On a board I frequent there is a discussion going about Fred Rogers (you remember, Mr. Rogers, who wanted to be your neighbor?). On YouTube there is a video of him speaking before the Senate on behalf of funding for children’s television, and he was quite articulate and obviously very dedicated to his cause. It got me thinking about what I watched as a kid, because let me tell you, I was all about television.
I never liked Mr Rogers, but I absolutely geeked out over Sesame Street (Hey I cried when I was around 14 years old and Mr Hooper died, how geek is that?). I also loved Zoom!, 3-2-1 Contact, Picture Pages (you know you’re singing it with me now, aren’t you?), the one about Simon (well you my name is Simon, and the things I draw come true…), Schoolhouse Rock, The Bugs Bunny Hour…. just so many fun early daytime and Saturday morning memories. Shoot, I remember when the Smurfs came out, and how I thought it was such a weird cartoon, and not as good as the ones I loved. Since I have younger sisters (much, much younger sisters) I got to see cartoons change, watching them with the girls long after I would have stopped.
Then there were the night time shows. I miss The Muppet Show terribly. I’d love to find a complete set on DVD somewhere, but I’ve never run across one. We all watched All in The Family, Sanford and Son, Laverne and Shirley, The Cosby Show (who else used to want to live in the Huxtable house?), Cheers, Diff’rent Strokes, Mork and Mindy, Facts of Life… shoot, I watched way, way too much television growing up. I left out many, many more shows we watched regularly.
I used to want a car like KITT on Knight Rider (but without the Hasselhoff, TYVM), or to be a normal person getting to spy like Scarecrow and Mrs King. When Johnny Depp came on my radar in 221 Jump Street I put stupid teen mag posters of him everywhere. I watched Tales from the Darkside, and couldn’t sleep afterward sometimes, but then I’d watch it again the next week anyway.
It seems odd to me how few shows I get attached to now. I’m not sure what the difference is. Am I older? Less naive? Are the shows spending so much time playing to the lowest common denominator that they can’t hold the attention span of a gnat? Is it that the shows don’t have as much “heart” as they did then? These days, I’m lucky to find a handful of shows to tune in to regularly. House, MD is great, and Six Feet Under was amazing while it lasted, but all too often I find I can miss an episode and not care at all. Yet there was something about how my family would all stop bickering and getting in each other’s way and everything else for at least an hour everyday, just to get together and watch a show we all liked. Sometimes that stupid television show was the only time we could be around each other without a bunch of pointless family drama going on. I am not sure what is missing from television these days, but I miss that little island of contentment, being able to be in someone else’s episode for just a little while.
Honey just walked by, read what I was writing and said “But what about the A-Team? Magnum PI? MacGuyver? He-Man?” I know! I know! Fact is, I watched so much TV growing up it would be impossible to put all the shows in a blog. It would read like a list! So to compensate for what is obviously my serious oversight of all the other mazillion shows we grew up on, here is some linkage to people who have already made the lists for me:
For a trip down memory lane, this site lists every 80s show, cartoon, song and movie. This little 80s blog on About.com gives the author’s take on various 80s trends, groups and shows as well as tons of linky goodness so you can get your fill of hands on nostalgia. Still looking for the beef? Wonder what happened to C-3POs cereal? See those and many more commercials here. Driko does a great job pooling together his version of watching way too much 80s TV in the links on his site (including links to theme songs and jingles). All theme songs, all the time. The 80s Server has a nice selection of 80s facts, games, trivia and lists, although not all of them are free (but really, is anything really “free” anymore?). Aside from copious nostalgia sites, there is also a magazine called, not surprisingly, Everything 80s Magazine. I know! I wish I’d thought of it first, too!
Do you have fantastic television memories? Great 80s tunes destined to become the next earworm someone can’t quite stop humming in the shower? Clickable linkables to other rad 80s sites? Post ‘em the comments to we can all bask in the joy.
80s Television Nostalgia
