A random GenX teenage memory. How many of you can relate to this, and did the very same thing?

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xbjedi@reddit

Friday Fright Night, Saturday morning cartoons, afternoon Creature Feature, then reruns of Buck Rogers and Battlestar, Saturday night PBS with Doctor Who, Sunday afternoon Tarzan movies (Johnny Weissmueller and Ron Ely). Good old days indeed!

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Spodson@reddit

Kung-Fu Theater on Sunday afternoons. Elvira Mistress of the Dark, Joe Bob Briggs, many other presenters. Endless Godzilla and other Kaiju movies. That's when TV was boss.

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Lost_Osos@reddit

Dude Kung Fu theatre was the absolute best! I got it up in los osos ca! I can’t remember if we had cable or it was the airwaves.

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Educational_Peak_730@reddit

best episode, the young has to fight the old Kung fu master, he is bald with a fu manchu mustache and goatee, he is getting his azz kicked by the old master, but then he rips the old masters goatee off and kicks him in the balls!

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OldCarWorshipper@reddit (OP)

Sunday mornings here in Los Angeles where I grew up, we had the Family Film Festival hosted by Tom Hatten.

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magerber1966@reddit

Was he the guy who hosted the Saturday afternoon movies on Channel 5, or was that someone else?

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OldCarWorshipper@reddit (OP)

Sunday mornings usually. I can't remember if he did Saturday afternoons or not.

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magerber1966@reddit

Was that the show that featured Our Gang and Three Stooges cartoons?

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Cudg_of_Whiteharper@reddit

Yeah. Me my sister loved him. We loved how he would take a squiggle and make a cartoon character put of it.

Plus Popeye.

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arboreal_rodent@reddit

Kung-Fu Theater was so good

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Educational_Peak_730@reddit

oohh my god Rockford files, I wanted his car and a shit trailer on the beach and share some brews with angel!

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Meerkat212@reddit

Oh, yeah! When I was younger, the Kroft series' and Speed Racer dominated my mornings. And after school, some of the independent stations showed programs like Ultraman and Johnny Sokko along with a host of Looney Toon and B&W Three Stooges shorts. Then when I was older, I also remember watching "Creature Feature" during the afternoons, and the "Movie Weekends" on those same channels, where I saw many of those B-grade 1950's - 1970s sci-fi movies - Everything from Godzilla to "The Brain that Wouldn't Die" and the like.

Good times!

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magerber1966@reddit

Do you remember the cartoon Simba the White Lion? The actor who voiced Speed Racer also voiced Simba. I loved that show.

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Meerkat212@reddit

Oh, I dont think I ever saw that one :(

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DoctorFrick@reddit

Rockford Files was absolutely great television.

If you haven't watched it in a while, go take another look!

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Oceanjinga@reddit

Agreed. I started rewatching about a year ago. The cars are amazing! The first few episodes of season one are shot like movies, on location, and with some of the most amazing chase scenes. It was fun googling the cars, restaurants, and other landmarks in and around LA. IFIRC there were a couple of episodes where Rockford goes back and forth to Las Vegas. The footprint of Vegas is so small and there were not many high rise hotels.

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DoctorFrick@reddit

Isn't that wild? Old LA is best LA, and Old Vegas looks amazingly different. It's a great way to time travel, and James Garner is just the greatest!

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ShadowsPrincess53@reddit

We own every season of Rockford Files, we couldn’t make it to the end. I guess the episodes kind of got really dumb, reachy, what made us laugh the most?? The pure misogyny toward women. As a wife I couldn’t even with that stuff. “ Oh gods, that was terrible” you would hear as I was laughing because thinking about NOW?? That kilzes me!!

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SarahJaneB17@reddit

I've been checking out Columbo episodes. I'll check Rockford Files as well.

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GreatPumpkin72@reddit

That theme song is still fire.

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SarahJaneB17@reddit

I had a 45 of it, not anymore. I've downsized my vinyl considerably.

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Chicagogirl72@reddit

My parents were always out all weekend and as soon as I turned 11 no more babysitters so from 11-16 I watched an endless amount of tv. When I got my car I took off.

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Winter_Ratio_4831@reddit

Sounds like 18 should've been way more fucking fun. I was 22 and it was. 😁

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allminorchords@reddit

Fritz the Nite Owl & the Double Chiller Theatre. Good times.

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megaboz@reddit

For me, it was Doctor Who every Saturday night starting in 1987. I don't remember how but I found out the local PBS station was running it and I caught Tom Baker's first story, "Robot" and was hooked. Sometimes I had to record it but I usually ended up watching it on the little TV in my parents bedroom because everyone else was watching something else on the main TV. Eventually I started recording every episode and ended up with a VHS collection that included nearly every Tom Baker and Peter Davison episode.

Around that time STTNG was a staple of course and most of the family watched that as well.

On weekend afternoons I often listened to NPR radio dramas out in our cluttered garage; Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Fourth Tower of Inverness, Moon Over Morocco and The Incredible Adventures of Jack Flanders are ones I can remember.

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TypicalStuff121@reddit

My husband recently purchased every season of Rockford files on DVD

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ZandarrTheGreat@reddit

I remember getting up Sunday morning to check the TV guide in the Sunday paper to see what monster movies Fritz the Night Owl would be playing on Friday night. Always hoping for Godzilla!!!!

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Brocktoon73@reddit

In Detroit it was channels 20 and 50. Here is a commercial bumper for the double header creature feature, which used the trippy middle section of Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love…

Creature Feature

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Gaaargh@reddit

And Shocktober weeknights!

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Brocktoon73@reddit

I was a Count Scary fan.

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OldCarWorshipper@reddit (OP)

Sunday Mornings on KTLA 5 we'd have George Of The Jungle, Super Chicken, Tom Slick, Space Ghost, and Wacky Races. The shows would alternate per Sunday.

That's also where i first saw the 1970s Toei Productions ( Japanese ) film adaptation of The Little Mermaid, with its heartbreaking true-to-novel ending :( . I also vaguely remember another Toei production, where some hostile alien race called the Gorgons nearly wiped out all of humanity.

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uniquesnoflake2@reddit

Yeah of course. Nothing much going on a Friday/Saturday night? Grab a couple friends from the neighborhood and hit the $1 rental bin at the local indie video store.

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bjtg@reddit

I think it was CBS, that had re-runs late night. My brother and I would camp out downstairs in front of the TV and watch old TV shows like Quincy MD, Kojak, and the Avengers until sign-off. Introduced me to Diana Rigg as Emma Peel during my formative years.

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TreasonalDepression@reddit

This is why I love MSTK3K.

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Parking_Ad_5175@reddit

Yesss!!!! I just learned Tubi has a mst3k channel of random movies and shots and skits FOREVER!!!!

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Tennis_Proper@reddit

Absolutely. Saturday nights, 'big' brother was on babysitting duty while my parents went to the pub at the end of the street. This meant we got to sit up and watch whatever B movies were on, introducing me to an array of Frankenstein, Dracula and werewolf movies alongside many sci fi classics.

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Superb-Ag-1114@reddit

Creature Feature

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OldCarWorshipper@reddit (OP)

That's how I becamea huge lifelong fan of Christopher Lee and Rod Serling.

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BCVinny@reddit

Consider this. Vinny the late night Redditor thinks that he’s merely forgoing sleep. What he doesn’t know is that he’s surfed into the Twilight Zone.

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According-Squash-602@reddit

I remember watching a 24-hour marathon of the Twilight Zone as a GenX kid. I swear I had to start wearing glasses not too long after that.

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RogerClyneIsAGod2@reddit

I have this man to thank for introducing me to horror movies as a kid, Count Gore de Vol.

Went to a horror con many years ago to listen to & meet Christopher Lee. I walked into the vendor area & went around a corner & there he was. I nearly cried because he was such a big part of my childhood & one of the reason I love horror so much.

I managed to get myself together & meet him & now go to see him often down at the AFI Silver & he's still as fabulous & wonderful as he was when he was on every Saturday night.

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Kickingandscreaming@reddit

CHILLER theater with the claymation six fingered hand that comes out of the pond!

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LookingforDobsonfam1@reddit

That was soooo scary as a kid lol

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Superb-Ag-1114@reddit

When my kids ask what we did without the internet, I always tell them we were just bored a lot and watched a lot of bad TV lol. I specifically remember Sunday afternoons in the basement watching lots of dubbed, black and white Japanese horror shows coming from a Chicago TV feed. I can't remember the names.

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Divtos@reddit

You watched TV on the couch.

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bishpa@reddit

I’m the same age. I remember Sunday late afternoons watching those old Ray Harryhausen adventure flicks.

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SauerMetal@reddit

Does anyone remember Night Flight?

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Slim_Chiply@reddit

Sometimes yes. Not in '87 though. I was in college then and I didn't really own a TV.

Before that, I was going to be a musician and was spending time playing and listening to music.

I was really into Kurosawa and Herzog films around then, I would have been looking out for those and other artsy films.

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tyophious@reddit

Same age. Different experiences

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endosurgery@reddit

Yep. Sounds like every hung over Sunday afternoon.

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bjb8@reddit

A nearby station had "Late Great Movies" and while doing homework I would be up late, and this would be on in the background. The movies were ones they wouldn't play during the daytime hours, so more quirky movies. Will never forget the theme.

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wendilw@reddit

Elvira, Mistress of the Night!

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revdon@reddit

I’m so glad I had a local station as a kid because they showed an eclectic blend of old movies and syndicated shows that wouldn’t have seen otherwise. ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, and Portland local. R.I.P. Ramblin’ Rod

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REALtumbisturdler@reddit

I'd stay up to watch Night Flight on USA Network. All night long

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magicsqueezle@reddit

They have a Night Flight channel now. Of course we have it.

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Maude007@reddit

Got it here, up in Vancouver BC. I missed Night Flight the first time around

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magicsqueezle@reddit

Let me tell you, it has some awesome terrible movies

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GreatPumpkin72@reddit

Oh, yes! This was the only look into counterculture for me for a long, long time. How else would I have heard about the Church of the Subgenius?

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evility@reddit

In Northeast Ohio we had Big Chuck and Little John for Saturday night movies.

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SarahJaneB17@reddit

Ohio had several horror hosts. Ghoulardi, Dr. Creep, The Cool Ghoul. There must be something about the rust belt. Chilly Billy, Sammy Terry in surrounding states too.

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evility@reddit

Although he was before my time. I did have a Ghoulardi t-shirt. There was also Superhost. I don't remember much about him, other than he was on Ch 43 in the afternoon, during soaps.

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SarahJaneB17@reddit

I was in FL, we had Dr. Paul Bearer on the air into the 80s.

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bi_geek_guy@reddit

RIP Big Chuck

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ReadRightRed99@reddit

And that laugh track.

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OneThatCanSee@reddit

Anyone remember The Space Giants?

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Disazzt3rD3m0nD4d@reddit

Yes. The Fall Guy, Dukes of Hazard, The Twilight Zone, and there was one ….every time I bring it up, no one remembers it. “Manimal” : a crime fighter who, when under pressure or in order to evade, could morph into a jaguar. It was on USA network.

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OneThatCanSee@reddit

I was hoping someone would remember Manimal! No one ever knows what I’m talking about. I loved the low budget practical effects with his forehead “bubbling.” At the time and at my age, it was cool.

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fthrgasp@reddit

no i totally remember this show. i haven’t seen it since i was pretty young though.

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JazzfanRS@reddit

I think it was on network TV first, and I believe he could become other animals as well.

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jfellrath@reddit

I remember Saturday afternoons in the basement of my best friend's house, watching Creature Feature with old monster movies - Godzilla, Hammer Horror, Universal classics, and more.

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OneThatCanSee@reddit

I was obsessed with Godzilla! A boy told me that Godzilla lived with him but he became invisible so I couldn’t see him and I was sooo jealous.

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Accomplished2424@reddit

MOTHRA was my favorite.

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Fast-Benders@reddit

This was my childhood. Good times!

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No_Reserve_2846@reddit

From the mid 80’s till 1990 I recall many nights in my bedroom watching Benny Hill and Morton Downy Jr. on a small color TV. At some point I was gifted a relatives old VCR and remember begging to go rent old horror movies from the B stock rack at the local video store.

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RudeAd9698@reddit

I’m 61 and got emancipated at 17 so my parents were not around. Nevertheless you described how I killed many weekends and evenings.

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redditwinchester@reddit

Absolutely. UHF channels were great. Miss that.

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PlasteeqDNA@reddit

We weren't allowed to watch certain films, such as horror, or about subjects my parents considered children should not be exposed to. So no, this memory rings no bells for me.

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Phoenixsoaring0124@reddit

I remember all of the Hercules movies and the “claymation” or whatever its called in the Sinbad movie.

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Hopfrogg@reddit

I think all of us can relate.

Made me think of another TV thing from our generation. Being home sick... sure, we know all about the Price is Right, but I also remember watching a ton of Japanese monster movies that for whatever reason were on during weekday afternoons.

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kae0603@reddit

I worked all school breaks, so not as much, but remember the Creature Double Feature on Saturday afternoons??

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redbanner1@reddit

I'm a little younger, and we pretty much always had cable that I could remember. I watched a lot Rhonda Shear and Elvira-presented movies. USA Up All Night. Gilbert Gottfried I think was also on there. Joe Bob Briggs had a show like that as well. I think most of the eighties TV movie experience had some wacky/sexy presenter giving you bits of commentary, comedy, drama at the commercial breaks. Had to go to HBO or Skinemax to avoid it.

We had a finished basement setup complete with wood paneling and some green shag carpet my dad got real cheap somewhere. The couch was that solid dark wood frame with the fall country pattern cushions on it. Coffee table with a little box in the middle that had a flip-up lid. And of course we had a big old brown, orange, and yellow afghan draped over the back that never got used because it itched like hell. I just stuck to my blankets with satin edge strip on one end. You know the ones.

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TxJacey@reddit

I think everyone had that afghan on their couch. I think the one my grandma made for our house was missing the orange, but the one at her house definitely had orange. I bet we had at least 30 different afghans because my grandma loved to crochet & in her older years, my mom really got into crocheting too.

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Affectionate_Song_36@reddit

Joe Bob Briggs!!! 🤠

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Chateaudelait@reddit

I lived in a crappy apartment furnished with dumpster dive furniture- but I sure had fun curling up on that comfy couch that we inherited from a friend and watching Nick at Nite reruns, and USA network. It was a dumpy flat but it was mine. My favorite episode of The Outer Limits is The Galaxy Being.

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xjeanie@reddit

On weekend nights? No way! We were out at the bars. Checking out the local music, hanging out. Getting drunk. The only time we were home was if we were sick. Usually from drinking too much the night prior. Our usual night was to meet up. Drink, smoke weed and or get some lsd when we could find it. Ah the good ole days.

What I wouldn’t give to be able to find some real lsd instead of some research chemicals. 🥲

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mickeybrains@reddit

Omega Man!!!

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Enough-Parking164@reddit

Just got”Night Gallery”on dvd. Hadn’t seen it since I was a kid. Some great stuff! OP! Get Smart?

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nermalstretch@reddit

The first thing I bought when I got my first place to myself was an answering machine because I thought Jim Rockford’s answering machine was so cool.

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Captain_Coffee_III@reddit

Yep, late night TV. Just wild movies. Would watch until the stations shut down for the night. Then once I got to college, there was the "USA Up All Night" movies with Gilbert Gottfried and then the Elvira stuff. Sunday night in the dorms were wild. Every single room had on Star Trek TNG and you would hear the theme song echoing around. Then we would stay up watching the various spooky shows that followed, like "Tales from the Dark Side".

I'm getting my kids into the spirit of it now. I go buy those B-move collections on Amazon with like 50 movies in a pack for like $20 and rip those to my media server. Then we'll pull a Mystery Science Theater style viewing with just popcorn and $50 in junk food and binge and just crack jokes.

And they'll never know the joy of The Twilight Zone marathon on July 4 or Popeye, Tom Slick, George of the Jungle, Bullwinkle, and Underdog, and Super Chicken cartoons being piped in from KTLA. They look at me like I'm nuts when I just start singing the Super Chicken theme.. complete with clucks.

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Alh840001@reddit

In St. Louis on channel KPLR-TV 11, there would be 3 movies from noon to 6pm on Sundays.

The High Road to Bali with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope seemed to be recurring.

Gozilla, Jerry Lewis, Abbot and Costello. May and Pa Kettle.

https://www.reddit.com/r/StLouis/comments/tq5s4g/kplr_in_the_80s/

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sportsbunny33@reddit

I loved all the "Road to...." movies. Hope and Crosby were a great comedic team

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gretzky9999@reddit

We only had 1 tv for the longest time & I have 6 family members.Not too much time to watch what you want.Also we only had 13 channels until we bought a 2nd tv with a remote in the mid 80’s.

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GBeastETH@reddit

Tora! Tora! Tora! and The Deer Hunter are the ones I always recall on the Saturday Super Movie previews. But I never watched them until years later.

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Longjumping-Air1489@reddit

Saturday afternoons on WXTF Philly 29 showed me Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Beach Blanket Bingo, and Twelve O’Clock High.

Of course, we didn’t have cable with Prism or HBO, so I watched the movies available

And Friday at midnight ABC had the Million Dollar Movie, where I saw Clint Eastwood as a mountain climber in The Eiger Sanction.

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sportsbunny33@reddit

Omg I loved seeing The Eiger Sanction, The Boys From Brazil, The Omega Man, The Drowning Pool, Village of the Giants (the giant teenagers from the 1960s), Godzilla movies, and Marx Bros movies on Channels 5 and 11 in LA in the 70s. When video rentals became a thing I often rented old movies (1930s-1960s) probably because of that!

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RunningPirate@reddit

More like tv shows than movies. Summer in Fresno was so hot, it was too hot to swim. Winters were shitty, this dreary foggy, Smokey ennui; too warm for winter wonderland, too cold and damp to enjoy. Only the warm, embracing glow of TV was juuust right.

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kenjinyc@reddit

Chiller and the twilight zone, the outer limits! Star Trek? Godzilla and the mothra twins! 5 deadly venoms!

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GeekGirl711@reddit

When I wasn’t outside, I was put in front of the tv.

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Satans_colon@reddit

Hell yes!

Creature Features, Svengoolie, , night Gallery, and best of all, Count Floyd!

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Hypestyles@reddit

WFLD TV 32, WGN 9, WPWR 60/50, WLS 7, WBBM 2, WMAQ 5, WTTW 11, all out of Chicago. The original Son of Svengoolie show, was like SNL for younger kids. Rock on Chicago and MV-50 had music videos.

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nickgreyden@reddit

Dad controlled the TV. No cable or satellite, but, once enough time had elapsed, we had a good stock of VHS tapes. Mom and Dad are early boomers so lots of westerns. Also, both are faithful Christians and mom couldn't stand a lot of foul language or blood in movies. They weren't really into TV shows for the most part, but I was able to catch a few like the A-Team, Who's the Boss, and Cheers.

There were no lazy summers. You woke up early and left the house or you were gang pressed into helping your parents do some chores(s). Over Christmas break was the same story, although the work toned down some and there were all the hallmark-esque holiday movies that mom loved.

In general, it was best to be out of sight (and earshot) and out of mind than to be within distance to be a labor force.

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Individual-Army811@reddit

Friday night was Dallas night. Sunday night, Disney and Carol Burnett...

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she_slithers_slyly@reddit

Yeah, I did this with USA's "Up All Night" with Rhonda Shear & Gilbert Gottfried. Also, Elvira.

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Mumchkin@reddit

Yep, it's how I got to see a couple of my favorite B-list horror/thrillers, Tourist Trap (79) I'm not sure what year it was that I saw it though (it wasn't 79 that's for sure). The other stand-out was Don't go to Sleep (82) I was 8.

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therelybare5@reddit

Most of the summer I spent outside usually on my bike, exploring! When I was in front of the TV, especially after 1981, my eyes were glued to MTV, Friday Night Videos and NightTracks late at night on the weekends!

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sp0rk_walker@reddit

Spielberg made a deal with the network for a series called "amazing stories" I made sure to record all of them on the vhs. The intro alone always got me excited.

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foresthobbit13@reddit

Amazing Stories was fucking awesome.

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KetoLurkerHereAgain@reddit

Totally. WGN was just a local station then in Chicago and their weekends were loaded with old movies and tv from the 40's to the 60's. And Family Classics!

Funny story is that they aired Blazing Saddles super late at night one year - completely unedited! Made my 9 year old self a life long fan!

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tunebucket@reddit

We are twins. Long live the 70’s cop shows!

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Jellyfish2017@reddit

We saw such sword movies on Saturday afternoons. Does anyone remember a movie called Food of the Gods?

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Blue_Henri@reddit

Anybody remember that creepy movie with Bette Davis and Clayton from Benson where she cut out his tongue? Harvest Home. My mom was so mad because I wouldn’t sleep without the light on for a week.

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Blue_Henri@reddit

“Tweed sofa”

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ElectronicBusiness74@reddit

Friday Fright Night with my older brother watching old Vincent Price movies were a staple. Saturday afternoon war movies, Sunday afternoons with The Rat Patrol. Weekday nights with MASH. All glorious ways to spend time.

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jkki1999@reddit

Not at all. My parents got the tv. From the time I was 13 on, I spent as much time away from my house.

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AbruptMango@reddit

Channel 38, a UHF from Boston, had "The Movie Loft.". It was on a lot.

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The_Led_Zephyr@reddit

Dana Hersey!! Also, Creature Double Feature on 56.

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Historical_Pair3057@reddit

That's exactly where my mind went - Creature Double Fearure on Chaneel 56, WLVI!!

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wellbloom@reddit

Creature Double Feature was my favorite!

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TheColdWind@reddit

Creature Double Feature baby!! 1-3pm every damn Saturday. I hoped for Godzilla every week like it was xmas!

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SidMarcus@reddit

Hosted by “Uncle” Dale Dormon

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KnucklesMacKellough@reddit

Yes!

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Scared_Wall_504@reddit

WSBK

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socgrandinq@reddit

Movie Loft was great!

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AMGRN@reddit

Now I’ll be singing UHF by Weird Al all day. I’m okay with that. Lol

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KnucklesMacKellough@reddit

Learned about Weird Al in Doctor Demento Sunday night

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OldCarWorshipper@reddit (OP)

Two very important ones I almost forgot earlier:

Ray Bradbury Theater

Countless Latin novelas

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B0Nnaaayy@reddit

We lived out in the country with no cable so renting movies was a big deal for me, but I was so young my mom would watch everything I chose to rent. And it was like only two at a time. I had a friend whos older sister wound rent all the B horror flicks and we would watch them Sunday afternoon.

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spider_speller@reddit

The guy I was dating—his house was the place everyone gathered on Friday/Saturday nights. We’d rent a bunch of movies, watch episodes of various things, or just have MTV on in the background.

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I_Dionysus@reddit

My thing was making a "fort" which would be just a bunch of blankets and pillows made up in front of the living room TV over the weekends and watch stupid 80's horror movies that I still watch for nostalgia.

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Skip_Intro0401@reddit

Night Gallery scared the bejebus out of me. But I was too scared to get up in a dark room to turn off the TV.

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burgerg10@reddit

Sundays. 4 channels. Degrassi on PBS on the black and white in my parents’ bedroom.pleasantly low key bored and under stimulated. Knowing the pot roast and potatoes and carrots will be ready so we could sit through 60 Minutes

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jpohsh@reddit

I was a disaster movie junkie and The Towering Inferno was the pinnacle at the time for me. Remember watching it once late at night until the birds were chirping. Easily a three and half hour movie with commercials

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ComicDoughnut@reddit

I'm 56. Friday nights were Twilight Zone and Outer Limits, or Night Gallery. Weekend afternoons were Kung Fu Theater. Weekday afternoons were usually Andy Griffith, I Love Lucy, Brady Bunch and stuff like that. During summers I would stay up til sign-off watching whatever movies were on. I think we got exposed to a lot more different genres because there was no internet where you can really focus your interest, and we just watched whatever old movies.

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CK_Lowell@reddit

Definitely can related to being treated like a child long after you're no longer a child. I have stories. Man, that independent TV network was the best. Godzilla movies, Ultraman, 3 stooges, Gilligans Island and so many other syndicated shows from the 50s and 60s.. I'm so glad I grew up in the 70s/80s.

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ItBeMe_For_Real@reddit

Friends and I used to jokingly idolize the various TV private investigators/cops. Mannix, Ironside, Rockford Files, Columbo. We’d adopt their mannerisms & catch phrases.

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raptorknitter@reddit

Saturday nights my parents sent me next door to my grandparents’ house to get me out of their hair. Magic lineup was Loveboat and Fantasy Island. If I got sent over on Sunday is was golf in the afternoon (when grandparents and I would all fall sleep on the couch because…golf) then Lawrence Welk, Hee Haw, and if I was lucky, a Walt Disney Special.

Well maybe I have my nights mixed up. I was <10 (born 1970). We lived in the country and got 3-4 channels.

Later, in my teens, I found an old 4” portable TV that I would hide in my closet then take it out after bedtime to watch Saturday Night Live.

*also reminds me of All in the Family. Some things haven’t aged well. Also Good Times and the Jeffersons and Alice.

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Aircooled2088@reddit

Me and my older brother always watched The Hitchcock Hour

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litterofpigs@reddit

Channel 32 in Chicago in the 80’s would show Kojack Baretta and Starsky and Hutch on late nights and during the summer me and my brother would watch that and on Saturday Son of Svenghoulie

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Karamist623@reddit

Throw in some DR. Who and Dr. Shock and this was me!

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Ok_Ad8249@reddit

I remember in the 6th grade I would watch Benny Hill reruns at 11 during the summer. That started my love of late night TV.

The best late night line up was on of all things Sunday night. It started out as Black Belt Theater where they would show Chinese martial arts films after the local 11 pm news. The station built it up so for a couple of years in the late 80s it had a full line up.

11:30 a rotation of sitcoms, You'll Never Get Rich/Phil Silvers Show, McHale's Navy or Car 54 Where Are You

12:00 Universal Wrestling Federation (Mid-South Wrestling national syndication)

1:00 am Black Belt Theater

I watched it for a couple years after I got out of high school, eventually I had a late night job and was working Sunday nights so couldn't watch it any more.

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HunnyBear7979@reddit

I remember many Saturday nights that were spent watching America's Most Wanted with my mom. That's how we knew it was Saturday night. 😂

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EmperorXerro@reddit

Joe Bob Briggs Drive-In on The Movie Channel opened my eyes to the wonderful world of B movies

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snoopy_88@reddit

sir grave’s ghastly

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CawlinAlcarz@reddit

I'm 55, and I turned 18 in January 1988.

We never could afford cable, so we had ABC, NBC, CBS, and PBS in VHF channels, and then 3 UHF stations that I believe were local to the Philly area. I don't remember their call letters, but they were channels 17, 29, and 48 in the UHF band.

I watched a ton of Saturday "Creature Double Features" (old B&W horror/ monster flicks). Tons of badly synced martial arts movies and old Twilight Zone episodes were also on the schedule.

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PaulasBoutique88@reddit

King fu theater on Sundays and The Last Dragon...Shonuff!!

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AntaresBounder@reddit

Late night PBS = Tom Baker as Doctor Who.

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airckarc@reddit

Watching TV during the day was a pretty risky proposition for me. If either parent saw me there was a 50/50 chance they’d find some chores for me to do. Out of sight, out of mind was better. I had plenty of other stuff to do.

That being said, I loved stormy, rainy, or snowy days when I did finish chores, the house was clean, and enough wood stacked next to the stove to last the weekend. I was never a monster movie guy, but I loved WWII movies. Kick back and watch The Longest Day, Midway, PT 109… such a great feeling.

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Chateaudelait@reddit

I will watch Bridge on the River Kwai and The Great Escape beginning to end and enjoy the hell out of them no matter how many times I have seen them. Absolutely love these films.

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ANH_DarthVader@reddit

I was raised like a veal.

I can relate.

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ReadRightRed99@reddit

This sounds like something Howard Stern would have said. RIP

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ANH_DarthVader@reddit

Holy crap!

I believe he did say it! Hahaha!

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JenX74@reddit

Totally

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Krustylang@reddit

You just described my entire childhood.

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Carefree_Highway@reddit

Sun AM. B&W Superman (George Reeves?), Batman and Robin, a Tarzan movie (Johnny Weissmuller), and an Abbott and Costello movie. Core memories

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Mad_Zone_@reddit

Absolutely! Now we watch Svengoolie every Saturday night!

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mindcontrol93@reddit

We had Chicago stations on cable. We loved Svengoolie in the early 80's.

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Consistent-Sky3723@reddit

My mom (84) watches Svengoolie Saturday nights! I make sure she has popcorn. I also send her links to movies on YouTube! They have so many good, old timey horror films and mysteries. I’ve been sending her British mysteries that weren’t played in the USA to change things up.

I remember as a little kid in the 70s she’d call us kids in from outside playing and she’d shut the curtains turn lights off and we’d watch Charlie Chan movies, Japanese monster movies, etc. She’d make a big bowl of popcorn in that astrodome looking popcorn maker. Those were good times.

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Mad_Zone_@reddit

Me, hubby and kiddo kick out the jams (put on our pjs) and clear the air lanes for the big broadcast!!!

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DeFiClark@reddit

Creature Feature!

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LaLunacy@reddit

Used to watch Night Stalker faithfully.

And Sunday afternoons were monster movie time with us kids and dad (Gamera, Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and my fav, Frankenstein vs. Baragon).

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SarahJaneB17@reddit

Night Stalker is on at Midnight Saturdays on Metv.

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Stardustquarks@reddit

Loved me the 007 marathons they’d have on…TBS Maybe? They’d show 2 back to back 007 movies every night all week

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SarahJaneB17@reddit

Pluto had a 007 channel for a while. I think they've changed that though. I love the campy Roger Moore Bond films.

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wstone5594@reddit

Same

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MonkeyTraumaCenter@reddit

Definitely this. Watching movies like that would eventually lead to me renting a ton of them from the video store.

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cholaw@reddit

Good times

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TheWriteStuff1966@reddit

Friday night was set aside solely for watching Darren McGavin as "Kolchak: The Night Stalker." woohoo!

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z7482024@reddit

Member The Night Stalker with Detective Kolchak? 🤘🧟🤘

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triphawk07@reddit

I would spend my time watching old Kung Fu and Karate movies like "American Ninja" or anything with Van Damme or Chuck Noris.

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Working_Park4342@reddit

Wait. You were allowed to live at home after you turned 18?

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marigolds6@reddit

Iowa Public Television Sci-Fi Friday Night.

Mike Frisbee, Red Dwarf, Doctor Who, Blake's 7, and Jack Horkheimer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqn0gic3qzU&t=41s

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JoyfulCor313@reddit

Our PBS was basically this line up on Saturday nights. Doctor Who was on at 10 so it was pj’s on, lights out - perfect tv.

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GreatPumpkin72@reddit

I remember when KERA added Monty Python when I was in my teens. I was transformed. Some say not for the better, but I beg to differ.

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GreatPumpkin72@reddit

Hell. Yes.

Summertime was a golden age. We didn't get many channels, but we got a few out of Dallas in the little backwater burgh I called home. In the summertime, the afternoon was chock-a-block full of this stuff. There was always a Godzilla movie marathon sometime in the summer, and I considered that practically a holy Rite.

Throw in some original Star Trek into that mix, and you've described my life perfectly.

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JoeMillersHat@reddit

Checking in

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AMPressComix@reddit

I can relate to the tweed sofa, though mine was my dads La-z-boy. That fabric was not comfortable.

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Bella_de_chaos@reddit

I turned 18 in winter of 1985.

I can remember during my high school years (we had only recently got cable tv in our home) WBIR out of Chicago, on late night Saturday night showing things like old Vincent Price era scary movies and Alfred Hitchcock stuff. My best friend and I would stay up half the night laying in my living room floor watching them.

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Wyzard_of_Wurdz@reddit

I'm also 55.

When I was 13, I would have been mowing the lawn, shoveling snow, ruding my bicycle or playing Atari.

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AltaAudio@reddit

Godzilla. Monster week on the 4:30 movie

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mybloodyballentine@reddit

Monster week > shark week

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petshopB1986@reddit

Tv was my baby sitter, I watched hours of old tv shows and movies, loved the Marx brothers at an early age after seeing so many of their films on tv. Lots of Mtv and foreign cartoons.

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InfamousArm1401@reddit

You were allowed inside? Luckyyyy

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mlr571@reddit

My TV diet was crap like CHiPs and the Brady Bunch, then MTV debuted and I never wanted to watch anything else. In my teens I liked Knight Rider a lot, and later LA Law.

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SignalOriginal3313@reddit

In Australia, we had Bill Collins presenting old movies on Sunday afternoons. Still have my favourites.

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thatguygreg@reddit

I have memories of this at my cousins' places, where their place was big enough to have a den with a TV on its own. The closest I get at my place was on sick days, but that trended towards game shows and whatever the channel 11 afternoon movie was.

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Restless-J-Con22@reddit

It's how I got obsessed with film noir

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PMMEBITCOINPLZ@reddit

I watched a lot of TV too.

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realfakerolex@reddit

I'm a little younger and I relate to this in that from ages 10-14, many Saturday nights were spent flipping between terrible movies being shown on USA Up All Night, Headbangers Ball and SNL. All three things hugely influential to me.

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liss100@reddit

Bad Boys was the best movie I'd ever seen!

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GloomyKerploppus@reddit

Welcome to the fold, brother.

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KnucklesMacKellough@reddit

You forgot "Creature Double Feature" on Saturdays

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classicsat@reddit

Kind of.

Public TV showed movies Saturday night, usually some sort of theme to te two or three they ran.

I had my fun with video rental too. Not as much a I would have like though.

It would likely been cool to have a satellite dish back then. I got one about a decade, later, but its golden age had passed. But still fun for what it was.

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Somhairle77@reddit

I always had chores and homework.

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karen_h@reddit

Quincy!!! The Wild, Wild, West! MASH!

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Haunting-Berry1999@reddit

Channel 2, Oakland CA. Godzilla, Ultraman, Space Giants, the Creature Feature, Dialing for Dollars, Elvira Mistress of the Night…

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Breklin76@reddit

I was raised by the TV. We didn’t have cable for a lot of tweens. We had a shit load of VHS, though. I got the watch all the movies my parents didn’t let me and they couldn’t stop me because they weren’t home.

When I got bored of that, I’d build shit with scrap I found around the yard.

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JagerAkita@reddit

Growing up, there was a dollar theater that would host b movie marathons during the summer, $2.50 for three hours of movies, small popcorn and a soda. Was able to watch such classics like attack of the killer tomatoes, the blob, walking dead, and other such classics

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ReadRightRed99@reddit

The walking dead?

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JagerAkita@reddit

Sorry night of the living dead

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JoyfulCor313@reddit

Night of the living dead?

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ReadRightRed99@reddit

Maybe. Definitely not walking dead.

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F_is_for_Ducking@reddit

Parents were divorced, my dad worked a ton so even weekends at his place he’d be at his desk in his office, I’d be on the couch watching Star Trek with him. Lost him to cancer a long time ago and I’ve found the best way to remember him is binge watching ST:TNG.

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MHal9000@reddit

Friday nights watching the Big Chuck and LIttle John show, a couple of local TV personalities who would show all sorts of shlocky horror old horror and sci fi movies. Then on Saturday afternoons (after the morning cartoons were done) it was Super Host, another local TV personality who primarily showed either Godzilla movies or sci-fi.

Years later, when I went to watch the original Pacific Rim in a theater, that little 8 year old kid sitting in front of the TV on a Saturday morning got to resurface for 2 hours of bliss, lol.

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AltaAudio@reddit

Battlestar Galactica

gif

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Popsicle55555@reddit

I loved “Crime time after Prime Time” on whichever network is channel 2 in Chicago. It was trying to compete with the almost raunchy stuff on TBS and TNT haha. The 90’s were so weird and awesome!

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400footceiling@reddit

Brother and I had the basement to ourselves. Parents got a new color tv and we had the old black and white with a black metal exterior. It had the rabbit ears that would have to be adjusted and never quite was completely noise free. The tuner on the b&w set was terrible, every couple hours we’d have to bang the side of that tv so it would hold the channel. Hours upon hours spent watching Godzilla and other terrible horror movies from the 60’s. Funny, as bad as tv was, we still watched. If I could send a piece of tech back in time, it’d be a 65” OLED.

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mldyfox@reddit

We didn't have cable for long when I was young, and until I was 12 and a half, I went to bed the same time as my little sisters, 8pm. Fall of 7th grade I wa able to come back down to watch TV for a little while, with my parents, though. I lucked out because my dad was cool watching something I picked once a week, so I remember getting to watch The A-team then.

The next year, we outfitted our attic space for me to have my own room, and I got a small TV and portable stereo for the space. It was cool having a friend over some nights for Dynasty.

I turned 18 in 1989.

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vinegar@reddit

You think Rockford Files is cool
But there are some things
That you would change
If it were up to you
So think about your masterpiece
Watch some Rockford Files
And call to see if Paul can score some weed

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DataKnotsDesks@reddit

Now that's what I call poetry.

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_Batteries_@reddit

Im a millenial born in 80 and I can relate to this

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toqer@reddit

A little bit different but the same. My dad made a coffee can antenna that could receive HBO.

Coffee can HBO decoder device from the 70's. - Antique Radio Forums

So I grew up watching all kinds of stuff, combination of local and HBO programming. I remember seeing Looker, a movie about models being scanned into a computer and their likeness being used after they were murdered. Werewolves of London. Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Lots of NOVA, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, 6 Million Dollar Man. The Incredible Hulk was kind of slow. Tons of 3 stooges, little rascals. Outer limits, Twilight zone.

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The_B_Wolf@reddit

Definitely. I'm 56. Here's one for ya: did you ever listen to Dr. Demento on the radio?

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OldCarWorshipper@reddit (OP)

Dr Demento

The Real Don Steele

Wolfman Jack

Rick Dees

Mark And Brian

Kevin And Bean

Richard Blade

Dr. Susan Block

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TK-369@reddit

Rockford Files freaked me out as a little kid, they are all so sweaty and gross and beating up on Angel

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OldCarWorshipper@reddit (OP)

Mafia goons having to wear full suits during a California summer heatwave- no wonder they were always so grumpy LOL.

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Fishboney@reddit

Kung-fu Fridays!

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Impressive-Shame-525@reddit

During school, I had chores to do before the bus showed up. If I got them done fast enough I could watch scooby Doo and when that was over I had to catch the bus. Then when I got home I had chores to do and then dinner and then homework and then some TV, whatever my parents wanted to watch because we only had one TV.

During non school days I had chores that I had to do as well. I had leeway on that but the deep south gets hot and I tried to get them done before 11 am and it got super hot. Then I'd spend the rest of the day in the pond or in the creek or fishing or at one of my friends houses that had air conditioning. Because I grew up broke AF, we didn't have air conditioning. We didn't have heat either but that wasn't such a big deal because it rarely got below 30(f).

But I absolutely loved my home life. Mom and Dad were great, my father is my literal hero and I miss him every day.

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UnluckyNet2881@reddit

Creature Features on Saturday Nights at 11:30. Toho Kaiju flicks, Hammer Dracula and Frankenstein in all their glory. Saturday afternoons was Abott and Costello, Bowery Boys and Jimmy Cagney mob flicks.

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SpecificJunket8083@reddit

Not at all. I’m the same age. I was always out with friends or a boyfriend. I started working when I was 16 and I hung out with the older work friends and didn’t come home at times. I was being treated like I was 18 when I was 13. As long as my mom knew I was alive, I did what I wanted. I never watched TV in the 80s or early 90s. Too busy with college and work. I bought my first house in 1989.

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MissMurderpants@reddit

Kung fu. I first watched them in SoCal in the 70’s. They were on the east coast area I lived at in the 80’s.

I mostly did stuff outside and would read. My dad loved movies and would take us kids to see everything and we’d go to do museums and the like.

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TrustAffectionate966@reddit

It was a combination of MTV’s Headbangers’ Ball, 120 Minutes, Alternative Nation, and Liquid TV with KDOC’s Night Flight and Hot Seat (with Wally George). This was after an early evening of playing Genesis in the garage with Domino’s Pizza.

🧉🦄👌🏽

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contude327@reddit

Oh yeah. One of my favorites was the CBS after school movies. B-grade sci fi and horror greats like Gargoyles and Sssssssss.

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PinkRoseBouquet@reddit

Totally! On the weekends it was movie after movie of Chiller Diller, old quicksand movies, classics from the 40s and 50s, and the old cartoons.

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FatGuyOnAMoped@reddit

Sounds pretty familiar. A lot of those movies you mentioned ended up getting sent up by Mystery Science Theater 3000. If you haven't watched it before, go check it out. The original run from 1988-1999 is the best, IMHO.

I also watched a lot of The Twilight Zone, too.

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R67H@reddit

Most of my Saturday nights were spent at house parties or, at the very least, my friend's house playing pool, smoking weed and drinking beer. At least through high school. Parents had their reasons for keeping me out of the house, so it was whatever. Now, when I was younger, that experience was definitely the case. Although the TV was in my room.

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Mortimer452@reddit

Don't forget Tales from the Crypt

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Realistic_Young9008@reddit

Yes. Still watching them in fact, TUBI, youtube and Plex have been an absolute gift

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FirstNoel@reddit

My Parents wouldn't/couldn't spring for cable. So antenna it was, but a decent one outside on a nice stable mount.

UHF, channels 33,43,45,49, maybe 67 could provide you all the Hogan's Heroes or Jerry Lewis marathon you could handle.

Maybe we'd get Swamp Fox for a while, or Davey Crockett..

by 8 th grade we had a VCR, so renting was a saturday night staple...

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