media: tv shows

I used to believe…

When I was 3 or 4, my parents told me that everything on tv was make-believe. This later led to a couple police officers ringing the doorbell for a welfare check after I dialed 911 and promptly hung up after I realized someone had actually answered. Apparently my parents didn't consider the show Rescue 911 when telling me tv was not real.

I used to think that actors on TV shows weren't really kissing. That one was standing slightly farther back than the other (in relation to the camera) and they would make kissing motions. Because why would they actually kiss?

I used to believe that the character's names in movies/shows were the actor's real names.

I used to have a terrible fear of the noise made by the magpies in the 'Bananas in Pajamas' show. It got so bad that I would lay awake at night and when I got tired enough I swore they were walking around outside my window. I still believe those things are demon birds.

I used to believe that the host of a kids TV show (on a very long time ago) Hatchy Milatchy could see me though the TV, so I would never watch her show in my underwear.

I used to believe…

Up until I was about 10 years old, I believed that the TV show "Little House on the Prairie" was really made in the 1800s. I was amazed that they had video cameras back then. It makes me chuckle now =)

I used to believe…

My mom would watch world news tonight with Peter Jennings, and he would speak with a giant image of earth behind him. This lead me to the logical conclusion that Peter Jennings was God, and he was telling us everything that was happening because, of course, god is Omniscient.

I used to believe…

When I would watch Nick Jr., I would think the babies in the Rugrats existed, and that it was live tv.

I used to believe…

When I was little, I thought "Cousin It" from "The Adams Family" was "Cousin Ed".

I used to believe that when an actor was shot or in an accident on a tv show, that they actually died. I was so confused when I'd see them again on another show.

I thought it was a real homage to the love of their work!

I used to believe…

When I was very young I was a fan of Sesame Street. However, I only liked the parts of the show with the muppets. I absolutely HATED the parts where they would show other little kids (I really have no idea why). When a part with other kids came on, I would run screaming away from the TV and into my bedroom and lock the door, because I believed that the kids would crawl out of the television and come and find me. I'm not sure exactly what I thought they would do, but I was terrified!

I used to believe…

When I was very young, my grandmother used to watch "Unsolved Mysteries" with me, and I wouldn't be able to sleep at night because I thought the criminals were going to climb through my window and kill me.

I used to believe…

Well, you know that 'audience laughing' you hear when your watching a comedy? i thought that the laughing was coming from viewers at home actually watching the show, so at all the funny parts id run up to the tv and laugh as loud as i could hoping that one of my friends would hear me. [:

I was 3 when Star Trek: The Next Generation first aired in 1986. It came on at 7, after the 6 o'clock news. My nerdy parents stayed put after the news, so I believed that Star Trek was real, space news. I loved the space news after the boring Earth news. I was so devastated when I learned it wasn't real that the Santa Claus truth was an anticlimactic afterthought. I'm now an engineer at NASA so I think it had an effect on me...

I used to believe…

When I was in about the second or third grade my mother always watched "soap operas" when I came back home from school she'd always have it on. For some reason I never got the name down properly. I used to believe it was called, "soap boppers."

I used to think that, when a show had a commercial break, it was in fact over. I would always get disappointed and change the channel, wondering why episodes of Power Rangers never made much sense. My mother assured me that the shows continue after a few minutes, when I was about 5.