Sharing My Story

Westerns were also a huge part of my TV viewing
during the last half of the 1950s and beyond. Saturday
night was very big for westerns during that time.
Gunsmoke started in 1955 and was on at 9 PM
Saturday nights and I was allowed to stay up
(at least later on) to see it because it was a not
school day. James Arness as Matt Dillon, Chester,
Doc and Miss Kitty were all favorites.

One special western I enjoyed with the Life and
Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955) with Hugh O’Brien
in the starring role. I liked it because it was the
real old west. Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday
actually lived. As the years progressed I’ve learned
that this program was probably not very accurate
and Wyatt was not the pristine good guy as portrayed
on the show. I think this show was produced with
the idea of having the hero as a 1950s role model
for America’s youth. Even though Gunsmoke was
fictional it was probably more true to how the wild
west really was. Nevertheless I loved Wyatt Earp and
with some of my neighborhood friends (especially
Earl and Jack Cammack) we would play cowboys and
badguys and I would be Wyatt Earp or Doc Holliday.
I had a sympathy for Doc Holliday because of his
TB condition. I had asthma and so could relate to
his lung condition.

The Cisco Kid(1950) was a beloved lived western
that I remember enjoying( “Hey, Cisco, Hey Pancho”
—maybe not politically correct now, but it was a lot
of fun.) Some of the popular western film stars of the
1940s and early fifties made the transition to TV.
Roy Rogers (1951, with Dale Evans) was the successful
and his program (I believe) was on Saturday mornings.
Gene Autry also had a program(1950). Also eagerly
watched Guy Madison as Wild Bill Hickokk (1952) and
his comical sidekick Andy Devine, Broken Arrow (1956),
and, of course, the long running Long Ranger(1949).

Throughout the 1950s I watched the Superman(1953)
program with George Reeves. I enjoyed the show and
was sorry to hear in 1959 that Reeves had apparently
committed suicide. Superman committing suicide!—
how weird. The program however never got me
interested in seeking out the comic books. It wasn’t
until 1958 that I saw my first Superman comic books
and was not all that impressed. The short-lived Science
Fiction Theatre(1955) made a strong impression on me.
I enjoy the sense of wonder that it generated. Cool stuff.
I have vague memories of Capt. Video(1953) and Sheena,
the female Tarzan (1955) also.

Situation comedies were also programs that I enjoyed
watching though probably not with quite the enthuasitism
of the more kid oriented shows. I watched and enjoyed
some situation comedies like, Our Miss Brooks(1952),
Jack Benny(1950), The George Burns and Gracie Allen
Show (1950) which were all radio retread shows. My Little
Marge(1952), The Gale Storm Show (1956), The Adventures
of Ozzie & Harriet (1952), “Father Knows Best” (1954), The
Life of Riley with the great William Benedix (1953) were also
a lot of fun to watch. Also enjoyed the “Love that Bob” starring
Bob Cummings (1954) which was about a bachelor who wanted
desperately to hang on to his singleness against the machinations
of wily women. He eventually got married and the show was
short lived thereafter. I also liked “Topper”(with Leo G. Carrol,
1955) a wonderful situation comedy about an elderly married
man and two mischievious ghosts. A wonderful fantasy.

My parents also liked “The Lawrence Welk Show”(1955)
which I couldn’t stand. My friends and I used to call him
the “Bubble-brained Beatnik.” Lawrence Welk’s music
was a real anachronism in the late fifties. It was depression/
World war II music but not contemporary. Times had
changed. But Lawrence Welk had an enormous following
with the older generation.

Besides programs specially made for television there
were Saturday Night at the Movies shows which played
theatical releases from the 1930s and 1940s. Prominent
among these were westerns showcasing the B-movies of
Tex Ritter, Lash LaRue, Monte Hall, Tom Mix and others.
Around 1960 one of these network movie shows played
the 1951 science fiction classic motion picture "The Day
The Early Stood Still" with Michael Rennie. This peaked
my budding interest in science fiction.