This 50s Shows Quiz Is Surprisingly Difficult!
Published: Tuesday, April 23, 2024
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The 50s were a remarkable, often underrated decade. The stereotype is that America had gone into a stupor of conformity and puritanical morality between the horrors of World War II and the social turmoil of the 60s. But a lot of things were happening that families living in the suburbs worried about, from the Communists both abroad and at home, the rising demands of the civil rights movement as African Americans started to demand equality, to that scary new kind of music called rock and roll.
The 50s were also the decade when a new form of entertainment called television arose. Americans in the 50s watched that glowing box in their living room to escape the concerns of the time. They wanted to be entertained, not challenged or enlightened. The TV networks obliged Americans in abundance.
All sitcoms were family friendly. The term would not be invented until decades later when shows started to take up challenging issues. The only trouble that Lucy Ricardo ever got into in “I Love Lucy” were the result of her madcap schemes. The popular show even shied away from marital sex. Lucy and her husband Ricky slept in separate beds and, when Lucille Ball became pregnant, so did her character, though that word was never mentioned. Lucy was always “expecting.”
Most sitcoms were not only family friendly but depicted families “Leave it to Beaver” was typical, with the wise patriarch Ward, his helpful wife June, and their good kids teenage Wally (who never got into serious trouble) and the awkward younger son, Theodore, aka “the Beaver.” “Father Knows Best” and “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.”
The 50s were the golden age of the western. The American TV westerns were generally all versions of a morality tale, in which the good guys and the bad guys were clearly defined. The sheriff in “Gunsmoke,” the bounty hunter in “Have Gun Will Travel” or the cattle drivers in “Rawhide” would be confronted with a problem but would solve it by the time the hour was up. The western was an American genre that celebrated the opening of the American west.
“Maverick,” a show about brothers who were itinerant gamblers, skirted the edge a little with its occasional amoral characters. Brothers Bret and Bart were devoted cowards, who would rather solve problems with their quick wits and intelligence than with their fists or a gun. Of course, the Maverick brothers always wound up on the side of right in the end, sometimes despite themselves.
The 50s also saw the birth of the cop show. Programs such as “Dragnet” and “The Highway Patrol” featured laconic, no-nonsense law enforcement officers who always got their man (and occasional woman) in the end. The kind of social issues that crept into later police procedurals rarely if ever showed up.
The kind of science fiction programming that showed up in the 50s lacked production values or really good storytelling. “Rocky Jones: Space Ranger” and “Space Patrol” were typical. But the decade did see the birth of two great SF shows, the famous “Twilight Zone” and the all-but-forgotten “Men in Space.”
Do you think you know about 50s TV shows? Try this trivia game that follows and find out.
The 50s were also the decade when a new form of entertainment called television arose. Americans in the 50s watched that glowing box in their living room to escape the concerns of the time. They wanted to be entertained, not challenged or enlightened. The TV networks obliged Americans in abundance.
All sitcoms were family friendly. The term would not be invented until decades later when shows started to take up challenging issues. The only trouble that Lucy Ricardo ever got into in “I Love Lucy” were the result of her madcap schemes. The popular show even shied away from marital sex. Lucy and her husband Ricky slept in separate beds and, when Lucille Ball became pregnant, so did her character, though that word was never mentioned. Lucy was always “expecting.”
Most sitcoms were not only family friendly but depicted families “Leave it to Beaver” was typical, with the wise patriarch Ward, his helpful wife June, and their good kids teenage Wally (who never got into serious trouble) and the awkward younger son, Theodore, aka “the Beaver.” “Father Knows Best” and “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.”
The 50s were the golden age of the western. The American TV westerns were generally all versions of a morality tale, in which the good guys and the bad guys were clearly defined. The sheriff in “Gunsmoke,” the bounty hunter in “Have Gun Will Travel” or the cattle drivers in “Rawhide” would be confronted with a problem but would solve it by the time the hour was up. The western was an American genre that celebrated the opening of the American west.
“Maverick,” a show about brothers who were itinerant gamblers, skirted the edge a little with its occasional amoral characters. Brothers Bret and Bart were devoted cowards, who would rather solve problems with their quick wits and intelligence than with their fists or a gun. Of course, the Maverick brothers always wound up on the side of right in the end, sometimes despite themselves.
The 50s also saw the birth of the cop show. Programs such as “Dragnet” and “The Highway Patrol” featured laconic, no-nonsense law enforcement officers who always got their man (and occasional woman) in the end. The kind of social issues that crept into later police procedurals rarely if ever showed up.
The kind of science fiction programming that showed up in the 50s lacked production values or really good storytelling. “Rocky Jones: Space Ranger” and “Space Patrol” were typical. But the decade did see the birth of two great SF shows, the famous “Twilight Zone” and the all-but-forgotten “Men in Space.”
Do you think you know about 50s TV shows? Try this trivia game that follows and find out.