Shows of Yester-Year...

This post is dedicated to the shows of my childhood that I loved. As I was beginning to write this, I realized those shows all had something in common: theme songs!! I bet I can still sing the theme songs for each of these. Why don't shows do that anymore?! Ah, the nostalgia of a day gone by...

Okay, here we go!

Ah, The Wonder Years. I LOVED this show. I was in love with Kevin Arnold and wanted my hair to look like Winnie Cooper's. I am very frustrated that you still can't get this show on DVD. It has something to do with all the licensing rights due to the amount of popular music they used within the show. Apparently it's still going to be years before Joe Cocker is crooning "What would you do if I sang out of tune..." from my DVD player. Oh well, I guess there's always TVLand and re-runs...

Isn't this the classic favorite show of our generation? Didn't we all race home after school to see what antics Zack would pull, what outfit Lisa was wearing, and how long Slater's mullet had gotten? I did. I am proud to say I have seen every episode of this show far more than once and can perform Jessie's "I'm SO excited, I'm SO excited, I'm....SO...SCARED" with the best of them. Classic television, ladies and gentlemen. While most have gone on to do other things, I think in our minds they will always be Zack, Kelly, Slater, Jessie, Lisa, and Screech.

This image is representative of the show 'Family Matters' and my favorite character on the show, Steve Urckel. At the age of 10, I would walk around leaning back at the waist, plugging my nose, and asking in my best Urckel voice, "Did I do thaaaaaaaat?" I'm sure I drove my parents crazy. I loved this show. I loved the family dynamics, the drama, the incessant breaking of things that Steve was doing, and the relationship between Steve and Carl Winslow. Again, classic TGYF night at my house.

"Everywhere you look, there's a heart, there's a heart...." I was recently in San Francisco and for sure sang this theme song to myself as I was riding the BART line to the airport. Who doesn't love the show that's known for making the Olsen twins famous, Bob Saget one-liners, and Uncle Jesse proclaiming, "Have mercy!"? I propose that on some level, everyone loves this show. I used to, again, walk around impersonating Stephanie Tanner, saying, "How rude!" all the time. It's amazing that I didn't grow up to be an impersonator, because let me tell you, I did this type of thing all the time with ALL the shows I watched. I know. Bless my mom.

"Camp Onawanna, we hold you in our hearts..." I was a Nickelodeon child growing up, so shows like 'Salute Your Shorts', 'Hey Dude', and 'Are You Afraid of the Dark' were apart of my repetoire as well. There were also those show like 'Legends of the Hidden Temple', 'Guts', 'What Would You Do', and 'All That' that I loved as well. During those long summer days at home from school, Nickelodeon provided quite the respite when it was too hot to be out jumping on the trampoline. Thanks, Nick!!

This final show is actually my favorite show of all time. It wasn't something I started watching until the 8th grade, but it was a show that I watched growing up and is no longer in production, thus the reason for it being on this list. For me, 'Friends' was an escape. During those challenging high school years of peer pressure, feeling awkward, pressure regarding sports I was participating in, and all the other challenges of high school that I wasn't emotionally intelligent enough to handle, 'Friends' was my outlet. It was 30 minutes that I could escape and go to another world of coffee shops and cool apartments in a city far away from my own. Over the years, I really did grow to love these 6 characters. I will always remember where I was when I watched the series finale, crying as I said goodbye to the 6 that had provided laughs on so many hard days.

Disclaimer: You can choose to make fun of me here. I know I'm being a bit sappy. Now I am emotionally intelligent enough to handle tough situations without a cast of characters on a television show, but at the time I wasn't and I needed something to serve as an escape. I would propose that on some level we all do that when things are hard. We go running, some resort to destructive vices such as mass alcohol consumption, etc. I chose a TV show. I was already running up to 60 miles a week for school. Running wasn't going to help me...

There you have it. My favorite shows of childhood. I bet they're pretty similar to many of yours. What are some others you would have added?