Do you still remember those days when we only had two TV channels in Iran? Those days we didn’t know anything about satelite dishes and besides the old VCRs and (some proyectors) that’s all we had. But those two channels offered some very good and interesting programmes and cartoons for kids, cartoons such as Guliver, Sanbad, Pesare Shoja, Hach zanboore Asal, Gooril Angoori, and that fellow with a magic pencil (don’t recall its name) also palange soorati, Bel va Sebastian and Khanevadeye Vohoosh (a japanese cartoon) We all used to gather and watch those cartoons and in some cases some adults would enjoy watching them too, specially the one about a family that moves to New Zeland and they start a new life there. But the undeniable masters of our two channels at the time were, Charlie Chaplin and Laurel&Hardy. It was the early 80s in Iran and we had gotten used to watch films on Wednesday nights, that sometimes (actually very oftenly) were repetitions, so you would watch the same film 3 times, three weeks in a row. Some were good films, although usually they were made in the 30s or 40s, some were censured and some were just way too complex for me at the time. During those years, Iran produced some very good quality series such as ‘Sar be Daran’ and I think if you’re ove 30 you still remember the programe ‘Didaniha’ with its very beautiful initial melody. During those years I watched the best ‘Raze Baghas’ ever. Having only two TV channels, created a consistency on what we Iranians watched on TV and that’s why most of us have good memories of all those interesting programes. I personally think that those programes had a cultural impact on us, a positive impact, that ‘perhaps’ has to do with the ease most Iranians tend to blend in and appreciate other societies.
