Now, I do not claim to be a t.v. aficionado, I rarely watch it as an adult, but as a kid, I played hookie a lot, feigned illness every time I knew trouble was in the air at school. (Which was a lot.) Then there was summer with rainy days. So I'm pretty familiar with daytime television at that time. But I did have to do some researching...
My parents only believed in cable when they could get a free trial, and that includes Disney that they would let you sample every now and then, which at that time, my parents would load the VCR with blank tapes, hoping to score all the free kiddie entertainment possible. So my mom still probably has 80 videos full of movies with a 1-800 number plastered across the bottom of the screen.
Between the frenzied cable moments, I had to satisfy myself with farmer's vision, mainly PBS and WFFT- Fort Wayne, which were the only channels you could see through the fuzz.
- I was obsessed with Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Green Beans (Mr. Green Jeans, but I liked the connection with my favorite character and favorite vegetable.) Along with Woody Woodpecker and Rocky and Bullwinkle, those were my earliest TV memories (comparable with Teletubbies and Barney now, I suppose.)
- Happy's Place: Happy the Hobo was on WFFT- Fort Wayne (for all you Van Wert locals) and that show was awesome 'cause the luckiest kids got to go to the show and could actually be ON TV!! They actually got to stand in line, talk to Happy and introduce themselves- ON TV!! That was really cool. It was on for about 2 hours, and played various cartoons, and played activities with the young audience.
- That reminds me of Bozo the Clown, which I also think was on WFFT, but still broadcasted nationally. There's not a lot to say about that show, cause I thought it sucked.
- The Letter People: (only remember that from 1984 or so...kindergarten) Mr. T was for TEETH and he had a big toothy grin. And it was on PBS.
Theme Song:
Come and meet the Letter People
Come and visit in the family
Words are made of Letter People
A, B, C, D, Follow me
Okay, I'm a dork. But you're still reading...Speaking of PBS...
- The Art Chest with some guy that taught me to fingerpaint. That was actually my favorite skipping school show. Believe it or not.
- Reading Rainbow, which is still on, with the same guy, but now he's slightly more famous.
- Sesame Street (where I learned Spanish, thank you Maria)
- 3-2-1 Contact
- Mr. Rogers (come on people, who doesn't want to know how crayons are made???)
- The Electric Company
- Slim Goodbody (Does anyone remember his real show "Inside Story" or is it just on Captain Kangaroo that I remember him from?) I have something to say about this show... if anyone else even remembers it, does anyone remember feeling slightly uncomfortable with his flesh colored suit that clung to all the wrong places? I consider it to be one of my first R-rated moments... seeing his insides and all. And it was hard to tell if he wasn't just NAKED with all that drawn on him... Maybe I'm just a perv.
Then we got cable. Holy Television Induced Headache, Batman!
- There was Pinwheel, which could get really annoying for 4 freakin' hours in the morning, but had some shorts that I didn't appreciate till just recently. Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings was parodied on SNL with Michael Myers, but I don't remember there being a bathtub in the original. (For the theme song, click here.)
Ebenezer T. Squint and Orelia were 2 giant human sized puppets, Ebenezer was like Oscar the Grouch, and Orelia taught me how to find something I lost by throwing a deck of cars in the air in your living room, which I would not suggest doing, unless you like playing with less than a full deck of cards. (No comments from the peanut gallery, pls.) I also remember a lot of claymation. Click here for the Pinwheel themesong. - After that nonsense, I'd watch Today's Special, with Jeff (the mannequin who looked a lot like Greg Brady- both of which I loved sincerely, but I loved everyone sincerely back then), Jodie, Sam Crenshaw, and Muffy the Mouse, who talked in rhymes. I remember a conveyor belt...
Depending on the year, and the channel, many miscellaneous shows come to mind that took up the time between Today's Special and the ABC afterschool special:
- Belle and Sebastian which is now a really great indie band, which you can listen to here.
- Curious George
- David the Gnome
- We had all of the Hanna Barbara stuff, including The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Captain CAaAaAaVeMaAaAaAn!, and Warner Bros stuff, like Scooby Doo, but only the episodes before Srappy were any good. Tom and Jerry reruns come in here.
Now we get to the afterschool stuff. Things get a little fuzzy for me here, so bear with:
- "The ABC Afterschool Special" which ran from 1972 to 1998 when it got bought by Oprah or something. There were episodes about teen pregnancy, drug addiction, divorcing parents, or any other societal problem that affected kids and teens. Listen to the jingle.
- "The Wave": 1991
I was hoping to find a site that showed the episode where Helen Hunt went hauling out a 2 story window after snorting up something her boyfriend gave her in Chemistry class. All I know is that it's called "Angel Dust". Also the episode called, "The Boy Who Drank too Much," with Scott Baio who passed out at a party and pissed himself. What would kids today do if they played this shit on tv?? - Transformers
- Thundercats
- Thundarr the Barbarian
- Heathcliff
- She-ra
- He-Man
- G.I. Joe
- At around 4:00, I watched The Monkees, which was not necessarily an 80's show, but I was obsessed nonetheless. I had a crush on every character, aside from Mike Nesmith with his stupid hats. Even Peter Tork and his mild quiet ways won me over. My favorite was, of course, Davey Jones, with Mickey Dolenz falling into a close second. My dad was a school teacher, and if I was lucky, I'd get through the whole episode without him getting home. Because if he did, he'd change the channel, and it would be a night full of the evening news, M*A*S*H, WKRP in Cincinatti, and Barney Miller.
We did polish the night off right with my FAVORITE 80's show ever, THE MUPPET SHOW. Never was there ever a more creative family show, entertaining for everyone. Personal opinion only, but I think they should bring this type of programming back. There was nothing better than polishing off a long day of playing hard with a good episode of The Muppets with your family.
On the subject of evening television, there were some that I would occasionally catch:
- You Can't Do That On Television: Anyone caught saying "I don't know" would be slimed. My mom hated that. So she tried to keep me from watching it. Click here for an entire episode. The lady with the dish gloves will whip you right back.
- Bananaman
- Danger Mouse (you'll have to hit "open" to listen to the theme song)
- Double Dare:
Does everyone remember the obstacle course at the end? In one ear, out the other? Down the hatch, Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, The big wheel, Gumball machine, The big nose. Marc Summers - "We come over here to the Sunday Slide. Run up this platform filled with slippery gook as fast as you can. Once you get to the top slide down the other side. You'll land in this giant scoop of ice cream. But you don't have any time to waste. Stand up, grab that flag, and you could win this." Harvey "It's a trip to Universal Studios Florida. You and a guest will fly a round trip to Universal Studios where you'll stay at the luxurious Hyatt. Hyatt - We Know Service. All this could be yours. Back to you Marc." - Punky Brewster. The irony of Punky is that she grew up. Into a voluptuous size DD. In order to be seen as a professional actor, she got a reduction. And maybe it's just me, but I don't think it did her a lot of good, cause I haven't seen her in anything since the '80's.
- The A-Team. Nuff said.
- ALF
Shows not necessarily for kids, divided into crap and not crap:
- Crap:
Hee-Haw
MacGyver (yea his gadgets were pretty cool, but the show was crap.)
Webster
Mr. Belvedere - Not Crap:
The Greatest American Hero
Magnum P.I. (I still found his mustache hot, even at 8)
Who's the Boss
Wonder Woman
On Saturday Morning television watching: I am a little more knowledgeable here, giving the fact that it's just what you did on Saturday mornings. You ate your bowl of Fruitloops in front of the tube, and watched it till American Bandstand came on, then you started your weekend- outside.
1984:
The Shirt Tales vs. The Legendary Superpowers Show vs. The Snorks
The Get Along Gang vs. The Pink Panther
Muppet Babies vs. The Mighty Orbots vs. The Smurfs
Dungeons and Dragons vs. Wolf Rock TV
Pole Position vs. The Dragon's Lair
Pryor's Place vs. Scooby Doo vs. Alvin & the Chipmunks
Bugs Bunny & the Road Runner vs. The Littles vs. Mr. T
1985:
Add in Hulk Hogan, Land of the Lost and Charlie Brown
1986:
Add Kissyfur, Wildfire, Care Bears, Gummi Bears, Flintstone Kids, Galaxy High, Punky Brewster (animated), Pound Puppies, Teen Wolf (animated), Foofur, Ewoks, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, and Laser Tag
*For fun, here's some commercials that aired during cartoons in '86: Jem, G.I. Joe, Oreo's, Sugar Bear.
Nickelodeon and unknown origin Saturdays: (I'm going completely from poor memory here):
- Mr. Wizard: I totally screw with my kids using the science tricks he taught me. Walking through a piece of paper is the one that gets them every time.
- Out of Control: Cut? It? Out!
- Garfield and Friends
- Fat Albert & Picture Pages
- Special Delivery: aired live-action material, including one of my favorite movies (and books) ever, The Peanut Butter Solution! I am so working on a good link for that. (T.B.A.)
- Fraggle Rock, but not the animated version. That one sucked.
OK KIDS, I think that's it for me tonight. I know it's not complete, but I think most people born in or around '78 will remember most of this stuff. I know I left out Disney (because of my limited free-trial-basis knowledge of it) and syndicated programming. This is a work in progress. Any input would be great. For my own remembering pleasure when I get Alzheimers (which appears to be next around year), I'd like to look at my this and relive all these wonderful TV memories.
Next project:
Toys that we had that didn't get retroized and brought back. (i.e. care bears, cabbage patch kids, transformers, skip-its, etc. won't be listed) I will totally need help on that one.
Great books you remember reading between the ages of 8-12ish.
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