Would 60's & 70's Kids TV & Movies be popular today? (1 Viewer)

[jcroy]

Thanks DHammer. I have been thinking that many kids/childrent today want their entertainment faster paced, with quicker editing, faster action, and such. I sort of appreciate the days when films/tv had more structure. They had an intro, a set-up, a slow build up to the action or plot and such. In the past twenty years, everything has become faster, faster, and I think there has become a loss of patience with this.

This may not be a recent thing. I grew up during the late 1970's and through the 1980's, where I was mostly into tv shows and movies which had fast paced action type stuff. I don't know how widespread it was, but some of my friends growing up during that same time period were also into similar cheesy fast action tv shows and movies back then. Of the cartoons I was into, I was really into the Road Runner and later stuff like The Transformers, GI Joe, etc ... I thought stuff from Disney, Hanna-Barbera, and other Looney Tunes characters seemed kinda "slow" in comparison. When it came to prime time tv shows, I was really into shows like The Dukes of Hazzard, MacGyver, Knight Rider, The A-Team, Miami Vice, Airwolf, Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, Magnum PI, Hawaii Five-O, CHiPs, Starsky & Hutch, etc ... and off-network reruns like Get Smart, Gilligan's Island, etc ... Back then, I wasn't as interested in (relatively) slower paced shows like dramas, sitcoms, soap operas, etc ... I was into some "slower paced" shows like The Incredible Hulk, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Charlie's Angels, Wonder Woman, etc ... Though it was for reasons unrelated to the plots, stories, etc ... In the case of the The Incredible Hulk, I liked watching the Hulk destroying things and getting the villains. In the case of The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, I liked watching the crazy cartoonish stunts and stuff being thrown around or destroyed. (Usually some fast action elements somewhere in the shows). The only "non fast action" shows I sometimes watched back then, were shows like Diff'Rent Strokes, Remington Steel, Moonlighting, V, Hart to Hart, etc ... When it came to movies when I was a teenager, I was watching a lot of cheesy action type movies like Stallone and Schwarzenegger type stuff (ie. Rocky, Rambo, Terminator, Conan, etc ...), along with some really bad comedies like Cheech & Chong, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, etc ... Fast forward to the present day, these days I still watch a lot of cheesy fast action type shows like reruns in the Stargate and Star Trek franchises, Criminal Minds, CSI Miami, etc ... Even today, I find I still can't get into "slower" paced shows like dramas, sitcoms, soap operas, etc ...

 

[HenryDuBrow]

Sitcoms were popular with all ages at all times weren't they, since it's about quick remarks or joke lines. A big issue I think is presentation, if it looks like older film some will lose interest, cartoons/kids television now is basically paced like the Road Runner on acid and the stories and themes seem a lot more shallow than before. It must all be so safe to avoid offending. The young viewers have also become less exposed to the old classics, so it all seems alien to them anyway. Guess I feel much like David does. My tolerance for story development in series and movies today is extremely low and I wonder how folks have the patience for the popular TV dramas, so many hit shows move dreadfully slow compared to the A-to-B-to-C structure of yesterday's television. Goes for both cop and drama storytelling, at least for my taste it's certainly not very fulfilling.

 

[dhammer]

This is an obscure reference but I remember watching an episode of Marine Boy, but this would apply to most older cartoons, and was struck that this cartoon was done in the same pacing as a live action show. Contrast that with the modern cartoons that are quickly flashing from one seen to another. It makes you feel disoriented. I don't think the 1960's had many message shows, maybe I am wrong. They seemed strictly entertainment. Now the 1970's had many shows that were about getting a message out ie. MASH, All In The Family, Maude, etc. Going back to the original point, for most children to be entertained they need to have enough bells, whistles, and explosions every few seconds or their bored.

 

[jcroy]

My tolerance for story development in series and movies today is extremely low and I wonder how folks have the patience for the popular TV dramas, so many hit shows move dreadfully slow compared to the A-to-B-to-C structure of yesterday's television. Goes for both cop and drama storytelling, at least for my taste it's certainly not very fulfilling.

I find many serial style tv shows (ie. where one has to watch just about every episode in sequence) to be very slow and tedious, when watched during their first-run broadcasts or once a week off-network reruns. Though with that being said, I find that some serial style shows were actually tolerable when I watched the dvd seasons over several evenings. For example, I found both the Battlestar Galactica remake and "Stargate Universe" to be intolerable slow and tedious to watch, back in their first-run broadcasts a number of years ago. (I stopped watching both shows after several episodes). But when I watched the dvd seasons of both shows, I found I actually enjoyed them a lot more. The "slow pace" wasn't as big of an issue when watching the dvds, where I watched 4 to 5 episodes over an evening, or as many as 12 to 15 episodes over a weekend "marathon". Another serial style show I enjoyed watching through the dvd seasons, was The Shield. I probably would not have watched it at all, back in its first-run broadcast.

 

[jcroy]

Sitcoms were popular with all ages at all times weren't they, since it's about quick remarks or joke lines.

I'm not quite sure if this is the case in general. I was never really into sitcoms or comedies in general, even when I was a kid and teenager. The few I did watch were ones like: Happy Days, Diff'rent Strokes, and later Beavis & Butthead. Though I didn't really watch these shows for the jokes/humor. In the case of Happy Days, I liked watching the antics of the Fonz. (The other characters didn't really interest me much at all). For Diff'rent Strokes, I liked watching the antics of Gary Coleman's character. For Beavis & Butthead, I liked watching their misadventures and the havoc they caused. (I later tried watching "King of the Hill" and "Daria", but found I just couldn't get into either show). In more recent times, over the last few weeks I was bored and channel surfing, where I came across various sitcom shows (some are reruns) like: Roseanne, 3rd Rock From The Sun, That 70's Show, Frasier, Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Friends, etc ... and tried watching through them. I found that I just couldn't get into any of these particular sitcom shows at all, even though I got all the jokes/humor. Back in the 70's, 80's, and 90's, I tried watching other sitcoms like Saved By The Bell, Welcome Back Kotter, MASH, Mork & Mindy, Charles In Charge, The Cosby Show, Silver Spoons, Three's Company, Married With Children, Seinfeld, etc ..., but found I couldn't really get into any of them either.

 

[jcroy]

Going back to the original point, for most children to be entertained they need to have enough bells, whistles, and explosions every few seconds or their bored.

Wonder how long this has been the case. Amongst myself and some friends/acquaintances who grew up during the 1970's and 1980's, we were entertained largely by shows with tons of explosions, destruction, gunfire, and other forms of violence. When I was a kid and teenager, I use to like watching crappy horror movies. (ie. Stuff like Friday the 13th, Evil Dead, Halloween, The Exorcist, etc ...). But as I got older, I had less and less interest in horror movies. These days I have no interest in horror movies at all. These days I still like watching cheesy fast action tv shows with tons of explosions, destruction, gunfire, etc ... But I don't really watch any newer movies these days, with the same violent elements.

 

I would like to see seasons of captain kangaroo get released

 

[DeWilson]

I would like to see seasons of captain kangaroo get released

Dose anyone even know what still exists on the the series?

 

[Walter C]

It seems like the only way today's kids would even know about the older stuff, is either on cable or DVDs. And both things cost money, and these days, we always hear about people trying to cut back on their expenses. Like cutting their cable. And the price of the DVDs of older cartoons, just seems a bit steep.

I can remember coming home from school, and turning on the TV, watching a mixture of old and current cartoons at the time, on the UHF channels. Now the afternoon cartoon block is completely gone, replaced by judges shows and talk shows, which is a shame.

I do wonder if today's kids probably can't get into the older stuff, either because it looks so primitive and dated (like Hanna-Barbera), or the fact that it's not shown on TV much. Plus not exactly something for them to talk about in school, with their friends. I can remember talking with some parents, and asking what cartoons their kids like to watch. And whenever I bring up some older cartoons that the kids may watch, the parents would only respond by saying something like "I remember that, I used to watch that as a kid".

 

[smithb]

My kids are 8 and 4 (both girls). I have no problem with some of the animated shows of today. It is true, that they are not on the dial where we used to find them, but there are plenty of quality shows on specialized channels. My kids watch "Nick Jr", previous, known as "Noggin", and from a quality and educational stand point I think they are better then anything I watched as a kid. Now the standard "Nick" channel has some I would question, but luckily my kids have no interest in any of those. My problem was finding good non-animated shows on cable. My older daughter is interested in seeing more live action shows now. So I've gone the route of introducing them to many that I watched as a kid. We watch 1 hour together each night before bed. Some that have caught on are Lassie, Fury, Flipper, Dennis the Menace, and Black Beauty. So in my experience, kids of today can get into the older shows (even b/w), but they won't find them on their own with so many options available. They need to be introduced to them. But once done, a good show is a good show no matter what era it was produced.

 

[Ockeghem]

My wife and I have several children, and if you asked them which shows we watch in our home, it would be cartoons and television shows from the 1960s and early 1970s. If we watch shows from more recent decades, these are most often viewed only by my wife and I, and (in some cases) our older children. We also allow our children to watch a couple of shows on Disney and Nickelodeon. For the most part, as a family we watch The Herculoids, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, and Jonny Quest just about every week, and usually follow these up with an hour or two of adventure, science fiction, and/or spy shows from the 1960s. One would say that we are caught in a time-warp with regard to our television viewing. I am quite pleased that we are. Here is a sampling of what we watch (additional to the cartoons listed above) on a fairly regular basis: The Avengers The Brady Bunch Dark Shadows (1966-1971 series) The Fugitive The Invaders I Spy Mission: Impossible The Mod Squad The Monkees The Outer Limits (1963-1965 series) The Paul Lynde Show The Partridge Family The Three Stooges Star Trek (all six series and films) The Waltons Exceptions: All In the Family Charmed Hawaii Five-O (new series) Lost Roswell 7th Heaven Walker, Texas Ranger

 

[jcroy]

I can remember coming home from school, and turning on the TV, watching a mixture of old and current cartoons at the time, on the UHF channels.

When I was a kid, there were cartoons on after school during the 4pm to 5pm hour. (Before 4pm, it was usually soap operas). I remember watching cartoons like the Pink Panther, Looney Tunes, Wait Till Your Father Gets Home, Rocky & Bullwinkle, etc ... During the 5pm to 6pm hour, it was frequently "stripped" reruns of some live action shows. Depending on the particular year, I remember watching reruns of shows like Get Smart, Starsky & Hutch, Wonder Woman, Charlie's Angels, etc ... in the 5pm to 6pm slot.

Now the afternoon cartoon block is completely gone, replaced by judges shows and talk shows, which is a shame.

Even when I was growing up, they were gradually replacing some of the cartoons with reruns of live action shows like Gilligan's Island, in the 4pm to 5pm slot.

 

[jcroy]

I do wonder if today's kids probably can't get into the older stuff, either because it looks so primitive and dated (like Hanna-Barbera), or the fact that it's not shown on TV much.

The same thing can be probably said about previous generations of kids. When I was growing up during the late-1970's and 1980's, my parents did not have cable tv. So we essentially only had around three tv channels, which were clear and viewable at any one time on the air. (By the time my parents got cable tv, I was ready to move out for college anyways). In the case of many pre-1980's tv shows, I never got the opportunity to watch many of them at all when I was growing up, if they were not shown in off-network reruns. The only pre-1980's shows which I ever had nostalgia for, were for shows which I watched in reruns when I was a kid and pre-teen. This was shows like: The Pink Panther, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Wonder Woman, Charlie's Angels, Hawaii Five-0, The Six Million Dollar Man, Gilligan's Island, Get Smart, CHiPs, Starsky & Hutch, Happy Days, The Bionic Woman, etc ... (I did not really watch these shows in their original first runs, other maybe some random episodes in the late 1970's). More recently I watched other pre-1980's shows, largely from "impulse buys" of dvd sets from bargain bins. Over the last year or so, I picked up Baretta, Kojak, Columbo, McCloud, Dragnet, The Outer Limits, Police Woman, The Rookies, SWAT, etc ... Though I found that I have zero nostalgia for these shows, regardless of how good they were from a storytelling and production perspective. These shows just simply don't have the same nostalgia gravitas for me, or the emotional connection is completely absent for me. As far as I'm concerned, they're not much different than watching episodes of CSI, Law & Order, NCIS, etc ... In a more general context, somehow I have a lot of nostalgia and emotional connection to tv shows I use to watch frequently when I was a kid and teenager (both first run shows and reruns). For stuff I did not watch at all, I have no nostalgia for and no emotional connection to.