Stuff from childhood that just doesn't hold up

I watched Meatballs last week (it was my exercising-in-the-garage movie, 1/2 hour a day on the treadmill, before school). I remember this as being one of the coolest, funniest movies of my early teen/high school years (late 70s to mid 80s). I probably hadn't seen it for 20 years.

I wanted to like it, really I did. But...it just wasn't that good.

Another similar experience I can recall was seeing a rerun of a Welcome Back Kotter episode a few years ago. When I was 9 or 10, I watched that show every week - if only I could have those hours back now! The rerun was awful - just that one episode made me remember how every one of them was the same. Every week Vinnie said "What? What?" Horshack said "Ooo! Ooo! Oo Oo!" Epstein had a note from his mother. And I watched that crap EVERY WEEK!

So does anybody else out there have something they used to love (music, movies, TV, books, favorite stars, etc.) that now leaves you wondering "What was I thinking?"

I second Welcome Back Kotter. To me, all of that 70s sit com stuff that I loved is just awful. Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Brady Bunch. When I see the crap on Nick that my kids watch like I Carly and Hannah Montana its clearly the same formula, same jokes, probably the same writers. Beware the media industrial complex.

I like Ike!

I remember watching "The Dukes of Hazzard" every week with my family. I was a wreck if we missed an episode. We couldn't tape it to watch for later, and DVR's were just a sci-fi dream back then. Life revolved around tv schedules!

A couple of months ago, in the spirit of sharing childhood memories with the kids, we got the complete 1st season from the library to watch. We snuggled in on the couch and prepared for the greatest car chase show on earth. After 2 episodes, I was tired of the slow-speed chases, and the kids were like...there's no way that the General Lee drove off from that. Yeah, it just wasn't the same as I remembered.

Perhaps our childhood memories are better left as memories?

hrg

I watched the end of Billy Madison last night.

I was like 12 or something when it came out.

Boy that movie is awful now.

I was so dumb back then.


At least I am fatter now.


BK

I was faithfully devoted to The Monkees as a kid and tried watching a few years ago. Maybe if I was not sober, it would've been better but it was plain awful!
Any of the Sid/Marty Krofft stuff, is pretty bad to watch now. Most of it seems like some "trip" -maybe that's why I liked it in highschool?!

I remember telling mommy telling me "NO WIRE HANGERS"



I loved happy days, loved that show every week the entire run. For some dumb amazon.com reason I purchased a box set of Happy Days.... totally lame, sooooo lame. No wonder Weezer mocked it in their video.

A lot of the stuff I enjoyed as a kid that I've seen recently still holds up pretty well, just not like how it was when I was a kid! The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies from the early 90's are an exception...those are terrible! Gleaming The Cube with Christian Slater was another movie that I was stoked on, but no longer am.

I've seen a few movies that came out when I was younger that targeted my age group and interests back in those days recently and they were pretty terrible. Like the Wizard with Fred Savage and Jenny Lewis (see the band Rilo Kiley, or better yet... her solo album with the Watson Twins)...that movie was probably garbage back then...

tvthewiredturtle wrote:

Happy Days.... totally lame, sooooo lame. No wonder Weezer mocked it in their video.

Man, I forgot about Happy Days...Laverne and Shirley, too. I HAD to see those every week. I'm sure I'd hate them now. Do they ever show the really old episodes, the ones that still had Rock Around The Clock as the theme? Before Fonzie got the leather jacket? I recall those as being better, probably because they hadn't started recycling themselves yet.

Shifting to music: Barry Manilow was huge in our house. We had 8-track versions of Even Now and One Voice that got played over and over. I found vinyl copies at Goodwill a few years ago - let's just say my tastes have evolved since then!

Happy Days hit syndication while it was still on the air in prime time, which allowed me to watch it almost every day. I also allowed me to revisit the first season, the one with Richie's older brother Chuck, who seemingly disappeared from the show after that. I can't remember for sure, but I think there was no studio audience that first year to tell you when you were supposed to laugh. As a kid, I thought those episodes were boring, but I think now they were among the best of the series. The music and hair and costumes were more authentic (I get a kick out of the 70s hair that would creep into the show in subsequent seasons) and Fonzie had yet to don the leather jacket - he was definitely more of a supporting character at the time. Having said that, I don't mind Happy Days as much, as I will stop and watch an episode if I stumble upon it. It's more nostalgic now - not for the 50s, but for my own childhood. But I do marvel at how popular it was in its time.

I never really got into Laverne and Shirley, (although the Lenny and the Squigtones album was and is still hilarious) but I loved another Happy Days spin-off, the equally cringe-worthy Mork and Mindy. There was a Mork marathon on a couple of years ago, and I tried to get my daughter (who was the same age I was when the show first aired) and she just shook her head and said, "Dad, this is lame." I had to agree.

Nanu, nanu-billy

oh man we loved Mork and Mindy!

I just got an email that the Six Million Dollar Man is out on DVD now! Now that was a show I never missed as a kid. I am soooo afraid to watch it now. I just know it's going to be terrible. Super slow-motion action with that nutty bionic sound effect - nenenenenenenene, the bigfoot episode, the bionic woman, the bionic boy... If I don't watch it, surely it will remain brilliant. Right? Right?

"Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We can make him better than he was before. Better... stronger... faster!"

Bionic-billy

MacGyver.

I haven't seen many of the SNL sendups, but I knew even before they started poking fun at it that the show was schlocky and became dated very quickly... but boy did Mom and I love that show and Richard Dean Anderson at the time.

I own Lenny and the Squigtones - easily one of my favorite albums. "Night After Night" is brilliant:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__8fQh04tjo&feature=player_embedded

It's frightening how many of the shows I loved as a kid I find totally bad now.

I recently bought the first 3 seasons of The Wiseguy with Ken Wahl. I got through two episodes and realized I couldn't stand it anymore. We just got new TV channels here in Oz, so they're being bombarded with old shows.

I used to looooove the A-Team, that's another show that hasn't aged to well for me or me for it, not sure which one, but the one that really surprises me...The Rockford Files!!!! Man I used to love the show. I can still watch it, but I'm really really really surprised that Jim Rockford wasn't killed with all the stupid decisions he made from episode to episode. I think the bad guys just happened to be more stupid.

In terms of shows from my childhood, the only shows that stand up are the cartoons. I recently got The Wacky Races on DVD, man I had a ball with those episode. Dick Dastardly and Mutley are soooo funny.

Love these trips down memory lane without booze.

pony65k wrote:

It's frightening how many of the shows I loved as a kid I find totally bad now.

I recently bought the first 3 seasons of The Wiseguy with Ken Wahl. I got through two episodes and realized I couldn't stand it anymore. We just got new TV channels here in Oz, so they're being bombarded with old shows.

I used to looooove the A-Team, that's another show that hasn't aged to well for me or me for it, not sure which one, but the one that really surprises me...The Rockford Files!!!! Man I used to love the show. I can still watch it, but I'm really really really surprised that Jim Rockford wasn't killed with all the stupid decisions he made from episode to episode. I think the bad guys just happened to be more stupid.

In terms of shows from my childhood, the only shows that stand up are the cartoons. I recently got The Wacky Races on DVD, man I had a ball with those episode. Dick Dastardly and Mutley are soooo funny.

Love these trips down memory lane without booze.

we own the new Ateam movie.. LOVE it!!

Pony,

I was channel-surfing awhile ago, and our local retro network was showing an A-Team episode where they were undercover in some kind of frontier town...maybe a mining community...I forget. All I know is there wasn't a woman in sight. So incorporated into the plot line somehow is the musical guest at the town saloon: Boy George and Culture Club!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og-b4iur-pg

In searching for that clip, I discovered that the entire episode appears to be on YouTube.

How on earth did CC end up on the A-Team? It's almost like Elvis meeting Nixon!

(Well, OK, maybe not, but still...it's really weird.)

Bear85 wrote:

Pony,

I was channel-surfing awhile ago, and our local retro network was showing an A-Team episode where they were undercover in some kind of frontier town...maybe a mining community...I forget. All I know is there wasn't a woman in sight. So incorporated into the plot line somehow is the musical guest at the town saloon: Boy George and Culture Club!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og-b4iur-pg

In searching for that clip, I discovered that the entire episode appears to be on YouTube.

How on earth did CC end up on the A-Team? It's almost like Elvis meeting Nixon!

(Well, OK, maybe not, but still...it's really weird.)

Ye Gods Bear, that was downright awful!!!! I don't think I ever saw that episode the first time round. Aww man, that's scarred me for life

Along the same (but opposite lines) I've been watching some of the James Bond Marathon on SYFI channel this Thanksgiving weekend. I always thought Rodger Moore was a decent Bond when I was a kid, but now as I watch them for the first time in years clearly see that Sean Connery is the one and only. Pierce Brosnan and Moore were ok, but the new guys and new films are just awful. Being a strange hairy little man myself, it's fun to pick out all of the Austin Powers inspirations in the early ones as well.

"Honestly, who throws a shoe?"

I caught part of the James Bond marathon this weekend too, and it only reaffirms my belief that Sean Connery is the best Bond ever. Glad someone else out there shares the same opinion. I could watch the old Bond movies all the time. Dr. No, Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice...so good.

well I like the new guy........!!!!!
maybe its because i like it when films or programs do prequels
totally love that kind of thing like

when star wars for instance.... how darth vador became darth vador
and batman became batman and so on and so forth......

I'm also OK with the new Bond, but then again, I don't have really strong feelings about it either way. I saw Casino Royale, but don't think I'd seen a Bond film since Roger Moore was the guy. So if I completely skipped 30 years (and two actors) worth of Bond films, it must mean I really don't care that much! I never bothered to see Episodes 1-3 of Star Wars, either.

I did, however, like the Star Trek movie that came out one or two years ago. I think they did a great job on that and hope there are more of those on the drawing board.