There is something special to recognize in the legacy of the generation that was a part of the early days and growth of television.  Of course, you will best understand what is meant if you have several decades of age on you.  For, while homes, restaurants, and many other places have well placed televisions offering a constant barrage of entertainment and media information, it was not so in the earlier days television.  TV sets were not so prolific.  How television, and its programming were viewed may offer some insights into our present culture, as well as what we were like in a seemingly simpler time.

For many, there was a growing practice of appointment family viewing associated with the numerical growth of television sets in homes spread across the country.  By the late 1950s, and even more so into the 1960s, there were programs assigned to a time frame, and people often worked their schedules to be in front of a television in order to watch many of them.  It might have been “I Love Lucy”, “The Andy Griffith Show”, “Gunsmoke”, “Bonanza”, “The Ed Sullivan Show”, “The Jackie Gleason Show”, “The Porter Wagoner Show” (when it included Dolly Parton), “As the World Turns”, or many other popular shows that attracted the attention.  Foil bound “TV Dinners” were heated and then eaten on “TV Trays” while a favored show was being broadcast.  Even if the meals cooked on aluminum foil trays were not used, it was still common to gather for an informal meal eaten in front of the electrical box.  The new advertising market, food that was eaten, the slang being used, and even the learned family interaction became a part of the adapting American culture.    

As the decade of the 60s progressed, many of the programs began to broadcast in what was then known as “living color”.  It did take time for color televisions to become the norm.  So, many families still watched in “black and white” and looked forward to the day they could afford a new set and be able to do more than imagine the color of Lucy’s hair.  Further, having a 21” screen was a luxury identifying the family that had it made. 

There should be no doubt that television changed the expectations for entertainment.  For, prior to the 1950s home entertainment was limited to radio.  Visual entertainment was limited to the movie theater or stage.

So, here is a question.  Why were (and still are) people so attracted to television and the programs to be watched?

Consider a note from our history.  From ancient times, we humans have loved engaging stories.  We have always thrilled to hear something that fired our imaginations and drove our desires.  Many a family or civic gathering centered on someone being an entertaining storyteller.  Some became more professional, and people flocked to hear the stories as they were told.  Pictures would form in the minds of listeners.  Visions painted from the unfolding tales would help listeners to not only hear the stories, but to also picture themselves in the events that were being described.

Fast forward to the growing television era.  Arriving at a time when there were already many adjustments in the culture and style of living.  There were differences in many aspects of living, but mostly, the same basic human desires remained intact.  Though the media of telling changed, the love of stories remained.  Television simply brought professional visual and auditory storytelling into individual family homes.

So, enlarge and adapt the question.  What is it that made storytelling, especially by way of television, a common appointment. 

Really, it is not hard to understand. 

In real life, our lives are not always what we want them to be.  It’s not that we despise our lives.  Generally, we are thankful for the lives we have.  So, perhaps we sometimes look at ourselves in the light of a fantasy, and we think about what it would be like to inhabit the stories presented on the television.  It is not just little boys who imagined what it would be like to be Marshall Matt Dillon, and bring law and order by having a faster gun.  There were also those grown men who imagined being Ben Cartwright and displaying nobility while managing the great Ponderosa.  It may be true that comedy was the common connection, there is no doubt that many ladies longed to take the place of Lucy Ricardo and make less ridiculous choices.  Think about it.  Who wouldn’t want to live in a town like Mayberry, where everyone is your friend, and the bad guys are not so bad?

Perhaps the greatest draw of television was the fantasy that any of life’s problems could be solved in one episode.  Thirty minutes, or at most a full hour, was all that was/is needed to bring life into balance.  Still, more than seventy years later, the fantasy remains.  When reality comes back to control our minds, we may begin to realize that our fascination with our television entertainment is just that, and no more.  It is not real.  Even our fascination with the people who play the roles on those television shows comes to understand those people are not what they appear to be in the program.  In a personal interview, Andy Griffith told that people often met him expecting him to be the character he played on the show.  He was not.  It was “only make-believe”.

In contrast, there is an offer that is not fantasy.  It is found in God, through Jesus.  He has called us not to a fantasy, but to a promise of life.  Yes, life will still have its ups and downs.  We will still face problems with people, and with ourselves.  Many of these problems will take more time than a thirty-minute television show to solve.  The personal investment and trust will require more than just viewing from our comfortable chair at home.  If we listen and follow, there is a life of reality and permanency.  It is a life of being and doing.  It is a call to change and opportunity, much like He extended to some fishermen so long ago.  “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men” (Mark 1:17).  What they saw was more than an entertaining show.

So, don’t get lost in the fantasy of the television stories.  Remember, they are just entertainment.  Follow the better attraction offering reality with a place for life, now and eternal.  “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Russell L. Dyer

September 12, 2024