Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Cartoon Acid Trips?

Okay...I'm SERIOUSLY frightened by this new show that has popped up on Nickelodeon in the mornings. It's got the strangest little man (see the dude in the orange below) directing all of the action, and these strange creatures that teach our little ones about food and shapes and colors and music. (Even weirder was yesterday when Elijah Wood--"Frodo" from "Lord of the Rings"--was teaching them all to do a dance!). But Sydney really loves it, so how bad can it be huh?

All I keep thinking is that it looks like it's straight from some 1970s weird acid trip gone VERY bad.


But, ya know, the more I looked at this show, scratching my head at its pure lunacy...wondering why in the world Sydney would be attracted to it...I realized that it looked strangely like a lot of the shows I watched when I was a kid.

I bet my Mom thought I was a little crazy when I watched "The Banana Splits"....



Or "Captain Caveman." It was like a "Charlie's Angels" meets the Caveman premise and, oh yeah, I LOVED it!! (In fact, I "made" Gary dress up as Captain Caveman for Halloween six or seven years ago! I was having childhood flashbacks and needed him to help me relive those days! LOL) . . .

Or "Land of the Lost" (talk about weird; and what were the strange creatures named? I've gone blank on that, but I'm sure either Ryan or Jeff can help me out with that)...


Or... OH MY GOSH....my favorite show from the short-lived 1976-77 season. It was "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl" and I totally pretended like I was Dyna Girl that year I lived in that apartment in Austin, Texas...


Or, heck, even the Smurfs were kinda bizarre when they first reared their ugly heads on Saturday mornings. But soon we all learned to love them...


And not to mention...that cartoon with Shmoo (remember that strange, white, blob-like creature?), The Smorks, Fraggle Rock, even the cool Twins from "SuperFriends" ("Wonder Twins, activate!" is like one of my FAVORITE quotes from the 1970s. Good times!). And how about those "H.R Puffinstuff" cartoons? Talk about some serious acid-riddled creativity going on there!

So, I guess all this is to say...

I guess I can handle "Yo Gabba Gabba" today. I will look at the bright side and see the educational points it's teaching my daughter and remind myself that there was nothing educational about "Land of the Lost" (or not that I remember!).

The only bright side I can see for my parents rearing me on these shows is that they only came on television on Saturday mornings. They could handle the inanity of the shows for that brief time. But, we parents today? The wonderful world of cable has brought Barney, The Wiggles, The Teletubbies, and Yo Gabba Gabba to us everyday. That's why it's important sometime to just... pull out a book!

32 comments:

Renee said...

How about Gumby? That was some kind of freaky too.

Unknown said...

Except the books that Sydney pulls out have Barney, Dora, Blues Clues, and all those crazy shows in them!

Dawn Bibbs said...

Have MERCY...You took me back with this one! Too funny.

I remember all of those shows too. I even remember my oldest daughter loving the Smurfs and Rainbow Brite...remember her?

And I have to say, in Scout's defense...that the ONLY reason she likes those weird characters is because of the lack of options...LOL. Remember I have a child here under the age of 6 too. And she LOVES all those crazy shows. One being those RIDICULOUS Doodle Bobs (I can't STAND them!!!) It takes a special "grown up" to do a show like that, doesn't it?

Oh the joys of parenthood!!! Thanks again for the memories, Cheryl. Have a super groovy day!

Dawn Bibbs said...

Oooops, I spelled something wrong. It's the Doodle Bops!!! My bad (insert rolling eyes here) :-)

Linda said...

OMG....too funny. I am so glad I don't have to watch the cartoons anymore. LOL I'd be frightened too!

Adrienne said...

OMG!!!! you just took me WAY BACK! I still love smurfs and watch them ALL the time! LOL

Cheryl Wray said...

Renee--Gumby!!! Oh yeah...he had serious issues too!

G--You're RIGHT!! We can't even escape through books anymore! lol

Dawn--OMG! How could I forget the Doodle Bops? A seriously perverse group of characters!

Linda--Pretty bad, huh?

Adrienne--I even had the little Smurfs characters!

Anonymous said...

Oh. My. Goodness! I'm overcome with memories from my childhood. But where was the Land of the Lost?
Love your writing style and thanks for helping take that stroll down memory lane. Don't tell anyone but I love Grover from Sesame Street...STILL!! He totally cracks me up!

yvonne

Mississippi Songbird said...

I loved Electra Woman and Dynagirl

That's one reason I watched the Soap, Days Of Our Lives..lol
Because I remembered Dedra hall as Electra Woman..

That was a fun memory . Thanks...

~Telah said...

Alex likes to watch Yo Gabba Gabba too. It is a little freaky to watch...I usually leave the room. But hey, it beats Teletubbies in my book anyday!

Wendster said...

How about SPEED RACER and KIMBA THE WHITE LION? And BUMP IN THE NIGHT on Saturday mornings!??! WE LOVED that show! Me and the kids LOVE watching Saturday morning cartoons together, but haven't done it in years ... seems like not so much great stuff is on anymore. But when REBOOT was on .. OMG! We never missed it!!! Man I loved that show. And in the afternoons, me and my girls used to watch SAILOR MOON. I had to get them home from school in time for ME to find out what happened next and to hear the theme song! So ridiculous, because now that I have seen the re-runs, NOTHING NEW HAPPENS EVER! It's the same episode over and over with a new villain. ha. Funny!
Loved your scrapbook pages! I saw that Bama won Saturday. I DO love to shop but no time to blog about it now. Court date coming up with ex. Have a great week! I look forward to having free time, like you!

Wendster said...

p.s. And I LOVED those same shows you posted about. I wanted to LIVE in the Land of the Lost. I don't remember the names of the monkey guys either. And I often say: Wonder Twins ACTIVATE! ha. You are so funny. Thanks for the walk down memory lane!

Latharia said...

LOL. I think every era has its freaky cartoons. I still find Spongebob disturbing.

Cheryl Wray said...

Yvonne--Glad my post took you down Memory Lane! :-) I like Grover too!

Songbird--I forgot that was who played her! You're right! And I'm glad someone else remembered that show!

Telah--I think you're right!! Although Teletubbies kinda grew on me too!!

Wendster--I don't remember Bump in the NIght, but I do remember Sailor Moon. A lot of times, those shows looks REALLY rough after a few years!! And thanks about the other comments too!! Wonder Twins Activate!

Latharia--LOL I really kinda like Spongebob though! :-)

Kimberly said...

I saw that yo gabba gabba show and thought o my..what now! LOL! I can usually just go about my chores and block out the tv but this is some pretty weird show. But yeah...she likes it. It is alot better than the wiggles. Can't take them anymore.LOL!

Anonymous said...

Love this post...took me right back to my favorites (Electra Woman and Dyna Girl rocked!). I can't tell you how many times my hubby and I joke around with, "Wonder Twin Powers activate! Form of...adhesive...shape of...a rounded corner!" Heh-heh (had to throw some scrapping in there somehow)!

Kelly said...

remember 'Mighty Isis?'

Veronica said...

I just love that video! Sorry off subject...

Adriann said...

LOL!!!!! I remember all of those shows. Thank you reminding me of the. My sister and I love the theme song to Land of the Lost. I know one you forgot. HR Puffin Stuff... LOL!!

Thanks for taking back down memory lane!

Cheryl Wray said...

My friend Ryan couldn't post a comment for some reason today, bur sent me this email that I thought was really interesting re the Yo Gabba Gabba:

For some reason, my blog comment wouldn’t post on your site. It’s probably more info than you wanted to know but I found it amusing.

Whoever created this show is a Ramones fan. There is a popular song amongst us fans where they chant, "Gabba Gabba Hey!" which actually came from, "a scene in the 1932 motion picture Freaks, in which the characters chant the line "Gooble, gobble, we accept her . . .!". According to Wikepedia. GABBA GABBA HEY!!

would be interested in knowing if the show title is a reference to either The Ramones or The movie Freaks (the characters are kind of freakish.)

Leah said...

I had a lot to catch up on your blog! Loved this trip down memory lane!
And let me just say that I LOVE your layout for Unpubbed. It is awesome! I am declaring you the winner right here and now! LOL!

Theresa Tyree said...

OH, what a great trip back in time. Made me miss being a little girl. Remember the Sleezstaks on Land of the Lost? HA ha!

lenee said...

Oh my gosh, my friends and I were just taking about Land of the Lost, the characters were Marshall, will and holly and the hairy creatures were the Sleestacks, (long e sound in the beginning). remember the sound of their breathing it sounded just like their name. what a funny post. thanks for the memories.

Phats said...

Do you ever watch the soup on E? He makes fun of this show daily it's great

Anonymous said...

My mom loved to watch the Smurfs! :)

Great post, Cheryl.

Adriann said...

I guess I'm not that good of a reader. LOL! I saw HR Puffinstuff. Love that show too!!!

Nancywithajones said...

i loved the smurfs and the fraggle rock I got bella some of the fraggle rock videos (rented them) she liked them too lol SHE LOVEEES wylie coyote and roadrunner

Deborah Fantasia said...

I used to love the Smurf's !! I haven't seen the new show but it looks interesting.
My little ones like Teletubbies which is totally silly, I don't "get it" either but hey if they like it, it works for me :)

Deborah

Gretchen said...

OMG! Did you watch SHAZAM and Isis, too?

Great walk down memory lane.

Just Me Again said...

I totally remember ALL those shows...wow, talk about a blast from the past, LOL. Loved this post! :)

Susie Q said...

This was an amazing post! I loved it...
Oh yeah..the Doodle Bops are weird. I love the Wiggles though...: )

Love,
Sue

Anonymous said...

I'd forgotten about a couple of those kid shows!!! Smurfs were totally my favorite!(and some I don't remember,lol!!) Funny thing was, a co-worker was just mentioning "Land of the Lost"--I couldn't get a visual picture of it, now I have one--weird! :)