I disagree with "last generation or so", our one from the mid-to-late 80s had it as an option (you could set a single recording in the way you describe, but needed the TV display for multiple recordings). Apparently the Akai VS-2 was the first with an on-screen display on the TV, in 1983.[1]

[1] https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19830424&id=...