80s kids

What TV shows did you watch as a kid?

I watched a lot of shows with kids in it, makes sense. (I know that shows should be in quotes but I’m lazy today so forgive me)

Diff’rent Strokes (why was it spelled like that?) was a favorite and I had a crush on Gary Coleman. Facts of Life was awesome, I desperately wanted to go to boarding school. Jo was my favorite and I hated Blair. Love Sydney was another really good show with an adorable kid in it. Webster, the Diff’rent Strokes knock off that claimed to not be a knock off was also really good and made me cry. Brady Bunch was cool and also dorky because the clothes were so funny.

Watching these shows now I don’t find them funny. I completely understand I enjoyed them as a kid but I don’t have the same enjoyment or nostalgia for them. They are weird with bad laugh tracks. There were some storylines that were relevant to me and resonated with me but for the most part it was an escape.

Not so much kids show (they had a child actor scattered about) but I enjoyed were The Love Boat; I wanted to go on a cruise like that. The guest starts we’re awesome. Charo and old vaudeville stars. Also Alice aka Mel’s Diner. Flo “Kiss my grits” was fabulous but I really loved Vera and her sweet, naive ways.

Many of these shows were syndicated and showed in the morning or after school. I could watch an hour of tv in the morning during the summer and then I had to turn it off and play. Fair enough. I was able to see just about every episode this way.

An absolute favorite and one that I still will watch today is Leave it to Beaver. It is so funny and of an era that I didn’t live through so it seems real to me though I know it’s not. It gives me the warm fuzzies watching it.

I was mesmerized by seeing kids on tv. How did they get those jobs? Where do they go to school? Do the kids on the same show live together like at camp? It was hard to understand that the evil kids on tv may have actually been nice (I’m looking at you Nellie Olsen). Likewise I assumed that the good kids were nice and sweet. I once read an article in The Enquirer that listed the per show salary for kids (given the source I’m not sure how accurate it was). I couldn’t comprehend the money. Given what I know now and the troubled lives many of these children lived I’m blessed that I had a boring life.

The real highlight of tv were the holiday specials. Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang going trick or treating, having Thanksgiving together and that tree. There were some Family Circus cartoons that were great (at the time). And of course the stop motion animation Christmas specials that were only shown once a year.

I wasn’t much of a Saturday morning cartoon kid but I did like Davey and Goliath.

Ah, such nostalgia