Children's Television Nostalgia
#1

Is it me, or is Children's Television going through a nadir? Having grown up throughout the noughties and tens (Which is an incredibly weird thing to say), children's television was in a bit of a golden age that I think was taken for granted.Besides the heavy UK hitters like CBBC Channel, CBeebies, and CITV, we had all of the Disney Channels, Cartoon Network, the Nickelodeon channels, POP, TinyPOP, Kix, et al. I feel like we all took it for granted. It was a great time for Children's TV. That's not to denigrate previous or current generations of kid's television. Everyone has a right to be nostalgic, but I feel like 2000's Children television was the peak of it all, in terms of choice.

Case and point: Continuity from January 2000 Cartoon Network. The Powerhouse branding, the television shows on offer (Boomerang hadn't launched yet, so there was still a lot of Hanna Barbara and Theatrical Shorts)

www.youtube.com 

[Image: blu97.png]
[-] The following 1 user Likes Blubatt's post:
  • Gary Baldy
Reply
#2

Children’s TV seemed to suffer massively during COVID, and we’re now at the point where the majority of channels you’ve mentioned are closing/closed.

I remember reading a tweet from Paul Rose (who wrote 4 O’Clock Club, a CBBC show that ran for 9 years until it was cancelled because of the pandemic), who said that it’s almost impossible now for the BBC to create shows like 4 O’Clock Club without third-party investment/co-productions.

Sam & Mark also split up recently because of similar challenges within the childrens TV industry and their revival of Crackerjack ended, and apparently, they weren’t the only ones to cut ties with CBBC after they announced they were closing…
[-] The following 3 users Like iloveTV1's post:
  • AndrewP, Gary Baldy, Happy2001
Reply
#3

(10-03-2024, 05:53 PM)Blubatt Wrote:  Is it me, or is Children's Television going through a nadir? Having grown up throughout the noughties and tens (Which is an incredibly weird thing to say), children's television was in a bit of a golden age that I think was taken for granted.Besides the heavy UK hitters like CBBC Channel, CBeebies, and CITV, we had all of the Disney Channels, Cartoon Network, the Nickelodeon channels, POP, TinyPOP, Kix, et al. I feel like we all took it for granted. It was a great time for Children's TV. That's not to denigrate previous or current generations of kid's television. Everyone has a right to be nostalgic, but I feel like 2000's Children television was the peak of it all, in terms of choice.

Very subjective, I would argue the mid/late 80s is more nostalgic for me having grown up in that period.

Anyway more choice doesn't necessarily make it a better experience. The days of Children's ITV/Children's BBC was purely a case of "this is what we're showing, if you don't like it, then [as the TV show said] Why don't you just switch off your television set and go and do something less boring instead?"
[-] The following 1 user Likes Neil Jones's post:
  • DE88
Reply
#4

That Heathcliff thing in there is one of the strange things that there were two completely different Heathcliff cartoons made within only around 3 years of each other- the one seen here is the lesser remembered of the two, the Ruby Spears one. I remember the other, more well remembered DiC produced one being a mainstay of the 6AM pre-Channel 4 Daily slot around 1991/92 (and me getting in trouble and sent back to bed for watching it!). I think Mel Blanc's voice was the only thing the two versions had in common.

Why the same comic was adapted twice in such a short space of time seems quite strange. The only time I ever remember seeing the Ruby Spears version was as a filler on CN, and even then only once or twice (though a look on Genome it seems CBBC showed it in 1999/2000 as well, which I don't remember. They also showed the DiC version until 1991... which I also can't remember, I only remember Channel 4 showing it!).

Also promos for the post-9PM slot there, which I think was only available on digital, which was in its infancy at this point (I think this must have been recorded from digital, as you have the looped ident that was played at 9PM, which goes into more CN programming rather than TNT). At this time the VERY short lived general entertainment TNT channel would have been post-9PM on analogue- I think it only lasted around 6 months before becoming TCM (which was also digital only during those few months).
Reply
#5

Everyone looks back fondest on the children's TV they grey up with. No doubt the children of today will look back fondly on the random stuff the YouTube algorithm feeds them when that too is eventually outmoded.

[Image: signature.jpg]
chatps.com
[-] The following 7 users Like WillPS's post:
  • AndrewP, ANE, arbrax, DE88, Gary Baldy, LargelyALurker, RhysJR
Reply
#6

Viewing habits have certainly changed a lot. When I was primary school age, we'd sit in front of the telly after school and watch whatever was on CBBC (and, on rare occasions, the other side - we were that kind of household).

My children are now of the same sort of age, and if they want to watch something, they can navigate to whatever streaming service the show is on, and pick it themselves. It means there's far less serendipitous discovery, far less feeling like you're a part of something (National Willy Fogg Day anyone?), and I guess as a result has changed where commissioners are putting their investment.

On rare occasions we'll watch something together on a linear channel - on Saturday my son was complaining he couldn't fast forward through the news to get to Gladiators sooner (but was happy to accept being able to pause it while someone went to the loo)

That's not to say there isn't still good stuff being made, and there's plenty of CBeebies shows that our youngest enjoys (both originals and imports). I think we just have to accept that media consumption in general is different now and the youngest generation is getting in on it at the ground floor.
[-] The following 4 users Like thegeek's post:
  • DE88, Gary Baldy, RhysJR, Spencer
Reply
#7

There are people on Youtube who think that CBBC was at it best in the yellow and black era and rubbish after that.

Personally I also enjoyed CITV in the early 00s and CBBC up until I grew out of it so that should be the best era for me.

I however highly rate Children's TV shows from the 70s and 80s before I was born and have a heart for the Broom Cupboard or Gary Terza/Network Control as I admire the effort put in at the time and the special feeling and connect to the viewer they had at the time.

For me it does feel like they have given up but what would a kid think now
[-] The following 1 user Likes TimGoodwin's post:
  • Gary Baldy
Reply
#8

Whether or not the children's shows you watched growing up are the best is subjective, usually you think they are unless you watch a lot of kids TV later in life.

However I would say that I think I lived through a couple of "golden ages" with regards to kids TV. The first would be that when I was growing up, CBBC, CITV, Nickelodeon and even the Disney Channel all had live, studio-based in-vision continuity between the programmes. It's really hard to describe the special quality that this adds. It adds to the feel that this is a special corner of TV, just for you, and in the case of Nick and Disney made the channel feel more alive rather than just a playlist of shows one after the other. It's one of the first things that was cut when junk food ads were banned, which I still feel is such a shame.

The second would be that I was a CITV viewer when it was arguably at its peak. It had great presentation, studio, presenters, and original programmes. I was a huge fan of the science shows The Big Bang and How 2. CITV even had its own successful sitcom My Parents Are Aliens. And having rewatched several old episodes recently, I still believe SM:TV Live is the greatest Saturday morning show ever (a genre sadly now virtually dead). It lasted a very short period of time of course, but it really was great during that time.

With regards to modern day kids TV, having seen a fair bit of it in recent times, most of the programmes being produced by CBBC/CBeebies, and also Disney, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network are well produced and do appeal to children. The only thing I would say is do not let your 4 year old have unfettered access to YouTube, even YouTube Kids. The amount of bizarre stuff on there is shocking. e.g. weird, homemade violent versions of Paw Patrol. Restrict to iPlayer, Disney+, Paramount+ etc.

[Image: 1592580878_1869298444.svg]
[-] The following 8 users Like VMPhil's post:
  • AndrewP, arbrax, DE88, fanoftv, Gary Baldy, Kunst, Tola, TVFan
Reply
#9

(11-03-2024, 10:34 AM)VMPhil Wrote:  The first would be that when I was growing up, CBBC, CITV, Nickelodeon and even the Disney Channel all had live, studio-based in-vision continuity between the programmes

So did Fox Kids in the early days and so did TCC before they spun off Tiny Living and Trouble (who both also had IVC)- in fact it was a major part of TCC at one point.

I think Cartoon Network were the only kids channel of the era that didn't have IVC- though they did have periods of live continuity with real time animation (which IIRC was done by the same people who did Tricky (and The Chart Show) on ITV- and of course the Tricky animations were re-used on Pop for years, though not live.
Reply
#10

I don't have that much nostalgia for CBBC and CITV but then there weren't any shows I made the effort to tune into every week. I knew that the kids blocks were on during certain times though as well as that TV wasn't all about what I wanted to watch. When the blocks were removed from the main channels, I feel that sent the wrong message to a lot of adults that TV was just for them and they have been spoiled since as not just kids programmes but a lot of young-skewing shows were axed and replaced with shows aimed at them.

The ratings for the CBBC block were poor in the end and whilst that was partly to do with content elsewhere, what was showing on the BBC wasn't of the same quality as before.

Looking at the current CBBC schedules, I don't see the same variety of programming that was once available. Where are the game shows? The Grange Hills and the Byker Groves for older kids?
[-] The following 1 user Likes tellyblues's post:
  • AndrewP
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)