...There Were Only Three Television Stations?

When I was growing up we had three television stations to choose from, ABC, NBC and CBS, otherwise known as Channels 13, 3 and 8. We literally knew the television line up for any given evening, what channel to turn to without a remote (gasp) and ABC, Channel 13, reigned supreme. 

For a teenager in the 1970’s, the Friday night shows to watch likely included The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family.  Room 222 was hit or miss for me personally and somehow we managed to sneak in Love American Style, which was very edgy at the time.  Friday night was the television night for my friends and I.  Although we missed most Friday nights during football season, we always managed to catch up with reruns. 

Tuesdays was another great night to sit in front of the television for a couple of hours.  At http://www.aoltv.com/2007/04/16/the-five-best-lineups-in-tv-history/ you’ll find some other lineups.  Although not all shows were on my list of “must watch”, this list is an accurate account of what you might have seen on our television. 

I will always miss the Friday nights of my teens with friends, watching our favorite TV shows with a bowl of popcorn and the one soda we were allowed that week.  It was a simpler time that would be impossible to recreate today, but it was epic in a small town in the 1970's.  We weren’t constantly tuned in and had the time to talk and interact, face to face, with our friends.  It was a time when the "cell" was still unheard of and instead of picking up our landline telephone to call friends, it was much more normal to run into the house, yell we were going to a friend’s house, and  take off walking..across the street…across our small town…when it was safe in such a way that only existed “back in the day”...when there were only three television stations.