Television Programs from My Childhood
This blog post lists some television shows, especially comedies, that stood out to me as a child. These are from what I would consider to be the end of the golden age of television, before it really went commercial, to be replaced eventually by Internet technologies such as YouTube and streaming. These were the days before VCRs and TiVos and even before many people had cable television, when many looked forward to their favorite weekly shows and many entire households watched the same programs at the same time. People would often discuss them afterwards, for example at school or work.
Originally published to: https://deliverystack.net/2025/12/02/television-programs-from-my-childhood/
When I was really young, I was never allowed to watch much television. Later, when my brothers acquired a Commodore-64 that used a television as a monitor, I figured out how to rig aerial VHF and UHF antennae that exposed me to some shows. Looking back, it seems clear that TV shows in the 70's were trying to promote general inclusivity, though not always well, and sometimes with results that might appear awkward today. Still, I would recommend that anyone watch any of these shows.
- The Muppet Show: I remember looking forward to this hilarious weekly show, which always had a celebrity special guest host, some of whom are long forgotten. I particularly liked the old men in the balcony and Animal, the drummer based on Keith Moon from The Who. Still, Jim Henson was amazing and may have embodied the 1970s as well as anyone. Frank Oz, who went on to play Yoda in the Star Wars movies, was also very talented.
- M*A*S*H (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital): This sitcom was supposedly about a mobile medical trauma triage center during America's war with Korea. I think most people at the time interpreted it as being somewhat relevant to America's war with Vietnam. This production did a great job at defining characters, especially Alan Alda as "Hawkeye" Pierce, whose nickname is a reference to a book. Hawkeye, whose character seems to be based partially on characters played by Groucho Marx, is compassionate but flawed. His words and actions toward women seemed funny at the time but might not be considered acceptable today. This show touched on some controversial subjects including diversity. This show was first aired in 1973, the year of my birth. My dad enjoyed it, making it one of the most constant TV programs in my young life. The crew produced episodes for a decade.
- CHiPs: The name is based on the acronym of California Highway Patrol, which enforce traffic regulations, in this case in Southern California. This show was about a rookie Hispanic motorbike cop working with a more senior white cop, somehow often doing things that the CHP would never actually do. Many episodes seemed to include some kind of moral lesson for any children watching, and almost every episode ended with a "smile scene" where a group of cast members ended up laughing at something funny or unpredictable that happened towards the end. When we were relatively young, my brothers and I generally watched this weekly with my dad, but quality it really declined after the actor who played the white cop left the show and apparently never did anything very significant afterwards.
- Fat Albert: I don't mean to promote Bill Cosby, but this cartoon exposed me to some facets of black culture and black people living in relative poverty in what I believe was an inner-city environment, none of which I ever actually saw in real life back then.
- The Incredible Hulk: Maybe somewhat slow by modern standards, I still have huge respect for Bill Bixby.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Hulk_(1978_TV_series)
- Barney Miller: This sitcom was about a relatively diverse police detective squad in New York City. Watching it now, I see plenty of flaws, but this is still one of my favorite TV shows.
- Taxi: While the characters were mostly white, there was a sense of inclusion of oddballs. In fact, the most "normal" white people were the most boring characters.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxi_(TV_series)
- Cheers: This was a great sitcom about a bar with numerous quirky and entertaining characters.
- Saturday Night Live: I think the 70s and 80s were the golden age for the comedy show Saturday Night Live. I think that numerous famous comedians including Eddy Murphy, Chris Farley, Will Farrell, Steve Martin, Martin Short, and many others got their start on the show or made the program what it was. When I was old enough, my brothers and I got to stay up late on Saturday nights to watch it with my dad. Other than the news segments, I don't really care for this show anymore.
- Three's Company: Honestly, this show about a straight guy pretending to be gay so that a landlord would let him live with two women was terrible in many ways, but John Ritter was great as Jack Tripper and there were certainly some funny parts. I watched this when it was on, but never made much effort.
- The A-Team: This semi-comedic drama was about a group of highly-skilled Vietnam vets incorrectly accused of some crime, now operating as vigilantes to help people in need. The main four cast members were each perfect for their roles. One time when I was in fifth grade, an older kid told me that if I didn’t watch the A-Team that night, I wouldn't be cool.
- Knight Rider: This show had everything: David Hasselhoff, a cool car that could talk and was always getting upgraded with new gadgets, and an unforgettable theme song.
- ThunderCats: This was a cartoon about catlike humanoid aliens that I watched after school when I was a young teenager. I don't remember exactly why, but I liked some aspects of this. It was somewhat better than G.I. Joe that would come on afterwards.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThunderCats_(1985_TV_series)
- What's Happening!!: While the fat jokes might not pass today, I think this show and especially the character Raj helped me to see that there really aren't very significant differences between people from different cultures.
Other than maybe A-Team and Knight Rider, I never really watched anything religiously, though I tried to catch Cheers whenever I could. I watched some other shows more occasionally, including Who's the Boss, Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, LA Law, the original MacGyver, and a lot of Divorce Court (which gave me a false understanding of justice that turned out to be completely invalid in no-fault divorce states). There were plenty of other good shows available in this period, such as the original Hawaii Five-O, Mission Impossible, the original Star Trek, Ironsides, Columbo, and many more, but I didn't get much opportunity to watch. I may have forgotten something influential, but I don't currently remember any that I watched that really stand out compared to those listed above.
File: /articles/2025/December/tv-shows.md