Top Of The Pops in 1979/80 or so when I was about fifteen. Things might have been different if we'd had more than one telly in the house, but that was relatively uncommon then. My dad thought it was 'just noise' at best of times - mostly he thought it was 'a right bleepin' racket'. He was already past his mid forties when I was born, so I was used to him being a bit old-fashioned about a lot of stuff and just resigned myself to it, but to hear most of my friends talk at the time you'd think I was suffering on the very limits of deprivation.
I'll always remember chatting with my best mate about our boring schoolwork, lacking (or lack of!) love lives and other teenage angst, and her turning to me and saying tragically 'All I've got to look forward to in life is Top Of The Pops, and you haven't even got that!'. I didn't laugh, even though I badly wanted to - it's a rare mate who will support you when you're in the throes of a chronic Sham69 and Department S deficiency
Top Of The Pops in 1979/80 or so when I was about fifteen. Things might have been different if we'd had more than one telly in the house, but that was relatively uncommon then. My dad thought it was 'just noise' at best of times - mostly he thought it was 'a right bleepin' racket'. He was already past his mid forties when I was born, so I was used to him being a bit old-fashioned about a lot of stuff and just resigned myself to it, but to hear most of my friends talk at the time you'd think I was suffering on the very limits of deprivation.
I'll always remember chatting with my best mate about our boring schoolwork, lacking (or lack of!) love lives and other teenage angst, and her turning to me and saying tragically 'All I've got to look forward to in life is Top Of The Pops, and you haven't even got that!'. I didn't laugh, even though I badly wanted to - it's a rare mate who will support you when you're in the throes of a chronic Sham69 and Department S deficiency
I couldn't watch it because my Dad used to get paid on Thursdays & I had to spend the evening in a Pub carpark.
Steptoe & Son, Till Death Us Do Part - parents were a bit snobby. Also anything with Rolf Harris in! They had an aversion to him.
Snap ! I wasn't allowed to watch the first two because of the swearing ! And I grew up never seeing a single episode of Monty Python because my parents thought it was rubbish !
Like a couple of others I wasn't allowed to watch Grange Hill. This was during the mid-80s Zammo taking drugs era. I think there must have been articles in the paper about the storyline and my mum must have thought a 7/8 year old watching a school kid taking drugs wasn't exactly a good influence. I still saw it though.
When I think back my parents were a bit flippant about letting me watch most things. I remember watching Night of the Living Dead when I was very young and being seriously petrified and having to go upstairs out of the way. They let me watch The Young Ones, The X Files, Bottom...and many other things that were probably quite inappropriate. And yet my mum decided that Drop Dead Fred was a bad influence and taped over our recording.
The one thing they were very strict about was Cracker though, when Cracker came on it was time for bed. Although I suspect that was more to do with them wanting to watch it rather than it being inappropriate.
Spitting Image
Filthy, Rich and Catflap
Kenny Everett
Minder
Auf Wiedersehen (sp?) Pet
When I was a bit older, I remember watching The Word on mute in my bedroom with my headphones plugged into the telly because I knew my parents would disapprove of its content! Same with the midnight TV premiere of Madonna’s Justify My Love video when I was about 12!!
I don't really remember there were any but I remember watching South Park a few times and then not being allowed to watch it any more because of some of the swearing in it.
I remember my parents used to lock the kitchen door when they were watching
"Cracker" or "Prime Suspect" so me and my younger siblings couldn't come in and
be traumatised by the graphic violence.
My parents just wouldn't let me watch anything past the watershed until I was 13, and even then Mum was displeased that I watched So/V Graham Norton and American Pie when that was on.
Not a programme, just a video for a song, but my Mum turned Top of the Pops off when the George Michael video for 'Fastlove' come on because it was 'rude'! Looking back, I don't think it would have done me any harm really.
When I was in school, all of the cool kids were talking about this TV show I'd never heard of at the time, called 'Bottom'. I used to think that Bottom was just a fictional show my classmates had made up, just to wind me up (much like the "Did you watch 'Spastics Say No' last night?" joke).
I never got to watch Bottom, as it was on past my bedtime. Same with Spitting Image. I was the uncool kid, because I didn't get to watch these shows.
Comments
I'll always remember chatting with my best mate about our boring schoolwork, lacking (or lack of!) love lives and other teenage angst, and her turning to me and saying tragically 'All I've got to look forward to in life is Top Of The Pops, and you haven't even got that!'. I didn't laugh, even though I badly wanted to - it's a rare mate who will support you when you're in the throes of a chronic Sham69 and Department S deficiency
I couldn't watch it because my Dad used to get paid on Thursdays & I had to spend the evening in a Pub carpark.
Same here - I always got as far as listening to that fantastic theme tune, then I was packed off to bed.
Oddly, I was once given a Sweeney jigsaw even though I was never allowed to watch it!
Snap ! I wasn't allowed to watch the first two because of the swearing ! And I grew up never seeing a single episode of Monty Python because my parents thought it was rubbish !
The one thing they were very strict about was Cracker though, when Cracker came on it was time for bed. Although I suspect that was more to do with them wanting to watch it rather than it being inappropriate.
Filthy, Rich and Catflap
Kenny Everett
Minder
Auf Wiedersehen (sp?) Pet
When I was a bit older, I remember watching The Word on mute in my bedroom with my headphones plugged into the telly because I knew my parents would disapprove of its content! Same with the midnight TV premiere of Madonna’s Justify My Love video when I was about 12!!
"Cracker" or "Prime Suspect" so me and my younger siblings couldn't come in and
be traumatised by the graphic violence.
Not a programme, just a video for a song, but my Mum turned Top of the Pops off when the George Michael video for 'Fastlove' come on because it was 'rude'! Looking back, I don't think it would have done me any harm really.
I never got to watch Bottom, as it was on past my bedtime. Same with Spitting Image. I was the uncool kid, because I didn't get to watch these shows.