B&W

This article from the BBC (via things magazine) looks at demographics of black and white TV owners in the UK. It reminds me of a little second-hand B&W TV set I had in my bedroom growing up. It had rabbit ears and was encased in not so white plastic. Big chunky dials gave a satisfying click (or was it more of a thunk) as you navigated channels 1 through 13. Or maybe I used the second dial to scroll through the upper channels. Turning it like a safe cracker trying to get it just right so I could watch Captain 20’s creature feature or kung-fu theater on a Saturday afternoon.

I wonder what today’s programming would look like in Black & White. Would Lost be a little more mysterious? Would the Office’s Michael Scott be a little more of the sad clown than over-reactive man child?  Would the NFL look a little more old school smash mouth instead of HD flair? Will any B&W TVs even work after the switch to digital?

Maybe some enterprising company will offer ultra cheap nostalgic B&W sets that will work with the new digital format. Maybe they will even come in 70’s avocado colored plastic. Or maybe even old school wood varnish and double as a table. If someone starts selling these (and maybe they already do) I may just get a little dingy white model with nice thunking dials. Just for old times sake.