TV? Or not TV? That is the Question!

With apologies to Mr. Shakespeare. …

While channel surfing recently, I spent some time doing a retro check on the TV of today versus the TV of a bygone era. Just what is “good” TV now anyway? One could argue that the programs of yesterday were considerably better than what we see today, despite what was then a decrepit manner of delivery by today’s standards. I guess program quality is very dependent upon one’s personal judgment. Today’s TV is certainly much more technologically advanced and enhanced by the latest computer graphics, with the sheer volume of available channels being far beyond what we could have ever imagined back in the day.

I do remember having cable back then, but that cable was an actual cable, running either from an antenna on your roof all the way down to your TV’s antenna connection (and if you were among the fortunate the antenna was a Channel-Master that could be remotely rotated for the best reception). Or, that cable might run from a pair of rabbit ears sitting on top of the TV to the same end point. Those rabbit ears were not the soft and fluffy kind, but two long metal sticks strategically positioned on top of your television set. Bear in mind that a TV set back then (and yes, they were actually called TV sets) was considered a piece of furniture, much like your sofa or dining room table are today. Most were big, boxy and made from wood or wood veneer, whose brand names of Zenith, Philco and Motorola may have been purchased from Nashua icons such as Bud Tate’s on West Hollis Street or DeLuxe TV on East Pearl, all of which have since vanished from the scene. The screen sizes were limited to a max of about 25 inches, unlike the giant theatre-like behemoths of today. And – OMG – we had to actually get up off the couch to manually change a channel or hit the power button to turn it on or off! So, some programs gained popularity by default when one didn’t want to move their butt off the couch to change the channel. And if these old TVs malfunctioned, you could actually get a human being to come to your house to repair them! LOL!

If you were the engineering type, you might attempt to improve your TV’s reception by adding a couple pieces of aluminum foil to those rabbit ears, essentially making a grainy, fuzzy image slightly less grainy and fuzzy. Sometimes, you could bribe your cousin Harold to stand there holding those tin sticks, making the picture much clearer, as your cousin suddenly became more useful as a human antenna. And remember UHF TV? Most of us eventually had a UHF antenna attached somewhere outside the house or in an attic. It resembled a bird cage flattened by a semi, with a few metal bow-ties attached, adding a whopping 2 or 3 more channels to our repertoire. But locally, we could now watch the Bruins on Channel 38 and the Celtics on Channel 56! What a treat – long before the Patriots’ 5 Super Bowl trophies!

Before we could afford color TV, we had what friends and I would sarcastically refer to as, “living black and white,” as opposed to the living color touted by that famed network peacock. We enjoyed classics such as I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners in the comedy genre, Gunsmoke and Bonanza during the westerns craze and later, Ben Casey and Dr. Kildare as the medical dramas grew in popularity. All classics. And today, thanks to Antenna TV, MyTV and TV Land, some can still be enjoyed for free.

Now for today’s TV: Let’s compare what was then, to what is now. Reality TV? Huh? The closest we could come to that was shooting a birthday party with a Super 8 video camera or snapping a few pics with your Polaroid. And those pics were typically posted to a hand-held “photo” book versus an electronic “Face” book.

Not to get down on today’s TV offerings, but there seems little available on the program menu beyond reality TV, most of which is difficult to believe isn’t contrived. Do we seriously want to watch people live their everyday lives from bathroom to bedroom or follow their daily exploits as they rehash their rehab? Back in the day, we’d have a choice of perhaps 12 channel offerings, but found quite a bit to watch. Maybe we were just easier to please? Today, we can surf 300-plus channels, make the loop more than once and find little of interest, save for a sporting event or breaking news. Instead of loving Lucy, we are keeping up with the Kardashians. There is certainly a “bonanza” of “gun smoke,” but it’s sadly of a totally different nature. Medical dramas? Yup, still got ’em, but hopefully you’re a fan of graphic blood and guts galore, interspersed with soap opera-like performances and extra-marital affairs.

I guess it’s all in how you “view” it today and what your criteria is for quality programming. There’s a reason why it was called the Golden Age of Television back then. For me, maybe I can get Mr. Peabody and Sherman to give me a lift in the Way Back Machine? Hmmm, do you think Craig’s List would have a magical black and white TV set with a pair of rabbit ears available? I wonder?

Don Canney is a longtime Nashua resident and occasional contributing columnist for The Telegraph.