What T.V Shows Were Your Favorite. . .


. . . during the 1960s?

For me, Bonanza ruled during the 60s. Ben, Adam, Hoss, Little Joe and later on towards the end of its run, Candy were my heroes. Sunday nights were the best night for me. I remember getting ready for bed early so I could be ready for lights out after I'd sit and watch Bonanza.

TV westerns were a big hit during the first half of the 60s. Bonanza, Wagon Train, Have Gun Will Travel, The Virginian, Rawhide and of course let's not forget Gunsmoke.

There was one western that didn't get much play, but I loved it anyway and that was Laredo.

Trivia question -- What soaps did Phillip Carey, Captain Parmalee [Laredo] and David Canary, Candy [Bonanza] play in some 40 odd years later?

And, still a spill from the 1950s Variety shows were a hit. In the 50s remember Ed Sullivan or Aurthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts?

During the 60s Variety shows were still big. Ed Sullivan seemed to run forever. I remember watching Elvis, and the Beatles. Later toward the end of the decade, a group of young Black Americans made their T.V debut: The Jackson 5.

What was better than Rowan and Martin's Laugh In or the Carol Burnett Show later on in the decade.



I especially liked Laugh In, although I didn't know or understand at that time, the show had an undercurrent of political activism -- slamming and poking fun at politicians and policies, all I knew was that it was funny.  

Still, who can forget Hazel, Perry Mason, Dr. Kildare, My Three Sons, Lassie, Dennis the Menace, Ben Casey, The Beverly Hillbillies, Lucy, Danny Thomas, Donna Reed, My favorite Martian, The Patty Duke Show, Bewitched, The Fugitive, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Leave it to Beaver, The Munsters, Gilligan's Island, Batman, The Green Hornet, Hogans Heroes, The Man From U.N.C.L.E, Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, Daktari, Gomer Pyle, Lawrence Welk, The Dean Martin Show and many others.

During the 1960s, the time when Boomers were coming into their activist own, Star Trek, I Spy and Mission Impossible broke the Television color barrier and had Black Americans playing parts that weren't slaves, toilet cleaners, maids, or other house servants.












Star Trek had Lt. Uhura played by Nicelle Nicolas -- the Communications Officer of the Enterprise,  I Spy had Alexander Scott played by Bill Cosby -- Kelly Robinson's tennis trainer [secretly, they both were secret agents for the U.S government]  and Mission Impossible had Barnard "Barney" Collier played by Greg Morris -- Mechanical and Electronics genius.

No one can dispute the fact that the 1960 Baby Boomers broke ground in Music and Television and changed the face of our nation.





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