Most children’s shows from my childhood ('80s/'90s) were glorified toy commercials. Hardly any plot, every conflict was resolved by the end of the episode, and the status quo was always maintained. You could watch episodes in any order and you wouldn’t miss out on anything important.
Not to mention, they had absolutely no standards for voice acting. Anyone could come in off the street and read lines and they’d put it in the show.
I was surprised when I watched children’s shows today and found they had interesting plots and stories with real emotional stakes. Steven Universe, Avatar, Miraculous Ladybug, OK K.O., The Owl House, Samurai Jack, etc.
My wife and I started watching some children’s shows with our young niece and nephew and we got so hooked, we went home and tracked them down to keep watching on our own! I wish I had shows like this when I was a kid.
I describe the age from Gravity Falls (maybe even started with Avatar) to the end of The Owl House as the platinum age of cartoons. So many stories and so many engaging fandoms. It’s not dead right now but it feels like we’re in a bit of a drought.
My favorite kids show right now is Bluey. My wife and I don’t have kids and don’t want kids (at least for a while more) but we love watching Bluey. I’ve teared up too many times because it’s so relatable as an adult and it’s not just made for the kids. There’s jokes and references that only adults can get, but not crude.
Gravity Falls is another excellent one! I was so sad when it ended. I wanted more! But I agree with it’s creator, Alex Hirsch, that it needed to have a definite end so it doesn’t drag on forever and eventually get bland.
My wife and I tried to watch Bluey, but it felt like it was specifically made for parents and their kids, and we can’t have children. So we had trouble getting into it. Which is a shame, because I hear from other adults how great that show is.
Them being fine out of order was ok when it applied to morality. Like I consider how my life would be different if thundercats and batman didnt shove the morality of the episode into my head. Shows today do it better but the difference is kids today can actually watch every episode in order vs the rng of a child’s ability have access to a TV at the right time.
Most children’s shows from my childhood ('80s/'90s) were glorified toy commercials. Hardly any plot, every conflict was resolved by the end of the episode, and the status quo was always maintained. You could watch episodes in any order and you wouldn’t miss out on anything important.
Not to mention, they had absolutely no standards for voice acting. Anyone could come in off the street and read lines and they’d put it in the show.
I was surprised when I watched children’s shows today and found they had interesting plots and stories with real emotional stakes. Steven Universe, Avatar, Miraculous Ladybug, OK K.O., The Owl House, Samurai Jack, etc.
My wife and I started watching some children’s shows with our young niece and nephew and we got so hooked, we went home and tracked them down to keep watching on our own! I wish I had shows like this when I was a kid.
Samurai Jack especially is a work of art
I describe the age from Gravity Falls (maybe even started with Avatar) to the end of The Owl House as the platinum age of cartoons. So many stories and so many engaging fandoms. It’s not dead right now but it feels like we’re in a bit of a drought.
My favorite kids show right now is Bluey. My wife and I don’t have kids and don’t want kids (at least for a while more) but we love watching Bluey. I’ve teared up too many times because it’s so relatable as an adult and it’s not just made for the kids. There’s jokes and references that only adults can get, but not crude.
Gravity Falls is another excellent one! I was so sad when it ended. I wanted more! But I agree with it’s creator, Alex Hirsch, that it needed to have a definite end so it doesn’t drag on forever and eventually get bland.
My wife and I tried to watch Bluey, but it felt like it was specifically made for parents and their kids, and we can’t have children. So we had trouble getting into it. Which is a shame, because I hear from other adults how great that show is.
Go watch the Transformers movie from 1987. That shit went hard.
Them being fine out of order was ok when it applied to morality. Like I consider how my life would be different if thundercats and batman didnt shove the morality of the episode into my head. Shows today do it better but the difference is kids today can actually watch every episode in order vs the rng of a child’s ability have access to a TV at the right time.
I don’t know, we managed to watch episodic stuff like Dragon Ball well enough, even if we missed an episode once in a while.
And programmable VCRs were a thing.
Lol you watched it at 6 am too?
I was a bit older when I was finally able to watch the whole show. Around middle school. Before that it was really inconvenient on TV.
But when im saying kids I mean like under 7.