The new RTE schedule came out in September and was eagerly awaited by television viewers around the country. Maria C. Henry shares memories of the programmes that she loved in her youth

 

It was in 1974 that my parents got their first television. In those days, TVs were very expensive and not every household had one. The options were to hire, rent, or buy. PYE and Bush were popular makes and there was the choice of black and white, or colour. My Mam knew what she wanted, so my folks rented a 26-inch PYE colour screen.

I was so excited the morning the TV arrived, and looked forward to this new form of entertainment. However, the next part had me waiting impatiently for hours as the TV had to be tuned in with those fiercely temperamental aerials on the roof. Eventually, a picture beamed all the way into our sitting room. I thought TV was the most magical thing.

The TV set took pride of place in our sitting room. There was only one channel that came on in the evening and concluded with the national anthem a few hours later.

There was very little programming for young ones. We had homegrown Wanderley Wagon and Bosco during the week. Saturday morning consisted of sugary cereals, Sesame Street and cartoons like Tom and Jerry, The Roadrunner and Scooby Doo. In later years Anything Goes; a show packed with music segments, puppet shows, letters and story time, and the coolest part, ‘The Birthday Roller’, was also compulsory viewing.
After my Mam’s scrumptious roast dinner on Sunday afternoon, we all sat around as a family with wholesome shows like The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie and gameshows.

Of course, no childhood of that era was complete without The Late Late Toy Show with ‘Uncle Gaybo’, which first aired in 1975. It was the best night of the year on TV.

Continue reading in this week’s Ireland’s Own