TV life was very different in the 80's. As you are likely aware but perhaps were not alive for, we didn't have the internet in the 80's let alone anything on demand. If you liked a show you paid attention to the TV guide and you got ready in front of the television in time to watch the shows you wanted to see. If you missed an episode that was just all there was to it. You simply missed the episode.
Even though we have much more convenient access to all entertainment these days, I feel as though the evenings in front of the TV was more of a family bonding experience than it is now. These days everyone just wanders off with their tablets and laptops to have their own personalized experience.
In my house in the 80's we have to come together as a team in order to determine what was on the evening's entertainment schedule. This rarely resulted in any sort of arguments even though our house only had one TV. It was one of those floor units that weighed 500 lbs and probably still works to this day even though I have no idea where it is.
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The TV's were some monstrosity like the one pictured above and once you picked a spot for it, that is where that sonofagun was going to stay until the end of time. It would take 2 very strong men to move it and the carpet would forever adopt the shape of the TV.
There were no remote controls and there is an ongoing joke about how if you were a kid, you WERE the remote control. We also only had 12 channels on the dial and as I recall not even all 12 of them were used. This was a very different time when NBC, ABC, and CBS were basically the only channels that existed and some others like TBS came along as a competitor and did this very strange thing where all of their programming would start at 5 minutes past the hour or half hour in an attempt to lure viewers away from other channels that all started on the 00 or 30 minute marks.
Commercials were just a part of your life and if you needed to use the bathroom you better be quick because there was no pause button.
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Although a much newer TV than the kind that I am referring to, this was a pretty common experience in every American household in the 80's. The prestigious sofa area was reserved for mom and dad and whoever their favorite kid was and the rest of us had to fend for ourselves for floor space. I actually preferred lying on the floor and we had a few of those beanbag chairs that I haven't seen in years but presume still exist.
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They were comfy, kinda
At my house it worked like this. We sat down to a family dinner and TV was NEVER allowed at this. Hell or high water we would always have dinner as a family and everyone had their own duties in that process. Mom did most of the cooking and we kids would assist with table setting, preparation of drinks, and and of course doing all the washing up. Dad did nothing because it was the 80's and it was extremely common for only fathers to have jobs. This was Dad's time to chill since he had been at the office all day long.
After dinner and we got everything cleaned up, it was "Prime Time" for television between 7-9pm. I was just a kid so after the clock struck 9 it was probably getting very close for my bedtime. As the 2nd of 4 kids it would likely be well after the bedtime of my younger brother and sister and they would frequently be asleep in front of the TV. Of course me and my older sister would protest the bedtimes but we had to have a system in order for any of it to work. We wouldn't protest, we did what we were told for the most part.
I have some very fond memories of those nights in front of the TV and it was a very big part of almost anyone's upbringing during that decade. I will end up going into greater detail about what specific shows we would watch because it was pretty cool how the seasons worked and how we would look forward to certain times of year when our favorite shows would get released. Times sure are different today and I would imagine that something like family TV night doesn't really exist anymore. It's a pity because those were really great times.