Me, circa 1984 - playing with my favorite Smurfette tea potThe Smurfs... *sigh* Oh how I loved that show. Smurfette was just so beautiful, with her long blonde hair and cute little dress. Who cares that she was blue -- I'm tolerant of gnomes of all colors and, as far as I was concerned, she was beautiful and I loved her and all of her smurfy adventures, with my entire three/four-year-old heart.
Its funny, I have always had a fondness for early 80's cartoons as they are the cartoons that my early 80's self loved oh-so-very-much. Not to mention, I've always had it in my mind that 80's cartoons are FAR superior than the crap that my kids watch on TV now. This past week, I DVR'd a couple of episodes of the Smurfs for my kids and let me just tell ya, I was SO excited to share the show I loved when I was little with my own children. Something about the warm fuzzies it gives you when the opening notes and the lalalalalalaaaaaa's begin while a new generation of kids looks on... there is no other feeling like it.
However, since re-watching the Smurfs and the Snorks, old episodes of Strawberry Shortcake and He-Man, even... I've come to a shocking realization: the shows I loved when I was four are just as crap as the shows my four year old loves now.
Yeah, I said it. Crap. Move over Smurfs... Dora and Diego are just as crap as you are!
Wait, take that back... Dora and Diego are actually less crap than the Smurfs, because at least my kids are learning how to dangle themselves off the side of the couch and shriek AYUDAME! at the top of their lungs until someone rescues them (while singing and dancing RESCUE PACK! Comin' to the rescue - al rescate!) ... Its peppy! And bilingual. And, though I cannot tolerate Dora or Diego for longer than a nanosecond, at least its less crap than the Smurfs.
When you look back at the shows you loved when you were young, and then see them again as an adult, do those warm fuzzies stick, or do you turn the TV off and sit there in a daze, feeling like you just wasted precious minutes of your life?
I don't know... is it just me?
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Do you have a flashback of your own to share? Head on over to TIA's blog for a totally stupendous meme - www.ChristopherandTia.blogspot.com
xoxo,
19 comments:
Almost any show I watched regularily prior to high school (except Northern Exposure, MacGuyver and Homefront) are crap. WAIT, I take that back. Animaniacs are GREAT. Okay, the rest is crap.
I can't watch Full House without vomiting... same with Saved by the Bell, Ducktales, Rescue Rangers, Kids Incorporated... the list goes on.
yea, I think it's all a matter of perspective. Although I still find some of the toddler shows on treehouse straight up creepy. (babysat this week , can you tell? :))
Any flashback friday worth being a flashback friday must contain smurfs! Thanks for the smiles!
Um, I thought that was Annelie. Holy crap.
I need to get the smurfs on DVD. Make my kids watch that, instead of this icky stuff that they keep TRYING to watch.
And the difference for me I guess, is old cartoons have so much less attitude. The bad guys use word sentances like "you potato brain", and everything either lives or dies. "We have to hurry and make a rainbow before everything on earth dies". I don't know, its all just better to me, haha.
part of me still loves those old 80's/90's shows... just for the fact that i loved them when i was small... but its amazing all of the violence and "magic", etc. that those old shows promote! i CANNOT stand looney toons or full house or family matters... but i can tolerate the smurfs and snorks... and my fav 80's show of all time... AIRWOLF (macguyer is a close 2nd)!
i can't stand a lot of whats on the disney channel and cartoon network these days... a lot of it's inappropriate! but props for dora and diego for actually teaching a lesson!
Hahaha, Tia, SO TRUE about the whole "We have to hurry and make a rainbow before everything on earth dies" ... yeah, that is pretty great, I do have to admit.
Ohhh, I loved MacGuyver!! He was so darned talented! :D
I was obsessed with the Smurfs too, I collected all their mushroom homes. I can't remember what I watched not to long ago, something I loved as a kid, and yep you are right total crap now. How funny!
MacGuyver has nothing on Face, Mr.T, Hannibal and Murdock! It's all about the A-team!
Hey Marisa, just so you know that picture of you may have been taken before I was born. Just saying.
Thank you Will. No really, thanks. If you don't stop reminding me how old I am... oh wait, I mean WHAT A BABY YOU ARE, I might have to leave you for an older man.
Just sayin'
;)
Not only are these shows crap, but most are recycled crap! Yup. It's true. The preschool set doesn't care.
he-man was total crap. who would believe a scrawny man could turn into some muscle bound hero just by lifting his sword? yeah. exactly.
she-ra, on the other hand, was awesome to the max.
hmmm....at first i felt old when i read this! i was a freshmen in college in February of 1984! but then i thought about my favorite shows from when i was little....and yes, i can still watch sesame street and love every minute of it. :-) i especially love to sing along. "sing....sing a song...sing out loud...sing out strong!"
LMBO! I loved the smurfs & snorks. I put them on for my kids, too and have realized that they are all crap. They do give me warm fuzzies though.
oh, i remember sunday mornings spent watching the smurfs and other such offerings! are they really that bad in hindsight? i don't want my illusions shattered :)
lol @ will's comment...sorry marisa! p.s i'm older than u anyway so i can have a giggle :)
Everyone was obsessed with the smurfs back then! I'm ashamed to admit that I liked them so much then and didn't remember that they were crap and bought a dvd of one of their seasons for my kids. They loved it. That's when I realized it's more crap than the bilingual Dora and Diego. Now Lane is obsessed with Dora. He LOVES that show and begs for it daily, no wait, hourly. One of my favs for my kids to watch is Magic Schoolbus. They love it and they learn a lot from it. We've also recently discovered some neat shows on the science channel...How's That Made, and a couple of others that I can't remember the names of.
Oh so funny! I think the 80s shows were more crap... the animation {such as it was} and recycling of it. Oh so bad! But I still love 'em!
I totally look back on all those shows and wonder, "What the hell was I thinking?!"
I personally love The Wonder Pets and Miss Spider's Sunny Patch. Oh, and The Backyardigans.
I loved the Smurfs as kid too. My nephew works for a local movie theater and recently told me they are working on a Smurfs movie to come out next year. After looking for info on it (http://www.wildaboutmovies.com/movies/TheSmurfsMovie2008-TheSmurfsMovieTrailer-JohnLithgow.php) it says it will be the first of a proposed trilogy. Will this run the Smurfs for or revive them?
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