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Top Five Latchkey-Kid Television Shows

A Seriously Random List V / Dustin Rowles

Seriously Random Lists | October 23, 2008 | Comments (77)

Back in my day, we didn’t have fancy child care providers or after-school activities to keep us out of trouble after the bell rang dismissing us from class. Those of us with single and/or working parents had a much better babysitter, anyway. It was called television. And it was free. And it didn’t make us eat vegetables.

Indeed, throughout my adolescent years, I’d come home from school, pour myself some generic-brand cereal, and watch some amazing comfort television. And more than any other, these five shows were the perfect 4 p.m. brain-dead sitcoms after a rough day thwarting bully taunts and facing rejection from the cheermongers.

5. “Jeopardy”

4. “Leave It To Beaver”

3. “Charles in Charge

2. “The Brady Bunch”

1. “Saved by the Bell”

So, can anyone identify today’s latchkey-kid television shows? A quick look at the TBS schedule reveals that “Saved by the Bell” is still airing. Man, I bet that show airs for an eternity. But I’ll also say this: Of the above shows, the only one I still can’t help but to linger on if I pass by it inadvertently on the TV dial is “Leave it to Beaver.” It’s dated as hell, and reflects some pretty messed up gender roles, but it’s like a nice, soothing salve for the brain.







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Comments

Saved By The Bell, definitely. I also have memories of watching Double Dare on Nickelodeon in that time slot and dreaming of winning a spot on the show with a friend of mine. We would have dominated.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at October 23, 2008 4:34 PM

Kids don't watch TBS! It's all Nickelodeon, Disney Channel & CartoonNetwork

Here's the list that my kids either still watch or have watched after school. (Thank God we've grown out of our Miley Montana phase.)

Drake & Josh
Hannah Montana
ICarly
SpongeBob Squarepants

Me? I was partial to Gilligan's Island, Brady Bunch and the best local kids program ever "Captain Jinx and Salty Sam."

Posted by: wsapnin at October 23, 2008 4:36 PM

I don't remember watching TV after school. I mean, yeah, my parents were always working, and we were pretty much on our own most of the time, but I think I actually spent the time until they got home doing my homework. Now, before you accuse me of being the Queen of All Nerds, know that I had two reasons for getting my homework done immediately: 1)My dad demanded it, and he was one scary motherfucker back then, and 2)I realized pretty early on that I was smarter than my parents and waiting around for them to "help" with my homework just meant that I was waiting around just to do it myself anyway. I watched most of my TV in the early evenings - Jeopardy was on at 7:30 back then, and then we watched the 8 o'clock shows - Cosby, Family Ties, Growing Pains....

Posted by: Kolby at October 23, 2008 4:40 PM

I hope to Godtopus that kids today are still watching Saved by the Bell and learning that taking too many caffeine pills will only lead to being "sooo excited, sooooooo excited......I'm so....scared." Hold me Zach. Let me run my fingers through your now long, somewhat greasy looking hair.

Posted by: Emily at October 23, 2008 4:44 PM

No joke here, my kids come home and watch:

1. Sponge Bob Squareohmyfuckingodwhatisthisshit pants

2. Fraggle Rock

3. The Smurfs

I'm so proud...wipes tear...except for that first piece of shit.

Posted by: Admin11 at October 23, 2008 4:44 PM

I never watched TV when I got home from school. I read books. That's because I'm better than you.

Posted by: stipe42 at October 23, 2008 4:52 PM

My Ukranian friend told me he learned English from Charles in Charge. Which I found hilarious. P.S. His English is really good.

Posted by: coveredinbees at October 23, 2008 4:57 PM

Hah. My list would only have one entry: The A-team. I know I watched other shows too, but the A-team murdered the memories from my brain.
(ps. I love that I can completely ignore traditional syntax on this site.)

Posted by: s. pisaster at October 23, 2008 5:03 PM

DUCKTALES >
TALE SPIN >
DARKWING DUCK >
GARGOYLES

is a lineup that will never be beaten.

And afterthat, we could turn over to PBS and catch some Square One or Carmen Sandiego. Then Jeopardy.

Posted by: Bucko at October 23, 2008 5:04 PM

Um can I respectfully submit Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs as the alltime awesomest after-school lineup? I usually flipped over to Carmen Sandiego and Ghostwriter afterwards to come down from my Lucky Charms high.

Posted by: MG at October 23, 2008 5:11 PM

NO!
How dare you try to do something on this site respectfully?!

Posted by: Bucko at October 23, 2008 5:13 PM

Mine was Carmen Sandiego, The Jetsons, and Fraggle Rock. I did love me some Saved by the Bell, still do, but that was more a Saturday morning thing.

Posted by: Austin at October 23, 2008 5:24 PM

1. Duck Tales

2. Tale Spin

3. Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers

4. Cosby Show

5. Hard Copy

Posted by: Amanda H. at October 23, 2008 5:31 PM

Sometimes, some crimes
Go slipping through the cracks
But these two, gumshoes
Are picking up the slack.

There's no case too big
No case too small
If you need help just call

Ch-ch-ch-Chip 'n Dale
Rescue Rangers
Ch-ch-ch-Chip 'n Dale
When there's danger

Oh no, it never fails
They'll take the clues
And find the where's and whys and who's

Ch-ch-ch-Chip 'n Dale.


No, but for real, I just read books.

Posted by: JakesAlterEgo at October 23, 2008 5:34 PM

I was partial to The Merv Griffin Show.

Posted by: BWeaves at October 23, 2008 5:34 PM

I'm with Bucko on the Ducktales and TaleSpin lineup. I also watched a ton of Charles in Charge and Saved by the Bell and other things that are doubtlessly slipping my mind.

And I'm ordering the Fraggle Rock DVDs no matter what the haters on the Amazon reviews say.

I was watching a friend's kids one day and was amazed to see that they had TiVo'd about 60 episodes of Full House off of ABC Family. I watched that when I was their age. And my word did that show age badly. (How did this happen in San Francisco and it never occured to anyone that at least two or three of them were gay?) But they loved it.

Posted by: libraryliz at October 23, 2008 5:38 PM

Bucko and MG I totally agree with you.

..add to that the Adventures of Batman, Adventures of Superman, X-MEN and you have happiness

Posted by: ms shai at October 23, 2008 5:41 PM

oh and Night Court...

Posted by: ms shai at October 23, 2008 5:47 PM

We had a slighly different line up in Australia (although I'm glad to say that we didn't miss out on saved by the bell) but the greatest shows to come home and watch were Ship to Shore and Round the Twist.

I still know every word to Round the Twist. On a recent holiday I magically came across the place where it was filled. It was like coming home all over again.

Posted by: getduffed at October 23, 2008 5:48 PM

In my latchkey era, we had Hogan's Heroes, Get Smart, Bewitched, Gilligan's Island and the like and when I was a tad BJ and Dirty Dragon in Chicago, and Captain Chesapeake in Baltimore.

Posted by: Adam C at October 23, 2008 5:56 PM

"The Brady Bunch" and "Leave It to Beaver" were definitely part of my line-up. I also watched a lot of "You Can't Do That on Television" on Nickelodeon (Ahh, Alister was so dreamy in my little pre-pubescent mind), and way too much "Dance Party USA" on none other than USA Network. There was some regular who always wore dark sunglasses and acid washed jeans that I had the biggest crush on. Thankfully, I don't remember his name.

Posted by: prairiegirl at October 23, 2008 6:00 PM

There is nothing wrong with Jeopardy. Some of us have a Jeopardy desk calendar because we miss the show.

My shows were:
Saved by the Bell
Flintstones
Jetsons
Animaniacs
Tiny Toons
Pinky and the Brain

I may have watched a lot of tv as a kid.

Posted by: Melody at October 23, 2008 6:01 PM

Australian person! Surely you watched: 'With children from all places, with all kinds of faces... the lost is-laaaaaand, the lost is-laaaaand', followed by: 'I know a valley, I know a valley, my secret valley the world likes to see' to the tune of Waltzing Matilda. At least that's the quality Australian drama we were stuck with in New Zealand in the 80s.

Posted by: vab at October 23, 2008 6:09 PM

Totally Saved by the bell. But also California Dreams, which I think came on after or around Saved by the bell.
Today I have to sit through Ben Ten and Scarred, which I don't mind, but they are nowhere near the glory of Zack Morris and his huge-ass cellular telephone.

Posted by: VeinsRHiways at October 23, 2008 6:15 PM

I remember watching my share of the Mike Douglas show, Merv Griffin and the John Davidson Show (even at 10 I knew he was a crap hack entertainer, plus I hated him just for leaving "That's Incredible" and striking out on his own.)

In the Bay Area we had "Captain Cosmic" with Bob Wilkins the "Creature Feature" guy dressed in a space/superhero suit and helmet showing all these wonderful Japanese shows like Ultraman and Goldar & Silvar. His robot sidekick was the thinly-veiled "Dialing for Dollars" machine.

But my favorite was the 3:30 movie on channel 7, before Oprah & Donohue took over the timeslot prior to the evening news. We watched it daily while doing our homework. While they showed their share of choppy versions of Beach Blanket movies, the Planet of the Apes series and Vincent Price films, they also had wonderfully bad movies like "Ants", "Killer Bees", "Food of the Gods", "Night of the Leper" and terrible melodramas. I had to wait for MST3K to see these again, and welcomed the commentary, as my brother & I had done as little kids when we saw them the first time.

One in particular stuck with me through the years, "Bad Ronald" about this kid who gets hidden away by his mother in a sealed room, only to have his mother die and another family move into his house with him still there in the walls. It was a twist on the typical Hhaunted house movie. I need to see that movie again.

Posted by: krix at October 23, 2008 6:19 PM

I only remember watching The Simpsons and a little known show up here called Street Cents. Ah the delightful programming of CBC.

Posted by: Mary at October 23, 2008 6:31 PM

I don't remember 'Lost Island, vab, but I have memories of something called 'Ocean Girl' about some chick who live on an island, and her best friend was a whale called Charlie, and everyone else lived in something resembling a space station which I think was actually underwater. And damn if we didn't all want to be her...

Other than that I distinctly remember watching what I assume were re-runs of Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie. And Sesame Street.

Posted by: rach at October 23, 2008 6:33 PM

Dangermouse.....that show was the balls.

Tiny Toon Adventures/Animaniacs

Welcome Back Kotter

And back when they had Looney Tunes hours...just showing the best cartoons of all time. My future kids may never know what a Pokemon or DragonballZ is, but dammit, they will know Bugs Bunny, Foghorn Leghorn and the finest actor of our times, Daffy Duck. But no Tweety....Fuck Tweety.

Posted by: Rubble44 at October 23, 2008 6:35 PM

There was a glorious window of my childhood where the tv-programming god smiled down on my schedule and gave me reruns of "Quantum Leap' that would start within 15 minutes of my return home from elementary school. How do I know it was the tv-programming god? The reruns stopped in middle school when I started playing soccer after school every day. Seriously, within a week of tryouts it war replaced by something else as the channel's 3-5pm programming block.

There is nothing, NOTHING, better than coming home from elementary school (where even at a private school, you were a big enough nerd to start a "mystery solving club") to be able to watch Dr. Sam Beckett (himself, a nerd) righting what once went wrong.

Posted by: foursweatervests at October 23, 2008 6:43 PM

Animaniacs!!

Listening to the original voices sing "Yakko's World" and "Wakko's America" live at Comic Con and still being able to sing a long basically made my life.

Posted by: Erin at October 23, 2008 6:51 PM

O.K. Canada. Help me out.

1. Beachcombers
2. The Kids of Degrassi
3. Degrassi Junior High (the original)
4. Fraggle Rock

Points to those who know the first one.

Posted by: Admin11 at October 23, 2008 6:52 PM

I second the love for Saved by the Bell, but no Breaker High love? Seriously? Ryan Gosling's awkward high school phase?
Or is that just too Canadian?

Posted by: MarMar at October 23, 2008 6:53 PM

I remember coming home and eating lunch in front of the tv while watching bad teenage telenovelas with our nanny.

And then it was on...

1. Duck Tales
2. Chip and Dale
3. The Smurfs
4. My Little Pony (yeah, fuck you!)
5. JEM!

80s cartoons were the tits!

Posted by: figgy at October 23, 2008 6:54 PM

Star Trek, uncut because the channel was new and had no ads sold, followed by Voyage to the Bottom of The Sea which I never liked because the girl was an idiot and Richard Basehart was ugly.

Posted by: funtime42 at October 23, 2008 7:13 PM

I was only seven, but I may have gotten my first erection whilst watching JEM.

Posted by: stipe42 at October 23, 2008 7:13 PM

Richard Basehart was ugly

Don't make Gypsy cry!!

Posted by: Jay at October 23, 2008 7:14 PM

I thought everyone engaged in the time-honored tradition of fighting with their siblings after school?

Posted by: Wednesday at October 23, 2008 7:15 PM

Sailor Moon
Super Pig
Animaniacs
Carman Sandiego
Doug
Johnny Bravo
Pinky and the Brain
Samurai Pizza Cats
The Sonic with the badass cyber bunny

Posted by: inthewolf at October 23, 2008 7:17 PM

I know Beachcombers and Breaker High and both kinda sucked but i definitely watched them. Any old Degrassi is good TV. Was The Raccoons a Canadian show?

Carmen Sandiego was awesome. I liked Animaniacs too. Does anyone remember Freakazoid? I used to love that.

Posted by: becks at October 23, 2008 7:47 PM

5. Ducktales (a-whoo-hoo!)
4. The Smurfs
3. Tiny Toons
2. Aniamaniacs
1. Batman: The Animated Series

Posted by: ciji at October 23, 2008 7:48 PM

Sadly, I watched all these shows and more (except for the Canadian/Aussie specific ones)!

Darkwing, Talespin, Doug (oh doug how i loved thee!), sailor moon, dragonball z, animaniacs, the real ghostbusters, saved by the bell (all incarnations!), square one, carmen san diego, smurfs, rainbow brite, my little pony, care bears, duck tales, fraggle rock....

And we get a shout out to the tv shows you watched in the morning before school? My mom always had to drag me away from these shows:
Babar
Gummi Bears
Adventures of TinTin

Posted by: Teresa at October 23, 2008 7:59 PM

"Jeopardy!"? The game show I won four times and a chunk of change in 2001 is a "brain-dead sitcom"? Sorry, Trebek just isn't that funny.

Posted by: bucdaddy at October 23, 2008 8:01 PM

Square One was amazing, I would totally watch that show now.

1. Animaniacs
2. Tiny Toons (Animaniacs was a lot smarter and a tad more twisted than Tiny Toons, but TT was still quality viewing)
3. The Dukes of Hazzard. Don't fight me on this one.
4. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (eventually, after I had watched the entire Dukes series)

Posted by: Munkymack at October 23, 2008 8:04 PM

So if there was a write in for the ab contest, I would have entered Scott Baio...cerca 1990.

My sister and I actually used to love reruns of The Scarecrow and Mrs. King after school

Posted by: MissSmilla at October 23, 2008 8:04 PM

So if there was a write in for the ab contest, I would have entered Scott Baio...cerca 1990.

My sister and I actually used to love reruns of The Scarecrow and Mrs. King after school

Posted by: MissSmilla at October 23, 2008 8:05 PM

Why would I want to identify today's latchkey-kid shows? The kids of today are fucking retarded. Like extra retarded, the kind of retarded you have to buy "Retard Brand Retard Food: Special Blend®" for. Give them a brick and a snail and they'll be cross-eyed with excitement. Except that's how they look when they're bored, too. Because they're retards.

Here were mine (about ten years ago):

5. Are You Afraid Of The Dark?
4. Saturday Night Live (after Comedy Central bought the late 80s, early 90s episodes and aired them in the afternoon)
3. Dragon Ball Z (I was a retard too)
2. ReBoot
1. Rocko's Modern Life (yeah motherfucker)

Posted by: Lucas at October 23, 2008 8:14 PM

Robotech, muthafuckas!

Posted by: TL at October 23, 2008 8:15 PM

I guess I'm going to date myself with my list:

1. Gilligan's Island

2. The Carol Burnett Show

3. Starblazers

Posted by: elsie at October 23, 2008 9:06 PM

1. Kate and Allie
2. Carol Burnett Show
3. You Can't Do That On Television
4. The Andy Griffith Show
5. Alice

Early to rise...early to bed...in and between I cooked and cleaned and went out of my head...

Posted by: The Pink Hulk at October 23, 2008 9:16 PM

the brady bunch
cheers
laverne and shirley
night court
alice

Posted by: kelley at October 23, 2008 9:36 PM

1. Square One
2. Carmen Sandiego
3. Wishbone
4. Darkwing Duck
5. Rescue Rangers

I gotta give you props on the Leave it to Beaver - my younger siblings actually watch it on DVD now. It's an unintentionally hilarious time capsule, but the big brother/kid brother dynamics still ring true.

Posted by: Empress of All the Russias at October 23, 2008 9:39 PM

I was a TV latchkey kid. Though my family could time it perfectly. As soon as The Little Mermaid came out on VHS, I watched it twice a day: before school and after school. At either point they could run out without me noticing. Until that fateful day when the third copy of the tape broke and no one was there to help me. My family wasn't too happy to find out Granny had to drive over to keep me company.

Posted by: Robert at October 23, 2008 10:46 PM

Mo'fo's

GI Joe

Transformers

Masters of the Universe

Silverhawks

Voltron

Who's the Mofo Boss!

Posted by: sushi at October 23, 2008 11:02 PM

Some of my after school shows, a random list and spanning different years:

1) Kids Incorporated
2) Ghostbusters the Cartoon
3) something called Rocky Road, it involved an ice cream shop on a beach
4) Just Say Julie on MTV
5) Remote Control
6) 21 Jump Street (shut up)
7) Fraggle Rock
8) Saved by the Bell
9) Jem
10) Ren and Stimpy

I was given a key at age 8, and still had to use a tiny stool to use the stove. Good parenting!!

Posted by: Sharon at October 23, 2008 11:21 PM

Hello, fellow Canadian, I watched the "Beachcombers", too! Jeez, on Halloween I could go as "Relic". All I would need is a blue toque, some beat-up denim, rubber boots and a boat for hauling logs.

Oh, and I also watched: Gilligan's Island, Mr. Dressup (or did that come on in the morning?), classic Looney Tunes cartoons (mixed with a little Tex Avery now and then), and some kind of cartoon where a group of teens turned into superhuman birds of prey.

Posted by: kootenay girl at October 23, 2008 11:26 PM

Breaker High love? Seriously? Ryan Gosling's awkward high school phase? Or is that just too Canadian?
MarMar, I totally back you on the Breaker High love.

Who could forget the comic duo of Sean (Mr. Gosling) and Jimmy, the hot football guy Alex, the catty remarks from Ashley Dupree, the "artsy" sensitive girl Tamira, blonde surfer girl Cassidy, and token black girl to show we are diverse and tolerant (who is well-spoken, by the way), Denise.

I really do miss formulaic shows that pander to my now-lost teenage melodramatic yearnings.

Posted by: popejenn at October 23, 2008 11:44 PM

Gilligan's Island, Hogan's Heroes, Brady Bunch, Bewitched, and a local show called Cousin Cliff's Clubhouse. Cousin Cliff just died recently. Another part of my childhood gone.*sniff*

Posted by: rlr260 at October 24, 2008 12:16 AM

"Paul Shannon's Adventuretime" (shout out to the 'Burgh). Nosmo King RULED!

Posted by: bucdaddy at October 24, 2008 12:31 AM

Let's see, after school it was mainly Wishbone, Carmen Sandiego, Bill Nye the Science Guy and later after we got cable, State of Grace, Recess and So Weird if I got lucky. Early mornings before school was Woody Woodpecker, Gilligan's Island, M*A*S*H*, Brady Bunch and Bewitched depending on the day, which parent was waking me up and time of year (Indiana at that point was the only state in the damn union NOT to follow daylight savings which tended to screw with TV lineups).

Posted by: Zippy at October 24, 2008 1:04 AM

Life is like a hurricane
Here in Duck - burg
Race cars, lasers, aeroplanes
It's a duck - blur!
Might solve a mystery,
Or rewrite history!

Ducktales! (a - whooh ooh)
Every day they're out there making
Ducktales! (a - whooh ooh)
Tales of daring do bad and good
Ducktales!

Does anyone here remember a Nick Jr. cartoon called Noozles? It had a girl who lived in Australia and her dad was an aarchaaeologist. She had two koala stuffed animals that would come to life and take her on adventures. That cartoon ROCKED.

Posted by: Leigh at October 24, 2008 1:33 AM

The generation gap on this thread is nauseating me ever so slightly...erp. Saved by the Bell? I'd rather listen to their music than watch their TV.

I was a latchkey kid before the term had even been invented. I wore the key around my neck on a chain, and I walked four blocks home from third grade at GoodOldWhoTheFuck Elementary School in South San Francisco and watched TV for a couple of hours until one of my parents tore themselves away from their jobs. The local UHF station showed (what I later learned were) cheap Japanese cartoons: Speed Racer and Aquaman. Oh yeah! I used to doodle the Mach 5 over all my school books.

A few years later there was dinnertime TV, too. Match Game and The Muppet Show. We weren't allowed to eat in the living room, but my dad had a little yellow portable B&W TV in the kitchen, and he would turn it to face the dining room while we ate (if he was in a good mood). The weird thing is that while I have fond memories of those shows I absolutely cannot STAND to have the TV on during mealtime now, yet my wife and kids can't eat without the idiot box on. Drives me up the fucking wall...yeah, yeah, get off my lawn and all that shiz.

Posted by: Che Grovera at October 24, 2008 6:05 AM

Disney afternoon was the shiznit.
Gummi Bears
Duck Tales
Tale Spin
Rescue Rangers
Darkwing Duck
To be followed by:
Tiny Toons
Animaniacs
With Gramma serving Dinner on a TV tray while I watch:
Square One (MATHMAN...MATHMAN...)
Electric Company
Carmen San Diego
Yep, a good 3-4 HOURS of TV every single day.
If the same lineup were on today I would watch it.

Posted by: Bridget at October 24, 2008 8:31 AM

double dare
fun house
the wonder years
super mario bros
saved by the bell

Posted by: blacksred at October 24, 2008 9:12 AM

We have TiVo. There are no time restrictions to what my daughter wants to watch after her homework is done.

Usually it's Scrubs, Malcolm in the Middle, or Project Runway/Top Chef (whatever is running at the time) from the night before. In her younger days, it was Dragon Tales. Good gravy, she loved that show.

I think I'm stricter about the amount of TV she watches than my own parents were. The TV doesn't go on until everything ELSE is done (and that includes extra algebra homework because she's struggling with it). And there's two weeknights when she doesn't get to see anything because we have other stuff going on.

She makes up for it when she visits her father. They watch cheesy '80s horror movies practically the entire weekend.

Posted by: Wednesday at October 24, 2008 9:14 AM

Wow, I forgot how many classic Canadian shows there were back in the day!

Hmm, I think Breaker High was after my time...yeah, it would be if Ryan Gosling was in it. Never did get in to Beachcombers much for some reason. I did watch original Degrassi, though--freakin' classic.

How about Danger Bay, anyone else watch that one? Oh, and has nobody else mentioned The Littlest Hobo? Really?! Come on, that little dog rocked!

"Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to settle down...until tomorrow, I'll just keep movin' on...Until tomorrow, the whole world is my home....."

Posted by: meaux at October 24, 2008 9:14 AM

in my eagerness i commented first then went back and read all the other comments and am now wondering if I WENT to school because I know I watched a lot of these shows so I have to combine my morning before school tv w/ after school and early evening tv to the following list:
kate and allie
voltron
gummi bears
darkwing duck
duck tales
animaniacs (i used to love the fact I always got the inside jokes)
talespin
grace under fire
and there was this show where this old dr had 2 daughters and the one daughter had a real deep voice
oh and alf

becks - Freakazoid was the man, it's a shame his creator died before the show really caught on.

Posted by: blacksred at October 24, 2008 9:28 AM

blacksred, this show where this old dr had 2 daughters and the one daughter had a real deep voice = Empty Nest, maybe?

Posted by: meaux at October 24, 2008 9:35 AM

I mostly read or played outside after school until the show Dark Shadows came around. When that was gone it was back to the books (ANY books, but mostly SciFi) until I was in high school, then it was beer & weed after school most days.

Posted by: Walter at October 24, 2008 10:07 AM

Leigh, I totally remember Noozles! I always think of that show whenever someone tells me that I look like my dad because there was this episode in which someone told the main character of that show that she looked like her dad, and she got all freaked out about it (she was worried that it meant she would look manly and not pretty). Her koala friends arranged for her to see a picture of herself in the future and she discovered that she looked fine. I felt like someone finally understood me and the fear I felt about looking like my dad!

I watched a lot of TV back in the day (who am I kidding, I still watch a fuck ton of tv), so all of these shows are just making smile and clap happily, which is sort of awkward for my coworkers I think. Eh, they should've figured out that I'm a total weirdo before now.

Anyway, in my neck of the woods, Tiny Toon Adventures was on in the morning, so it was definitely part of my morning TV ritual along with Gargoyles and James Bond, Jr. depending on which one Fox aired. And then Power Rangers came along so that became a staple also. After school was Saved by the Bell, MMC, and Kids, Incorporated. As the years wore on, the lineup changed and I've watched many, many of the shows already mentioned. When and how did I watch all of these shows?!

Posted by: tbean at October 24, 2008 12:14 PM

I have the Animaniacs theme stuck in my head now.

Anyone remember Mathnet? Where "episodes" included The Case of The Maltese Pigeon and something involving everybody's favorite rocker, Bruce Stringbean?

It's time for Animaniacs
And we're zany to the max
So just sit back and relax
You'll laugh 'til you collapse
We're Animaniacs!

Come join the Warner Brothers & the Warner Sister, Dot
Just for fun we run around the Warner movie lot.
They lock us in the tower whenever we get caught
But we break loose and then vamoose
And now you know the plot!

We're Animaniacs! Dot is cute and Yakko yaks.
Wakko packs away the snacks
While Bill Clinton plays the sax.
(or We've got wisecracks by the stacks.)
(or We pay tons of income tax.)

We're Animaniacs!
Meet Pinky and the Brain who want to rule the universe.
(or Meet Ralph & Dr Scratchansniff; say hi to Hello Nurse.)
Goodfeathers flock together;
Slappy whacks 'em with her purse.
Buttons chases Mindy, while Rita sings a verse.
The writers flipped; we have no script
Why bother to rehearse?

Cast: We're Animaniacs!
We have pay-or-play contracts.
We're zany to the max.
There's baloney in our slacks.
We're Animanie, totally insaney
Cast: Animaniacs! Those are the facts!

Posted by: Stella at October 24, 2008 3:23 PM

meaux - YES !!

Posted by: blacksred at October 24, 2008 3:37 PM

His home base is the Freakalair
Freakazoid! Fricassee!

Floyd the Barber cuts his hair
Freakazoid! Chimpanzee!

Posted by: Jay at October 24, 2008 3:37 PM

Denis Blunden & the genius of Head of the Class.

Posted by: matt at October 25, 2008 3:07 PM

I liked watching Nickelodeon cartoons in the 80s, with Danger Mouse and Count Duckula on it was prime time after school. I actually think they played these around 7pm and not right at 4pm. I watched Saved By the Bell religiously, as well as Charles in Charge. I had a very bad crush on Scott Baio. EW!

Posted by: ph at October 26, 2008 9:58 PM

When I was a kid it was definitely Nickelodeon after school...Salute your Shorts, Hey Dude, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Double Dare...but Animaniacs was also a staple as I got a little older. I recall my parents also enjoying it, hee!

ph-I loved Danger Mouse! Though I watched it in the morning before school :)

Posted by: hbomb at October 27, 2008 12:45 PM

no Fresh Prince love? i distinctly remember a good few years towards the end of elementary school coming home after school and watching back to back fresh prince and full house.

aside from that, Degrassi (preferably D high, but jr high would do too) and Breaker High were big faves. oh, and Blossom. definitely high on the list.

my best friend was really into the after school cartoons (gargoyles, goof troop, duck tales, etc) but i never really cared much for them.

oh, and i loved game shows like supermarket sweep. i actually sent them a letter as a child requesting a youth episode. i had a whole plan for winning the shopping challenge. lots and lots of dog food and cheeses. anyone else remember that show? was that canadian too?

Posted by: Amy at October 27, 2008 10:58 PM

Hi. Good news.

Posted by: Gordon at December 24, 2008 12:34 PM


















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