Times
They Have a Changed
Bill Cullen, Gary Moore and other hosts, all chain smoked during their shows. These days when you see anyone smoking anywhere, you take notice. On TV shows from years past, they could not even wait for the end of a thirty-minute show to light up.
If a TV host today made fun of any culture it would be shocking and he would be out of work before the show ended. On these old TV shows,
Do you remember “Family Feud” with Richard Dawson? He kissed each and every female contestant ON THE LIPS! We used to watch and think it was cute, or funny, today it gives me the creeps.
Gene Rayburn regularly groped, or ogled female contestants and acted like he was charming…today he would be a pariah.
The prizes are also eye opening as to what we thought was a big deal “back in the day.” I wonder if today anyone would consider winning a “Regina Carpet Sweeper” worth a trip to the TV studio. Furniture by “Broyhill” was exciting, and that combo TV, Radio, record player console sent winning contestants over-the-moon.
I find even the really big prizes to be somewhat comical. I just watched a lady from 1986 win a brand-new Toyota. Among the many wonderful features of this automobile were “Steel Belted Radial Tires.” I remember steel belted radial tires, they were a big deal. Do we have them today? Probably, I don’t know. I think we stopped getting excited about tires on our cars before the turn of the century. Are any new-car tires worthy of mention today? The new car feature that really caught my attention was Don Pardo excitedly proclaiming it to have a “resettable trip odometer!”
Ahh for the good old days where your “bland new Cadirac” had a cigarette lighter an ashtray and you could smoke and harass your date at the drive-in-theater.
Maybe not.
While some things have definitely gotten worse, some have gotten much better. And Richard Dawson meant no harm and everyone knew it.
ReplyDeleteWe went to far back then and to far now. Somewhere in the middle would be much better.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day. 😎
I get the Game Show Network. I used to like Richard Dawson, I guess because my mom watched Hogan's Heroes all the time. I did think his Family Feud kissing was a little presumptuous and creepy. But Gene Rayburn was sleazier and creepier.
ReplyDeleteHe kissed every female contestant on the lips?? I would have found that creepy even back then. Ugh!
ReplyDeleteI don't recall many of our show comperes smoking on camera, Ernie Sigley did I think, but that wasn't a Game Show program if I remember rightly and I probably don't. I can imagine getting excited over a TV/radio/record player combo.
Took me a minute to work out what Bland new Cadirac was (*~*)
I was watching a clip the other day of an old Carson episode where he had on Burt Reynolds, Buddy Hackett, and Don Rickles. The suits were... interesting. The humor was... dated. I loved the clip. It's hard to believe how much things have changed while I was doing other things.
ReplyDeleteSometimes change is good.
ReplyDeleteI never watched game shows as think they were mostly daytime. When the talk shows were first starting our corporation had already been doing one for years in our WLW Mother station. Our station’s show gave away a lot of prizes — various big appliances I.e. washing machines to smaller ones, including fancy pens. We gave them mostly to viewing audience who sent in postcards for drawing, but a few to our studio audience of 50 Mon. through Fri.
ReplyDeleteI, too, notice in viewing old shows and movies the rampant smoking. Carson tried to hide his smoking from on-camera view.
yep, it's changed, now the only thing not off limits is the president and white people jokes; now I prefer the term European Americans to being called white. As for politics I miss the secret ballot and the respect for the office. As for the tires our old Jeep slipped all over on ice until we replaced the tires with Michelins, so there is that. I am thankful for the smokeless laws our state has, but in some states the neighbor can blow pot smoke into your child's room. I am happy it's no longer acceptable to grab a woman and kiss her, but now men are allowed in bathrooms, changing rooms, girl's lockers. So, what's next? I think Charles has summed up every era "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." yep
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't I think of that --- henceforth I am European-American! No more of that color stuff for me.
DeleteJust checked your profile and discovered you're a Buckeye, but couldn't find link to your blog.
DeleteI'm a 56 year old white American male ..... my observations don't count! .... ;-)
ReplyDeleteBut they did back when! It's a better and a worse world, good and bad.
Dawson WAS creepy back then! However, remember how people thought Paul Lynde was creepy? If anyone said that today, they'd be labeled homophobic.
ReplyDeletePaul Lynde was GAY? I always just thought he was really funny!
DeleteI loved his role as the rat's voice in "Charlotte' Web."
DeleteI watch those old game shows too and I love how excited everyone gets over the simplest things. I wish we were more like that now. And that whole Richard Dawson lip kissing thing. I've always thought that was creepy but mostly because I'm a germaphobe. - I wonder if any of the women that Gene Rayburn groped (and he did do that A LOT) are still alive and if they are can they sue his estate for inappropriate behavior?
ReplyDeleteI probably never noticed the smoking in the old days for it seemed everyone did. No one ever asked, "Do you mind if I smoke?"
ReplyDeleteI don't think folks said anything about the kissing because I'm not sure "creepy" was word back then. I use it almost daily now. P.S..be careful what you did back in the old days when you were a teenager at the movies, at parties, under the stadium at a high school football game (not that I would know, I just remember people talking about it) because it could come back as a harassment charge or maybe just something "creepy"!
ReplyDeleteI love the Game Show Network!!
ReplyDeleteI love the old game shows, just for showing us how fast things have changed! Remember when it was totally acceptable to smoke in grocery stores? Just as unthinkable today as kissing contestants on their mouths!
ReplyDelete