My first impression of his film is that it was designed encourage those thinking about buying a television to reconsider such a purchase and come to the cinema instead.
In the 1950s and early 1960s, most young parents at the time hated the television. It was usually only the grandparents that found it to be a more valued form of entertainment.
Younger married couples with children generally could not afford to rent such an appliance. The cost of a television license in 1953 was £3 per year. The average wage was £200 per year after tax. The average mortgage was £48 per year - and the couple would have had to eat, clothe themselves and their children; and pay gas and electric bills as well.
Parents also thought it to have a detrimental influence on their children. For example: parents felt that their children were not doing their homework properly, not playing outside enough, and spending too much time watching television instead reading books and developing their knowledge of life itself, even though television was giving children an innovative insight into life - surreal as it was.
On the social side, in those day's parents liked to have visitors and liked to spend all night talking - I wish I could remember what they used to talk about. I think it was mostly about what they had read in the national and local newspapers.
Quite often my parents would turn the television off for no reason other than it seemed to be dominating and taking over the whole house.
One man's favourite television show would become another man's load of rubbish. Some members of the family would be enjoying a television programme, whilst other members of the family would find the whole show irritating.
Some people would sit watching the programme with their minds closed and their mouths open. Today that would be considered to be a good form of meditation and a way of relaxing the mind, after a very stressful day at work.
In Great Britain, at the time of this film's release, the only Television Broadcasting Service was the British Broadcasting Corporation - BBC for short. On most days, television was only broadcasted for 6 hours a day - from 5 o' clock in the afternoon till 11 o' clock in the evening, starting with Children's Hour. The rest of the evening was dominated with News, Documentaries and plays that children did not usually understand - or were not allowed to stay up and watch.
So, apart from the fact that in those days televisions were always breaking down, going fuzzy, and Dad having hang from the roof guttering, in order to position the aerial to the right advantage, it is very difficult to imagine what sort of disrupting influence that television had on our lives, as this film seems to suggest. My schoolteacher always used to say that the television has an "off" button and it usually worked.
In the 1950s and early 1960s, most young parents at the time hated the television. It was usually only the grandparents that found it to be a more valued form of entertainment.
Younger married couples with children generally could not afford to rent such an appliance. The cost of a television license in 1953 was £3 per year. The average wage was £200 per year after tax. The average mortgage was £48 per year - and the couple would have had to eat, clothe themselves and their children; and pay gas and electric bills as well.
Parents also thought it to have a detrimental influence on their children. For example: parents felt that their children were not doing their homework properly, not playing outside enough, and spending too much time watching television instead reading books and developing their knowledge of life itself, even though television was giving children an innovative insight into life - surreal as it was.
On the social side, in those day's parents liked to have visitors and liked to spend all night talking - I wish I could remember what they used to talk about. I think it was mostly about what they had read in the national and local newspapers.
Quite often my parents would turn the television off for no reason other than it seemed to be dominating and taking over the whole house.
One man's favourite television show would become another man's load of rubbish. Some members of the family would be enjoying a television programme, whilst other members of the family would find the whole show irritating.
Some people would sit watching the programme with their minds closed and their mouths open. Today that would be considered to be a good form of meditation and a way of relaxing the mind, after a very stressful day at work.
In Great Britain, at the time of this film's release, the only Television Broadcasting Service was the British Broadcasting Corporation - BBC for short. On most days, television was only broadcasted for 6 hours a day - from 5 o' clock in the afternoon till 11 o' clock in the evening, starting with Children's Hour. The rest of the evening was dominated with News, Documentaries and plays that children did not usually understand - or were not allowed to stay up and watch.
So, apart from the fact that in those days televisions were always breaking down, going fuzzy, and Dad having hang from the roof guttering, in order to position the aerial to the right advantage, it is very difficult to imagine what sort of disrupting influence that television had on our lives, as this film seems to suggest. My schoolteacher always used to say that the television has an "off" button and it usually worked.