|
Before the Teenage Mutant Ninja Tortoises or Mighty Morphin
Flower Arrangers roamed the Earth, children's television was truly
a thing of beauty, simplicity and fun. Vintage children's
television can still be an emotive subject. People argue in pubs
about the names of characters in The Magic Roundabout and bet on
which of the Thunderbirds was piloted by Virgil (It was
Thunderbird 2 if you're still trying to collect your winnings).
The 1960s
For the youngest viewers, Watch With Mother continued to show
many of its favourites from the 1950s; Andy
Pandy, The Woodentops,
The Flowerpot Men and Rag, Tag and Bobtail. Then the creations of
Hanna Barbera took over: Huckleberry Hound (1959 - 1964) with
Yogi
Bear and Mr Jinks the cat both featuring in their own right.
The
Flintstones (1961 - 1966), Deputy Dawg, The Jetsons and
Top Cat
(known as Boss Cat in the UK) all arrived in Britain in 1963.
Gordon Murray Puppets created the animation of Camberwick Green in
1966 with a string of characters like Windy Miller and Mr Tripp
the milkman. This was followed by Trumpton in 1967.
The Magic Roundabout
first appeared in 1965 with Dylan the
rabbit, Dougal the dog, Brian the snail, Ermintrude the cow and
Zebedee, Florence, Mr MacHenry and Mr Rusty. For older children
there was no escape from Dr Who and the Daleks (1963) with William
Hartnell playing Dr Who until 1966 and then Patrick Troughton
until 1969. And the ultimate patron saint of British children's
television in the 1960s was Gerry Anderson and his
Supermarionation team. 
Having produced the TV puppet series The
Adventures of Twizzle in 1956, Anderson went on to create many
more puppet adventures in the sixties; Supercar (1961), Fireball
XL5 (1963), Thunderbirds
(1965), Captain Scarlet & The
Mysterons (1967), and the boy wonder Joe 90 in 1968.
The big television sensation for kids in America in the late
60s was Batman, a campy live-action interpretation of the popular
comic book. Adam West and Burt Ward starred as the "caped
crusaders" Batman and Robin, whose seemingly endless supply
of villainous opponents included The Joker (Cesar Romero), The
Penguin (Burgess Meredith), The Riddler (Frank Gorshin), and
Catwoman (variously played by Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt and Lee
Merewether).
Television is undoubtedly an important influence in children's
lives. One that helps to determine their taste, attitude and
knowledge of the world. There are people who would argue we
watched too much television as children - that TV corrupted us and
destroyed our childhood in some way.
While that argument may have
some credence in the 21st century, just how corrupted could we
have been by Pinky and Perky,
Andy Pandy, Sooty and Sweep or John
Noakes (well, ok, apart from that last one!). In the good old days
of The Flowerpot Men, Wacky Races and Daktari, all was right with
the world.
The 1970s
In the days before Nickelodeon, kids anticipated every Saturday
morning like it was Christmas. This was our time!
Three of the
most popular new kids shows in the 70s were all about people (or
animals) in rock bands; Josie and the Pussycats, animated
forerunners of bands like The Go-Go's and
The Bangles; Lancelot
Link, Secret Chimp, a live-action spy spoof starring a cast of
chimpanzees who also played in a band called the Evolution
Revolution; and The Partridge Family, a sitcom about a family that
decided to form a rock band. In the grand tradition of The Monkees,
The Partridge Family (based on real-life family pop group
The Cowsills) actually had several chart hits, including I Think I
Love You. David Cassidy, who played the family's eldest son and
lead singer, was featured regularly in teenybopper magazines like
16 and Tiger Beat.
|
