Unemployment Day 19: Television

Growing up in the 80's, I have said that the boob tube has played a significant role in my upbringing. I think it is because in this decade we started off with 6 or 7 VHF channels and a bunch of local UHF channels that nobody ever watched. If you don't know what VHF or UHF is, then that is yet another sign that I'm no longer young. Because there were such limited channels, people who watched TV were essentially watching the same shows. So my generation (Gen X) was brainwashed similarly. Then in the early 80's cable television came to be with 2 channels, On TV and Select TV. These were considered cable channels to me because they showed unedited movies with no commercials. Then there was the Satellite TV. No not the rinky dink dish that you put on your roof, we had a satellite installed in our backyard that looked like it was stolen from NASA. And they should have told you that you had to be a rocket scientist to try and figure out how to change the channel. I guess you can compare television in the 80's to the internet in the late 90's and early 2000's. It was an ever changing technology that kept expanding the universe that we were exposed to.

Here are a list of shows that I watched that shaped me during my childhood.

The A-Team, MacGyver, Knight Rider, Magnum PI, Airwolf - Action shows that taught me the difference between good and evil. They fostered my creativity for solving problems using things that are available to you like your mind and duct tape. There was a lot of science I learned too.

Happy Days, Growing Pains, Family Ties, The Cosby Show, The Brady Bunch, Roseanne, The Wonder Years, Doogie Howser, MD - Family shows that taught me how to handle family drama. Issues kids go through when growing up. How to handle your siblings. How to handle dysfunction.


The more I think about it, the more shows I remember watching. The overall message of most of these shows is that if you do the right thing, good things will happen. It was full of happy endings, do-gooders, and life lessons. There was "one to grow on" or "knowing half the battle". Things were basically spelled out for the audience. There were no misinterpretations or multiple meanings.

So while I learned a lot from my mother and school, I would be remiss to neglect the impact that television had on who I am today.