
When nostalgia fails: a dad rewatches the TV of his childhood - nkurz
http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/tv/in-the-night-garden/45585/when-nostalgia-fails-a-dad-rewatches-the-tv-of-his-childhood
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coldtea
> _It looks like everything that’s ever been said about the 60s, 70s and 80s
> is true. What a bunch of savages we were_

Or, you know, what a bunch of prudish crybabies you've become...

Post is more about trying to be funny and find ways to fault the old shows
than about making its case.

~~~
mcphage
Post isn’t really trying to make its case, it’s just trying to be funny.

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agumonkey
Very often I like watching old shows. I find many new ones to be overloaded
with style and cuts. I feel that it only appeals to new generation that buy
into it. When I run into a Columbo episode, I'm so liking the slow pacing, the
simplicity, the filming; even with the shallow bits at times.

Also there's a format thing, the only way they could decorate shows was with
freeze and a bit of thrill jingle. I kindof like this way.

There's also the spirit of the day. 70s to 80s shows were often sunny forever
life style. It's soothing.

Even supercars shows, with highly disturbingly bad effects [1] have a stupid
simple formula that I find honest, even if it's often dumb. It's just
entertainment, I find it less pretentious in a way.

[1] be ready for a shock if you ever watch Knight Rider again.

~~~
dingaling
For amusement I recently started watching a French 1960s series called Les
Chevaliers du Ciel, there are loads of episodes on YouTube. With my five-year-
old, instead of kids' programming.

As well as lots of aeroplanes I have found the same as you; gentle pacing,
lingering scenes, no snarkiness, no real swearing. It is very refreshing how
drama used to be filmed.

I might try the Littlest Hobo soon, if I can avoid crying during the title
song!

~~~
agumonkey
That's the kind of thing that I feel "modern" times forgot. Tech allows for
toying, so people optimize that thinking it's better when it's actually very
very very relative.

I do believe part of my appreciation for that is due to nostalgia imprinted in
my brain. But it's not all. There's a form of simplicity/intent ratio that is
higher in older times. You didn't artificially inflate everything to make them
pop more, you just let them emerge slowly.

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lolive
I have a complete opposite feeling about 80s shows on (french) TV. I was very
fond of The Mysterious Cities of Gold, Once Upon a Time... Life, Ulysses 31,
the (old school) SpiderMan cartoons, Tom Sawyer, Barbapapa.

And (for something completely different) The Twilight Zone.

35 years later, I rewatch them with my kids, and the magic is definitely still
present.

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teh_klev
This is a wee bit disappointing in its analysis. If you fancy a better
background read into some of the dystopian TV series of the 70's (I'm 51 so
this is the era of UK TV I grew up watching as a child) then get a copy of
"Scarred For Life Volume One":

[http://www.lulu.com/gb/en/shop/stephen-brotherstone-dave-
law...](http://www.lulu.com/gb/en/shop/stephen-brotherstone-dave-
lawrence/scarred-for-life-volume-one/paperback/product-23116461.html)

I've got a bit of a 70's hauntology thing going and this book scratches that
itch somewhat.

~~~
DanBC
Yes. He never mentioned Mr NoseyBonk.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87NHueHBHwY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87NHueHBHwY)

There were some good things, like Vision On (a programme for deaf children,
that included very early Aardman animation work)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyWKcgmHwpo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyWKcgmHwpo)

~~~
teh_klev
Hoo boy, I'd forgotten about Mr Noseybonk (and his dildo farm O_o), though by
the time that was aired I was ~13 and kids TV was less of a thing for me. I
did like Vision On. A real favourite was Mr Benn, I used to love his
adventures:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7goleREp884](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7goleREp884)

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CommieBobDole
It seems like a lot of people here are assuming a level of seriousness on the
part of the author that doesn't seem to be there.

Seems like he's just taken the premise "man, I watched a bunch of shows I grew
up with and that shit was way weirder than I remember" and stretched it to
article length. I don't see any real commentary, actual or attempted, at all.

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truculation
_Rainbow_ theme music:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJsaujSs7Fw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJsaujSs7Fw)

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RichardCA
If you want to understand why early 70's educational TV was important, watch
this clip. Also spend some time reading the comments.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kojxgL3nf0Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kojxgL3nf0Y)

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cortesoft
I grew up in the 80s. All of my shows were just product placement for toys.

~~~
tyingq
Hill Street Blues was decent.

Maybe not kid friendly, but well done.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_Street_Blues](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_Street_Blues)

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triviatise
my kids are watching shows like backyardigans, creative galaxy, daniel tiger
etc. There is no violence and they are filled from top to bottom with (boring)
wholesome lessons.

The shows I watched (tom and jerry, loony toons, brady bunch etc) were filled
with violence and pretty much had no redeeming qualities.

I wouldnt worry if my kids watched the shows I watched, but I agree with a
previous poster that there is no way the author actually believed the shows of
his childhood were wholesome and pure.

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cocacola1
Dunno if it's just me, but I just can't watch old TV shows like I can movies.
They just feel off somehow.

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pjc50
> In kids’ shows back then, there were no missiles loaded with sexual
> references - or clever deconstructions of TV itself - aimed above young
> heads

As soon as I got to this bit I knew either the author was deeply wrong or
pretending to be so for the sake of the article; so much British kids TV had a
surreal, occasionally dark tone to it in the 80s. _Danger Mouse_ was a fourth-
wall breaking spy parody. _The Magic Roundabout_ was overtly trippy.

Especially regarding sexual references: this is Britain, home of innuendo
culture. Where Kenneth Williams had a whole series of running sketches full of
gay sexual references on primetime radio at a time when homosexuality was
illegal - relying on the censors and censorious not understanding Polari. It
would be surprising if people didn't sneak innuendo into kids TV.

Then there's an entire section of American cartoons that won't be broadcast
any more; I remember seeing the _wartime_ Disney propaganda Donald/Mickey
output, which was both extremely dark and by current standards extremely
racist. Someone in 80s programming had evidently decided to stick cartoons on
an afternoon without paying attention to the content.

(Polari example: [https://telescoper.wordpress.com/2014/08/28/round-the-
horn-a...](https://telescoper.wordpress.com/2014/08/28/round-the-horn-
antenna/) )

~~~
tyingq
Yup. Lots of old, dark cartoons.

Here's a Tom & Jerry that's pretty bleak:
[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3xxbmn](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3xxbmn)

Or, if you're rushed for time, Google "cartoon suicide reel".

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FreeFull
It's hard to disable my adblocker for the correct domain if the anti-adblocker
message redirects to a different domain.

~~~
Sir_Substance
I noticed this too!

Here's a convenient link to bypass the terrible coding:
[https://archive.fo/ZSzL5](https://archive.fo/ZSzL5)

