Shoutout to Bill Nye, Ms. Frizzle, Carmen and LeVar

- What do you think of broadcast television?
- What kind of good/bad impact did television have on you as a teenager? As a child?

In my communications law class, our professor had us split into groups to discuss these questions. One of the topics that came up was the difference between today’s children t.v. shows and the ones that aired in the early ‘90s – ones that we, as a class, grew up watching. From my classmates’ varied inputs, it seems like today’s kids’ shows are produced with more aspiration for entertainment value than for educational value. And I totally agree. Strawberry Shortcake’s got nothing on Ms. Frizzle. Nothing. I bet even little Ralphie could score higher on a biology test than most kids these days. And Carmen Sandiego has been to far more places than Dora. She would know what to do if a purple fox stopped listening to her, and she wouldn’t use a compass to cross the meadow. She’d use a freakin sextant.
Okay, maybe not.

But for a college student ranting on today’s educational t.v. programs, I realize this is only hot air (hot font?). I don’t pay much attention to today’s kids’ t.v. shows, so my comparisons are limited to only what I see. Dora the Explorer’s targeted age group is much younger than the educational geography t.v. program, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? If there IS a show (airing today) comparable to the likes of Carmen Sandiego and Bill Nye the Science Guy – Myth Busters doesn’t count – that’s being produced for kids, why aren’t my little cousins watching it? And don’t be sayin it’s because it's just MY family. … yo. What? What?? Yea, you know it. You’re little cousins are probably watchin iCarly too. Foo.
Okay, refocus.

All I'm saying is that we need more educational t.v. shows that are available for kids to watch. I enjoyed these kinds of shows as a kid. Physics? Biology? Literature? Even super heroes aren't a big deal in daily cartoon shows anymore. With their lack of interest in these subjects, it'll be even harder to get kids interested in learning these subjects in school.


There are plenty of youtube videos that can get a few of us a bit nostalgic with the television shows of our childhood. Here's one I picked out just for fun.