Man, my head needs a break from the campaign and the post-mortem. Holy cow that was intense. Time to bathe in the glow of the one I love, my flat-screen LED TV.

But life was not always true colors and sharp pictures. No, like many boomers I had to live through black and white images that would sometime appear ghostly, would sometimes look like there were three people where there was one and of course the rolling this way and that. Rabbit ears or high mounted outside antennae, it made no difference. Ah, but the content was so memorable. The 1950s became known as the “Golden age of  Television” for some reason. let’s see if we can figure out why.

1) This sport got a huge kick on its way to major popularity on December 28th, 1958. What happened on that day?
a) Cassius Clay knocked out Sonny Liston
b) The Boston Celtics beat the Harlem Globe Trotters thus establishing the NBA as THE top basketball conference.
c) Bobby Hull and Gordy Howe each score a hat trick in an amazing NHL game raising NHL ratings through the roof.
d) Baltimore’s Colts defeat the New York Giants in “the greatest game ever played” and the NFL becomes hugely popular.

2) In 1951, CBS rolled out a new show that had a new hook. Instead of being live, this show was recorded on film. It went on to become one of the most popular shows of all times. What was it?

a) the Honeymooners
b) Burns and Allen
c) I Love Lucy
d) Dragnet

3) From 1950 to 1954 Saturday evenings pretty much belonged to Sid Caesar and his crew of crazies. What was the name of his show?
a) The Sid Caesar Show
b) Toast of the Town
c) Cavalcade of stars
d) Your Show of Shows

4) By some measures this network was the first TV network. Alas, it ceased operations in 1956, leaving just 3 networks at that time. This network was:

a) Du Mont
b) Paramount
c) Mutual
d) Universal

5) One man was so popular that it was said he was the biggest reason people bought TVs in the 50s. Who was designated “Mr. Television” by the public?

a) Bob Hope
b) Milton Berle
c) Arthur Godfrey
d) Jackie Gleason

6) From 1950 to 1960 one of the most popular programs involved a game show with a wise cracking host. Who was this host?
a) Groucho Marx
b) Johnny Carson
c) Steve Allen
d) Michael Feldman

7) John Beresford Tipton, Jr. was an unseen character on what highly popular series in the 50s. What show was Mr. Tipton on?
a) The Twilight Zone
b) The Millionaire
c) Chesterfield Soundoff Time
d) Topper

8) In 1955, the quiz genre became the big story of the TV season. Which quiz program shot up to be the top rated show of 1955 – 1956?
a) 21
b) You Bet Your Life!
c) the $64,000 Question
d) Who Do You Trust?

9) In 1954 ABC was about to go under when a Hollywood production company made a deal to create what would become one of the most popular series ever. What was the production company?

a) Warner Brothers
b) 20th Century Fox
c) MGM
d) Disney

10) 1956/1957 season saw an explosion of westerns. Dodge City, Kansas was the setting for which Western debuting that year?
a) The Legend of Wyatt Earp
b) The Adventures of Jim Bowie
c) Gunsmoke
d) Cheyenne

BONUS! 1956/1957 saw one network begin to show some programs in color. Which was the first network to program in color
a) ABC
b) CBS
c) NBC
d) PBS

Now, did that take your mind off the election? Sometimes it is fun to sit back and ponder on how things like TV programming evolved.  Let’s have some answers!

1) d) The Colts/Giants sudden death playoff games. Oddly CBS had reluctantly begun showing football only a couple years before.

2) c) I Love Lucy. Still in reruns, still popular

3) d) Your Show of Shows. It would later become the Sid Caesar Show

4) a) Du Mont. They could not afford the costs. One thing they gave up to CBS was NFL football.

5) b) Uncle Miltie, Milton Berle

6) a) Groucho Marx (“say the secret woid and win $100”)

7) b) the unseen philanthropist of the Millionaire

8) c) the $64,000 Question. This is the show that was the subject of the movie “Quiz Show.”

9) d) Disney. They have been intertwined ever since.

10) c) Kitty, Doc, Chester, and Marshall Dillon all met in Docge City, Kansas weekly for Gunsmoke.

BONUS! c) NBC in 1956/1957 with about an hour each evening.