Farewell Little TV

[kybearfuzz]

Since the age of three, I have owned my own television. My first was a little 13-inch black & white TV. While it was in the room I shared with the twin, all folks generally recognized that it was mine. With its VHF and UHF dials, my parents hooked up the cable and I was spinning through the dozen channels, of which only a handful had actual stations, to catch cartoons, PBS, etc. I credit "Sesame Street," "3-2-1 Contact," and "The Electric Company" for enabling me to read before school started and allowing me to skip to second grade after two months of being in first.

My love of the TV was absolute. With shows like "Wonder Woman," "The Bionic Woman," "Fantasy Island," and "Charlie's Angels" on the tube, I knew the TV schedule better than TV Guide. My parents more than likely got me the TV so they could watch what they wanted without me griping about it. I watched so much of it, I actually could tell you what station you were watching by the amount of static and the lighting of the screen. It's hardly a super-power that would get me into the Legion, but my dad seemed oddly proud of this skill of mine.

Despite having milk accidentally poured down its vent and the knobs eventually breaking off from years of turning, the little TV was a trooper. Eventually, my folks got me a color TV for my room and the little black & white, while still working, went to my nephew.

When I went to college, my college roommate had a TV so I didn't need one. When I was a senior and had no roommate, my sister got me a small 13-inch color TV for my dorm room. After seven different dorm rooms, apartments, temporary quarters and homes, spanning three states and seventeen years, the little color TV finally gave up the ghost last Tuesday morning in my home office.

I never realized how much I watch TV in the mornings while getting ready for work. I have other TV's in the house, but they are too large for my home office, where I check emails and such before getting out the door in the morning. So I bought a small 18" LCD for my office. So far so good.

Today, I took the day off. One of my errands today was to take the little broken TV to Best Buy to be recycled. It's not a bad program. They charge you a $10 fee, but give you a $10 gift card back. So I bought the original 1978 "Piranha" on DVD, which ironically I probably watched for the first time on that little black & white many, many years ago.

Comments

[dendren.livejournal.com]

I always trip out at how many folks under a certain age have never seen a black and white tv. I don't think we had a color tv until I was 4 or so and the tv in my bedroom was black & white well into the 80s.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

My first memories of color TV were The Lawrence Welk Show ... because of those godawful pastel leisure suits:)

[dendren.livejournal.com]

my grandparents had a color tv so I don't really have specific memories of my first color shows. Just that it was color at grandparents and black and white at home.

What I do remember very clearly is when my grandparents got a new tv with a "clicker" to change the channels. That was the coolest thing on earth LOL

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

My family had a big console color TV in the living room for as long as I could remember. We didn't get our first clicker until we got a cable box in the early-mid 80's.

Before that, we kids were the clicker. I often was called all the way from the other end of the house by my dad to change the channel. No joke.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this bit of nostalgia ... It made me stop and think when I purchased my first television. We only had one the entire time I was growing up ... I honestly don't remember having one in my dorm room at college ... Hmmm ... I think I got my first television (that I purchased) when I was in my mid 20's. So .. um ... *cough* ... 15 years ago:)

HUGS!

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

You probably studied more in college than I did for the lack of the TV! :)

So, if my math is correct, you're what? 39-ish *snicker*

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

"ish" is the operative suffix:)

[dewittar.livejournal.com]

My first television was in my bedroom when I was in 3rd grade. Sesame Street was just completing their first year on the air. Cable had not yet been invented -- or not available in central Arkansas.

You and my husband would get along with all that tv watching. He has it on all the time, even when it drives me to distraction! And he loves it in the morning whereas I typically want it completely quiet in the house.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I love having a TV on in the background in the house, so I'm right there with your hubby. I enjoy the noise, it makes me feel like I'm not alone in the house.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

If I'm in the house alone, the television is always on in the background. It's the non-paying roommate. I also have it on when I'm working on my laptop. If I have the time, the TV is on in the morning from GMA to Regis & Kelly to the end of "The View".:)

[mikiedoggie.livejournal.com]

I didn't know there was such a recycling program! And Piranha is such a classic too.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I didn't know either. I did a search online and discovered it.

And Piranha is so good! So fun! So cheesy...

[snowboardjoe.livejournal.com]

I remember as a kid when the main TV we had was a large B&W..., that took like 1 minute to warm up before it displayed anything. That was a long time ago. We we got the 14" color TV, that was an upgrade and I was in high school. I think I got a small B&W for my room later on. No TV in college (too busy with the fraternity and radio station anyway).

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I'd have probably studied more without that TV...