That saying originated in England when house roofs were covered with thatch. During heavy rains cats and dogs would sometimes seek shelter on those unstable roof areas and their weight would cause them to fall through the roof and into the house.
Youngin entertainment for me before TV was available(1940's) was being close to a radio for the latest episodes of Sgt.Preston of The Yukon and The Shadow Knows.
We watched the latest "Top Gun" last night and it was really good. It starts a little slowly but the plot was solid and the low level high speed flight scenes were very cool. Highly recommended.