Yesterday, friends and I were talking about TV shows that were on when we were kids, specifically on the weekends. Remember when you were a kid and it was NO PROBLEM waking up at 5:30 on a Saturday morning to watch cartoons until about 8:30 or 9 am.? If only we had that energy now when we wake up that early on a Saturday morning! I wish there was a way to bottle that energy and excitement as a kid on a Saturday morning so that one could take a quick sip to wake up and get going as an adult.
Most of me friends and co-workers are a little older than me and fondly remember the Regina show “Switchback” which ran from 1984 to 1990 and hosted by Bill Wright. I don’t remember the show but many 70’s and 80’s kids remember the contests, puppets, and videos shown.
For me, and many 90’s prairie kids, “BBS Master Control” was the Saturday program that NOBODY missed. It was hosted by Jenn Beach and featured various cartoon shows that she’d activate by pressing a series of buttons on her “master control” board. She used to host various segments between shows and kids could mail (yes, mail) letters to her that she would read them in her “pillow corner.” Some people would even mail small pillows in! Unfortunately, she never read my letter, but you couldn’t miss the show just in case she might! It was a fun and exciting show that brought many great memories.
There are other shows as well that spark happy memories as a kid like “The Littlest Hobo,” “Dark Wing Duck,” and, of course, “Mr. Dressup.” I don’t know why these shows seemed more special back then compared to today’s kid’s show. Perhaps it’s due to the fact there were less channels back then, less people had cable/satellite, or it was just a less hectic and technological time. No smartphones, no email, no tablets, and no Netflix, just simple and fun kid’s TV shows that made you want to get up early on a weekend morning.