For those over 50

[2door]

Another piece of the America we knew is gone guys.
Good night Walter. You'll be missed.
Walter Cronkite: 1916-2009

[azbill]

every night..."and that's the way it is..."
a staple at our (and many others') house

those times will never come around again

[Bikeguy Joe]

I am under 50 (barely), but he was a fixture of Americana and REAL journalism.

Sad that he got less coverage and tributes than mike jaxon.

[leftywoody]

Does anybody remember the tv show hosted by Walter .It was called The 20th Century . He narrated the footage from WWI, WWII and other conflicts and political events . My Mom wouldn't let us watch it and would send us out of the room while my Dad would set in his chair and watch it . Sometimes we would sneek back in when she wasn't around and watch the gruesome military footage . To me at the time it was very bizzare and exciting to see trench warfare and I remember Walter's voice calmly intoducing the show and taking us through the footage .

[2door]

Lefty,
I most certainly remember '20th Century'. If memory serves me, it was on Sunday evenings and I was allowed to watch it and never missed it. Isn't it odd that Walter's voice never seemed to change in all those years. Destinctive and somehow reassuring, his tonal qualities made you want to listen and believe what he was saying. And people did, even Johnson. Too bad there seems to be no replacements for talents like him.
Tom

[leftywoody]

He definately didn't report with a political persuasion .His reporting style just seemed to make it interesting to everybody . And let you make up your own mind about the subject matter . We were in the living room watching him ,Bonanza, Ed sullivan , My Favorite Martian and eating popcorn and apples most Sunday evenings , on a black and white Motorola . Was some good times .

[fasteddy]

Every time I watch WW2 footage I think of the 20th Century. Funny thing is my parents would let us watch it but my Dad never would.
Years later I asked him in passing why and he just said he had seen it already. He was hit in Italy and hidden by an Italian family when the Germans counter attacked.
Very brave people.

Cronkite didn't seem to just report the news, he lived it while he reported it.

The new level of reporting now seems to be the CNN/'National Enquirer.
Nancy Grace and the bimbo clone shreaking thier outrage about the latest child murder that they have been beating to death for months with the high end panel of "experts".
The ratings must have taken a dip because they only beat on MJ for a few days and now Larry King is working him over.

Any of us who remember the golden years of TV are, I think, blessed. It's almost worth being old to have seen it.

My thought anyway.

Steve.

[Finfan]

I've got to agree! Even "My Mother the Car" and "The Monkees" are superior to most of the drivel they run on TV these days! The only saving grace is that with the switch to digital PBS now has several extra channels.

[leftywoody]

Most tv shows News ,Entertainment, Variety, Sitcom, Do not expect the viewer to think , just watch . On the other hand sometimes there are exceptions .I really liked Sienfeld and the King of Queens . The King of Queens should have gotten more awards for its comedy than it did . I thought it was every bit as funny as Barney Miller, Newhart, Mary Tyler Moore, Cheers and Frazier . Anybody else like the King of Queens . The good old days are still there , just harder to pick out .

[2door]

Televisons are good for only one thing to me anymore; watching movies on DVD. If broadcast went away today I wouldn't shed a tear. We have over two hundred channels available and there's nothing on any of them I care to watch. On the other hand my wife loves the crime dramas. Murder, rape, kill, where's the entertainment in that? And there must be twenty of those kinds of shows on. Thank Heaven for this forum, my garage, my dogs and good books.
Tom