Bring Back Quality TV

As a kid who grew up in the 90s, I was fortunate to be part of the generation that had the best TV shows for children. Obviously I can't speak for everyone in my generation, but from what I've heard there's a general consensus on this matter.

Back then TV shows meant something. We had educational shows like Wishbone that taught life lessons through kid-friendly interpretation of literature, and Arthur, a show that really delved into some of the real issues that young children dealt with--both were shows that kept you interested. Then we had the shows that were just fun to watch like Hey Arnold, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and all kinds of stylized superhero shows (Batman: The Animated Series, etc.) All these programs were well-written, regardless of how far-fetched some of the situations in the show may have been, and carried a valuable lesson in each episode for kids to indirectly absorb. Sure there were crazy shows like CatDog and Animaniacs, but even they contained invaluable principles that kids could witness in action.

With the risk of seeming like a senile old man yelling, "Get off my lawn!", I have to say I'm pretty disappointed with what kids are watching these days. In my opinion the advent of ridiculous, inane, and downright bizarre TV programs for kids started in late 1999 (around the time Courage the Cowardly Dog started airing). There are shows like Flapjack, Chowder, Zoey 101, and countless pointless Disney Channel and Cartoon Network programs that do nothing but provide flashing lights and underdeveloped preteens with relationship problems for the eyes of kids watching them. There is no big picture you can take away from these shows and maybe that would be okay if there were actually other substantial programs that kids could watch.

Though there are a few shows like Dora the Explorer, Spongebob Squarepants, and Fairly Oddparents that actually have some genuine writing and lessons for kids, the vast majority of shows serve as nothing more than brainless babysitters.

The era of good TV shows for kids may have long passed; or maybe I just miss coming home from school and watching Are You Afraid of the Dark? before having to go to Karate class.
I mean there's still hope right?

Maybe they'll rerun episodes of Pinky and the Brain or something...