I grew up in a small town outside of Chicago. One of the great things about that was that I was raised watching Chicago tv. Everyone remembers the shows they grew up watching but Chicago tv was different. They had some of the greatest local kid’s shows ever. Anyone from that area that grew up in the 60’s and 70’s will tell you the same thing. Just mentioning the name Ray Rayner will bring a smile to the face of anyone who ever watched his show. Ray’s show was a combination of cartoons, sports scores, do-it-yourself projects (these never turned out well for Ray), a psychotic duck named Chelveston, a big, stuffed, orange dog called Cuddly Dudley and the most beloved thing of all….a list of school closings on snow days. We, also, had Bozo’s Circus, Garfield Goose (still looking for a copy of Journey to the Beginning of Time) and Cartoon Town with BJ and Dirty Dragon.
These were all weekday shows but another great day for TV was Sunday. While Sunday television, in most markets, pretty well stunk (at least until six or seven in the evening), we had some really great shows. Rat Patrol, 12 o’clock High, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and The Time Tunnel were shown on Sundays. Later in the afternoon we had a local program called Family Classics that was hosted by Frasier Thomas. On Sunday afternoons, Frazier would put on a suit and tie and bring to our living rooms such fare as Journey To The Center Of The Earth, Tobor The Great, and Mysterious Island, all edited per Frazier’s strict family guidelines.
Throw in a few Cubs games on WGN, Some Creature Features on Saturday nights and you had some great television.
This trip down memory lane was brought on by hulu.com. Hulu is a site that shows some great, old tv shows as well as some new ones. I just spent my evening watching episodes of The Time Tunnel. If you’re not familiar with The Time Tunnel, check it out. It’s an old Irwin Allen (king of the disaster movies) show. If you’re not the type to get hung up on things like historical accuracy and good acting, you might enjoy the show. They, also, have Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
www.hulu.com
