Tuesday 22 February 2011

My TV Childhood at its 80s & 90s Best

I blogged here, back in January 2009 when I first dabbled with this blog of my sadness at the loss of quality Children's TV from the years of my childhood. There is as Gareth Price commented on my piece there at the time, many excellent programmes now of course but looking back, I really feel that I was fortunate to have lived through a golden period of TV childhood.

These are the kind of programmes that I recall well...

We begin with a classic - Thomas the Tank Engine!



This is a slightly more obscure one but I love my football and I always enjoyed the Hurricanes which always had a 'moral' at the end of each episode.



If you were a 70s child, you'd love the Muppet Show. But an 80s child would better recall Jim Henson's follow-up - Fraggle Rock!



Raggy Dolls is another eccentric favourite of mine but the meaningful lyrics always struck a chord with me.



I just admit that this one completely slipped my mind until I found it but I was a fan! The Shoe People!



Who's for Superted?



Or Fireman Sam (Sam Sam Tan!)?



There were also those late 80s/early 90s Disney shorts classics! Chip'n Dale Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin and DuckTales!







Alvin and the Chipmunks? Alvin, Simon, Theodore! Another hit!



What about the David Jason induced hits? Well there's Dangermouse and Count Cuckula!






Then there's the Warner Brothers selection.

Pinky and the Brain was great!



The Tiny Toon Adventures were always a popular choice.



Then there was the slightly more 'grown-up' stuff. Knightmare was legendary at the time though the graphics now look so poor!



I loved Finders Keepers!



Then there was Fun House! Possibly the best children's progamme on during its time - every child wanted to be on it! 'Use your body and your brain if you want to play the game'!



There was also 'Woof!' - a boy who turned into a dog? Yep, it was a hit!



Jonny Briggs (no, not Mike Baldwin off Coronation St) was another lessen known favourite of mine.



Grange Hill had an iconic intro. But actually for kids of my age, we grew up not on the original but on this latter version.



But don't forget Channel 4 on a Sunday morning. Saved By The Bell was an US imported classic!



Another US hit was The Wonder Years.



I absolutely LOVED the Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show!



Another similarly popular favourite was Rugrats that premiered on Live & Kicking which for me was the perfect Saturday morning start to the weekend. It began in 1993 with Andi Peters and Emma Forbes.





To conclude with some more cartoons, Garfield and Friends was a firm favourite.



But we finish with a personal favourite of mine - I absolutely adored Inspector Gadget!



It was a happy childhood!

Any others hits that I've missed? If so, please let me know!

1 comment:

  1. My dear sir, you have missed some of the classics of British Television

    Where pray tell is:

    Willy Fog 1
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nqN_7eGItM

    Willy Fog 2
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBUcMIEI2qg

    Dogtanian 1
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-xO72s5EBY

    Dogtanian 2
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx2foJr1hkc

    The Mysterious Cities of Gold
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbVNZ-cghz0

    The Perishers
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiH0dwTQDdM

    Chorlton and the Wheelies
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0xZh2Uf5v0

    and that absolute British classic Jamie and the Magic Torch
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeMMow_Itqw

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