Wowzers

There were many TV shows of which I was fond during my childhood.
ProStars: I have a DVD that collects three episodes, and I had forgot how silly it was. The show follows Michael Jordon, Bo Jackson and Wayne Gretzky in their adventures as a team of crime fighters dedicated to helping kids. They would have fancy gadgets every episode and go around the world fixing problems for children. In reality the show was completely ridiculous with sub-par animation and completely ridiculous plots. The three characters neither looked nor sounded anything like their real life counterparts. I could keep going on about how bad it is, but I like the show too much to pick on it. The show reached a plateau of silly that makes it so worth watching. There are a few things I find interesting/amusing about the show. First, Michael Jordon is clearly the leader of the group. The kids all address their letters (actually videos) to him and he seems to make the decisions. Bo and Wayne are characterized as being really good friends, the kind that are usually making fun of each other, but are the first to defend each other. The best part, though, is that Wayne is constantly eating. That seems to be his only concern besides helping kids. It's like the only reason he joined the ProStars was so that he could take trips around the world and sample the cuisine.
This is a picture of Wayne eating, in this case some popcorn, but in other episodes it is stuff like haggis and pizza. He's always eating. This show was one of those shows that has the sole purpose of teaching kids lessons, avoiding drugs, staying out of gangs, persevering, etc. It had its problems, but the end result was a goofy little show that was fun to watch. What more could you ask from a Saturday morning TV show.


Inspector Gadget: If you have never seen the cartoon but you have seen the movie, well then I pity you. The movie was a travesty and a disgrace. The TV show was goofy and clever and just plain fun. It follows the exploits of a man who is basically a cyborg. He has gadgets implanted in his body, such as helicopter blades in his hat, roller skates in his shoes, and telescoping legs and arms. Naturally he is an inspector on the police force. He is also about as incompetent as you can get. He is clumsy and clueless and not very bright, but extremely confident and dedicated. He won't stop trying, no matter how hopeless a situation is, but that is as likely a product of the fact that he has no idea how hopeless the situation happens to be. His success rate, though, is extremely high, and that is thanks to his neice Penny and their extremely smart dog Brain, who can almost speak. He never really spoke, but it was close. Think of Scooby Doo, only slightly less actual words, just growls and barks that sound very much like words. Penny had her computer book that she used to actually solve the cases. Gadget, meanwhile, was just as likely to be helping the bad guys because they told him that they were the good guys and he is naive enough to believe them, but his incompetence actually does more harm to them than he would have if he were trying to stop them. The show is just full of silliness and explosions and bad jokes and slapstick. I love that cartoon so very much.

Teddy Ruxpin: This show follows the adventures of an Illiop. Basically it's like a typical cartoon bear. He hangs out with an absentminded um, er, scientist named, er, uh, Dr Newton Gimmick who would always interject his, um, uh, speech with little 'ers' and, er, um, 'ums', as well as Grubby, an octopede. Grubby was an eight legged insect like creature with a humanoid torso. Think of a centaur (half horse/half human), but instead of a horse back it is an insect back, and instead of a human front it is a humanoid front. Got it? If not, 'sall good. The show was in many ways a good fantasy/adventure story. It involves a great deal of treasure hunting and being chased by villains. There is a whole sub-plot about some crystals that have different powers, and along the way Teddy finds his long-lost father who had had his memory erased by one of the crystals. With a flying air ship (it was like a sea-faring vessel with a hot air balloon attached instead of a mast or sails) and exotic lands, it really intrigued me. I would like to collect the entire series and watch it from start to finish because I want to know the whole story.

Care Bears: I like Grumpy Bear. And Beastly. It was fun, and who wouldn't want to live in the clouds with Grams Bear? Seriously.

So those are some of my childhood favourites. What are some of yours?