Children's TV, modern vs classic

[Coldgunner]

I've been thinking about this since reading the Blue Peter model railway thread

 

Being out of work means watching more than my fair share of tv, especially daytime tv. I grew up in an age just before the digital era. Back then I'd get in from school around 3:30 in time for Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (series 1-4), Fireman Sam, The Real Ghostbusters, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles and later on Blue Peter. We also saw out Gordon the Gopher, Otis the Aardvark, Going Live!, Live and Kicking and of course Grange Hill.

 

Maybe I'm becomng cynical or see the past with rose-tinted specs, but I feel that something from previous generations has been lost. All I see now is either computer generated mundanity or imported programs involving shouting. The presenters also annoy me, why do children need to be shouted at?

 

Theres something special a hand puppet or a model train can convey in which a computer generated counterpart can not. I'm sure there are a few who remembers even further back to the beginning of childrens tv.

[ForestPines]

The earliest childrens' TV show I can remember is one that would be very unlikely to be made nowadays, imo: God's Wonderful Railway. I can only barely remember it: I was 3 the second time it was aired, but was so excited it was going to be on that I badgered a TV repairman to hurry up fixing our set because it was going to be on that afternoon. He was rather surprised.

 

To be honest, I don't think I can objectively judge on the "classic vs modern" debate, partly because I don't see any of the modern output - but also because I know full well that I'm not the intended audience. But my opinion is that we had two separate "classic" periods for children's TV. The classic for pre-schoolers was in the late-60s to mid-80s - the "Smallfilms period", in other words, up until the end of the "Seesaw" slot on BBC2. The classic period for older children, though, was a few years later, mid-80s to mid-90s. Part of me suspects that older childrens' TV started to get better as the Children's Film Foundation started to wind down, but I don't have any evidence for that (I still think the CFF movie Haunters Of The Deep is one of the scariest films I've ever seen, but that's probably because I've only seen it the once).

[trisonic]

Let's see. Blue Peter (again), Magpie, Cap'n Pugwash, Top Cat, Whacko!, Crackerjack (starting with Eamon Andrews and finishing with Leslie Crowther), Whirlybirds.

Younger it was: Rag, Tag and Bobtail, Flowerpot Men, Hank Rides Again.

 

Best, Pete.

[cromptonnut]

It's not just children's tv, most tv these days is utter drivel.

 

If it's not a soap, reality tv, talent or makeover type show... it's the foreign (often american) equivalent.

 

I don't know who ever thought having 500 channels would give us choice - it's all still rubbish.

 

Grange Hill, The A Team, Blue Peter, Tiswas, Tom & Jerry, Bananaman, etc etc... they just don't make 'em like that any more, and kids these days wouldn't know what to do with them. What about classics like "Why Don't You" where they actually gave you ideas of stuff to occupy yourself instead of just "being entertained" by sitting on your backside watching mindless rubbish?

[Coldgunner]

How could I forget to mention the A-Team and Bananaman.

 

I relate best to the differences with the early series of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. The early series were models and mostly based on the books. I've seen some of the latest CG adaptations and there is no depth to the productions. Physically animating a character, whether it be Thomas or Morph conveys a labour of love for the character. Thomas for example, to make his eyes move originally required a complicated mechanism in a gauge 1 (I think) body, which also had to be scratch built. For the CG version, a couple of cubes and a cylinder in a modelling program and you're nearly there. To get Morph to wave to someone for 3 seconds would require 75 individual frames to be taken and sequenced.

[trisonic]

It's a question of age isn't it? I thought Grange Hill, A Team, Tiswas etc., total trash compared to what I used to watch........you'll never get a consensus.

 

Everyone will say the shows that they watched as a kid were the best.

 

Best, Pete.

[Horsetan]

God's Wonderful Railway, The Machine Gunners, Dangermouse, The Trap Door, etc. were what I enjoyed.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

...Maybe I'm becomng cynical or see the past with rose-tinted specs, but I feel that something from previous generations has been lost. All I see now is either computer generated mundanity or imported programs involving shouting ...

You certainly are and do. Those of us exposed to 'Flippy the magic wonder dogarang' and 'The Singing Ringing Tree' can confirm that imported shouty nonsense is no newcomer to the child oriented televisual diet, and some of the contemporary home produce was nothing special either. Although the terminally incomprehensible Tingha and Tucker did at least become the basis of some good adolescent jokes by the substitution of F for T...

[beast66606]

Watch with Mother - Andy Pandy was my early TV, and in black and white too.

 

<-- See my avatar for a modern TV program (for kids too) which I think is excellent (my son likes it too - and he's 18!)

[Colin]

Let's see. Blue Peter (again), Magpie, Cap'n Pugwash, Top Cat, Whacko!, Crackerjack (starting with Eamon Andrews and finishing with Leslie Crowther), Whirlybirds.

Younger it was: Rag, Tag and Bobtail, Flowerpot Men, Hank Rides Again.

 

Best, Pete.

 

I think I must have seen all of those - also Mr Pastry, the original Billy Bunter series (the Frank Richards books got banned because they were unkind to fat people, allegedly) and a conjuring tricks series featuring David Nixon (forget the name) - and "Just William" featuring a young Dennis Waterman IIRC. Also the Magic Roundabout of course!

My kids grew up with some of the best ever IMHO - "Thomas" with Ringo Starr, Bagpuss, Postman Pat, Fireman Sam, Morph - none of them would be the same if they'd used CGI. (And God forbid that Wallace & Gromit ever goes digital!) Also some brilliant one-offs I still have on VHS somewhere: The Snowman, Granpa, Angel & The Soldier Boy and Roald Dahl's BFG.

[S.A.C Martin]

See my avatar for a modern TV program (for kids too) which I think is excellent (my son likes it too - and he's 18!)

 

It is certainly much more inventive, creative and enjoyable to watch than ***** the **** ****** & ******* is currently...

 

Doing my research whole writing my children's books, more and more the toyetic nature and merchandising focused becomes blantant and unsavoury in children's television. I mean, it's been this way since the 70s, but never to the extent that some shows are literally half hour toy commercials with no semblance of storyline, or even pretence of a storyline...

[mezzoman253]

From above:- "I don't know who ever thought having 500 channels would give us choice - it's all still rubbish."

 

"Choice" was the word chosen to sell you the idea of lots of channels would give you hundreds of "quality" programs to watch, so that lots of money could be made by those who sold you the idea.

 

It was never for the masses, but for vested interests.

 

Rob

[bluebottle]

Kids' telly's been going downhill since "Muffin the Mule" (and no, that's not a euphemism for anything).

[Colin]

From above:- "I don't know who ever thought having 500 channels would give us choice - it's all still rubbish."

 

"Choice" was the word chosen to sell you the idea of lots of channels would give you hundreds of "quality" programs to watch, so that lots of money could be made by those who sold you the idea.

 

It was never for the masses, but for vested interests.

 

Rob

 

I have loads of channels on my particular package, all of which I am doubtless paying for but which come as standard. I can honestly say that apart from the various BBC & ITV stations, Discovery Channel and occasionally Sky Sports I rarely watch any of them, it seems to be mostly old repeated rubbish to me, either programmes that weren't that good years ago, or which I've seen countless times already.

[simon hudson]

nobodys mentioned Ivanhoe-Roger Moore(pre The Saint), Robin Hood-Richard Green,Sir Lancelot,William Tell and all of the early Gerry Anderson stuff.Still my favourite Bill and Ben obb a lot

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Anyone mentioned the Woodentops? On a Friday if I recall. Used to enjoy "How!" too.

 

Of the present crop, "Arthur" (the cartoon aardvark) has some good characters and meaningful storylines.

 

Peter

[Tim V]

Let's see, how about interminable repeats of Robinson Crusoe, Heidi, White Horses (my sisters liked that), Singing Ringing Tree (already mentioned), Fireball XL5, Thunderbirds, they don't make them like they used to.

 

Every Christmas they'd put on Flying Scotsman's last run - and it's now on Steam Archive on the BBC site.

[gwrrob]

Bring back Trumpton and Camberwick Green.

[Coldgunner]

Trumpton, didn't the creator destroy all the figures and sets to prevent more series being made?

[shortliner]

Banana Splits, Tiswas and Vision On - the best kids Art program for Adults - ( followed closely by Take Hart ), and ANY cartoon program that featured Road Runner!

[gwrrob]

Trumpton, didn't the creator destroy all the figures and sets to prevent more series being made?

 

I think you might be right there.I think Brian Cant the narrator is still alive.

[Guest]

Bring back Trumpton and Camberwick Green.

I bought Trumpton on DVD for my daughter and what a surprise it was.

I remember rather liking it when I was young, but looking at it now it's incredibly slow with vast amounts of time spent with nothing happening. You really get a sense of the amount of work required for stop-motion animation in the way that nothing moves most of the time....

 

Daughter didn't like it at all.

 

She sometimes watched Bagpuss though.

[Ozexpatriate]

I guess it depends on both your definition of classic. And your definition of "children's" television. (I'm thinking pre-schoolers or school-aged.)

 

What little television that I watched in my very formative years included Andy Pandy, The Flower Pot Men (with their weed fixation) and a couple of Australian originals Play School (an antipodean Blue Peter and a classic in its own right) and Mr Squiggle. Sometime later there was The Magic Roundabout.

 

These were all memorable but were they necessarily better than more recent fare? I'm not so sure that all contemporary children's TV is worse.

 

I'm surprised that no one's mentioned Ivor the Engine.

[The Stationmaster]

Absolutely nothing to match Val Singleton on 'Blue Peter'

[coachmann]

I wonder if it is an age thing or down to inteligence or even lack of it? I must have been around 10 when I saw 'Muffin the Mule' (1950?) and was bored frapless. I was more into movies (me mum took me to the cinama every week) and westerns at childrens matinees. My lads got me into 'International Rescue' and the like in the 1970's. I've seen what childrens TV has on offer today and while some of it is as funny as Monty Python, much of it seems to be getting children to grow up fast.