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Red Lands’ hot bats cooled off by Kitasuna in Little League World Series championship game

<p>Down the aisle swept the bride, wedding dress flowing as organ music pealed and, at home, legions of viewers stared at their TV screens, eager to hear the final &#8220;I do.&#8221;</p><p>Was it a pair of movie stars or regally bedecked royalty tying the knot?</p><p>No, it was nothing of the kind, just a series of perfectly ordinary couples who had chosen to get married on nationwide television.</p><p>Though the concept seems bizarre today, the afternoon wedding show was a staple of popular entertainment in the early days of TV.</p><p>As the tube&#8217;s new season nears, see how many of these other now-defunct kinds of television series you recall.</p><p>The panel show: Whether titled &#8220;I&#8217;ve Got a Secret&#8221; or &#8220;What&#8217;s My Line,&#8221; this kind of show featured a quartet of witty and formally dressed celebrities who had to ask probing questions and identify something about a person seated next to the host, perhaps a distinction or an unusual job.</p><p>The drama anthology: Some of the classiest entertainment ever seen at home came via &#8220;Studio One&#8221; or &#8220;Playhouse 90,&#8221; with a completely new story and new cast of top-rank performers every week. Done live, these shows&#8217; smoothness of execution was a tribute to the professionalism in front of and behind the cameras.</p><p>The &#8220;adult western&#8221;: Sometimes called the &#8220;oater&#8221; or the &#8220;horse opera,&#8221; the western series with high drama and strong characterization ruled the family bunkhouse in the 1950s and early 1960s. In tone, these old classics ran from the genial Cartwrights of &#8220;Bonanza&#8221; to the edgy Paladin of &#8220;Have Gun, Will Travel.&#8221;</p><p>Live comedy-variety: Drawing inspiration from vaudeville, &#8220;The Ed Sullivan Show&#8221; and &#8220;Caesar&#8217;s Hour&#8221; were just two of the hour-long extravaganzas that could offer anything from a guy balancing dishes on a stick to rollicking vignettes about everyday life.</p><p>Game shows: Oh, we&#8217;ve got some game shows today. But the old-time versions sometimes went out of their way to embarrass the guests, and that was part of their appeal. On &#8220;Truth or Consequences&#8221; a person could be forced into a degrading situation on the street &#8211; like begging - only to have an acquaintance &#8220;accidentally&#8221; stroll by.</p><p>Virtual nightclubbing: Those who would never rub elbows with the rich and sophisticated could enjoy the next best thing by listening to Tony Martin or Vaughn Monroe croon before a full orchestra and a line of dancers. Hey, it was a lot cheaper than buying a tuxedo and hitting a Manhattan nightspot.</p><p>Comical kids: The popular &#8220;Juvenile Jury&#8221; featured very young children offering hilariously garbled &#8220;advice&#8221; on viewers&#8217; questions. Classic host Art Linkletter drew roars of laughter by posing topics of the day to grade-schoolers lined up on chairs during his daily afternoon program &#8220;House Party.&#8221;</p><p>Moral betterment: On &#8220;The Loretta Young Show&#8221; or &#8220;Family Theatre&#8221; you could be sure of learning a lesson such as the importance of forgiveness while watching weekly guest stars in very good drama. A more direct route was taken by the charismatic Bishop Fulton J. Sheen in his weekly talks before a chalkboard.</p><p>Upscale entertainment: Early TV wasn&#8217;t afraid to present anything from an opera (&#8220;NBC Opera Company&#8221;) to the imaginative &#8220;You are There,&#8221; which let viewers eavesdrop on world-shaking events such as a Civil War battle or the very first jazz concert &#8211; done live, by the way.</p><p>So is TV better or worse today? No one can say definitively. Best thing to do is enjoy your favorite shows, because in 50 years they&#8217;ll be ancient history too.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Remember When </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TOM_MOONEY5.jpg</photo0><caption0>Remember When </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Tom Mooney</p><p>Remember When</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Tom Mooney is a Times Leader history columnist. Reach him at tmooney2@ptd.net.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Remember When: Television shows of yesteryear, today and the future