Thursday, June 19, 2008

Kids' TV: Not What It Used to Be...

OK, so the comments section on my last Blog has convinced me that it's time we all sit down & talk about our old favourite TV shows. The ones we watched as kids, before we started school, or in the evenings after supper, or the wonderful Saturday cartoons.

In the past few years, I've had to dive back in to the world of kids' TV, with my nephew Caden around, and also with some of my friends having kids. I've been introduced to the new television programming out there for children: Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go, Franklin, Little Bear, The Backyardigans, Toopy & Binoo, Four Square - oh, and my personal favourite: The Mole Sisters. Who the heck names a kids show "The Mole Sisters"? And why would kids want to watch the adventures of two moles that are sisters? It's just weird...

When Stacy bought Maddy an old videotape of The Elephant Show with Sharon, Lois, and Bram recently, it brought me back to my childhood. Remember that show? Remember how much fun it was? They sang and played instruments and played games with kids...and it was always interesting to see what michief Elephant was getting into.

It got me thinking about other great shows I used to watch faithfully. Join In - I loved that show. Today's Special - it was the best! With Muffy the Mouse and Jeff the mannequin that only came alive at night, after hours. And those were just the shows in the evenings.

Before I went to school, or on PD Days, or in the summer - you didn't miss Mr. Dressup and Fred Penner in the mornings. Then there was Under the Umbrella Tree, with Iggy the Iguana, Jacob the Bluejay, & Gloria the Gopher. And of course, there was Sesame Street. Where would any of us be without Sesame Street? And I mean the good old Sesame Street - not this hokey Sesame Park or Elmo's World that they've come up with since we graduated from kids' TV shows. They suck!

I also used to love The Flintstones and The Pink Panther - they were usually on around lunchtime, and I have fond memories of watching those shows and eating a grilled cheese or macaroni. Ah, the good ol' days!

I haven't even touched on the Saturday cartoons - Dennis the Menace, Inspector Gadget, My Pet Monster, The Smoggies...I could go on and on. Those were some good shows, and lately, there doesn't seem to be anything like that on TV. Maybe on that Retro Toon channel - but they don't show enough of them. Oh! And those old Bugs & Tweety shows! I used to love watching those on Saturday evenings!

Where did those days go? Seems like only yesterday.

But now I'm stuck watching Diego and Toopy and The Mole Sisters. *sigh* Kids these days just don't know what they're missing...