by Aeryka Rae

Created on: December 30, 2008   Last Updated: January 12, 2009

Not only do I feel old TV shows should be made into movies...they should run the original episodes, back-to-back, marathon-style on a weekly basis; even daily. Experiment with it; run them at matinees; run them 'late-night'. I would certainly sit through them...and, I'm sure many families would 'trek' their young to see them as well.

I believe old and classic TV shows should bombard today's television primetime program slots. The shows that are currently running are infecting the minds of our young...giving them no other recourse but to want to live the lives of the "Gossip Girls", and those living in the "90210" area code, if there is such an area code. Everything is so "HOLLY-WEIRD."

It is nothing new that TV is used as a tool to baby-sit our young. Households are forced to have two working parents to maintain a decent lifestyle, and it seems parents have little time to 'raise up their children in the way they should go'. This is a sad thing, because these children grow to be adults. Children repeat what they see, and hear. What are they learning, and, from whom? Well, they're learning sex, violence, and that it's okay to openly display it. They get it free, and they're buying it like hot cakes from retailers.

Films that promote crime and sex dominates the box offices. Video games are being sold that teaches sex and violence to our babies...and, these are the things many parents spend their hard working money on to pacify our future generations. And, we wonder why there is so much of it being displayed in our communities, in the lyrics of music that's being written. Sex crimes, and violence are at an all-time high across our nation.

My siblings and I grew up on TV shows such as The Donna Reed Show, Father Knows Best, and My Three Sons...just to name a few. Our action shows were Gunsmoke, Rawhide, and Maverick; comedy and suspense came from shows like "Abbott and Costello Meets Frankenstein", and The Three Stooges. Saturday was the day for cartoons...classic cartoons.

What happened? Everything you tune into now, on any time slot, on every channel involves sex, crime and profanity.

The Saturday after Christmas, I was channel-hopping, and came across a marathon of Ozzie and Harriet shows. I was amazed, and pleased that I finally tuned into something I fondly related to. It was wonderful. I sat through at least five episodes, and recalled watching every one of them when I was a young girl. During 'station identification' (which is what commercials were literally called back in the day), I made sure I had my hot chocolate and cookies, and a ring-side seat on my living-room sofa. There I stayed until the wee hours of the morning. It brought back many fond memories.

Wait a minute...why were they even running Ozzie and Harriet in the WEE hours of the morning? H'm!

There were enough wholesome, and entertaining family movies back in the late 50's, 60's, and clean through the early 70's to cleverly do something with on the big screen today. Those shows were about family values that we could stand more of today. Making them into movies doesn't necessarily mean they have to be 'remakes'...just show the original shows. They would be box office hits.
We need more shows that depict strong family values. It would do our young well to give them as much of a variety of the positive influences many of us 'baby-boomers' had growing up. Especially since they are forced to be alone for much of the afternoon and evening hours against their will. Those old TV shows were very educational. Our children need those images as much as they need the education their being taught in the schools.
I wonder if they're available on DVD sets. Heck...I would invest in them.

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