What is wrong with kids television these days!

Tellox

For the past 3 months, I've been living with family again - and the childers running into the front room and assuming control over the television has been an all too oft occurrence.

Today, I had the joy of getting to switch the tv over to the kids channels for two of the kids (4 and 6 years old, boy and girl). I brought up the kids section on sky, saw batman and switched that on - no dice. "Ah now that's far too scary for them!" said the mother, quickly taking the remote and switching on Dora the Explorer. What the ****, why is this little **** shouting spanish at me, and trying to talk to the goddamn sprogs through the television? Even the Children were smart enough to know replying back to the few million pixels in front of them wouldn't have affected the outcome of Dora's reply. This fact was cemented after her asking me, "can you see where (insert thieving fox's name here) is hiding?", followed up by a "go **** yourself" echo'd from me, and another quick switch of the channel.

Next up were a bunch of kids from every ethnic minority, flying some sort of spaceship and constantly singing - with cgi so poor it would make Johnny Quest look like Avatar.

No thank you. Another switch of the channel, and we've got some fairy girl bragging about the fact that she can use magic, while some elf complains about how this is unfair, and constantly blows into a ****ing horn while proclaiming that he's an elf.

What the **** is wrong with kids television these days?! The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Tom & Jerry, The old animated batman - all examples of enjoyable, family friendly tv. Nowadays, a show is considered too violent, and/or frightening to children if there's so much as a dull roar emitted from any of the characters. Back in my day, I was allowed to watch "are you afraid of the dark" when it was on - now that was ****ing terrifying for a child.

Also, we had Mellisa Joan Harte during her hot years.

Kids today are missing out on so very, very much. Discuss.

WIZE

Pob rocked


And don't forget Mr Benn

Bodhisopha

Why not just turn on Spongebob?

Sharpshooter

Moved from After Hours.

Dudess

Sabrina The Teenage Witch on TV when you were a kid? Jeez OP, you must be what? A sagely 25?

Pretending you're ancient (with added helpings of "nowadays"/"in my day") ftw...

And the cartoons you listed are from the 40s, 50s and 60s, not "your" day.

cjmcork

imagine what they'd make of the Swedish Chef hammering the sh1te out of the food while singing 'hurdy gurdy'.................bring back the Muppet Show!

Puck

Swiper

Tellox

Dudess wrote: »

Sabrina The Teenage Witch on TV when you were a kid? Jeez OP, you must be what? A sagely 25?

Pretending you're ancient (with added helpings of "nowadays"/"in my day") ftw...

And the cartoons you listed are from the 40s, 50s and 60s, not "your" day.

I could also have lived a sheltered life, and had still been watching kids tv when I was 50. Sorry, I'll be sure to state my age and occupation before using words that are prohibited to under-30's.

And if those cartoons are all that was on tv when I was growing up, those were my cartoons from "my day". Quit trolling boards and do some growing up yourself.

imagine what they'd make of the Swedish Chef hammering the sh1te out of the food while singing 'hurdy gurdy'.................bring back the Muppet Show!

On that! The cookie monster now has to refer to cookies as a "sometimes" snack - before you know it, o'connell street will be full of chaps telling you that gear is only a "sometimes" drug

OhThePenguin

Tellox wrote: »

Next up were a bunch of kids from every ethnic minority, flying some sort of spaceship and constantly singing - with cgi so poor it would make Johnny Quest look like Avatar.

Little Einsteins - probably one of the most annoying television shows ever made.

WIZE

He-Man , Thunder Cats , Brave Star , Fraggle Rock , The muppet show

Thoses were the days

Fraggle rock theme tune

Down in Fraggle Rock
Grab a Fraggle by the C**k
Swing him round your head
Now the F**ker Dead

cjmcork

jaysus, consider some of the stuff Zig & Zag and Dustin got away with..........the PC brigade would be up in arms!!!

I always wanted a toy Doozer!!!

Great tits btw.

tg4 showed some good stuff for a while. spongebob, samurai jack, even southpark- edited (shows must have been about 10 mins long!) . Of course then they ruined it all with irish dubbing.

Agricola

From what Ive seen of kids tv in the last few years, its pretty souless stuff compared to the 80's n 90's. Ian Dempsey n Ray Darcy had completely believable relationships going on with those puppets. Even when you go back and look at old clips now, it still has it. Then there were big events like the Xmas special from lapland or whatever. Is there even a "Den" on RTE these days? The last time i saw it some blonde airhead was on there talking to socky in a very patronising manner!

Dudess

Remember how Zig & Zag had to become so sanitised and lame for their move to British TV? The whole natural ad-libbing thing can be done quite well on RTE. Apparently football pundits (like Souness et al) find it very refreshing compared to having to be all nice and pleasant on BBC/Sky.

Tellox wrote: »

I could also have lived a sheltered life, and had still been watching kids tv when I was 50. Sorry, I'll be sure to state my age and occupation before using words that are prohibited to under-30's.

And if those cartoons are all that was on tv when I was growing up, those were my cartoons from "my day". Quit trolling boards and do some growing up yourself.

My point is, things haven't really changed that much in the last 12-15 years - it's just you're being misty-eyed with nostalgia and coming from a different (adult) perspective. I find the auld curmudgeon thing a bit bizarre, that's all. And the old cartoons you listed are still shown. If you're going to compare kids' programming now with the stuff on TV when you were a kid, what were you watching that was actually current then?

cjmcork wrote: »

jaysus, consider some of the stuff Zig & Zag and Dustin got away with..........the PC brigade would be up in arms!!!

Nah... nah they wouldn't.

tony1kenobi

I hear ya.I just had my niece over from London so in preparation I bought a load of disney movies.Flicking through them to make sure they were all working I was all smug looking at Snow White,Dumbo,Robin Hood and so on until I got to Tinkerbell which I was advised a 3 year old girl will love....it looked like f*ckin' I,Robot.........I instantly grasped what music snobs mean when they refer to the "warmth" of vinyl......Tinkerbell was duly deleted.....

People in charge of making kids tv shows need to think less about "education" and more about "smoking loads of weed"....the shows will be far more educational.

Dudess

Clifford The Big Red Dog is pretty cool IMO.

McChubbin

Boxsets are your friend.

Get The Muppet Show and Mork & Mindy.

Good times.

Great tits btw.

Dudess wrote: »

Remember how Zig & Zag had to become so sanitised and lame for their move to British TV? The whole natural ad-libbing thing can be done quite well on RTE. Apparently football pundits (like Souness et al) find it very refreshing compared to having to be all nice and pleasant on BBC/Sky.

My point is, things haven't really changed that much in the last 12-15 years - it's just you're being misty-eyed with nostalgia and coming from a different (adult) perspective. I find the auld curmudgeon thing a bit bizarre, that's all. And the old cartoons you listed are still shown. If you're going to compare kids' programming now with the stuff on TV when you were a kid, what were you watching that was actually current then?

Nah... nah they wouldn't.

things HAVE changed. completely.
the dens a good example- used to have star quality, appealed to more than just 4-5 yr olds. dustin zig and zag were brilliant improvisers and were largely given a free hand.
Now there's just a puppet who acts like he's mildly retarded.

Big difference is kids dont need the den anymore. 100s of channels and the internet have rendered it redundant.

And its not just the den that no longer has wider appeal.
most kids shows pander to specific target audiences. i love spongebob, but nothing else has that abstract hilarity to it anymore. all other shows seem to depend on you having shared experiences, like being a 10yr old in school, or having a stupid brother etc.

The truth is these shows are easy to make (because theyre f**kin stupid) while artistic shows (like oldskool cartoons) require a lot more ability and effort with the result that things like comic book adaptions are transferring to the cinema.


Classic Zig&Zag:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVq7w2j-6iw&feature=related

Elmo

So the OP wanted to turn on a Batman movie or a Batman cartoon?

Great tits btw. wrote: »

Big difference is kids dont need the den anymore. 100s of channels and the internet have rendered it redundant.

And its not just the den that no longer has wider appeal.

In reality kids don't need CBBC any more their are so many children's channels. :rolleyes: Do you think we should stop making children's TV in this country? The Den/Den Tots and Two Tube run for 13 hours a day. It is good to have something coming from Ireland even if the presenters are all talking in Faux US accents. Both RTÉ and TG4 provide money (while possibly not enough) to animation in this country.

The truth is these shows are easy to make (because theyre f**kin stupid) while artistic shows (like oldskool cartoons) require a lot more ability and effort with the result that things like comic book adaptions are transferring to the cinema.

I am guessing your talking about Batman the Animated series (excellent go get the boxset show the kids they will love it). Surprisingly animated series really only got good in around 1990. The 1980s cartoons are really for nostalgic look backs but in reality they are cheaply made and produced. Hanna/Barbera animations, while very advanced often cut corners.

podgemonster

:DI actually watched an episode of Batman online last night. Where Robin went after the man who killed his parents! From a morals point of view it was extremely educational (Robin not becoming a killer and bringing the killer to justice). Plus, it was dark, the acting was real, it had dry humour and it was beautifully drawn.

I used to love these shows. The Turtles, Adventures of Spiderman, Are you afraid of the dark, James Bond junior. Zig and Zags xmas specials were legendary!

Kids are being completely dumbed down, watching sweet and cheerful, sometimes educational stuff. Hiding them from the real world. Even blockbuster movies are restricting on swearing, nudity and violence because reducing the age rating means more money at the expensive of the realism of the film. Die Hard 4.0 being one victim!

Socky is a dispicable puppet, supposedly trying to have the mind of a child and yet the presenter is constantly telling him to behave and telling him 'hes very good' its ridiculous. Gone are the days when 'Ted' would attack Ray while Dustin, Zig and Zag paniced.

Spongebob Squarepants is one saving grace kids have, it doesn't have any point to it and it probably why it is so popular towards kids!

Rant over

Elmo

podgemonster wrote: »

Even blockbuster movies are restricting on swearing, nudity and violence because reducing the age rating means more money at the expensive of the realism of the film. Die Hard 4.0 being one victim!

Socky is a dispicable puppet, supposedly trying to have the mind of a child and yet the presenter is constantly telling him to behave and telling him 'hes very good' its ridiculous. Gone are the days when 'Ted' would attack Ray while Dustin, Zig and Zag paniced.

That is because the producers want them to be shown to Kids, films aren't always made for kids. Even though my Niece and Nephew have all watch Terminator 2 they are under 10, don't think it is really suitable myself. However at lest my Nephew was able to tell me the story of T2 hes only 5.

Socky was brought in because he was to tone down the show since Zig and Zag left.

bonerm

Dudess wrote: »

it's just you're being misty-eyed with nostalgia and coming from a different (adult) perspective.

I don't agree with that nostalgia pov. As a child of the 80's its popular opinion for my demographic to say that the kids tv from that time was the best. The truth is that they weren't. Mainstay shows for me like He-Man and Transformers were rubbish. I just didn't realise it at the time. So give me Batman:TAS or Samurai Jack instead. Far superior shows from a later time.

I've no idea what kids tv is like these days so the OP could be genuinely right in what they say (have never seen any of the shows he refs).

pickarooney

tony1kenobi wrote: »

London so in preparation I bought a load of disney movies..Tinkerbell was duly deleted.....

Indeed...

Bambi, Dumbo, The Lion King, even Finding Nemo and not to mentiàon Snow White and her filicidal stepmommy, have dark bits in them that can really affect the very young, I've discovered recently. Up to a certain point they're not conditioned to expect the sad bit with the inevitable happy ending - they just see the main character lose a parent and it can be a bit of a shock.

The Jungle Book, though, that's a timeless classic.

Elmo

pickarooney wrote: »

Indeed...

Bambi, Dumbo, The Lion King, even Finding Nemo and not to mentiàon Snow White and her filicidal stepmommy, have dark bits in them that can really affect the very young, I've discovered recently. Up to a certain point they're not conditioned to expect the sad bit with the inevitable happy ending - they just see the main character lose a parent and it can be a bit of a shock.

The Jungle Book, though, that's a timeless classic.

Have you seen UP they don't even get a baby That opening sequence

lizardfudge

podgemonster wrote: »

I used to love these shows. The Turtles, Adventures of Spiderman, Are you afraid of the dark, James Bond junior. Zig and Zags xmas specials were legendary!

James Bond Junior was horrific. I was that bit older by the time it came out. But Batman the Animated series was out at the same time and was a fantastic series, but it would get buried in the schedule while dross like James Bond Junior and Sharkey and George would be played ad nauseum.

Things picked up again in the last decade with the likes of The Powerpuff Girls, Courage the Cowardly Dog and of course the various Justice League series with their massive arc storylines. But we seem to be back to pretty mindless output again now.

Funny thing is the Power Rangers series finally finished only this year. 17 seasons it ran for and it probably takes up more shelf space than any other toys in Smyths.

WIZE

Is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles still on

lizardfudge

Most Haunted wrote: »

Is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles still on

There was actually pretty amazing crossover animated movie with the new series and the old series.

Was all very strange... but oddly worked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJll9AO8nMo

podgemonster

Do RTE even show those 5 minute shows of Bugs and Road Runner & co. they were hilarious and violent! I'd still watch them today! Yosemite Sam was some man to take a beating!

Elmo

podgemonster wrote: »

Do RTE even show those 5 minute shows of Bugs and Road Runner & co. they were hilarious and violent! I'd still watch them today! Yosemite Sam was some man to take a beating!

Every now and then. Not as much as they used to. Loved Looney Toons. I was always disappointed when Tom and Jerry appeared at Cartoon Time

Jip

Boomerang show them all the time.

slave1

better than Bosco