These Childhood Shows Rock My Socks
For the past 6 days, Google has been featuring custom logos with Sesame Street logos in honor of the show’s 40th anniversary. Each custom logo made me squeal like a 4-year old and I surely checked at midnight every day to see the new one. (Add this to list of reasons Google rocks sock). This had me reminiscing about shows from my childhood, so here are the 5 shows I love.
Sesame Street
Sesame Street is hands down, my favorite childhood show. It seems I’m not the only one who thinks so either. The fact that it’s been on TV for 40-years is no small feat. How many ways can I count it’s awesome? Well, there’s the theme song. Remember how you hear the first words “Sunny Days…” and you start singing it at the top of your lungs, bobbing your head from side to side. Then you start to grin like a Cheshire cat. This was yesterday.
The muppets on Sesame Street are icons, and everyone has a favorite character. Could it be Big Bird, the uber-jolly bird with bright yellow feathers? Or maybe the Count, with his deliciously evil ways with numbers (1 ah ah ah… 2 ah ah ah…)? For some, it’s Cookie Monster (“C is for COOKEEE…”). It could also be Oscar the Grouch, who spent his days being a wet blanket, hating on all of Sesame Street and telling folks to “SCRAM!” How could you not love his grouchy ass? We can’t forget the closest BFFs EVER, Bert and Ernie (and their rubber ducky). I also think they were groundbreaking for being TV’s first gay couple. Yeah I said it. Well, then again. If Ernie was a gay, he’da gotten his unibrow groomed. The |:-| look wasn’t cutting it. Either way, I still loved them.
Elmo’s my favorite and the cutest. That red muppet gives me EVERYTHING! When I’m my niece is watching Elmo’s World, Mr. Noodle makes me cackle. Plus Elmo’s dance moves bring all the muppets to the yard. Oooo AND I saw Elmo’s parents before. I squealed in glee!
Them muppets used to dance their hearts out too. One of the best things about Sesame Street was the celebrity cameos. Everyone who is anyone in the past 40 years has made an appearance on there. Like then Patti LaBelle came and gave the alphabet song more soul than it’s ever had. Or when Andrea Bocelli came to sing Elmo a lullaby. No other show has had this much star power.
By the way, what ever happened to Kermit the Frog? One day, he just stopped showing up on the Street. Did he travel and find a better street to live on? I mean, I’m just wondering. Anyone know?
Sesame Street taught us how to read, count, have manners and a ton of other things without us even realizing it. LOVE IT!
Magic School Bus
“Cruising down on main street, you’re relaxed and feeling good, next thing that you know, you see an octopus in the neighborhood!” Miss Frizzle and her class were some exploring fools! If I was a parent, I woulda pulled my child from her class. Their reckless field trips were never safe. I wondered how the school system approved them. But it sure did teach me a lot. I may have even gotten one of my science fair experiment ideas from there. I even watched it the other day and found myself going “Wow, who’da thunk it?” at some of the knowledge they were dropping. My overgrown self is STILL learning from them.
School House Rock
This show made waking up on Saturday mornings fun. Teaching us about life, grammar and math using catchy songs. Who doesn’t remember “Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?”
And of course, the pitiful little Bill on Capitol Hill who wanted to become a law. That poor bill was just *WALL SLIDING* all over Washington. iLIVE!!!
Animaniacs
Wakko, Yakko and Dot gave me so much life! They were the snarkiest cartoons characters. And of course the theme song was dopeness. “Its time for Animaniacs, we’re insany to the max…” Yakko was especially foolish. He was my fave (“HELLLOO NURSE!). I remember the time he was on Jeopardy and named the capital of every United State. But he got the answer wrong because he forgot to start it with “What is…”
Animaniacs was also the original home of “Pinky & the Brain.” And who can forget the 3 Italian pigeons? One of them was voiced by Joe Pesci, if I’m not mistaken. YESSSS!!! Chock full of AWESOME.
Rugrats
I ALMOST forgot the Rugrats! Oooo these kids were everything! Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil and Angelica’s lives were made interesting somehow, even though they barely ever left the backyard. Tommy was my favorite (of course) and Angelica used to make me mad, with her baby bish self. I sweahfolawd! She was the kind that needed a good spanking at least once a day.
Lambchop’s Play Along
Who didn’t love Lambchop, the little sassy puppet that used to crack herself up? “This is the song that doesn’t end, yes it goes on and on my friends. Some people started singing it not knowing what it was, and they’ll continue singing it forever just because…” Shari Lewis and her red ‘fro were hilarious to me. RIP Shari! *pours out a little orange juice for the homies*
Honorable mentions: Tiny Toons, Barney (don’t front. You watched it), Bananas in Pajamas, Arthur, Big Comfy Couch.
They definitely don’t make shows like they used to. These classics cannot be replaced. My birthday is in a little less than 2months. If you all love me, you’ll buy me the DVDs to this show. I’mserious. I want them. Please and thanks. I’m for real.
What other shows have I missed that deserve a shoutout?
Get these blogposts directly in your inbox! Sign up for my weekly LuvvLetter below:
It is time to write that book. Come into The Book Academy and learn how to go from IDEA to INK.
Related Posts
20 Comments
Anything on Nick Jr. in the 90's. Blue's Clues, Alegra's Window, Gullah Gullah Island (I swear I watched that show until I was like 12)
And I loved Hey Arnold and Johnny Bravo!
You're right; childhood shows rocked! Loved Sesame Street, School House Rocks & Reading Rainbow! I remember my younger sisters & brother singing "Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego" and Lambchop's "This is the song that never ends…"
Another one that I loved when I was young was the Letter People.
"By the way, what ever happened to Kermit the Frog? One day, he just stopped showing up on the Street. Did he travel and find a better street to live on? I mean, I’m just wondering. Anyone know?"
He accompanied Lady Gaga to the VMA's. And we can all imagine how that ended up. I mean, it's Lady Gaga. Pants die in her world. I'm sure frogs that need throat lozenges aren't any exception. Also, Miss Piggy probably was having none of that when she found out.
I also loved Magic School Bus. The most fascinating part was to me was Miss Frizzle's earrings. They always had something to do with what they were exploring that day. You mentioned ALL the greats (Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, Big Comfy Couch!! omg!!)
I also watched as a kid:
Tom and Jerry ('is you is or is you ain't my baby' still gets quoted to this day)
Looney Tunes (another classic cartoon…don't make 'em like they used to!)
Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers
Ducktales (whoo-oohh!)
Darkwing Duck
I agree with this list!!! Elmo is my favorite too….I was in high school and my mom bought me Tickle-Me-Elmo for Christmas….LOVED it!!
Magic School Bus – I sing the theme song like it's a song from the radio LOL
Schoolhouse Rocks – I have them all on DVD, my kids WILL watch and learn (when I have them lol)
I too am a fan of the Street of Sesame… I grew up with them and I love em so!
Here's one of my favoritest episodes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8Vh9_Hi1kY
I'm a lil' older… so my list includes other PBS classics.
The Electric Company… Morgan Freeman and Rita Moreno sounding out words… heck yea!
The original Zoom.
Reading Rainbow.
thanks for this post. brings back so many memories. the magic school bus and the animaniacs. tiny toons was my ish too.
Excellent post. I loved every show on ur list.
Square One was my junk!
Aw, snap, ZOOM! I used to wanna be on that show. lol
Luvvie, I <3 you for this post! It makes me miss ALL my old shows: Sesame Street, Barney (I shan't front, lol), Arthur (I still watch this…because I baby-sit. Right.), The Magic School Bus, *Bill Nye the Science Guy!* And we can't forget All That, Bonkers, Rocko's Modern Life…the 90s were that ish.
To be fair, there are some good ones out now…y'all should check out Disney's "Phineas and Ferb," it's that hotness! Unlike Hannah Montana…which is that "notness (lol)" – Panama Jackson
Yer Mostest Awesomelynessis,
I was born before tv, so I missed it.
But, people at work started callin' me Beeker. See, now I knows why you luv me!
heh heh, you haven't lived till you've seen popeye and olive dubbed into sesotho!!! TOO HILARIOUS!!! the south african broadcasting corporation thought 'why make these little black children struggle thru popeye and olive in english???? no man, we can quickly overlay the audio in their native languages!!!" ridiculous, but true, the things our apartheid masters did for we blacks back in the day… we also had spiderman (rabobi) in sesotho and sandford and sun in isiZulu….
OMG!!!!! I f-ing love alllll of thse shows you mentioned. I had the Magic School Bus books and I LOVED Rugrats. Do you remember the movie? And when they growed up (their words, not mine)? I don't think Barney was in when I was growing up but I had siblings and baby cousins that would watch that mess and I would try to ack all cool like I didn't know the songs. LOL! Dayum, I miss childhood. Back to being an adult…*grabs Teddy Grahams*
First I'd like to send a shout out to my favorite muppet chick, Prarie Dawn. I love you girl! As for shows that you missed:Mr Roger's Neighborhood! That man with his blue sweater and navy blue skips made me want to be a nicer person to the people in my neighborhood. Another show that gets my love is Reading Rainbow. I mean with a theme song like that one where could you go wrong? Lavar Burton had kids wanting to read and that is a feat hard to match. Lastly I gotta put in a bid for Ghost Writer. Very intelligent show with kids learning words and solving clues. And of course you had to love the multi-racial cast and NYC setting.
Butterfly in the skkkkkyyy….I can fly twice as higgghhhh…man! Still mad they took Reading Rainbow off the air earlier this year…
I'm being a wet blanket:
But the reason Kermit is no longer on Sesame Street is that Jim Henson signed some kind of deal with Disney before his death, so that the original Muppets belong to Disney now, so they control when/if Kermit shows up on Sesame Street.
*WALL SLIDE* Oh noooooo! Are you 4 real? dang, Jimmy!!!
What about Fraggle Rock?