I was a bit of a loner as a child. I wasn't much for "playing outside" or "making friends" or "not throwing stones at the neighborhood kids". As a result of my antisocial childhood, I found myself in front of the TV for most of my pre-adolescent years. Nickelodeon was a staple and ABC and Fox both provided decent Saturday morning distractions. The Cartoon Network was a little bit late to the show - I think I was about 14 when it made it to basic cable.
I liked a lot of the same shows that other kids watched. I was swept up by the Power Rangers fad like so many other blood-thirsty pre-teens still waiting for their testicles to boot up. I enjoyed reruns of oldies like The Flintsontes and their Space Age counter part, The Jetsons (Anyone else have the VHS of when they met?). I watched Garfield and Friends, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tiny Toon Adventures, and even The Simpsons (when my parents weren't looking).
So for those of you who remember these times, here's a few kids' shows that you may have forgotten that you remembered:
David the Gnome
David the Gnome was awesome nap material back in the day. 10 seconds into the intro, and I was already in a zombie-like state. There was something about the ambiance, the gentle sound of David's voice, and the entire world created within the series that just sucked me in. David the Gnome owned my afternoon cartoon time back in the day.
Credited on IMDB as "David el gnomo", it was one of the first shows that Hollywood mega-producer Harvey Weinstein was heavely involved with. David was voiced by Tom Bosley who was best know as the Dad from Happy Days.
My buddy recently downloaded the first two seasons from falling off the back of a truck. The "truck driver" sent us an excited message, saying "I'm glad to see somebody is finally downloading these". We were excited to have them.
Denver the Last Dinosaur
Now, I seem to remember Denver the Last Dinosaur being a Saturday morning offering on Fox back in the day. I say "seem to remember" because I think I only watched about 10 or 11 episodes in my time, as opposed to several seasons of the rest of these shows. The main reason I'm writing about it is that incredibe intro. Is that not the most ridiculous thing you've ever watched? It's got camp written all over it.
The one I have above is the Japanese version, which I like better for some reason. At the bottom of this entry, I have posted the American version if you'd like to compare. The song is the same though, which is really the only reason to watch.
Of my limited memory of the cartoon, I recollect a group of gen-Xers finding a Dinosaur egg from which Denver hatched. They constantly had to escape from some scientists that wanted to study Denver, and they were always engaging in extreme sports and rock music. Truly, these were the most happening people during the 80s - 90s transition.
Fred Penner's Place
The freedom of YouTube was not available for Fred Penner, but you can stillview his intro here.Somehow, I have to think Fred Penner's Place is the most esoteric offering in this blog today. I'd like to believe it used David the Gnome as its popular lead-in, but I certainly don't remember for certain. In either case, it's certainly from the same point in my childhood.
Fred Penner was a nature nut and a bit of a hippie. Come to think of it, a lot of the stuff I watched as a child was geared to get me to hug a tree. It's strange that I didn't turn out to be an environmentalist wackjob. Politicians without any friends aside, Fred Penner's Place was another pre-naptime show. The forest atmosphere and the songs he sang just put you in the mood to pass out on the rug in front of the TV with a sippy cup of juice.
I remember one episode in particular where he had a guest artist on the show. She specialized in drawing music. Fred played some whimsical tune on his guitar, and the woman drew the music that Fred played. The show seems like some acid induced trip fest now, but looking back, I dearly enjoyed the antics of Fred Penner and his friends.
Eureeka's Castle
I don't know if it's because they ended every show with that summon to the fabled "Picnic Time", but I have the strangest feeling that I watched Eureeka's Castle before lunch everyday. This may or may not be true, but I have distinct memories of the show.
My favorite character's on Eureeka's Castle were Quagmire and Bog(the orange and pink ones on either side of the dragon, Magellan). I think it was because I identified with them. Their brother-sister squabbling was a lot like that of my younger sister and I. They loved peanut butter, and their lava-lamp like movements when they swam in the moat where just plain mesmerizing.
Why am I starting to feel like everything I watched as a child was designed to brainwash me?
Beakman's World
In the vein of Bill Nye the Science Guy and Mr. Wizard's World (seen below), Beakman's World was easily the zaniest of the children's science shows. Featuring Beakman and his co-stars (a rat named Lester and and a science hottie dubbed Josie), Beakman's World consisted of a series of experiments used to demonstrate scientific principles that viewers of the show wrote in about.
I vaguely remember writing in with a question to Beakman, but I don't know if he ever got it or could understand it, because I'm fairly certain I was barely writing at the time.
The most memorable episode consisted of a question where Beakman was asked why guys in movies don't bleed when they break glass. The resulting experiment had Beakman create a pane of "movie glass" using sugar, water, and whatever else goes into movie glass. The climax came when Beakman punched through the newly created movie glass. I wrote down the recipe, but never made any myself. I was clearly too engaged with solving the puzzle of how Beakman's hair seemed to defy gravity.
TMNT
Just because.Denver American Version
Mr. Wizard's World
Tschüs!