When I was about 7 or 8 years old, my dad once told me that the 'Emergency Test' on the TV meant that the TV was going to blow up. A week after he told me that I was at my grandmothers and the "test Beep" came on tv and i ran around my grandmothers house screaming "The TV is going to blow up!"

Heather

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

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

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

As ludicrous as this may sound this is, I swear, the truth! My gran used to put a cover over the TV at night, when I asked her why she replied “because I don't want them (the people in the TV) watching in at night”! I nearly believed it as well, old people aren't they great she’s as mad as a fish and as thick as a bat.

Mark C

When I was around 8, I used to read the TV Guide very carefully in the hopes that SOMETHING good would come on the three channels we had. I would always come across this show called "To Be Announced". It seemed to come on a LOT, so it must have been important. I was convinced that since it came on late at night or really early on Sunday, it was a public affairs program, probably promoting Black pride ("To Be ANNOUNCED!", like "I am SOMEBODY!"). I tried to watch it a few times, but it was always a different show. When it finally dawned on me, I think it was the first "forehead slap" of my life.

helen

When I was little, I thought that the "viewer discretion is advised" warnings before television programs meant that you weren't supposed to talk about what you saw.

Rin

I was once very puzzled as to why TV weather reports would sometimes repeatedly say that the weather was "overcast". I thought they could reduce the problem by NOT repeating the reports so much. (I thought that "overcast" meant forecasted too much.)

Nicole

When visiting my relatives in Norfolk many years ago they had a new Colour TV. The picture was really fuzzy. I complained to my dad who told me that people in Norfolk had different eyes and to them it was a perefect picture!!

Howard Latham

Soap Opera's are Soaps that sing Opera to you while you take a bath. Right???

Kid 1990

When I was young, I used to believe TV works like a tape recorder. When I'm in a hurry and any of my favorite programs are being aired, I used to switch off TV and tell everybody in home not to switch it on until I come back. When I return and saw different program, I used to get angry with my family members saying that they switched it on in between.

Jyothi

For my 4th birthday my mum said I could have a party and I could invite anyone I wanted. The only person I wanted to come to my party was Robert Key, who was the ITN lunchtime news reader at the time. Apparently I threw a tantrum when told he wouldn't be able to attend. (We lived in a small town in Yorkshire at the time).

Darryl

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

When I was younger, I thought that the evening wear category of a beauty pagent meant pajamas because that's what i wore in the evening!! I was shocked when I actually watched a pagent one night. TO my dismay, the contestant were not wearing nightgowns!

Kaitee

Foreign movies and sitcoms on TV are always dubbed in Turkish before they are shown on Turkish channels. I thought that all the actors on tv and in the movies could perfectly speak Turkish and all other languages.

Cino

I was SO proud of myself when I was actually able to use the TV remote! All I did for hours at a time was change the channels (it was actually really fun then) and watch the commercials.
One day, I saw the end of the Rescue Heroes comercial. I thought that instead of,
'Rescue Heroes! They always save the day!' that it said,.
'Superman can always save the day!'
My first thoughts were Well DUH! but then I actually started believing in Superman. I would jump of the three foot ledge at the edge of our property repetitively, thinking that Superman would save me.
He always did, of course. I just couldn't see him.

Marshmello Da Strawberry Cow

when i was 4 i thought that when you shut the tv off, your program would stop right there where you left it, so you could come back later and continue...

but then my whole world was shattered the day my mom and i went to the store in the middle of Batman and then i came home to find the evening news running instead.

i still hate the evening news.

bubba, alameda, ca