Do you ever find yourself watching TV, and wonder about those old shows you used to watch as a kid? The popular shows in the 1990’s, such as Full House, Home Improvement, Family Matters, or children shows like Rugrats, Hey Arnold, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Boy Meets World, have been embedded within many children; now, these kids are teenagers or even older. Many kids grew up with these shows, thinking that it would just continue that way. And with a blink of an eye, they were gone. Without realizing it the shows we used to plan our homework around, and watch routinely with friends and family disappeared. What happened?

With the understanding that everything must come to an end, the disappearance doesn’t bother many; it’s what happens after it ends. When these shows were sent off-air, or the episodes were set on rerun, there has to be new shows that take their place. The TV shows today don’t compare to the wit or humor that was involved with ‘Toon Disney,’ ‘Nickelodeon,’ and ‘ABC Family.’ The reality of it is that shows now usually don’t last over 3 seasons. The popular Nickelodeon cartoon Rugrats ran for 12 seasons from the years 1992-2004. When senior Hannah Perron was asked about her favorite shows she replied, “Oh my gosh! Rugrats was one of my all time favorites. I watched it all the time. I really miss the Magic School Bus as well. Even though it was educational, it was the best educational show out there!”

Other students at Campbellsport High School share in the same enthusiasm as Perron does. For instance, my fellow classmate, Carrie Stageman, occasionally spends class work time looking up old theme songs, and lyrics to shows like As Told By Ginger, and All That. She also takes amusement in looking up old cast members of shows such as, Lori Beth Denberg, to see what they are doing these days. On occasion, she finds herself watching the shows she loved on Youtube.

Sophomore Eric Simon has the same nostalgic memories Stageman does. “I remember watching shows like Angry Beavers and Action League Now every single day, and falling asleep to them when friends were over,” stated Simon. People like these shows so much, because they’re a part of our past. Most of these shows were big parts of our lives when we were younger, shows we used to obsess over when we were adolescents. Everyone has that show where they never wanted to miss an episode.

“The shows were so funny in a clever way. Shows these days are too flashy,” Simon said. Again, Perron agrees with the fact that old shows could never be replaced by new ones. “They aren’t as good,” Perron stated, “now it’s all reality TV, and I think people are just less creative. The writers for these shows are lazy. The shows we used to watch back in the day were about family ties!” It seems that parents these days have become very concerned with what their kids watch, and the limit that they watch. Old shows wouldn't pass these days, because they would be almost inappropriate. If one looks back at some of their favorite shows from childhood, they would find themselves saying, "I can't believe they said that!"

Unfortunately, these shows no longer air and most forget about the days when we used to laugh together while watching shows about family values and everyday life. Today we’re far too busy to just sit down and watch the shows that make us look back and say ‘boy, those were some good times.’ People nowadays have become very concerned with the way they raise their children, giving them hardly any freedom. Sadly, these shows became reruns which became our history, and a part of history they will remain.