The craziness of live
television drew us away from our Saturday matinees. Live television
was a happening thrust right into our livingrooms.Imagine for a moment . . .
A bandleader falling off his own stage.
An automobile dealer run over during his own commercial.
A kiddie show host drunk on milk spiked by his camera man.
Obscene words coming from the mouth of a puppet.
"Did I just hear what I think I heard?" my mom asked, and our television screen went blank.
A movie cowboy was shown removing his glass eye.
A movie cowboy who lassoed President Eisenhower was shown being arrested.
William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd was shown chasing a kid who stole his hat.
And a kid on NBC's "Howdy Doody Show" was shown peeing on a light fixture.
Live television was something we didn't dare miss. Where else would we see an actor demolish an entire stage trying to get through a door?
Or hear a station announcer recommend snail poison as a cure for headaches?
Or watch a macho space hero choke on a breakfast cereal?
Where else but live television.