It is sad to say but television has been a part of my life since I was a small child. I remember before preschool watching the children shows in the morning such as Here’s Humphrey, Mr Squiggle and the Book Place. There was also the afternoon which included Play School and various other entertainments. In my early years I did not watch a lot of TV but I did have my favourite shows that I watched occasionally.
I remember in the early 90’s watching Johnson and friends. This show was one of my favourites at the time as the storyline was stimulating and unique. The storyline revolved around the activities of a group of toys bottle in a child’s bedroom. The toys included a toy elephant, an accordion, a truck, a toy robot and of course the hot water bottle that lived underneath the bed. The show often discussed friendship issues, how to behave around others, adventure (such as going to the room across the hall) and provided insight into feelings. The reason I loved this show and still have a soft spot for it to this day is the fact that everyone was friends and there was always a happy ending. Below is a picture of the main characters of the show:
Image may be NSFW.
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Another show that I enjoyed in my early years was the Sooty Show. This television show was only available through a VHS (also known as a video cassette) at the local video rental store. The show originates from Britain and is centred on the lives of Sooty, Soo and Sweep, plus there parent/guardian Matthew. Sooty is the main protagonist who is a mute yellow bear who is capable of performing magic with his magic wand. Soo is the panda bear who acts as a big sister to the other two characters. The last is Sweep who is a grey dog who communicates through squeaks (if you listen hard enough you realise his squeaks sound like the words he is trying to speak). Sooty, Soo and Sweep are very mischievous and often spend time playing tricks on each other and Matthew. This television show is still one of my favourite children’s television shows of all time. The reason behind this is that the show was absolutely hilarious and the rooms for Sooty, Soo and Sweep were to scale (adorable!!). I found the set to be very cute and this was the same for the animals as they were all puppets. Even watching the show now I feel a great sense of nostalgia and also comfort as it brings me back to a time in my childhood where I didn’t have any worries. Below is a link to a short video of one of the episodes:
The Sooty Show – Overnight, Part 1
One last television show that I would like to discuss is Sailor Moon. I began watching this television show through Agro (the early morning television show that was on week days mornings) when I was 7 years of age. Sailor Moon is a Japanese Anime that originated from a manga series by Naoko Takeuchi. This series really began my love of magic and strengthened my girl power beliefs. The story revolves around Usagi Tsukino (Or Serena in the American dub) who is Sailor Moon but also the Moon Princess. She is joined by the other sailor scouts which are the inner planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter, and the outer planets (they were introduced in the later seasons): Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto. Sailor Moon and the Sailor Scouts fight any evil threatening the earth. The first season of the show focused on introducing Sailor Moon, four inner planet Sailor Scouts, the two guardians (Luna and Artemis which are talking cats) and the back story of where the scouts and the villain originated from. The other seasons follow a similar pattern where an evil force wants to collect energy from the human population and essentially take over. Even though the story line sounds to be simple and at times silly, the television show was exciting and unique in that magical girls fought evil. This was a first for any girl centred television show as they would normally have the magical girls healing or doing good deeds. This was not the case for Sailor Moon and the Sailor Scouts who were portrayed as earth’s defenders. The main reason I adored this show was the fact that they were girls and they had magical abilities. Further adding to my love of the show was the fact that they were strong female characters who stood up for themselves and their friends. Similar television shows of the time all had a male protagonist and the secondary-female characters who would often get emotional and get into trouble, which the male lead would rescue them from. Sailor Moon was different in that yes there was a male character who saved them from time to time but in the endings of each season it was always Sailor Moon and the Scouts who saved them and the world. This television show is still a show that I watch today and I am an avid fan. Below is a picture of Sailor Moon and the inner planet Sailor Scouts:
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.