Sing Along with Mitch
Can network TV cannot get any worse? How many “Law & Order”, “NCIS”, or “CSI” spin-offs can we handle? “Tonight on CSI:Schnecksville, the crew investigates a spate of fastnacht poisonings. Was it the lard, the potato flour, or the powdered sugar? Tune in to find out.”
Cable TV offers no respite. Lifetime gives versions of “Stalked By A Stranger” or “My Husband’s Secret Life” every night. Not to worry, viewers. The Stalker and the Two-Timing Husband invariably get their due. Hallmark repeats variations of “Kisses For Christmas” and “Under The Mistletoe” year round. The female protagonist finds true love in a Currier & Ives setting while the viewer is sweltering in July heat. Thank God for TCM — classic films with believable plots and no commercials.
With age comes perspective. Network TV has always been directed at the lowest common denominator of viewer. For every ”Twilight Zone” or “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”, there was “Green Acres” or “My Mother The Car”.
Most households in the 1950s and early 1960s, including mine, had one and only one TV. Mom and Dad dictated what we watched. They loved music-based TV shows like Lawrence Welk. “Champagne Music” did not cut it for kids exposed to Elvis and the early Beatles, but we had to suffer through out anyway.
The worst of those network TV music shows was “Sing Along With Mitch”. An all-male chorus would sing songs from the 1890s through the 1940s while the lyrics flashed on the screen. We were encouraged to “sing along”. Adults actually would do so to the unending embarrassment of the kids in the room.
Each show would have a theme. “A Salute to Railroads” would feature “I’ve Been Workin’ On The…” and that Steel Drivin’ Man, “John Henry”, not to mention The Chattanooga Choo-Choo”. There was also “A Salute to Aviation”, etc. There’s a lot to “Salute” in old music.
Network (and Cable for that matter) TV are bad in 2022, but at least my tender ears are not exposed to off-key “I’ve Been Workin’ on the Railroad” from my fellow viewers.
By Ed Dufton
