He was wrong in 1961, there were good shows on then. Howdy Doody was one of them, too, as I recently discovered after picking up a DVD with several episodes, Buffalo Bob telling kids to ask their parents to take them out to Sunday School.
20 posted on 06/07/2009 1:18:15 PM PDT by gusopol3
"When television is good, nothing — not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers — nothing is better.
But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.
You will see a procession of game shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western bad men, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons. And endlessly commercials — many screaming, cajoling, and offending. And most of all, boredom. True, you'll see a few things you will enjoy. But they will be very, very few. And if you think I exaggerate, I only ask you to try it."
23 posted on 06/07/2009 2:00:54 PM PDT by JoJo Gunn