Author Topic: Favorite PBS kids shows (Read 772 times)

esteban · « **on:** August 03, 2005, 07:19:43 AM »

I'm sure all of you still watch this stuff... well, no, I suppose you wouldn't... so this is sure to be the least popular thread here at PCEFX.

Anyway, feel free to mention the show(s) you really dug when you were a kid.

THE SCOOP: OK, I try not to watch a lot of TV nowadays (I'm a former TV Casualty), but I occasionally put on PBS during the day to watch a show with my daughter. In the early morning, like 6:30 - 7:30, I'm especially eager to put on the boob tube to distract her while I sip coffee and try to wake up. Here are my thoughts....

Sesame Street: still the best friggin' show in the world. While I miss a lot of the "old skool" SS flavor (i.e. for me, this is the late 70's / early 80's, when I watched SS myself), I've grown to like the show's new formula and characters. Yes, I actually love Elmo now. That's huge, since I hated the bastard initially.

Mr. Roger's Neighborhood: they replay the old episodes. holy crap, I think I like this show more NOW than when I was a kid. Back then, I never realized that Mr. R. did all the voices for the puppets. Mr. McFeely (Speedy Delivery!) still strikes me a dirty, perverted old man, though. Funny how my feelings for him haven't changed. HE CREEPS ME OUT.

Zaboomafoo (sp?): I love this show, two brothers playing around with animals (like a tamer version of "Crocodile Hunter") ...but every episode of Zaboomafoo has a segment with clay animation that is really out-of-place and just doesn't work for me. And I love clay animation.

Berenstein Bears (cartoon): great show and characters, plus a super-catchy theme song. I liked the books when I was a kid, so I may be biased...

Dragon Tales (cartoons): Well, at least it has a super-catchy theme song.

Barney: holy crap, this show is horrible. my daughter loves it, though. Horrible, horrible songs.

Telletubbies (sp?): my daughter's favorite show. at first i didn't like it, but I now love it. IT IS SOOOOOO SOOOOTHING. Seriously, this show is an aural / visual experience. I love chillling out to this show. The successor to Tellatubbies is BOOBAH. BOOBAH continues the trippy feel of its predecessor, but utlimately it can't hold a candle to Telletubbies.

Cyberchase (cartoon): my daughter's not too fond of this, and at first I hated it, but NOW I LOOK FORWARD TO WATCHING IT. I love the bad guys in this show, they really make it a winning formula. It really tries to be a "contemporary" cartoon and it works. Learning math is fun again!

OLD SHOWS I liked: hah, I won't bore you any further

.

Keranu · « **Reply #1 on:** August 03, 2005, 12:37:19 PM »

Excellent thread, actually.

Seasame Street: I haven't seen this show in a long time, but I used to watch it whenever I could and loved it. Unlike you though, Steve, I still can't stand that Elmo prick.

Mr. Roger's Neighborhood: Alright this is probably the best show ever made. I love it just as much as I used to, hell probably more. I got this DVD package thing that contained two episodes (plus some bonuses) and this nice little toy train like on the show, along with a preztle recipe guide (a special on the DVD was when Mr. Roger goes to a pretzle factory - outstanding!). You can also buy this other version of the DVD where it comes with a little sweater instead of a train, which now I figured I should have totally gotten. It's such a shame the poor guy had to die, along with John Ritter, who is another very kind television guy. Oh and to all of you punks out there that will try to be funny and say something like "Mr. Rogers is a child molester!", f*ck off.

Zaboomafoo: Not sure if I know of this show.

Berenstein Bears: I never saw the cartoons much at all (maybe like once while I was in a kindagarden class), but I read the books every now and then and really enjoyed the art style.

Dragon Tales: I used to actually watch a few minutes of this show on week days after school back in seventh grade. I would watch the opening along with like a couple minutes of the show after that. Hated it and I hated the theme song as well and it would just get stuck in my head sometimes. Arr!

Barney: Never really got into Barney, except this one awesome tape I had of Barney going to space or something with these kids. It was very nostalgic for me because I would watch it all the time when I was like four or five and it had a nice 80's touch to it actually.

Cyberchase: Not familar with this show.

Have any of you watched ZOOM? Not the older 1970's ones, but the hilarious cheesy ones in the late 90's - today. I used to watch it all the time back in 1999/2000 and would always laugh at the cheesy kid actors in it! The funniest part is when they would rap and then say there name. I distinctly remember "I'm PABLO!"

esteban · « **Reply #2 on:** August 03, 2005, 12:57:02 PM »

Yeah, I have the Dragon Tales theme song stuck in my head for days everytime I hear it!

I've never seen the new ZOOM! Damn, I wonder if my local PBS channels play it? I was surprised to learn that PBS channels actually vary a lot of their programming... so BOOBAH is totally not available in the LA area... but it is shown in San Diego and NYC areas!

The Mr. Rogers DVD you mentioned sounds awesome. I didn't even know a DVD was even available, I'll have to put it on my X-mas list.

By the way, how do feel about Mr. McFeely? Do you find him creepy? None of my friends think he's as creepy as I do. BUT HE IS.

Keranu · « **Reply #3 on:** August 03, 2005, 01:22:55 PM »

You know, Mr. McFeely is pretty creepy now that I think about it. The way he acts and sounds just kind of makes you feel insecured if you were around him... I don't know. Now that I think about it, that DVD I have has Mr. McFeely doing the DVD narration and it's quite freaky! His voice is the only thing that makes noise in the quiet DVD menus and his voice just comes out of no where sometimes because the DVD is loading. It's especially sp00ky when you are in a dark, soundless, room by yourself!

JBSpeed · « **Reply #4 on:** August 04, 2005, 10:20:04 AM »

I have not seen Sesame street in along time, and a while ago I heard that they were going to change Cookie Monster to eating healthy food or something instead of freaking out over cookies.

So, I'm wondering if the politcally correct fascists have got to the cookie monster?

esteban · « **Reply #5 on:** August 04, 2005, 11:08:45 AM »

Quote from: "JBSpeed"

I have not seen Sesame street in along time, and a while ago I heard that they were going to change Cookie Monster to eating healthy food or something instead of freaking out over cookies.

So, I'm wondering if the politcally correct fascists have got to the cookie monster?

Hey JB, don't worry, the cookie monster still loves cookies and he eats one in every episode (usually it's a cookie in the shape of the letter of the day). He promises the audience that he won't eat the cookie letter of the day, but of course things never quite work out that way

What has changed, though, is now the cookie monster promotes veggies and fruits in addition to cookies... that's a good thing!

Keranu · « **Reply #6 on:** August 04, 2005, 04:09:02 PM »

Man if Cookie Monster ate vegetables and fruit and not cookies would SUCK. It's not so bad that he is promoting them, but it's the cookie that counts in the end! I'll have to check out these newer episodes because that sounds hilarious how cookie monster pretends not to eat the cookie letter of the day but can't hold his promise!

esteban · « **Reply #7 on:** August 04, 2005, 05:50:50 PM »

Quote from: "Keranu"

I'll have to check out these newer episodes because that sounds hilarious how cookie monster pretends not to eat the cookie letter of the day but can't hold his promise!

It's awesome, he devises a new technique each episode: 1. locking cookie in safe, 2. mailing cookie via post office, 3. putting cookie in rocket and launching it, etc. etc.

I won't ruin the endings, but they rule.

GUTS · « **Reply #8 on:** August 04, 2005, 06:15:52 PM »

Square One- Awesome old math show that had this cool as f*ck series called "Mathnet" for the last 10 minutes of each episode. Mathnet would stretch the entire week so you had to watch all 5 episodes to get the whole story, in the end they would always solve the case with (you guessed it!) math. The rest of the show was great too.

Reading Rainbow- Man this show rocked EXCEPT for the parts where the stupid kids would talk about the books they read. I hated that part royally when I was young, the kids were always either a)super nerdy or b)verging on retarded. Levar Burton was awesome though, I especially loved the episode where they went on the set of Star Trek TNG and he wore his visor. I still catch this on TV once in a while, I can't believe he's still making episodes!

3,2,1 Contact!- I loved this one the most I think since it was about science, although unlike Square One's Mathnet, the end of this show's Bloodhound Gang show wasn't that great.

And I loved Mr Rogers also, the model sets of his neighborhood always fascinated me as a kid.

Also, did any of you guys HATE Bill Nye the Science Guy like I did? God damn that show was obnoxious! Beakman's World on CBS was WAY better and actually funny, I miss that show.

Keranu · « **Reply #9 on:** August 04, 2005, 07:30:59 PM »

Oh man, Reading Rainbow. That show is so awesome and the part with the kids reviewing the books was hilarious I thought. I have never seen the episode where the go on the set of Star Trek, but that sounds RAD! Did you guys ever see the one where Levar goes to this place and gets a plastic replica like himself? That was a good one too and I think they showed Michael Jackson's plastic replica as well (though MJ wasn't on the show, of course

).

There is this Flash cartoon on New Grounds (yes I know, arr) poking at Reading Rainbow and it's kind of stupid, but I found it hilarious back in middle school (explains things I guess). Check out the first one here, but be sure to check out all the sequels for it as well because they get crazier and funnier.

3, 2, 1 Contact! - I know of this show, but just can't remember what it was like!

Bill Nye the Science Guy does suck and my school still insists on showing episodes of it, but it beats work I guess. I haven't seen Beakman's World in a long time and I forgot what it was like, except what Beakman looked like. I have these binoculars have to do with the show.

esteban · « **Reply #10 on:** August 05, 2005, 06:47:35 AM »

Quote from: "GUTS"

Square One- Awesome old math show that had this cool as f*ck series called "Mathnet" for the last 10 minutes of each episode. Mathnet would stretch the entire week so you had to watch all 5 episodes to get the whole story, in the end they would always solve the case with (you guessed it!) math. The rest of the show was great too.

Reading Rainbow- Man this show rocked EXCEPT for the parts where the stupid kids would talk about the books they read. I hated that part royally when I was young, the kids were always either a)super nerdy or b)verging on retarded. Levar Burton was awesome though, I especially loved the episode where they went on the set of Star Trek TNG and he wore his visor. I still catch this on TV once in a while, I can't believe he's still making episodes!

3,2,1 Contact!- I loved this one the most I think since it was about science, although unlike Square One's Mathnet, the end of this show's Bloodhound Gang show wasn't that great.

And I loved Mr Rogers also, the model sets of his neighborhood always fascinated me as a kid.

Also, did any of you guys HATE Bill Nye the Science Guy like I did? God damn that show was obnoxious! Beakman's World on CBS was WAY better and actually funny, I miss that show.

Now we're talking!

3-2-1 Contact was the best. They had the most interesting content (the hosts did the koolest stuff: ice-sailing, swimming with dolphins, hot-air ballooning, walking on the astrodome roof before it was inflated, etc.), plus the show had FREAKY SHIT (i.e. the dude in the skin-tight black body suit with toilet paper rolls attached to his face!!!! WTF???!!!!)

But I have to disagree with you, GUTS, the Bloodhound Gang was AWESOME. I much prefer the Bloodhound Gang to Mathnet, and I really liked Mathnet. The Bloodhound gang was full of energy spontaneity -- and was a gritty, realistic drama -- when compared to the more sterile Mathnet. Don't get me wrong, though, I loved Mathnet. But the kids in the Gang were much more interesting as characters than the purposefully-leaden Joe Friday and Company.

Even though I was "old" when Square One was on, I totally loved watching it with my younger brothers! PLEASE TELL ME you remember the best mock music video Square One ever did: it was an original song (with a decidedly new-wave, synth flavor) that went something like this:

Angle Dance
Annnnnnnnnnnglllllllllllllllllllllle Dance

??

And naturally the usual cast were on a fake beach, in bathing suits, and making angles (30 degrees!, 90 degrees!) with their surfboards and bodies and stuff. That WAS the ANGLE DANCE! Friggin' Awesome.

Square One -- all of their sketches were pretty entertaining (mock game shows, the PacMan inspired MathMan video game, etc.) plus Mathnet was GREAT!!!!

TRIVIA: The actor who play "Joe Friday" in Mathnet... wasn't he the same fellow who starred as the host of the "mock talk show" that aired a few years ago (97-98?). I don't know if you remember this show, but it was a parody that appeared when talk shows had super-over-saturated the airwaves in the 90's. I never really watched it, though.

TRIVIA: The blond dude who was part of the regualr SquareOne cast didn't have much of a TV career afterwards, but I remember seeing him in a handful of commericals after SquareOne ended.

GUTS · « **Reply #11 on:** August 05, 2005, 08:24:52 AM »

Quote

But I have to disagree with you, GUTS, the Bloodhound Gang was AWESOME. I much prefer the Bloodhound Gang to Mathnet, and I really liked Mathnet. The Bloodhound gang was full of energy spontaneity -- and was a gritty, realistic drama -- when compared to the more sterile Mathnet. Don't get me wrong, though, I loved Mathnet. But the kids in the Gang were much more interesting as characters than the purposefully-leaden Joe Friday and Company.

Yeah I think I preferred Mathnet's humor over the grittiness of Bloodhound Gang, I think it was just my natural preference of comedy over dramas back then. Plus Bloodhound gang was pretty old, I don't remember much about it, while I can still fondly remember a shitload of Mathnet episodes.

went something like this:

Quote

Angle Dance
Annnnnnnnnnnglllllllllllllllllllllle Dance
??

And naturally the usual cast were on a fake beach, in bathing suits, and making angles (30 degrees!, 90 degrees!) with their surfboards and bodies and stuff. That WAS the ANGLE DANCE! Friggin' Awesome.

Holy shit dude, the angle dance ruled!! They had one other awesome video too where they were in an alley and it was kinda film noir looking, I can't remember the name of that one though. ANGLE DANCE, ANGLE DANCE! I wonder if you can get mp3s of those anywhere? That would rule.

Quote

TRIVIA: The actor who play "Joe Friday" in Mathnet... wasn't he the same fellow who starred as the host of the "mock talk show" that aired a few years ago (97-98?). I don't know if you remember this show, but it was a parody that appeared when talk shows had super-over-saturated the airwaves in the 90's. I never really watched it, though.

TRIVIA: The blond dude who was part of the regualr SquareOne cast didn't have much of a TV career afterwards, but I remember seeing him in a handful of commericals after SquareOne ended.

I THINK you're thinking of Nightstand with Dick Dietrich who went on to star in Son of the Beach (Timothy Stack is his real name). Both great shows, but Nightstand was the best. The guy who played Joe Friday was in some other stuff here and there, I remember him in some commercials and guest starring on some shows because my brother would always yell "MATHNET GUY!" when he'd see him on something.

esteban · « **Reply #12 on:** August 05, 2005, 12:36:48 PM »

Quote from: "GUTS"

Holy shit dude, the angle dance ruled!! They had one other awesome video too where they were in an alley and it was kinda film noir looking, I can't remember the name of that one though. ANGLE DANCE, ANGLE DANCE! I wonder if you can get mp3s of those anywhere? That would rule.

I know! I tried looking for an mp3 a few years ago and couldn't find anything. I did, however, find some awesome remix of the sesame street song (it was all trippy dub).

Quote

I THINK you're thinking of Nightstand with Dick Dietrich who went on to star in Son of the Beach (Timothy Stack is his real name). Both great shows, but Nightstand was the best. The guy who played Joe Friday was in some other stuff here and there, I remember him in some commercials and guest starring on some shows because my brother would always yell "MATHNET GUY!" when he'd see him on something.

Yes, that's who I was thinking of! Oh well, I guess it wasn't Mathnet Guy after all! MATHNET GUY! Where are you?

neokellyzero · « **Reply #13 on:** August 16, 2005, 03:02:47 PM »

I was always a huge fan of the "big comfy couch" I can remember for years rolling out of bed at 10 or 11 and watching it- mesmerizing. Granted I was in my early 20s but it was still good stuff...

Keranu · « **Reply #14 on:** August 16, 2005, 10:26:56 PM »

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Star Gazer yet! That's one of the coolest shows on PBS! The Star Gazer Website is pretty cool too. It informed me of the meteor shower last August 12th, but I couldn't see it due to clouds covering the whole sky, especially the north eastern part where it was to appear

. I get a terrible view of the NE sky from my yard anyways.