I remember the first TV I restored by simply replacing tubes. (I
do count replacing tubes in an old TV as repairing it.) The year was 1969; the set was a 23" 1963 Zenith b&w console, trash find, with all but two tubes (CRT and 1J3 HV rectifier) missing. Replaced all the missing tubes and was greeted by an excellent picture on all three Cleveland VHF network stations. Sadly, I had to give the set up when I moved in 1972.
After all the work I had put into it -- new tubes and so on -- I felt terrible having to leave the set behind, but I had no choice in the matter (long story and OT).
As for the first TV I repaired by replacing parts rather than tubes, it was, IIRC, a 1964 Silvertone color TV with both a defective power switch (push-pull type, mounted on the volume control) and a defective circuit breaker. Well, I guess I shouldn't say I actually repaired this set properly, as I jumpered the on-off switch and bypassed the breaker.
However, what the heck -- I got the set working, not the best way to do it by any means, but the TV did work after a fashion for three years afterwards. I didn't worry about the bypassed circuit breaker, however, because I would use the AC line plug to turn the set on and off; I figured if anything went wrong with the set that would ordinarily trip the breaker, I'd know it immediately and could quickly unplug the cord from the 8-outlet power strip it was plugged into at the time.
I definitely would
not "repair" a television or any other electronic device that way today, even if I could; in fact, I wouldn't dream of trying to repair a recent-vintage CRT or flat panel set, as I'd be too afraid of overheating or otherwise damaging a circuit board -- or worse.
When I did those admittedly temporary fixes (?) on my Silvertone, I was a 14-year-old kid just starting out in electronics. Today, I would repair an old set the correct way, by replacing a bad circuit breaker with one of the correct rating, and replacing burned-out or broken power switches with proper replacement parts or approved substitutes -- as well as finding out (in the case of a so-called "burned out", i. e. welded, AC switch) the reason the old part failed in the first place, to avoid having to replace the same part twice.