We've had quite a string of celebrity passing's over the last week. Michael Jackson, Farah Fawcett, Ed McMahon to name the most notable, but buried in there (no pun intended) was Gale Storm. It had been quite a while since I thought of My Little Margie. This began me along the path of reminiscing about shows from my early childhood. Since that was in the 50's, these shows aired (or at least began) then.

Immediately, I thought of Our Miss Brooks, Love That Bob and Topper. Then there was Dobie Gillis with Bob Denver as Maynard G. Krebbs and the original Dragnet. Next I thought of December Bride, The People's Choice, Ann Southern, Pete and Gladys. Those are some of the "obscure" ones. I say that because I think a lot of younger people today have probably heard of Leave It To Beaver, Father Knows Best, Bachelor Father or Donna Reed. Not to mention Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Burns and Allen and Groucho in You Bet Your Life. But they probably don't know that Steve Allen hosted the original Tonight Show. Remember Don Knotts as the nervous man? Tom Poston and Louis Nye? And, of course Ernie Kovacs. How about Saturday nights and Death Valley Days with the Old Ranger and Rosemary DeCamp as the spokeswoman for 20 Mule Team Borax? Or Saturday mornings with Sky King, Fury, Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, Rin-Tin-Tin and Roy Rogers. Sunday night was Lasie, Ed Sullivan and What's My Line. Somewhere in there was Ted Mack's Amateur Hour (I'm not even old enough to remember Major Bowes).

I've saved the best for last. This is one I just couldn't miss, no matter what. If I did, I threw a temper tantrum. Mom let me stay up late on Friday nights for this one. Broderick Crawford in Highway Patrol. Obviously, this isn't even remotely a complete list, but don't you think this was the Golden Age of TV? I do. 10-4 and 2150 bye.