dusting off old stars

Ours was the first generation to have television.  Here in Gadsden, AL we got our pick of thirteen channels.  The vast wasteland wasn't as vast back in our youth.  There wasn't near as much programing that we have now.

There were no made for television movies, so the old movies that had long since been pulled from the silver screen were broadcast onto our little screen.  We were introduced to the stars of of yesterday.  The stars of our parents became our stars.

Still today I love old movies.  Not many of the films today can measure up to the films of yesterday.  I remember watching  Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan on Saturday mornings, along with Three Stooges and a show called The Funny Men.  The Funny Men was a collection of the old silent movies - Keystone Kops etc.

Most Sundays there would be a showing on one of the channels of Shirley Temple movies.  I think PBS aired those shows, as well as movies from the silent era with Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and Harold Loyd.

Every day after school Tom York would host Dialing for Dollars.  It was there that I discovered science fiction and horror movies.  Vincent Price and Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre are some of my favorites from these genres.

Friday nights the Finlayson kids got to stay up late and watch an old classic together on our black and white Zenith.  Mom would pop come popcorn on the stove top for us and we'd be good to go.  I love the old movies, I enjoy seeing those familiar faces still on Turner Classic Movies.  It's my favorite channel.