Who Remembers? 10 Favorite Childhood TV Shows!

Growing up, I recall only one important thought when I woke up on the morning of a school day: a bowl of cereal and sitting before the television. It was ritual. Hey, first world kids need to destress before the “stress” of a school day. The best method is a bowl of Cookie Crisp and some TV therapy. The best school days ever, were those when it was snowing. One eye and ear on the television and the other ear on the radio. “C’mon snow! Keep coming. We need a blizzard!” That would mean my brother and I could stay in our underoos and watch TV all day. Epic.

In case you were wondering, Mike’s were Spiderman and mine were Superman. Mike is probably still under the illusion that Spiderman would win in a fight, but that’s just crazy talk. Duh.

The other prime times to watch TV? After getting dropped off from school, which meant racing through the door, grabbing my mom’s homemade cucumber, tomato, onion insalata and plopping down in front of the TV. Saturday morning was perhaps the single best time all week. Mom would have to muscle us to get outdoors. Who doesn’t remember the classic mom line “You have to go outside and get some fresh air.”? How come mom’s didn’t understand that fresh air wasn’t a priority?! TV was!

Lastly, Saturday night was a GREAT time to watch.

Anyhow, here are ten television shows I recall and have fond memories of growing up. I have to stop at ten for practical reason, so this list by no stretch of the imagination is exhaustive. For your enjoyment, I have placed a video link within each header.

01. Bozo’s Circus/Bozo’s Big Top/Bozo the Clown
This franchised show was different depending upon where you grew up. Being franchised as opposed to syndicated meant that each regional market would have their own version. I don’t particularly recall whether “our” Bozo the Clown was franchised here in New Bedford, from Boston or elsewhere. Was it WLNE? Perhaps the re-runs were from other markets? I do remember how much I loved the show. Looking back, he was kind of creepy, but I didn’t think so when I as a kid.

02. Kung-Fu Theater
I wonder how many vases and televisions were smashed and how many fat lips were generated from this great show. Nowhere else on TV would you get a 10 minute long fight scene of epic proportions for something as simple as “Father sent me to get rice cakes.” You want rice cakes? Here, have a quivering palm and a tornado kick!

Men with long white hair in ponytails hiding edged weapons, running across water and leaping over 20′ walls seemed so normal. The classic dubbing of voices that never matched, and moving lips before and after the audio always led to a chuckle and had to be mimicked in fight scenes amongst brothers and friends in living rooms across the country.

03. Creature Double Feature
I don’t recall whether Creature Double Feature came before or after Kung-Fu Theater, but I think it was on the same channel WLVE-56 on Saturday afternoons. After building up a sweat kung-fuing it was time to settle down, grab some Ramen Noodles and a PBJ. We wanted to see how poor Japan would fare against some gargantuan monstrosity.

The Japanese must have been exhausted physically and economically having to constantly rebuild their cities every weekend after Mothra, Godzilla, Rodan or their ilk destroyed it. I was just overjoyed that they did rebuild it, so it could be destroyed again. We were so lucky that civilians in Japan had readily available cameras so that we American kids could enjoy the documentaries.

04. Hogan’s Heroes
Ah, stupid German soldiers getting outwitted by imprisoned Americans. Doesn’t sound like a good premise for a kid’s show, but we loved it. The over-the-top acting and general ineptitude from Sergeant Schultz made for great laughs. Bob Crane’s Colonel Hogan would make impossible to succeed solutions to the crew’s problems work, but just could never seem to succeed in escape. Thanks goodness, because the show would have ended! The bumbling, non-threatening Germans made it seem like it wouldn’t be so bad to be kept at a Luftwaffe stalag. Ah, to be a kid again.

05. Three Stooges
Perhaps my favorite show of all time. Maybe even the greatest show of all time period. I have tried unsuccessfully, time and again to get my daughter hooked. Fans love to discuss the best third stooge to circulate. Was it Shemp, Curly or Shemp II?

Their brand of physical humor and their potato like brains always led to stomach busting laughter. Schadenfroh never felt so good. Just saying the Three Stooges evokes the memorable lullaby sounding theme. In addition to the series, they made numerous movies, and many of the WWII themed films were particular treats. My personal favorite was “The Three Stooges Meet the Monsters.” There will never be a comic trio like the Three Stooges.

06. Courtship of Eddie’s Father
I just love this series theme, both the visual and aural aspects. I can vividly recall Eddie and his Father along the beach and the great soundtrack. “Don’t you know, you’re my best friend!” The father played by Bill Bixby, and son (Brandon Cruz) lived together because mom and wife, Helen had passed away. Little Eddie really wanted a mom, and made many attempts at trying to get his father to fall in love with any lady that entered the picture.

Mrs. Livingston played by Miyoshi Umeki, was the Japanese housekeeper and Nanny that would always clean up the mess, both literally and figuratively. Just a well written show.