Being a bit of an old fart here, but... It strikes me that today's trashy tv for kids, I Carly, Hannah Montana and all that garbage, is really no different to kids and teens watching trash back in the 50's an 60's. Banana Splits, The Monkees, Lost in Space, The Munsters, Addams Family etc. Lots of great icons and music came from back then. I know we think modern tv sucks (well, alot of us do), but are the kids today and the parents who knock modern tellyreally any different to then? RAWK!!!

Of course! Jim Carrey an Dr Seuss just don'mix. Great that he can sell his interpretations to the world. My kids love 'The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark' but i ain't gonna make a feature length of it. Bah! Humbug! Now, wheres ma Phil Spector Christmas  LP? haha

I'd be all for your interpretaion of "The Long Haul" , except Nova Scotia is still too close to the states.  They could have him if they traded us enough lox and smoked salmon to bring the prices down.....Oh , Chrimbo , I think I HAVE yeard that , now that you mention it...

It IS all about the kids  , and we adults (!!!) should'nt be stressed.

I've already listened to a cassette copy I forgot I had , of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas".

I mean the REAL one , of course.

Chrimbo, I prefer to call 'Christmas' this than 'Xmas' or another popular one over here in the stink, 'Winterfest'. I mean... Honestly! Keep it fun people. Its for the kids. The messages from the sponsors are in overdrive here. If the 'long haul' means a one way ticket to Nova Scotia? I say, lets give the young lad a great send off. Hopefully there's room in there for Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift???

CHRIMBO? Not familiar....Mr. Disney ! You don't hear THAT said , very often. I was on  a short boat cruise in California , several years ago , and a guy gets on the horn and tells us the boat on our right belongs to Roy Disney. I said "Roy Disney?! If he were alive , he'd have to be 110 years old , at least !". Then, someone said, no , Roy Disney , Jr. , Roy's Son and Walt's Nephew  , oversees Disney , now. WOT A MIXUP !  But , all these teen idols are bound to get tired of maintaining a squeaky clean image , and ...(ULP !) rebel . You had your Brittneys and your Olsens and whoever else.....You could have set your watch by Miley (And if she did take topless photos - Not that I heard about it , but , I'm hardly surprised.) on her own time , God ,WHO CARES ?!  She's not the possible Heiress to The Throne of England OR ANYTHING. People get their kit off , as you say in Blighty. But , there are'nt many child stars that are successful , today , unless they got into other fields , like Dick Van Patten , is it? , directing "The Sopranos" and such , and Little Opie Cunningham's remarkable success as a Film Director , THOUGH HE WON'T RELEASE "COTTON CANDY" !!

I heard Justin Van Beeber saying he was in it for the long haul . Funny , Vanilla Ice said that , too. 

you're right mate. we should never underestiate the power of television on Kids. With Chrimbo coming up its in meltdown. There are quite a number of very high brow cases happening over here just now, surrounding Britains 60's and 70's icons. Its frightening really. We all know the politics of Mr Disney as well. The money machine moves on and on and parents i suppose these days aren't under any more pressure really than back then. Bring back Gerry Anderson. Why has no one invented a Gerry Anderson Channel???

Comedy and culture is very much a matter of taste, I mean I can't stand Family Guy but watch a lot of other American stuff. But either way in America they have massive teams to write the jokes which makes them much more sellable. It's just like the kids TV where they analyse the trends and look for niches and sell a product. British comedy has smaller teams and so it really isn't that commercial because a lot of people don't understand the jokes as they are more personal.

I think this is an ever increasing trend and compared to today the 50s, 60s, 70s were relatively innocent but even in the 60s and 70s you had shows like the Monkees, made to sell a band. I guess it's just that it's now retro and kind of fits into the genre here that people like it but is it really much different to anything Disney's putting out today?

I love those kids programs anyway because they always try to sell innocence only to have the actors or presenters get caught doing something riske. Blue Peter in Britain had a few of it's presenters caught on cokain binges and Milly Cyrus with her toples pics.

Andy Climax said:

For Every Two and a Half Dads, theres a Family Guy as much as we have for every Mighty Boosh a My Family (garbage sitcom crap). I suppose a good thing about shit telly is we are all goin to the movies again. CGI rocks (most of the time).

Yes , I know there's an "o"in MICHELANGELO....AND ONLY THREE CHRISTS , THE REDEEMERS AND SAVIORS.
 
John Battles said:

Andy , Yeah , I remember when "Ripping Yarns " first aired , here , in the late 70's , I believe(?). I have one or two old VHS tapes of the show. Honestly , I never got into it , much , but , it's never too late. I have met Palin , Idle , and Jones , briefly. All very nice people. I IMAGINE IF I APPROACHED  JOHN CLEESE AS A FAN , HE'S IGNORE ME OR CUT ME TO RIBBONS.

"Fawlty Towers " , I think , is one of THEE funniest sitcoms ever , US , UK , UGANDA URUGUAY.....PETER COOK WAS SOOOOOOOO FUNNY. GREAT AT PLAYING THE COMPLETE , UTTER BASTARD , WHICH IS WHY HE WAS A NATURAL FOR TEH VOICE OF ROGER NELLIE , MAN ON TELLIE ( CONSULT VIZ , ROGER NELLIE , FAT SLAGS AND SID THE SEXIST. BUT , BRING A GEORDIE DICTIONARY.). I scored the "Secret Policeman's Balls" DVD set , recently , it's so cool to see people like John Cleese working with Peter Cook. Cleese oozes respect and admiration....Then , seeing Ade Edmonson as Michelangel opposite Cleese's Pope , well , SAME THING.

I probably can't reconnend too many American comedies you don't already know. A lot of my favorites are cartoons , too , like King of The Hill , Beavis and Butthead , South Park....and Sketch comedy , like Chapelle Show , Mind of Mencia , and the new one Pelle and Tim? Something like that , sorry , I forget. Their names don't stick to my head.I'd have to look 'em up.

Andy , Yeah , I remember when "Ripping Yarns " first aired , here , in the late 70's , I believe(?). I have one or two old VHS tapes of the show. Honestly , I never got into it , much , but , it's never too late. I have met Palin , Idle , and Jones , briefly. All very nice people. I IMAGINE IF I APPROACHED  JOHN CLEESE AS A FAN , HE'S IGNORE ME OR CUT ME TO RIBBONS.

"Fawlty Towers " , I think , is one of THEE funniest sitcoms ever , US , UK , UGANDA URUGUAY.....PETER COOK WAS SOOOOOOOO FUNNY. GREAT AT PLAYING THE COMPLETE , UTTER BASTARD , WHICH IS WHY HE WAS A NATURAL FOR THE VOICE OF ROGER NELLIE , MAN ON TELLIE ( CONSULT VIZ , ROGER NELLIE , FAT SLAGS AND SID THE SEXIST ON YOU TUBE . BUT , BRING A GEORDIE DICTIONARY.). I scored the "Secret Policeman's Balls" DVD set , recently , it's so cool to see people like John Cleese working with Peter Cook. Cleese oozes respect and admiration....Then , seeing Ade Edmonson as Michelangel opposite Cleese's Pope , well , SAME THING.

I probably can't reconnend too many American comedies you don't already know. A lot of my favorites are cartoons , too , like King of The Hill , Beavis and Butthead , South Park....and Sketch comedy , like Chapelle Show , Mind of Mencia , and the new one Pelle and Tim? Something like that , sorry , I forget. Their names don't stick to my head.I'd have to look 'em up.

Pete an Dud were just 'FUUUUUNNY'. Hilariously sharp writing on the right side of surreal. I'm a firm believer that without Peter Cook Half the British comedy we know and love wouldn't exist. Witty, accessible, non patronising and quintessentially British. Amazing! Like all great double acts tho, one couldn't survive without the other. Dud was genius, and all his best cutting edge stuff was undoubtedly driven with Peter Cook. The 50's and 60's was the real heyday of Britcom. The 70's just honed it and perfected it. Yer spot on with the Goodies. Amazing sketch writing, hilarious but sadly overlooked by the modern UK audience. You yanks are keeping the dream alive and feeding us with comedy gold in the shape of Family Guy, American Dad and Futurama to name just 3. Any more recommendations from stateside? We're all getting too serious over here again. Have you all seen 'Ripping Yarns'? if not. Why not? A python offspin every bit as funny as Fawlty Towers.

Andy , I think a lot of UK comedy was influenced by American comedy , but , had it's own personality , something us Yanks could'nt always get our heads around. In the 70's and early 80's , we were getting The Goodies , Not The Nine O'Clock News , The Two Ronnies
, and , of course , Fawlty Towers and monty Python on  PBS ..... I loved all that stuff , still do , but , it took years to see shows like Steptoe and Son , Dad's Army , and The Carry On films (wHICH YOU MAY OR MAY NOT BE SICK TO DEATH OF !). THE GOODIES WERE ONE OF MY FAVORITES , BUT THEY ONLY AIRED FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS , here . At least now , shows like "Not Only, But Also" , "Do Not Adjust You  Set" and "The 1940 Floor Show"(SIC) are available on DVD , AND YOU CAN SEE , FIRSTHAND , WHERE BRITISH COMEDY MORPHED FROM "BEYOND THE FRINGE" AND "THE GOON SHOW" TO "MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS". It's tragic , when Dudley Moore died , I realized most of my countrymen did'nt know him when he was truly funny , WITH PETER COOK , OF COURSE !!!!
Andy Climax said:

To me the tv back in the 50's and 60's like the music we all love, had carte blanche really. It was all innovative and experimental as it hadn't really been done before, and was given time to develop. I'd imagine like todays telly theres alot of garbage that has rightfully (or wrongly) been forgotten. In Britain we had the Goons, and other post war satire. Alot of this stuff was written with a very American influence. I suppose we can thank the war for something. We all had Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Marx Brothers etc. A real British/American friendship. Then Python came along and blew it all out the water. For Every Two and a Half Dads, theres a Family Guy as much as we have for every Mighty Boosh a My Family (garbage sitcom crap). I suppose a good thing about shit telly is we are all goin to the movies again. CGI rocks (most of the time).

To me the tv back in the 50's and 60's like the music we all love, had carte blanche really. It was all innovative and experimental as it hadn't really been done before, and was given time to develop. I'd imagine like todays telly theres alot of garbage that has rightfully (or wrongly) been forgotten. In Britain we had the Goons, and other post war satire. Alot of this stuff was written with a very American influence. I suppose we can thank the war for something. We all had Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Marx Brothers etc. A real British/American friendship. Then Python came along and blew it all out the water. For Every Two and a Half Dads, theres a Family Guy as much as we have for every Mighty Boosh a My Family (garbage sitcom crap). I suppose a good thing about shit telly is we are all goin to the movies again. CGI rocks (most of the time).

BTW , Anybody remember Hannah Barbara's later attempts to reclaim early evening Television ("Wait Til Your Father Gets Home" "Where's Huddles?" , etc.) ?
 
John Battles said:

Pat Priest. Va Va and Voom. Anyway , I think a lot of those programs were designed in such a way that parents and teenagers could enjoy them , too , even if they did'nt want to admit it....

Before the Glory Days of Saturday Morning TV , you had shows like The Flintstones and The Jetsons that aired in , or around , prime time. Just like the infinitely superior Warner Bros. cartoons , I realized , later , that there were little in - jokes that kids would'nt get , but , there was enough funny stuff going on to keep them occupied. Of course , the days I look back on so fondly, waking up at seven on Saturday , watching cartoons til noon , THEN , going out to play , also signified the rapid decline in animation standards. But , I could'nt compare The Banana Splits , Lancelot Link , The Archies , Josie and The Pussycats , and , yes , The Monkees (By the time I started watching them , they were on Saturday mornings or early afternoon.) to Hannah Montana and other modern junk , because I've never watched those shows. I was'nt babysitting my Godchild anymore , by then , so I had no reason to. What ties a lot of these earlier shows together , even if the animated cartoons were in rapid decline , was that they usually had great Rock'n'Roll songs. I HAVE heard Hannah Montana/ Miley Cyrus' music (It's almost impossible NOT to.), I've heard worse , and I do , nearly every day , but , I don't even remember what it sounded like, save for one 80's New Wave retread I heard at Blockbuster. It's true , the intelligence of children , today ,  is frequently underestimated in an effort to make the most money for the least artistic endeavors. My Nieces were right in that target audience for The Spice Girls , then Brittney Spears , then , whoever, BUT THEY WOULD SAY "i'M SO OVER IT" and move on to the next thing. Whether that's any damned good or not , I could'nt  tell you.

Pat Priest. Va Va and Voom. Anyway , I think a lot of those programs were designed in such a way that parents and teenagers could enjoy them , too , even if they did'nt want to admit it....

Before the Glory Days of Saturday Morning TV , you had shows like The Flintstones and The Jetsons that aired in , or around , prime time. Just like the infinitely superior Warner Bros. cartoons , I realized , later , that there were little in - jokes that kids would'nt get , but , there was enough funny stuff going on to keep them occupied. Of course , the days I look back on so fondly, waking up at seven on Saturday , watching cartoons til noon , THEN , going out to play , also signified the rapid decline in animation standards. But , I could'nt compare The Banana Splits , Lancelot Link , The Archies , Josie and The Pussycats , and , yes , The Monkees (By the time I started watching them , they were on Saturday mornings or early afternoon.) to Hannah Montana and other modern junk , because I've never watched those shows. I was'nt babysitting my Godchild anymore , by then , so I had no reason to. What ties a lot of these earlier shows together , even if the animated cartoons were in rapid decline , was that they usually had great Rock'n'Roll songs. I HAVE heard Hannah Montana/ Miley Cyrus' music (It's almost impossible NOT to.), I've heard worse , and I do , nearly every day , but , I don't even remember what it sounded like, save for one 80's New Wave retread I heard at Blockbuster. It's true , the intelligence of children , today ,  is frequently underestimated in an effort to make the most money for the least artistic endeavors. My Nieces were right in that target audience for The Spice Girls , then Brittney Spears , then , whoever, BUT THEY WOULD SAY "i'M SO OVER IT" and move on to the next thing. Whether that's any damned good or not , I could'nt  tell you.

If anything I'd guess that they were more junk back then. I mean look at the production values. Hannah Montanna is made to be sold, so has the investment thus.

You could better compare it with comedy. British comedy is normally a labour of love with a small team of script writers and the general knowledge that it will get made and sold in Britain with limited appeal around the world. American comedy however is made in the way they make a car, with a massive team to ensure that there's a joke a minute and that the whole thing is water tight. As a result Britain produces off the wall stuff like Mighty Boosh and Monkey Dust which isn't famous while America produces Two and a Half Men which makes me feel stupider every time I watch it but is sold around the world. Hannah Montanna is like that.

Banana Splits is maybe a bit more like Mighty Boosh. You aren't going to get that innocence back with American TV.

I think the big difference is that those past shows, the producers tried giving a certain kind of quality to the audience.  They laughed just like the audience, even the guys who made Banana Splits.  Maybe they didn't think that the shows were going to be talked about 50 years in the future, but they didn't treat them like throw away products at an audience they probably really have no respect for.  It may have been junk but it wasn't garbage.