BY KYLE LOVERN

Many of you may relate to how television viewing and shows have changed throughout the years.

Growing up, we were lucky to have one bulky, black-and-white TV. There were only three channels to pick up, the three major networks NBC, CBS and ABC. There were no remote controls. If you were a kid, you were the channel changer when your parents told you to change the channel manually.

However, there was always something good to watch. Shows that still resonate today and are still shown as reruns like Andy Griffith, I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Lassie and The Beverly Hillbillies, just to name a few. There were also plenty of good westerns like Gunsmoke, Rawhide, The Rifleman and Bonanza.

When you got home from school, locally there was Mr. Cartoon on WSAZ. Many, like my wife, were fans of Dark Shadows, the vampire soap opera. Many stay-at-home moms watched their daily “soaps.”

Every major network had the nightly news at 6:30 p.m. after the local news programs came on at 6 p.m. Most of us tuned in to Huntley and Brinkley or Walter Cronkite bringing the latest news on the Vietnam War, politics, the Civil Rights movement and more.