33 Retro Bits of Classic TV That Will Only Come in If You Turn Your Antenna A Little to the West

Physically adjusting the antenna without snapping it is a lost art form
33 Retro Bits of Classic TV That Will Only Come in If You Turn Your Antenna A Little to the West
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Boy howdy, you should’ve seen our old man work those rabbit ears back in the day. The man was surgical. Your favorite show would start fuzzing out a bit, but the tiniest antenna twist from dear old dad would get it back crystal clear.

The poor guy taught us that fine art just as TVs stopped needing them. It was like losing an old family recipe. So this list of classic TV facts is dedicated to you, Dad. Your bomb-defusing-esque antenna-tweaking talents will die with us, but we’ll always remember them fondly. 

The First Color Broadcast

The First Color Broadcast Guhisson Epiphage Naturall A 1951 variety show called Premiere finally validated anyone who, for whatever reason, bought a color TV before TV was in color. CRACKED.COM

Condom Commercials

The first condom commercial 1975 TROJANS CRACKED.COM A local station in San Jose ran a Trojan ad promoting responsible parenthood.

WKRP in Cincinnati

WKRP IN CINCINNATI CRACKED WKRP in Cincinnati was a sitcom on CBS from 1978-1982. It followed a program director and his team as they switched their radio station from easy listening to rock. It was nominated for Emmys and a Golden Globe. Exactly 1 season is available on iTunes.

Beauty and the Beast

CRACKED.COM RON PERLMAN WAS ALWAYS A MAKEUP BEAST. Sitting in a makeup chair for hours was already Perlman's thing when he had his big break as Vincent in the 1980s TV show Beauty and the Beast.

Law & Order

CRACKED.COM SAMUEL L. JACKSON AND PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN WERE ON THE SAME EPISODE OF LAW & ORDER. Before OR them was well-known, Jackson and Hoffman were on the same first-season episode - as a lawyer and a perp, respectively.

The Andy Griffith Show

CRACKED.COM JACK NICHOLSON WAS ON THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW. The show was huge in the '60s, totaling 249 episodes - and Nicholson was in two of them.

Pee-wee’s Playhouse

CRACKED.COM LAURENCE FISHBURNE WAS A COWBOY IN PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE. Before entering the dream world of The Matrix, Fishburne played Cowboy Curtis in the dream world of Pee-wee Herman.

Leonard Nimoy

LEONARD NIMOY WAS A MARTIAN? FASCINATING! 21-year-old Nimoy played the evil Martian invader Narab in the 1952 movie serial Zombies of the Stratosphere. CRACKED.COM

The Electric Company

33 Retro Bits of Classic TV That Will Only Come in If You Turn Your Antenna A Little to the West

Cook’s Night Out

The First Cooking Show SHARP Cook's Night Out in 1937 walked so that Gordon Ramsay could scream. CRACKED.COM

Golden Girls

33 Retro Bits of Classic TV That Will Only Come in If You Turn Your Antenna A Little to the West

M*A*S*H

M*A*S*H After MASH CRACKED.COM AfterMASH was supposed to let America keep up with its favorite soldiers after the Korean War. But by 1983, Americans had, tragically, gotten pretty good at ignoring Korean War vets altogether.

Robin Williams

AT A GLANCE ROBIN WILLIAMS Robin Williams wasn't the original actor for Mork The original actor quit, and Robin Williams was cast last-minute. Не improv'd most of his character. CRACKED.COM

Chuckles the Clown

CHUCKLES MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW CRACKED.COM Chuckles the Clown was leading a parade dressed as Peter Peanut when he was tragically shelled to death by a rogue elephant. With a can't-stop-laughing funeral, it's the classic episode of a classic sitcom, at one point ranked #1 on TV Guide's list of the Top 100 Episodes of All Time.

Mary Tyler Moore

MARY TYLER MOORE CRACKED FUNNY NOT FUNNY How funny was The The variety show Mary Tyler Moore wasn't quite dead by Show? Twenty-nine 1979, but The Mary Tyler Emmys funny, Moore Hour helped including three for pound the final nails in good ol' Mare the coffin

Happy Days

Happy Days BLANSKY'S BEAUTIES SCOTI BAIO If they could turn a single appearance by an oddly hairy alien into the wildly successful Mork & Mindy, they

Laverne & Shirley Merch

LAVERNE & SHIRLEY SECRETARY SET 79- T Laverne E Shirley setretory seF CFN CRACKED.COM UEEEE SoT AA Laverne and Shirley worked at a brewery, which woul

I Love Lucy

The First Birth I Love Lucy would never say the word pregnant, only that Lucy was expecting. But it still featured the first (semi-) on-screen bir

All in the Family

The first toilet flush 1971 CRACKED.COM Leave It To Beaver was the first to show a toilet (tank only!) in 1957, but All In The Family really went there with a daring toilet flush sound effect.

Diff’rent Strokes

33 Retro Bits of Classic TV That Will Only Come in If You Turn Your Antenna A Little to the West

Gilligan’s Island

33 Retro Bits of Classic TV That Will Only Come in If You Turn Your Antenna A Little to the West
Source: YouTube

Johnny Carson (Again)

Johnny Carson was a beloved talk show host. BUT The man America welcomed into their living rooms was a bitter, bullying wreck of a man. He was meanest

Kurt Russell

CRACKED.COM KURT RUSSELL WORE A LOINCLOTH ON GILLIGAN'S ISLAND. In the Season 1 episode Gilligan Meets Jungle Boy, Gilligan, well, meets a jungle bo

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