How much TV did your parents let you watch as a kid?

I had a bedtime, so my viewing was restricted by time, but otherwise I watched TV pretty much from the time I got home from school until I went to bed. One Life to Live, General Hospital, Sesame Street, Electric Company, Zoom, the news, more news, 8pm slot, 9pm slot. My mom would sometimes object (she didn't like Charlie's Angels, for example), but only if she were in the room. Now I watch almost no television and my parents' incessant TV watching drives me nuts, partly because they are perfectly happy to carry on a conversation with the TV blaring in the background, whereas if a TV is on I want to watch it and if I'm not watching it, I want to turn it off.

I guess I was about 10 when we got our first tv. Until then, my sisters and i would go to a neighbor's to watch Howdy Doody and then come home for supper. Once we got our own, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday we were allowed to stay up until 9 watching tv because there was something my parents felt was worth watching. They didn't have to restrict the type of show we watched because there was really nothing on that we might be interested in that wouldn't be suitable to watch. On Saturday night my father would watch boxing and we were sent to bed to listen to our radio (for about half an hour)which was just as much fun. Saturday morning we watched from 9-11 and were shipped outdoors once our chores were done. On Sunday we went out for "family rides" or visiting. The tv went on for Lawrence Welk and Ed Sullivan and we went to bed.

After school we watched Mickey Mouse and, when we got older, American Band Stand. After that the tv went off and we weren't allowed to watch until our homework was done and the kitchen was cleaned up from supper.

We did not even own a TV until the mid-50s & at that time there was so little available to watch & I had good grades so it was not a problem. Also, it was black & white (only) & oftentimes, the reception was so poor you didn't even want to watch it.

I guess I look at it differently... I was allowed to watch the TV shows I liked. With 2 channels on from about 17:00 until 22:30, mainly news, it simply wasn't a big thing. Then when I was 9, we didn't have TV (the country we lived in didn't) until I was 12. Then TV in a language I didn't know until I was 14. So, I never really got into that TV habit, I guess.

I usually watched PBS -- there was very little they did to affect my TV habits -- unless they were just stupefyingly subtle and insidious about it.
when lelle wrote 1 7 : 0 0 (without the spaces) the : and 0 turned into :0 . . .this is a feature? What if I want to write a time like 12 o'clock as 12:00, an obnoxious? smiley emoticon is more important than expressing a time?

I don't really remember. I expect it was restricted by amount and time of day, but I don't recall feeling particularly restricted, except for not being allowed to watch SNL in high school.

My parents had electrical LOCKS put on the TVs. Saturday morning TV was especially banned. Of course, once I got old enough and moved out, I watched as much as I wanted. Then I wondered what all the fuss was about. I appreciate that they did not want my brains to turn to guacamole, but I wonder if they went a bit far? btw, my family didn't get our first color TV til I was in high school.

As much as I wanted. I attribute my becoming a well rounded individual to television. I learned a great deal about history and the world from television.

My mom worked after I was 8 or so I think, so we watched TV once we got home, or, as we grew older, cable channels. We couldn't stay up very late so we never got to watch "racy shows" tho I did get into soap operas for a short while in high school. She did say that when I was young she wouldn't let me watch news footage of the Vietnam War, but then she wondered why she was shielding me from what was essentially real life happening to our fellow Americans. She was a journalism major for a while so this bothered her.

Strange that now I don't watch TV at all, but essentially while growing up I was "stuck in the house" until Mom got home. Now I can go and bike or whatever, so I think that had a lot to do with it.

Jonas: I don't know if I agree with a "30 minute" rule. What if a great Discovery channel special on the Roman Empire is on and it's an hour long? I'd rather discuss particular shows with my kids and choose what is good, regardless of length. James never, ever has watched TV at our house and we don't restrict him from it. He just has other things he'd rather do.

My parents were fairly strict. I was only allowed 30 minutes per day. This included watching TV at other people's houses. I was such a square that I actually obeyed this and would tell my friends that I couldn't watch any more TV at their house when my time was up. I'm really glad about this, though, and I plan to enforce it with my kids (some day) too.

lisashea: We didn't have cable. Let me assure you there was nothing on the networks that would have "bettered" me.

I think I watched as much as I wanted, I don't recall them limiting me in any way. but then again, I usually preferred reading to TV watching or hanging out with my friends or playing video games (which also weren't limited). however, I will note that my parents didn't (and still don't) have cable. when I was growing up we had CBS, NBC and ABC, two PBS channels, two CBC channels (Canadian broadcast) and two stations in french(canadian). more than enough. recently, there has been added a Fox station and another station. the point to this comment is I would have watched more had I had cable.
*the above is qualified to having bedtimes when I was young.
*jonas: there is still PBS. they have some good programming.

I never got to watch much TV, and now I find that my resistance to it is very low -- I am sucked in very easily. If this is the only downside, though, I think it was worth it.

jonas: How would *you* know if you didn't see it?
School House Rock, Sesame Street, PBS....I remember learning about dust mites, bacteria, and some Astronomy, etc.

cartooooons!

ah, for the days when TV wasn't evil ... nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah BAT-MAN !!

My parents let me watch as much as I wanted. However, at the time, there really wasn't a lot for a kid to watch. I preferred playing outside with my cousins. The highlights from T.V. as I recall were Sesame Street and Electric Company (when I was quite young), Saturday morning cartoons, and Gilligan's Island (when I was home sick from school). I also enjoyed Friday night fare--The Love Boat and Fantasy Island.

I generally got to watch as much as I wanted, but there wasn't that much that interested me. I saw some episodes of "Night Gallery" when I was too young, and I got scared silly! But I loved "Thunderbirds" when I was seven, and M*A*S*H, Barney Miller and WKRP remain some of my favorites.

However, we did a LOT of playing outside, in the hills behind my house. If my parents tried to regulate my watching, I probably would have ended up watching more crap in defiance, and that I'm grateful for.

For about four years we lived in the mountains and our reception SUCKED. Anyway, there was never that much good stuff on. Still isn't; I watch less now that I ever did as a kid.

When I was very young (<10) I could only watch a small set of shows (Disney and Donny and Marie), though I'm told that I used to watch the Tonight show with my dad when I was a baby (I don't remember). By the time I was a teenager I could and did watch everything (Saturday Night Live in the 70's was great).
* nbarone, be thankful that your parents shielded you from "Laverne and Shirley"...

there was a limit to the amount of prime time tv we could watch. during the morning/afternoon we could watch whatever we wanted, but we were generally outside playing anyway. There were a few specific shows that were forbidden - Laverne and Shirley being the only one i can think of off hand.

**bill- yeah, i don't have any complaints with that decision. i've always maintained that i had excellent parents :)