Growing up in the Age of TV

    I know many people are anti-television.  When we were kids, my brother and I watched a lot of TV.  When we got home on the school bus, we watched Lassy, Gilligan's Isle, I Dream of Jeanie, and at night The Beverly Hill Billies and of course Saturday morning cartoons and on Friday nights when I had sleep overs with my two girlfriends, The Brady Bunch and The Partridge.  My girlfriends and I had a serious David Cassidy crush.
     I knew that when people came over my parents made us turn the TV off.  I did not remember why, but after supper when the grown ups were still at the table talking and we were finished eating and clearing our plates, my brother would slowly close the door to the living room saying, "elevator door is closing.  Elevator door is closing..."  I did not know that the reason he was closing the door slowly and I would get in there before it closed was because he did not want Dad to hear the door creaking, because he did not want us watching television.  I just thought he was being funny.
     Dad did not like us sleeping late either.  He was like, "you are sleeping your life away.  The sun is shining.  You need to get up..."
     Then on Sunday nights, we would beg to stay up to watch Night Gallery which ended at 10PM, past bedtime on a school night.  Then I could not sleep because it was scary.  The show the whole family liked was Kung Fu with David Karideen.  I guess they thought it was spiritual and zen.
     Remember the monk teacher with the white eyes, "Grasshopper, you must always expect the snake to strike...  for evil must always be defeated by the strength of your will..."  Just improvising here. 
     Then we had to go to programs at the Baba Center.  I hate to say it but even children know bad poetry when they hear it like, "I long to be at the end of the rainbow where your ruby lips and your golden eyelashes."  You had to hold your breath to keep from laughing.
      Yeah, those were the days.  It is fun to talk about those times with my brother and reminisce.  
      The funny thing is I have a black and white photograph in one of my albums of my dad sitting on the floor close to the TV watching Star Trek, because he actually watched TV.  He could see the television before he went totally blind.
Mostly though he watched the 6:30 news.