I miss a lot of the old PBS shows I grew up on as a kid. Growing up in rural NH in the early 1980s, we only had a handful of channels that regularly came in via antenna. 2-3 Boston channels (4, 5, sometimes 7... maybe 2) and the local NH networks (9, 11, and 21 before it shut down). My grandmother next door had better reception on her TV (fewer trees), so she could get the Boston independents (38 and 56) which, as a kid, had all the best shows (Transformers, GI JOE, Voltron, Robotech, etc.). But up at our house, it was either boring adult TV on the commercial networks, or edutainment on PBS (channels 2 and 11). Anyway....
There was a show called Readit. It was kind of like Reading Rainbow, except the host was an artist, and he was actually creating the illustrations as his voice over narration described what was going on.
Commander Mark was a mainstay for a while, too. Apparently the guy was actually kind of weird IRL (at least, if Penny Arcade's Mike Krahulik's account of when he met Mark as a kid is accurate).
There was one with some animated insect (grasshopper, I think) that worked with an IRL... I think journalist? It was mainly focused on writing. Every episode ended with some kind of pledge/recitation.
3-2-1 Contact was awesome.
Slim Goodbody was sure a thing.
The mainstays like Sesame Street, Mr. Rodgers' Neighborhood, and Bob Ross, of course. As a kid, I actually got out of the Sesame Street/Mr. Rodgers phase pretty quickly. I loathed (and still loathe) Elmo, so once he started taking the limelight away from Ernie and Big Bird, I dumped the show. And Mr. Rodgers simply couldn't hold my attention in a world of action toys and their cartoons where everything felt big and epic. I appreciate Mr. Rodgers a lot more now as an adult than I ever did as a kid.
There was a show called Readit. It was kind of like Reading Rainbow, except the host was an artist, and he was actually creating the illustrations as his voice over narration described what was going on.
Commander Mark was a mainstay for a while, too. Apparently the guy was actually kind of weird IRL (at least, if Penny Arcade's Mike Krahulik's account of when he met Mark as a kid is accurate).
There was one with some animated insect (grasshopper, I think) that worked with an IRL... I think journalist? It was mainly focused on writing. Every episode ended with some kind of pledge/recitation.
3-2-1 Contact was awesome.
Slim Goodbody was sure a thing.
The mainstays like Sesame Street, Mr. Rodgers' Neighborhood, and Bob Ross, of course. As a kid, I actually got out of the Sesame Street/Mr. Rodgers phase pretty quickly. I loathed (and still loathe) Elmo, so once he started taking the limelight away from Ernie and Big Bird, I dumped the show. And Mr. Rodgers simply couldn't hold my attention in a world of action toys and their cartoons where everything felt big and epic. I appreciate Mr. Rodgers a lot more now as an adult than I ever did as a kid.
"I was thirsty for everything, but blood wasn't my style" - Live, "Voodoo Lady"
