I’m happy to admit that I really don’t know anything about current kid pop culture. I mean, I’ve never seen an episode of Hannah Montana, I don’t watch American Idol, my only knowledge of Justin Bieber is what Busy Dad told me on Twitter. So, that obviously didn’t make much of a difference (see above).
What I *can* talk to you about, however, is the shit I remember watching when I was a kid. There are the usual suspects: The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Punky Brewster, The Facts of Life (I still remember the words to the theme song, thank you very much) and CHiPs (OMG, Ponch and John!).
But then I also watched a bunch of other stuff that’s a bit more…random. Like the one pictured, Kate and Allie. Or Scarecrow and Mrs. King. Or My Two Dads. Or, one of my personal favorites AND a show that has one of the greatest theme songs of all time, The Greatest American Hero. I used to watch the British show All Things Great and Small with my mom on a regular basis.
So, I want to know: What random shows do you remember watching as a kid? Take a trip down memory lane with me. The more random the show, the more points you get. Points accrue on a basis made up solely by me and are good for absolutely nothing. Except *maybe* bragging rights. If you really want to brag about what a loser you were as a kid.
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{ 49 comments… read them below or add one }
Greatest American Hero rocked! I still know all the words to that one as well. I can also sing the lyrics to the theme songs of Small Wonder, 3-2-1 Contact, Degrassi, Out of this World and many others. Is it wrong to still covet Evie’s ability to stop time?
I was a big fan (what, I was 10. OK, more like 15. Whatever.) of “Living Dolls,” the “Who’s the Boss?” spinoff… I also watched “My Sister Sam” and “I Married Dora.” LOSAH.
Let’s see…Silver Spoons, Love Sidney, Alf, The A-Team, The Hogan Family, Fresh Prince, Who’s The Boss, Mr. Belvedere, It’s Your Move to name a few.
When the whole Anna Nicole Smith custody battle was going on, I thought it would be really funny if they remade My Two Dads starring her kid & the 2 guys claiming to be the dad.
Different Strokes, Kate & Allie, Alf, Cosby Show, Different World, Blossom, My Two Dads, Dukes of Hazzard, Valerie, The Hogan Family, and many of the ones mentioned above.
There is one I absolutely loved though – Rags to Riches. It was a short lived show and I wish they’d put it out on DVD. I’d definitely buy it! Yep, total loser here.
1st, I have to tell you that my youngest 2 boys are named Dylan and Zach. They are 11 & 9 now. You have great taste in names obvs.
2nd, I think I have seen every show mentioned in your post and the comments at least once. So, Biggest LOSAH here!
A lot of the above, but the ones that top my list of shows I miss right now: Are you Being Served? (British comedy), 3-2-1 Contact (Oh Mathnet!), and Ghostwriter (I even had Ghostwriter books!)
I LOVED watching Are you being served? on PBS. I also would watch Waiting for God (BBC show, old people in retirement community). And Masterpiece Theater… (I think I may be part grandma)
Then of course there was Blossom, Small Wonders, Married with Children, Quantum Leap and my brother and I were really into Star Trek: Voyager when it came out…
Emergency.
CHiPs.
Little House on the Prairie.
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Mork and Mindy
and…you had me in tears by speaking of THE GREATEST SHOW THAT EVER WAS…
The Greatest American Hero… (believe it or not, I’m walking on air…never thought I could be so free-eee-eee!)
Yep. Out of this World and Small Wonder were a couple of my favorites. Also, I loved Dukes of Hazzard, Boy Meets World and weirdly, M*A*S*H*. But my favorite, my all time favorite: The Torkelsons.
I LOVED Out of this world! I had to youtube search for clips because my husband thought I was making that show up!!! LOVE it!
The Torkelsons.
Boy Meets World.
Ghostwriter. I used to own the books. Even created my own code once from the book.
Ok, I can’t believe I haven’t seen this one on here yet…Bosom Buddies! I LOVED that show! And then there was Gimme a Break and Knight Rider…OH! and hot hot hot…Dukes of Hazard! woot! I always wanted to be Daisy and drive a white Jeep!
NOW who’s the LOSAH!?
Every Saturday in front of TV trays as we ate our steak (parents) or hot dogs (me and Sis), we would watch the odd combination of Lawrence Welk, The Muppet Show, Hee-Haw and Monty Python. This explains a lot.
Oh…sorry, forgot one major one from Nickelodeon….You Can’t Do That On Television! I really suck….lol
My brother and I used to watch The Fall Guy. Remember that one?
Excuse me… where are Miami Vice and the A Team on that list??? Quantum Leap? And I did LOVE Kate and Allie.
Kate and Alley, 3-2-1- Contact, Alf, Cheers, I was younger then so I liked such things as Reading Rainbow as well. Also, I remember watching Miami Vice and Doogie Houser a lot too.
This makes me feel really old, but I loved Real People with Skip Stevenson and Sarah Purcell. It was reality TV well before America’s Funniest Home Videos. There’s also That’s Incredbile with Cathy Rigby and John Davidson. Ahh…the good old days when our parents just had to worry about us seeing some guy running a scarf from his nose our of his ear.
Misfits of Science. It ran in the mid 80s and starred Courtney Cox.
Small Wonder, Alf, Growing Pains, Saved By The Bell… I could go on (bec i didnt have a life as a kid), but I wont.
god. we were raised by the tv. I watched everything.
did you watch My Secret Identity with Jerry O’Connell?
Was that before Sliders? Because I loved Jerry in Sliders!
Rescue 911 anyone? Unsolved Mysteries?
ZOMFGBBQ! I had totally forgotten about Rescue 911. And I loved Unsolved Mysteries! The theme song (theme tune?) alone still gives me shivers.
YES. way before sliders!
For a short while, I had a hand-me-down, black and white, 13 inch tv with an antenna in my ROOM. I sat with my nose to the screen into the wee hours. I distinctly remember being engrossed in “The World According to Garp”, not being able to figure out why the mother was in that guy’s lap. But the show I remember watching was called ‘Allo, ‘Allo. It was my first taste of British comedy. And it was epic. I highly suggest renting the DVD’s on Netflix if you haven’t seen it.
Matlock. And I’ll be 25 next week, so you do the math.
And Perfect Stranger. That Balki was just so whacky.
Double Trouble! – the other Kate and Allie. Anyone with me on that one?
YES! I loved that show and totally wanted a twin sister!
I was JUST going to mention Double Trouble!! We (I, Meg?) loved that show!! Wasn’t the “snooty” guy from Ferris Bueller in it?
We had a tiny black and white tv that was pulled out ONLY to watch the Dukes of Hazzard and Nightrider. Oh, and one time, The Wiz.
MOST FAVORITE SHOW EVER was Dukes of Hazzard. I so wanted to be Daisy when I grew up.
Anyway.
I also watched Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere with my parents. Why? Loved the Cosby Show and A Different World. I saw someone else mention Rags to Riches, I LOVED that show. I also adored Saved by the Bell.
Oh! And Dallas, can’t forget Dallas.
Okay, so I was more of a *kid* in the late 80s, so what about Duck Tales, Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers. That being said, I liked Perfect Strangers, Punky Brewster, Growing Pains, Facts of Life, Silver Spoons. God I feel old now!
Oh sister, this one is RIGHT up my alley. I LOVED my shows as a kid…which is funny because I only let my kids watch PBS and NEVER TV at night.
Anyway, I digress…
Who’s The Boss, Full House, Growing Pains, 3′s Company, You Can’t Do That on Television, Mork and Mindy, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Greatest American Hero (totally singing this song in my head now thankyouverymuch), Family Ties, Facts of Life…oh the list could go on and on.
Ok I might be a littttle older than most of you but the shows I mostly remember were Laverne and Shirley, Happy Days, Brady Bunch, Partridge family, Gilligan’s island and does anyone remember Grizzley Adams?? The man that talked to that great big ole’ bear??
Lex! Double Trouble – yes! My cousin and I loved that show. We always pretended to be them, and I was always Allie. Foolish Heart by Steve Perry is still one of my favorite songs, and always makes me think of that show. Keep hoping I’ll see it pop up on tv some day!
How bout Small Wonder or maybe it was Small Wonders(Im totally humming the theme song to myself as I type) where there were two kids, one boy and one girl and the girl was a robot named Vicki???
Remember “Throb?” Before Daphne was Daphne on Frasier she was “Blue” on Throb. I loved that show. I also loved Mr. Belvedere, the Hogan Family, Perfect Strangers (Meghan does an AWESOME Dance of Joy, by the way), and the one with Jm J Bullock – Too Close for Comfort? And how has no one mentioned 21 Jump Street? Holy crap, Meg. We watched a lot of TV when we were little.
I loved all the shows you mentioned. Also, Silver Spoons, Alf, Mr. Merlin (I actually sat in and tested the pilot of that one at CBS. You’re welcome for adding another lame show in the 80s.) Remington Steele. (My parents may have erred in judgement a little in letting me watch that one.) Magnum P.I.
I miss 80s TV.
I loved all the shows already mentioned. Anyone watch Highway to Heaven? What about Golden Girls – or was I the only kid that liked watching a show about old ladies in FL? (Maybe because I grew up in FL.) I also loved Rags to Riches. Too bad it wasn’t on for long. And who was a fan of 90210 – the original one?
I LOVED Golden Girls!! I still do. I might have every single season on DVD. *cough*
What about Air Wolf? The original Battlestar Galactica?
And how could we forget “V”?
Ah, someone beat me to Perfect Strangers. Oh, Balki and “coo-sin Leddy”! I effing LIVED for the TGIF line-up on abc on Friday nights: Full House, Family Matters, Step By Step, and maybe Perfect Strangers also? Then of course 20/20 back when it was hosted by Barbara Walters and Hugh Downs.
If we were really lucky, my parents would spring for (then brand-new) stuffed-crust pizza!
One of my favorites besides Greatest American Hero was Buck Rogers and Quincy M.D.
I loved Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider, Airwolf, The A-Team. I also loved Beauty & The Beast (w/ Linda Hamilton), Full House, Cheers, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Perfect Strangers, Mork & Mindy, Happy Days, Kate & Allie, Three’s Company, Who’s the Boss, and Golden Girls.
Wow. I think I watched too much TV as a kid.
I was completely weaned on television. Warning: I am serious.
Do you remember Mr. Belvedere? It has this queer-but-catchy theme song… I swear, I only watched it to hear the opening credits…
Of course, I watched every other show on tv too. Really, I did.
Oh, I just got tons of happy endorphins just reading through all 80′s show names. I watched almost every single one mentioned and I only turned 3 in 1980. My parents must have had no rules about tv whatsoever.
I have to add in though some of my fave cartoons.
Gummi Bears (bouncing here and there and everywhere), My Little Pony, Care Bears, Wuzzles, Fraggle Rock, Smurfs, and Rainbow Brite.
TV is not what it used to be…. so I rent the oldies on Netflix and tell my daughter how great they are just so I can hear the Gummi Bear or Smurf theme song again.
I remember when the two moms in Kate and Allie seemed old to me. Now they look so young. Oh my.
That’s Incredible! Awesome show, kind of like Ripley’s Believe It or Not crossed with a 60s variety show.
I never, ever, ever missed Moonlighting.
And, of course, the most important 80s show of all, Doogie Howser. Don’t forget good ole’ Doogie!
Loved Greatest American Hero. And I forgot all about Quincy! But my favorite show – no matter what anyone says, hands down is “Murder She Wrote.” (Stop laughing.) Seriously.
How has NOBODY mentioned Charles in Charge or Square Pegs?????