| 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.
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