Whenever the TV broadcasters had problems, a standard message would go up saying "technical difficulties, please stand by." I thought I had to get up and go stand by the TV. :-)

jansam

On soap operas, they would show a couple kissing, then cut to commercial, then when they returned to the scene, they were in the bed "after," but I always thought that they just took a nap after kissing.

Me

I had a similar experience as another poster here. I was watching Sesame Street back when nobody but Big Bird (and us kids) believed in Mr. Snuffalupagus. Well, he was walking right behind Gordon once and I shouted out "he's right behind you!!!". Gordon turned to the camera (me) and replied, "did you say 'he's right behind me?''" From that day forward I never sat in front of the TV in my underwear again.

Holly

This was when I was very young and the BBC weather used to consist of a man walking by several maps and sticking pictures of clouds and suns to the map. Probably because adult world seemed aloof and bizarre, I used to imagine that the weather man was infact held inside a giant dome covered in weather maps, and he was doomed to spend an eternity in this empty twilight zone walking around his vast prison reading the weather.

Dr Dunn

When I was little my dad told me that the girl playing noughts and crosses with the clown doll on the Test Card was me [this was 30 odd years ago in the UK] and I thought it was me [she did look a lot like me], I couldn't figure out how they'd managed to film me playing noughts and crosses with a doll that I didn't own ...

Lobelia Overhill

I used to be scared of the BBC 2 logo, which was two brown parallel lines in a 2 shape, because I thought they were question marks. I didnt know the question and I didnt know the answer.

Flash Wilson

I used to believe that sattelite TV really was from a sattelite, I could never work out how they got all the people into space to make the shows.

Scott V

When I was young (1980s), and violent or sexual programming was advertised on television with the disclaimer, "Parental Discretion Advised," I thought the TV announcer was actually saying "Friendly Discussion Advised."

It made sense to me because I thought the extreme nature of these programs would make people feel scared and leave them with a need to reassure each other.

Joey Z

For some reason, when I was very little, I thought that TV shows "stayed inside the TV" until it was turned on. When we watched TV, the shows were "leaking out." When I started going to school, I would come home in the afternoon, try to watch "Sesame Street" and find that it wasn't on. I then asked Mom not to watch TV while I was at school, as it "wasted" "Sesame Street."

Nicholas Dollak

I used to believe that people lived in the tv, so when they had boxing matches and if they missed and hit the tv, they would come through into our house

orsulomna