What were the worst kids show from your generation?

[Mysterian]

the era that has come to be known as that of 'half hour toy commercials' thanks to the fcc loosening programming regulations

Thanks to Reagan for that. This was after parents complained that a Hot Wheels cartoon was more of an ad than a show. Those same parents probably had a heart attack seeing pandora's box opened since.
And as testament to what BrianL said about 80's shows permeating the culture: Transformers, Masters of the Universe, GI JOE, and ug, Care Bears and My Little Pony are still on toy shelves today.

We're all going to look back on the 2020's and the only thing we'll remember are the 80's.

 

[E&Cmom]

The Roadrunner. I even hated it as a kid.

 

[Mysterian]

Yep. Can't thiink of any I didn't like. Give me robotech, star blazers, duneons & dragons, electric company, mister wizard, GI Joe, transformers, he-man/she-ra, and mister rogers. So many good shows from that era.

Star Blazers , was that like G Force? The anime folks in the bird costumes?
I also remember Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, that was one LSD inspired show/toy-line.

There wasn't a lot I didn't love growing up in the 80's. Maybe Reading Rainbow, Heathcliff and that fake Ghostbusters cartoon?

You didn't like Reading Rainbow?!
I'm guessing you're referring to the Ghostbusters cartoon based on the old TV show, with the gorilla. I will say the villain in that cartoon was awesome, the animators must have been Iron Maiden fans!

 

[BrianL]

Star Blazers , was that like G Force? The anime folks in the bird costumes?
I also remember Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, that was one LSD inspired show/toy-line.

Star Blazers was the localization of the anime Space Battleship Yamato. G-Force was an 80's localization of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman but it was previously localized in the 70's as Battle of the Planets.

I'm guessing you're referring to the Ghostbusters cartoon based on the old TV show, with the gorilla. I will say the villain in that cartoon was awesome, the animators must have been Iron Maiden fans!

Yes, the Filmation cartoon is based on a Filmation live action show from the 70's and predates the movie Ghostbusters - they are actually the originals! Interestingly, due to contracts, the later version got to use the name "The REAL Ghostbusters." The Filmation cartoon version wasn't actually that bad though - I remember being very confused by it's existence, but the once per episode "suit-up scene" is trippy and epic!

 

[GoingSince1990]

Scooby and Scrappy Doo. I LOVED Scooby but when Scrappy arrived I was open-mouthed in horror at how the annoying little brat destroyed the chemistry of the original cast and totally ruined the show.

 

[starvenger]

OMG, eating Pop Tarts and watching Star Blazers with my brothers after school!

From my kids generation, these people still frighten me.

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I remember my nephew watching this. The Bus Driver is John Catucci of "You Gotta Eat Here" fame.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

As a kid in the 80’s - the off-brand cartoons that ran on Nickelodeon during the day when I was home sick from school.

 

[KayMichigan]

I loved the Banana Splits! We even had their record album.

The Funky Phantom wasn't bad, exactly, but it was a pretty obvious copy of Scooby Doo. It came out around the time of the Bicentennial and it seems like it was all done so they could do the "Spirit of '76" joke. But it was one of the few cartoons out there that at least tried to tie in to American history!

I remember Blackstar - I even had one of the toys, some yellow monster guy. I didn't have any others but he was fairly He-Man compatible, though a bit larger - perfect for a monster anyway!

The Blackstar cartoon predated He-Man by a few years and you can definitely see the ancestry. Once Blackstar flopped they probably looked it over and thought, maybe we can take some basic ideas and made something else out of this.

The thing about the Star Wars Holiday Special though it that it was pretty much par for the course for late 70's TV. As I've had to remind people it wasn't even the weirdest thing on!

Very true! Just about every show in the 70s used stuff like special guest stars (The SWHS had Art Carney and Harvey Korman in addition to the movie cast) and pop music interludes.

I also love Battle of the Planets and Star Blazers! Years ago I found out about Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, the original Japanese anime show that Battle of the Planets was cobbled from, and was amazed to learn how different the original material was from what we American kids got. The original Japanese show was adult, with lots of violence and swearing, and the villain was a hermaphrodite who could switch genders at will. Not exactly something the American networks wanted to put on kid's afternoon TV!

 

[FigmentSpark]

Horrid kids' TV:
Peewee Herman
Punky Brewster

Awesome:
And Hilarious House of Frightenstein, which had a cameo from Vincent Price every week and often the Wolfman, was wonderful. Not now, but as a kid, it was great.

Also, shout out for Power Rangers... so bad it was great. The original, not the ones that Disney did.

 

[barkley]

i loved pee wee's playhouse-some of laurence fishburne's finest work.