Throwbacks: Old School Children’s TV Shows

My parents shut off the cable television when I was young because they wanted my siblings and I to spend our free time outside or reading books. My only TV watching occurred when visiting friends, or on special occasions like the Olympics when my parents would reactivate the cable.

Because of this, I really enjoyed the times I did get to watch TV and I have many fond memories of several shows. Some of the shows are really old and some are relatively new, but each of these shows were highly entertaining as I was growing up, and I still get a certain nostalgic enjoyment from watching the occasional episode.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! – I always wanted a crime-solving dog to share Scooby Snacks with, but they’re rather hard to come by. The original version of this cartoon classic ran from 1969 to 1971 and contained some of the best Scooby Doo episodes ever. The franchise became a hit and several additional cartoon series were made, along with spin-offs, movies, and a few horrible live-action films. If I’m up early enough on Saturday mornings I’ll take in an episode or two with breakfast.

ThunderCats – Only children could appreciate a show about cat people who travel in spaceships and fight against mutants and an Egyptian wizard to protect a magical sword. The storylines are corny and the special effects could only have come from the 80s. All that aside, ThunderCats was a pretty fun show to watch as a kid. Even back then it was “vintage” as I only got to watch reruns.

Captain Planet and the Planeteers – I suspect that nowadays if a TV network tried to put out a semi-educational show about recycling and pollution awareness that no kids would want to watch it. But for three years starting in 1990, TBS was able to do just that. Captain Planet was a goofy looking superhero who flew around fighting against “eco-villains” with the help of the Planeteers – teenagers with magic rings that give them power over the elements. Even though it’s terribly corny there’s a special place in my heart for the show and it’s famous theme song.

King Arthur & the Knights of Justice – A high school football team that travels to a magical realm where they become King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table? Awesome! I loved sitting in front of the TV, listening to the show’s epic intro, and watching quarterback/knight Arthur King and friends fight some bad guys.

Are You Afraid of the Dark? – This show was scary when I was in elementary school, and it’s still a little unsettling. That intro scene… pretty creepy for a show aimed at kids. The effects are cheesy and the storylines were often simplistic adaptations of popular fairytales, but as a kid each episode was exciting and scary. A second incarnation of the show was created, notably featuring Elisha Cuthbert, but as with most things in life the original was much better.

All That – All That was a sketch-comedy show at specifically at kids and young teens. The format was similar to Saturday Night Live, but the content wasn’t as mature. Watching old episodes on YouTube I think the most entertaining thing about the show is the theme song performed by TLC. The comedy is a tad immature for me now, but at the time this was one of the funniest shows on television.

Some other great kids’ shows are Transformers: Beast Wars, Kenan & Kel, So Weird, Doug, In a Heartbeat, and Even Stevens.

Chances are good that if you’re between the ages of 15 and 35 you’ve watched at least one of these shows before. I know I have fond memories of watching them and they seem to be far more entertaining than the shows for children currently on TV.