old TV shows. Those questions focus on repeated aspects like characters' names and slogans. But what about the content of individual shows?

I know that I must have watched every episode of "Rod Brown And The Rocket Rangers" and "Tom Corbit And The Space Cadets". However, all I remember is that people were always climbing up and down ladders inside the space ship.


Sure, the Lone Ranger wore a mask and used silver bullets. But what happened on the show? One thing that I remember is a repeated motif. The bad men would capture Tonto, tie him up and want to make him talk. This was in the days before formal water boarding. I suppose they couldni't scare little kids by having the villains brand Tonto with a hot poker. So one villain would say "A little drink will make him talk". Then a villain would hold Tontos head and pour a bottle of something over his mouth. (The bottles always looked like Wine bottles.) Tonto would sputter and babble but he didn't give away the secret, whatever it was.


When I think of the vast number of evil persons and schemes that rose and fell on "Captain Midnight", "Sky King", "The Cisco Kid" - why did they leave no permanent impression? Did I become jaded like real life policemen can become jaded with real life crime?

Yes, mom. I knew that Slade would never get the ranch. It didn' surprise me when Jingles antics distracted the bad men and let Wild Bill Hickock break free. I've seen this kind of thing a thousand times. People never learn. That's the ways TV goes. It's a tough job, but someone's got to watch it.

[peteshimmon]

I remember the Lone Ranger giving me my first
experience of TV critisism more than 50 years
ago. At the end of each show some characters
would say of few words of appreciation of the
man galloping away in the dust. At this a long
low moan would be heard from my Dad. It was
somewhat painful apparently.

[kleindoofy]

... why did they leave no permanent impression? ...
Having an extremely bad memory might be a plausible explanation.

[Larry Jacks]

One of the few things I remember about the old Lone Ranger series was when someone said something like "thanks to one man and an Indian", I wondered why they didn't think Tonto was a man.

Of course, I wonder the same thing when I see an article (most often about the Navy) where they say "officers and men". I guess officers can't be men.

[HenrikOlsen]

One of the few things I remember about the old Lone Ranger series was when someone said something like "thanks to one man and an Indian", I wondered why they didn't think Tonto was a man.
I expect it's similar to "When Billy The Kid was 21 he had killed 21 men and an unspecified number of Indians and Mexicans".
It's a saying from before racism became politically incorrect.

[novaderrik]

old shows are packed full of things that would get all sorts of groups protesting them if they were to make them today.
just watch some old cartoons-
Tom and Jerry is nothing but pure violence, with the occasional racism thrown in for good measure.
Foghorn Leghorn was racist, sexist, and homophobic.
actually, pretty much every cartoon was violent, racist, sexist, and homophobic- and also just downright awesome and hilarious. it was all just so wrong that it was right.
a few years back, a dvd box set of the first few seasons of Sesame Street was released, and it had a disclaimer right on the package that it was inappropriate for modern children. apparently, Dave Chappelle's take on the show was correct- looking at it from a modern perspective the old school Count was a pimp, Oscar was a crackhead, Snuffy was a pothead, and Bert and Ernie were a gay couple.
and they all got along without overtly judging each other for their failings or differences. Sesame Street was ahead of their time- they paved the way for pretty much all of the modern shows that fill the airwaves today.

[tashirosgt]

"Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion" might still be topical.

[Chuck]

I vaguely remember The Lone Ranger, Sea Hunt, Route 66, Sky King, Ripcord, Commando Cody, Have Gun Will Travel, The Hawaiian Eye, and The Cisco Kid but I can't remember any plot lines at all.

[danscope]

The general plot in "the Lone Ranger" was that, in fact, he was a Ranger,
what became "The Texas Rangers". There were 12, I believe, and they were
masacered, nearly wiped out, and the Lone Ranger was left for dead.
Tonto found him and helped him back to health. Their ambition was to find the men who had plotted against the 12. They were involved in many side escapades as well. The mask was to hide his "Ranger " Identity, the better to catch the ones he wanted.
Best regards,
Dan

[DonM435]

As a little kid, I used to watch Amos 'n' Andy reruns nearly every day after school. As you may know, the show was eventually pulled from circulation due to objections about its portrayal of black Americans.

I recently acquired a bootleg DVD set of the series to relive the experience. (It's extremely poor quality and missing a few shows, but there likely won't be an official release any time soon.)

The shows are still very funny. The bad video makes them look a century old, and lends a timeless quality. But I can now understand the criticism. George "Kingfish" Stevens, the lead character, appears to have a third grade education at best, but is shrewd and devious to the extreme. And he's the smart one. The only reason that his schemes almost work is that his eternal victim, Andrew H. Brown, is positively cretinous. (The irony here is that Spencer Williams, who played Andy, was a respected and successful filmmaker in segregated cinema. He must have toiled hard to appear such a boob.) Calhoun, the inept and crooked lawyer, is almost as dumb. Kingfish's wife and mother-in-law are eternally shrewish. Wise, hardworking Amos, the only good advice around, is routinely ignored by all.

It's not as if there weren't plenty of silly white people on the air in competition to this show. Ralph Kramden and Lucy come to mind, though their shows had far more positive elements. You have to remember is that these were, at the time, the only black characters that anybody saw on television.

Occasionally, the show has an warm moment (Amos telling bedtime stories to his kids) or an upbeat ending (Kingfish patches things up with Sapphire, or he succeeds at something without swindling Andy), but they're rare, very rare. Roy Glenn, a bass-voiced character actor whom you'll surely recognize, is a frequent supporting player in numerous roles. The shows do feature black businessmen, teachers, judges, and some of the bad guys are Caucasian. The lead actors are all very skilled at comic business.

I guess this has to remain a Guilty Pleasure. I wouldn't want to expose kids to it without some guidance.

[tashirosgt]

Wow! I might remember a fragment of one of those shows. It's something about Andy starting a donut shop. Kingfish wants to sabotage it. (I don't know why.) So he tells Calhoun that they will put a nail in one of the donuts. Kingfish and Calhoun go into the shop and it is Kingfish's job to distract Andy. He begins a conversation with Andy and claims that someone (Saffire?) had to have an operation. He begins to describe it. He says that the doctor shouted "GET READY TO START THE OPERATION ! GET READY TO START THE OPERATION!" (which is a signal to Calhoun.) He continues the description by saying . "and then the doctor said 'START THE OPERATION! START THE OPERATION!'". This tells Calhoun to put the nail in a donnut. Having accomplished his mission, Kingfish ends the story abruptly, making his tale seem even stranger.

[Phamph]

Even when I was practically a toddler, I had difficulty understanding why Major Nelson and Jeannie werent having sex.

[danscope]

Everything was in the bottle! Maj. Nelson was a gentleman.
And poor Major Bellows.... what ever became of him? It was reported that he was ......'seeing things'....Hmmm. :)

[Cougar]

I vaguely remember The Lone Ranger, Sea Hunt, Route 66, Sky King, Ripcord, Commando Cody, Have Gun Will Travel, The Hawaiian Eye, and The Cisco Kid but I can't remember any plot lines at all.

Didn't always watch all of those, but Have Gun Will Travel was a favorite around our house.

[Rue]

Even when I was practically a toddler, I had difficulty understanding why Major Nelson and Jeannie werent having sex.

Because they'd have to be married first! :naughty:

[Phamph]

Everything was in the bottle! Maj. Nelson was a gentleman.
And poor Major Bellows.... what ever became of him? It was reported that he was ......'seeing things'....Hmmm. :)
Later on he wound up as a cellmate of Chief Inspector Dreyfus (from the Pink Panther) :shifty:
Because they'd have to be married first! :naughty:
At least Samantha and the Two Darrens had the decency to get married!

[novaderrik]

Because they'd have to be married first! :naughty:
and even then, they'd have to sleep in separate beds. Jeannie would still sleep in the bottle, and only come out whenever her master needed dinner cooked or wanted to do the deed- which was only done for procreation, of course.

[Larry Jacks]

I kind of remember this old TV show from the 1960s that I watched each week in prime time. It was set on some futuristic space ship where they'd go trekking by the stars in the service of some sort of federation. The captain was real cocky (http://www.echosphere.net/star_trek_insp/insp_captkirk.jpg), always getting into fights (http://www.echosphere.net/star_trek_insp/insp_diplomacy.jpg) and into bed with different women. He was a 'ho but had bad luck with relationships (http://www.echosphere.net/star_trek_insp/insp_truelove.jpg). The first officer had pointy ears (http://www.echosphere.net/star_trek_insp/insp_mindmeld.jpg) and a real deadpan attitude. The doctor was scared of modern technology (http://www.echosphere.net/star_trek_insp/insp_technofear.jpg). The chief engineer kept making up excuses why he couldn't perform a miracle but then he'd do it anyway. He liked to drink a lot (http://www.echosphere.net/star_trek_insp/insp_alcohol.jpg). The ship must've been orbiting planets really low because it was constantly on the verge of burning in whenever they lost power.

In most episodes, the crew kept meeting aliens dressed in real cheezy costumes (http://www.echosphere.net/star_trek_insp/insp_prime_directive.jpg). Every week or two, some guy wearing a red shirt would get killed (http://www.echosphere.net/star_trek_insp/insp_expendability.jpg). Other than that, I don't remember much about the show. I wonder what ever became of it...

(Runs and hides!)

[tashirosgt]

There was some kind of war going on back then too, wasn't there?

[jfribrg]

One thing I always noticed about the lone ranger was that the good guys always had horses that had some white. The bad guys always had horses that were pure brown or black. The lone ranger, being pure good, had the only all-white horse. Tonto came in a close second with Scout being a mostly white pinto. The other good guys dont even come close.