5 Things Dick Cavett Misses About TV in the 1960's

TV icon Dick Cavett hosted "The Dick Cavett" show from 1968 – 1974. The Emmy-winning personality changed the face of television and brought a conversational style into late-night.

Tonight, the 10-part series The Sixties premieres on CNN at 9pm ET with an episode focused on the sitcoms, dramas, news programs and sporting events that shaped the nation.

We spoke with Cavett about an earlier era of television, ranging from black and white content to Carol Burnett.

Here are 5 things he misses about television from a time gone by:

#5) BLACK AND WHITE: 

Cavett: When I think of the 60's, I know that I miss, strangely enough, black and white television. It might have to do that black and white in movies is more realistic than color – and you realize that as you mature.

Circa 1965, promotional still of the cast of the television series 'Hogan's Heroes' participating in a ditch-digging, 1960s. Clockwise from left to right: Bob Crane, Cynthia Lynn, Werner Klemperer, John Banner, Richard Dawson, Robert Clary and Ivan Dixon. (Photo by CBS/Getty Images)

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#4) THREE CHANNELS: 

Cavett:  You only had 3 channels so it was easy to decide what to watch.

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#3) LIVE PROGRAMMING:

Cavett: It was bloody live.  When Jack Benny walked out, I knew that he was walking out at that instant at CBS ... in Hollywood and I was seeing him in Nebraska – live.

American comedian and actor Jack Benny (1894 – 1974) circa 1945. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)

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#2) WESTERNS

Cavett: I love the western series – there were 6 at once or 7. There aren’t any now.

WAGON TRAIN - Pictured: (l-r) Frank McGrath as Charlie Wooster, Terry Wilson as Bill Hawks - (Photo by: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) 

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#1) JACKIE GLEASON and CAROL BURNETT and NO KARDASHIANS

Circa 1960: U.S. actor and comedian Jackie Gleason (1916 – 1987) at Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

A snapshot from "The Carol Burnett Show," which ran from 1967–1978.

"What a heaven," Cavett said about the 1960's, referencing a time without these three famous faces.

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SEE THE FULL INTERVIEW ABOVE

MORE: Name that 60's TV show!