tv

When I was little and watching TV with my parents I always watched the credits after a show. I used to believe that when an actor or actress played a character with the same first name it was because they weren't very good and couldn't remember their cues.

Tim

I remember being 6 years old and watching some sitcom (Silver Spoons, maybe?) On this particular episode, Soleil Moon Frye (aka Punky Brewster) guest starred. I told my parents I hoped she got a good night sleep, because she had to wake up early the next morning to be on Punky Brewster. They laughed and tried (unsuccessfully) to make me understand that TV shows are not shown on TV as they are filmed.

Itty

When I was 4 or 5 I once to believed that unplugging the TV would pause the TV so I wouldn't miss my favorite TV show which happend to be Mork & Mindy.

Erin

When I was 6 years old I was watching my favorite cartoon show, when we all had to leave to go out to dinner.
I imagined that by turning off the T.V.
I could stop the show from continuing and when I returned, I could turn the T.V. back on and pick up the show right where it left off.
Kinda of like the home movies my dad would make us watch.
I remember being very angry when I discovered that my cartoon was over and I wanted to know who turned on the T.V.
and watched it all up while we had been gone.

Vert

If there was something scary on TV and the lights were off, I would keep my feet up on the chair as I thought crocodiles would grab them. Even though what was on TV had nothing to do with crocs whatsoever

Charisma

At the end of those shows on PBS where the thing comes up that says "This show is sponsored in part by viewers like you" or something to that level, I thought they were referring specifically to me and would often sit there wondering what I had done to help PBS with their show. I started worrying about it and kept bothering my parents about it. This continued until I was about 7.

Alen

I used to think that the people on t.v were just being tapes unaware of it - and that everyone in the world was being taped so I acted all proper all the time b/c I thought there were hidden cameras everywhere!

Brittany

When I was little,I used to think the TV stopped when I went to bed. I figured it all faded to white.

Sharon

when i was little and we would go to parades and the local newscasters would be riding on floats, i would ask my mom how they got out of the Television

Anon

I used to belive that when a news caster greated the viewers with a "Hello" they were talking to me through the television. I always anwsered back "Hi!"

Jessica W.

A long time ago, newsreaders would be looking at the teleprompter, but every so often, they'd pretend to glance down
and read from a piece of paper. When they did that, it would look to me as if they had closed their eyes. I used to wonder why they were talking little naps during the news!

myself

I am 45. When I was a child I used to believe that a TV show did not start until the TV was turned on, rather than at an exact time. I would get so upset on Saturday nights if I came in and my sister had already turned on "Red Skeleton." I would cry because I thought that she had "let it out" before I got there!

Martha

When I was about 3 or 4, I thought that when they said they had to be 'shot' (i.e. filmed), they had to shot with a little dart that let them be filmed somehow.

johnny jims

When I was about 6, whenever I saw a woman in TV that seemed not to have too much clothes on, I always run close to the TV screen and tried to peep down to see if I could get the whole picture, as women always appeared from shoulder up... The only thing I managed was to cover the screen with fingerprints and "face-prints" and a huge frustration. Thought the TV was a kind of window or something.. So dumb!!

Peeping Luis

I had already been taught that Stevie Wonder was blind by the first time that I saw him on television. I wanted to see what a blind man's eyes looked like, and honestly believed that if I got close enough to the television, that I could look behind his glasses. I was pressed up against the screen trying to see behind them for ages before I finally gave up.

Amberjane

When my favorite TV station would sign on in the morning, they would have a "good morning" announcement and then show the test pattern with some music for 15 minutes before the first show came on. The last thing the announcer said before fading to the test pattern was something about "the best in entertainment". So I thought the test pattern was "entertainment".

Brandon Campbell

Back "in the day" television stations occasionally went off the air, and a message, "please stand by" would show on the screen. My mother and older sister convinced me that I had to get up off the couch and go "stand by" the t.v. w/ my hand on top of it (so they would know I was there)
I would act all disgusted, though secretly pleased that I had the power to bring the show back on the air.

Kate

I used to think that the people on tv would just stay at home all the time waiting for the phone to ring saying their show was going to be on. Then they'd have to rush over to the studio to do the show or commercial. Whenever a show wasn't on when I thought it would be it was because the actors got stuck in traffic.

rush hour

I used to think that the people in the TV were talking to me, and I was an integral confidante in their messy lives (TV soaps were a big thing in my house).

I also used to stand right up at the TV and try to see the stuff that was outside the picture - thinking it was a window. I used to get SO frustrated 'cause no matter how close I went, or how much I craned my head, I could never get a glimpse of the rest of Telly World...

AJ

Back in the day of only 3 channels and black & white TVs, I would watch Gomer Pyle. Everyday the announcer would come on and say, “Gomer Pyle in living color is next on most of these CBS stations.” They lied to me, my B&W TV never showed Gomer in living color”

Rick