These Shows Were Always On TV in the ’80s and ’90s — But Did Anyone Actually Watch Them?

Back before streaming, on-demand, and remote controls with enough buttons to land a ship on the moon, TV was a slower, simpler distraction. We even nicknamed it the “idiot box,” because staring at it too long could make you feel like one.

There was no "browsing" when it came to looking for something to watch. You plopped down, flipped to one of the handful of channels you were able to get on the clunky set, and that was that.

Background Shows We All Remember (Sort Of)

If The Lawrence Welk Show was on and Mom was doing some knitting, you were going to be serenaded by a nice man with a violin, a bubble machine, and some very vanilla people doing very vanilla comedy, whether you liked it or not. (Fun fact: Some people today may have no idea that the iconically weird recurring Kristen Wiig “Sisters” sketch on SNL — the one with the tiny hands — was inspired by this very real show.)

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If Wide World of Sports was on, Dad would be in his chair with the newspaper while the booming announcer promised "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." Remember that horrific skiing crash during the opening? And since you were stuck watching it, you got exposed to sports you didn’t even know existed — suddenly becoming an “expert” on, say, luge strategy or remembering the names of horses from Olympic dressage.