I remember watching the very first episode of DS; I was 7 years old, and we were at my grandparents' in Georgia. A creepy soap opera was just the most fantastic thing a young feller could imagine. Well, when we came back home to Virginia, we found that the local ABC affiliate wasn't running DS. Devastation! I bawled enough so that my folks called the station to request they air the show. A valiant but fruitless attempt.
Now, the Lynchburg ABC station carried DS, but you had to have cable to get that station in our area. And in 1966, few homes had cable. A couple of friends of mine did, though, so I'd go to their houses every chance I got to watch it. I even sneaked over to the neighbors' house and watched an episode through their window one time.
Then, in 1969, my folks finally got cable, and joy of joys...DS in my very own home. It was right at the start of the Leviathans episodes. I've always had a soft spot for the Leviathans, I think, because those episodes were the first ones I got to watch on a regular basis. The heavy breathing behind the door scared me enough to keep me awake late at night; it's a wonder my parents let me keep watching it.
There are a lot of aspects of DS that appeal to more mature audiences, and when I've watched the show in recent years, those elements have stood out for me, whereas I think I was occasionally bored by them as a young'un (particularly in 1841 PT).
--Mark