For those over 50

2door

2door

Moderator
Staff member
Another piece of the America we knew is gone guys.
Good night Walter. You'll be missed.
Walter Cronkite: 1916-2009
 
every night..."and that's the way it is..."
a staple at our (and many others') house

those times will never come around again :(
 
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.
 
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 .
 
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
 
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 .
 
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.
 
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.
 
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 .
 
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
 
2door--My thoughts exactly. I love the forum. I've built my some day bike a dozen different ways. Now I've had my knees rebuilt it looks like I'll never be able to pedal a bike again so it has to have a motor.
The garage and dog belong to my brother and his family. Seems to work for the dog.
Good books don't cost they pay. I have about read out our local library. Next one is a few miles away. Gotta build that bike.

Steve.
 
2door said:
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.
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Oh come on, you gotta love all those little ads they put in the corner of the screen while youre watching a show, especially when they plant them right over an important piece of evidence or whatever it is you need to see to be able to understand whats going on.

I especially like them lately cause I think theyre getting even BIGGER...

Im really looking forward to the day when the show youre watching is as large as those little ads and the ads take up the better part of the screen.

Oh yea, and the regular commercials, we are so lucky, we get to watch them every 5 minutes now instead of every 15 minutes like we used to.

And whats even better than all that...now that broadcast TV has gone digital we get to PAY to watch them...woohoo!
 
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Don't forget, with digital tv, you don't just get a little snow now and then, the picture just locks up for 15 seconds.

"And the name of the killers is... skritllebffftttalexoctic.....'no signal'.......and he was capture by the authorities in your hometown."
 
Yes you are right ,It feels like you have just hit a brick wall when it locks up . I use to just have to deal with my wife wanting to start a conversation with me at the same time as the important news break was playing ,now I am being pixelated to death .
 
I look out my window and don't know what kind of car that just passed, I see the old man or woman sitting against a building wearing rags and don't understand why, I see the drug addicts waiting to steal someones purse or wallet as the Police cars drive by pretending they don't see, I see on TV about the 2 year old beaten half to death by the mothers "boy friend". The government owns GM, it just isn't right. But then I fire off my MB and it all goes away, for just a little while, R.I.P. Walter, Farrah, and countless others, that made life as I knew it, such a joy.
 
Saddletramp1200 said:
I look out my window and don't know what kind of car that just passed, I see the old man or woman sitting against a building wearing rags and don't understand why, I see the drug addicts waiting to steal someones purse or wallet as the Police cars drive by pretending they don't see, I see on TV about the 2 year old beaten half to death by the mothers "boy friend". The government owns GM, it just isn't right. But then I fire off my MB and it all goes away, for just a little while, R.I.P. Walter, Farrah, and countless others, that made life as I knew it, such a joy.
Click to expand...

Well said Saddletramp, well said.

P.S. I LOVE you signature...
 
I started to watch tv in the early 50s. There was a lot of cowboy shows. Kiddie's shows with clarabell and the likes. Red skelton, Dina Shore, Our Gang, and Victory at Sea.
Now I try to watch while I eat dinner and lose my appetite. I still like COPS, Speeders and some shows I find on History. All repeats though. 90 channels and NOTHING to watch.
Same here, Thank God for my warehouse, social security, building and riding MBs my Motorcycle and this forum.
 
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The other day I went for a walk and ran across a willys jeep for sale . Then I thought of Roy, Dale, Trigger, Pat and uhhhh what the heck was the name of that Jeep . Now you cleared up the cobwebs for me. Thanks ,Old Motorbike ,when I saw Clarabell I instantly had Nellybell pop into my deteriorated brain .
 
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