What do kids do these days? [Archive] - Armageddon Games Forums

phattonez

02-09-2008, 02:31 AM

Remember just a few years ago how we would have shows on that we could watch after school? Great cartoons that are still funny when you're old (I found an old episode of Histeria today and it's funnier than the crap I see in movies I pay for today), programming made just for our age group. What happened to that? The only kids shows that I can think of are on Nickelodeon and Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, and maybe a few others. But the shows on these channels don't compare to what we had on network TV. Why have they abandoned kids' programming? Why are there no great kids' shows anymore?

Modus Ponens

02-09-2008, 03:20 AM

That's a great question. Only a few years ago, Dexter's Laboratory was on a lot, and while I was certainly never a kid while it was on, I can imagine that I'd love it if I had been. And there were other great kids' shows that aren't on anymore besides cartoons; let's not forget the genius that was Square One Television. Man, I ate that shit up.

Nicholas Steel

02-09-2008, 07:21 AM

cartoon channels on pay TV is terrible. the advertising is so damn repetitive it gives you a migraine.

the adventures of tintin were a pretty good cartoon based on the comic strips... there were tons of other good cartoons on abc then too... it i ssad they are gone but at least there are some good classic bugs bunny cartoons (not the new ones) and other old classic cartoons shown on bris31 (kids capers).

of course briz 31 is only in parts of australia.

Blisspath

02-09-2008, 09:37 AM

Pretty much all of children's television is awful these days. What I never see is children outside. I used to swim and play ball outside for hours a day...I live next to a tennis/basketball court now and can't remember the last time I saw someone under 30 using them. This is part of the reason that we have a huge obesity problem.

Nicholas Steel

02-09-2008, 10:01 AM

well, i believe the turn in cartoon quality is due to brainwashing our youth. i guess we became immune to there old styles and now there taking a new much worse approach to it.

The_Amaster

02-09-2008, 11:15 AM

Yoshiman

02-09-2008, 11:58 AM

There's a possibility that there's a generation gap starting to form between us and younger kids. All of the shows that people listed as "the good old shows" are the ones we grew up with. I'm pretty sure that when those kids grow up, they're going to be remembering the days of Spongebob Squarepants and Fairly Oddparents.

When my dad was growing up, he watched shows like Gilligan's Island, Captain Kangaroo, and Bugs Bunny. Now, while I've never seen Captain Kangaroo, I never became fond of Gilligan's Island. It just wasn't something I liked. And I'm fairly sure my dad wasn't fond of Dexter's Lab or most of the local Saturday morning cartoons I watched.

I don't like a whole lot of the newer cartoons myself. But here's the thing: We're all adults or at least close to adults. I bet if we were all 5 to 8 year olds, we would think Spongebob was awesome.

Lilith

02-09-2008, 01:53 PM

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Skulkraken

02-09-2008, 03:40 PM

I'd say most kids these days spend enough time online in games like Halo or browsing networking sites like Myspace that they just don't bother watching cartoons that much. When I was trying out the God of War 2 demo at Gamestop, a kid (around 10-12) walked in wanting to know about the game, because he'd already played through the first one. Between that and stuff like Call of Duty or World of Warcraft to command the attention of tweens and teens, it seems the only real audience left for cartoon makers to pitch to is pre-schoolers.

Shyvus

02-09-2008, 04:01 PM

These days? Homework and job hunting. And homework. And more job hunting.

When I was actually a kid, I'd go play outside until the street lights came on and then come in and read. I'd have sleepovers with the neighborhood kids and get homesick and go home at 10 pm but what I thought was 1pm. I'd go visit my grandparents. I'd write books and make up things. I'd go to work with my parents and attack his coworkers with my 5-year-old charm. :tongue:

I went through a TV phase, but my parents taped newspaper over the TV or kept it on the weather channel. They would also put it on mute, but I could still hear it, oddly.

The weather channel was actually pretty cool. It was boring and kinda ugly back then too. Orange and blue.

Pineconn

02-09-2008, 04:55 PM

I think one of the main reasons is the decline of Kids WB. I mean, they had the Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Looney Toons, Freakazoid, a lot of the classics. Square One had the best educational yet interesting stuff, and Cartoon Network seems to have gone for this more "serious" cartoons angle, which sucks.

Come on, you're forgetting Pokémon. :p Pokémon is was is a great show. :D

I grew entirely, and thankfully, out of cartoons. I cannot watch an episode of Spongebob or any of that without wanting to claw out my own eyes. I'm pretty much at the reality show/game show stage of life. Next stop: The History and Weather Channels.

Modus Ponens

02-09-2008, 05:04 PM

I would LOVE to see a Wind Waker cartoon. It has a ton of potential for adventure and comedy. I think kids would really get into it, and I know a lot of adult Zelda fans would dig it too.

phattonez

02-09-2008, 05:56 PM

I can still watch kids shows from my day, and it's not because of nostalgia, it's because they were genuinely funny (at least some of them). I'm pretty sure that most of these came from Warner Bros., whatever happened to them?

Archibaldo

02-09-2008, 07:12 PM

It's all the old Nickelodeon stuff that was awesome. But then you get to highschool and forget about that stuff. But I think the shows that are on now may not be appealing to us, but they are to the kids that they're designed for.

But to answer your question, the internet and video games are what kids do now.

Masamune

02-10-2008, 05:19 AM

I started working at a Chuck E. Cheese type place, and whenever I run the ticket redemption counter, everyone calls the gummy hamburger candies "Krabby Patties". When the fuck did the word hamburger get replaced with Krabby Patty?

Yoshiman

02-10-2008, 12:10 PM

The_Amaster

02-10-2008, 12:52 PM

You know, SpongeBob kinda sucks lately. I mean, the first three seasons or so? Hilarious. But I've seen a couple of the newer ones and they just aren't the same.

phattonez

02-10-2008, 02:46 PM

The show is great if you're into farce. If not, then it's a terrible show.

Feasul

02-10-2008, 09:32 PM

WindStrike

02-10-2008, 09:44 PM

Before the dawn of the 21st century (or even earlier, given my limited knowledge of years due to my age), there was common sense in most everything. Now everything is the byproduct of randomness without even the slightest amount of common sense to go with it. I've seen some of the newer cartoons briefly (while at my friend's house)... bits and pieces of some of them are good, but past that... ... stupidity and either "uncommon sense" or "common nonsense" reign over the rest.

... oh... and has anyone noticed WHAT is being rated as "G"? Compared to about 5 years ago, it could go in either PG or PG-13 (not kidding).

The_Amaster

02-10-2008, 09:53 PM

Now everything is the byproduct of randomness without even the slightest amount of common sense to go with it.
See, that's where the Animaniacs got it right. They went so far that direction that they shot out the other side in the realm of "over the top".
Whereas like you said, today people try to mix randomness with reality, and it sucks. If your going to be random, make sure you go all the way. If you don't, if theres even some reality in there, then you've lost it, and made a sucky show to boot.

erm2003

02-10-2008, 10:10 PM

... oh... and has anyone noticed WHAT is being rated as "G"? Compared to about 5 years ago, it could go in either PG or PG-13 (not kidding).

QFT. I have noticed this trend over the past several years and I can only imagine that it will continue to get worse.

Shyvus

02-10-2008, 10:21 PM

I don't know how much exercise has to do with fat kids. I didn't grow up in front of a TV and played outside every day, but I was a porker kid. I weighed 170 when I was 13.

I gotta blame the parents on this one. I lived off of school lunches and microwave burritos. The moment we started getting real food, Zing, off came most of the weight, and I had stopped playing outside because I started getting homework. I have never seen a fat kid in a family that cooks dinner in something other than a microwave.

And about movie ratings... I was watching R movies when I was five, and I have no criminal record. I've never even had a detention. So I'm not in agreement with the "Movies make kids kill people" argument. I think boredom has more to do with violence than anything else.

Aegix Drakan

02-10-2008, 10:27 PM

When I have kids, they will never ever watch Bob the Builder of Hannah Montana. I am raising my children on Power Rangers, both Batman:TAS and The Batman, the old Sonic show (the good one, not the campy one, and not Sonic X. You know the one I'm talking about.), pretty much anything they used to show on Kids WB (I'm talking Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Jackie Chan Adventures, Animaniacs), a whole host of animes, and, because my girlfriend demands it, Darkwing Duck.
Oh yeah, and they'll exercise and junk, do schoolwork, blah blah blah.

:P Good plan. Those were good shows for the time (yeah for darkwing duck and old school sonic!). But please, if you show them power rangers, only show the first season. The series began going down the crapper once the heroes stopped having to juggle saving the world with school. Oh, and throw in Winnie the pooh for the heck of it. Can't go wrong with that.

About Animaniacs: If your going to be random, make sure you go all the way. If you don't, if theres even some reality in there, then you've lost it, and made a sucky show to boot.

Exactly. Animaniacs was a perfect example of HOW to do random. :P make it so insane that it has no point, so no one tries to learn anything from it. If TV was actually done RIGHT, then maybe we wouldn't have so many people who have absolutely no common sense! You either make the kid show so that it help instill some common sense, or you make it so over the top that no one would even TRY to learn from it.

Wind and Amaster have hit the nail on the head IMO. The only shows that are popular today (that I have seen because of my younger brother) that are even remotely worth watching are Fairly odd parents (It actually made me laugh out loud a few times), and Teen Titans.

and everything else > survivor > sponge bob

>_> I don't know HOW anyone can stand that show. All the characters are such total MORONS that they make my brain bleed.

...this topic is making me nostalgic...*goes to listen to the original power rangers main theme*

...I miss being a little kid...

phattonez

02-10-2008, 10:37 PM

I haven't noticed this, how bad have rated G movies gotten?

Pineconn

02-10-2008, 10:45 PM

I'm with you. I haven't noticed how bad G movies are, but one could make a case in saying that a lot of PG-13 movies should be rated R. Any modern movie with Adam Sandler in it should be rated R, too.

phattonez

02-10-2008, 10:52 PM

The Longest Yard should have been rated R? Why?

The_Amaster

02-10-2008, 10:52 PM

I haven't really noticed poorly rated G movies, so much as the lack of G movies at all. It seems that no childrens film these days doesn't get rated PG, and 95% of the time, it's because of "crude humor". Ohh, he just farted, tee hee.

Nicholas Steel

02-10-2008, 11:51 PM

cinderella, dumbo, little mermaid and the jungle book DVD's are all rated G yet any other movies with the same level of violence or what-have-you are rated PG.

i think the best cartoon series was road runner rofl... maybe not but it was still a good laugh. Ren & Stimpy... OMG we used to absolutely adore this series... my bro got a box set of it recently and we've managed to get through all except the last disc.... it is just completely horrible lol.

another awesome cartoon/episode was that Bugs Bunny one where he's forced to read a book of a thousand stories to the sultan's son....

Feasul

02-10-2008, 11:52 PM

I could never stand Ren and Stimpy. I just thought in wasn't funny or clever or anything.

cinderella, dumbo, little mermaid and the jungle book DVD's are all rated G yet any other movies with the same level of violence or what-have-you are rated PG.
Don't forget the racism in Lion King and Aladdin.
I really couldn't care less what movies are rated. They're just a vague guideline for parents, anyway, there's no law about what kids can watch with adult supervision, except for NC-17. Except for autists, kids have an amazing capacity for distinguishing fiction from reality. No kid is going to obtain bad manners from watching 8 Crazy Nights or South Park. They'll obtain bad manners when they try out what they see in those shows/movies and don't learn that it's wrong from authority figures.
Oh, and of course I'd only show old-skool PR. If Rita or Zed isn't in it, chuck it.

MasterSwordUltima

02-11-2008, 04:56 AM

Heh, I do remember coming home from school, turning on the TV to watch Speed Racer, and Birdman, and Voltron, and Thundercats. Actually, whenever I would go to my grandfather's house on saturdays, play with some legos and watch all the good hanna-barbera shows. It was splendid.

I don't remember ever seeing any Dexter's Lab shirts or hats or anything, but theres Spongebob everything these days, its pretty sad really. I mean the cartoons and whatnot were fun, but I never obsessed over it like they're almost making kids do. Because if a kid sees a cartoon character on a shirt, they're gonna wanna get that shirt, and so now its a lot more important that they sit down and watch it, whereas for me, it was just something to have on as I played with legos.

Nicholas Steel

02-11-2008, 05:46 AM

I could never stand Ren and Stimpy. I just thought in wasn't funny or clever or anything.

i was like 10 then >.> now im 20 (this year) and know better :P

MSU, they are forcing/pushing kids to get the merchandise. thats the problem now. cartoons used to be about entertainment, but now they are about selling merchandise.

erm2003

02-11-2008, 06:25 AM

I think with the movie ratings the more obvious thing is with PG movies. They can get away with things in there (language, topics, etc.) that were usually rated PG-13 10-20 years ago. I can't quite remember anything specific as an example, but I know they are out there. You can watch the movie and think, wow, I can't believe they can say that.

Aegix Drakan

02-11-2008, 11:12 AM

lol...legos...yeah...I remember that...:D those were so fun!

XD when My best friend and I were about 13ish and addicted to RPGs and lego, I made this HUGE world out of lego, with a techno-city (with random people named after characters from FF7), a medieval area (with this REALLY bad looking 3 floored castle made form random bricks, and complete with drawbridge), a tiny jungle, and a desert (with a really cool fort and stuff). :P We were supposed to do this whole RPG thing that went through the WHOLE thing. ...we only made it about midway through the medieval island. *sigh* I'd LOVE to have that huge set up again...it was awesome. I even had each of the sections blocked off in such a way that you needed certain items to progress to each section.

...I haven't touched Lego since I was about 17-early 18. :P I'd play with my brother. I still have that kickass spaceship I adapted from a larger set. Well..I kinda outgrew it. >_> I can't get into my role playing with legos/toys anymore, much to the chagrin of my younger brother (who's become a master Lego builder himself)

Don't forget the racism in Lion King and Aladdin.

?_? ehh...what? Racism in the lion king?

Oh, and of course I'd only show old-skool PR. If Rita or Zed isn't in it, chuck it.

:P *lifts Can of soda to that*

MasterSwordUltima

02-11-2008, 11:21 AM

You'd be surprised at the amount of attention legos still get. There are a couple sites out there dedicated on showcasing/showing how to make custom mini-figures. Its actually quite insane on what they do.

Theres also this:The Ultimate Lego Rubberband Gun (http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgiUSEpg8Xc)

Skulkraken

02-11-2008, 07:43 PM

Didn't we have a thread a while back featuring Lego stuff?

Also, I'm having trouble seeing how racism shows up in The Lion King. I've re-watched it with my family just a short time ago, and the only things I notice are the biblical undertones from Mufasa appearing in a stormcloud and telling Simba that he is "the one true king" ... and Scar's musical number, which has hyenas marching like Nazis and places him in the role of Hitler. Looking at the behind-the-scenes stuff, I find it hard to believe that the higher-ups in Disney actually thought that Pocahontas was going to be liked more.

Aegix Drakan

02-11-2008, 10:13 PM

You'd be surprised at the amount of attention legos still get.

:P Oh no, I wouldn't. My younger bro really keeps up to date on any new sets coming out (particularily the Star wars, and Indiana jones set [Which he says have recently come out] )

Pineconn

02-11-2008, 10:16 PM

Also, I'm having trouble seeing how racism shows up in The Lion King.

It was something about these two lions, how one was supposed to be Hispanic and the other black... something like that. And, of course, the most amusing Lion King innuendo bust was finding the word "SEX" in a picture.

Skulkraken

02-12-2008, 02:37 AM

Was Scar the lion who was supposed to represent blacks? Personally, I just thought the darker color of his mane and all was there more because dark colors are the traditional colors of villains, not because of intent to show racism. Can an evil mastermind honestly look menacing and dangerous in bright pink or yellow, or some other rainbowy color?

The word "SEX" is definitely in there. It's in the swirling leaves that take to the wind and head for Rafiki's tree in the scene where Simba gets depressed about his father not being there for him and just plops himself on the ground. That was definitely intentional.

Feasul

02-12-2008, 04:19 PM

It's actually not "SEX," it's "SFX" and it was a joke by the effects department. The racism has to do with all the hyenas being black or something. The racism in Aladdin is that all the good guys have European accents and all the bad guys have Middle-Eastern accents. Don't ask me, I haven't seen them in years, I'm just vomiting up stuff I got from Wikipedia.
Ooh, all this lego talk is reminding me of the old days when my brother and I would take all of our toys that we kept downstairs and pit them in an epic battle against the toys we kept upstairs. Those were the good ol' days.
And anybody who has a crapton of old Legos they don't want, I'll take 'em. I've decided I want to make Middle Earth out of Legos, and I don't have nearly enough.

Pineconn

02-12-2008, 05:15 PM

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1f/Lionkg2.jpg

It's funnier thinking it says "SEX".

Aegix Drakan

02-12-2008, 09:50 PM

Ooh, all this lego talk is reminding me of the old days when my brother and I would take all of our toys that we kept downstairs and pit them in an epic battle against the toys we kept upstairs. Those were the good ol' days.

*FLASHBACK!*

...^_^ My brother and I did something like that one time. We had this crazy epic Advance wars style battle in my room one time when we were bored. his almost limitless army of model cars, toy soldiers, and this giant robot, against my armada of lego, bionicle figures and some weird draogn made out of another construciton thing. ... :P I let him win, though.

...man...I'd love to be able to do that again...but roleplaying with toys is kinda beyond my reach now... :( It's one of those crappy things about growing older. You can't seem to do the same things you did when you were a kid...

likesallusions

02-12-2008, 11:02 PM

I remember when Toonami would come on after school, I would watch Sailor Moon, He-Man, Thundercats, Pokemon and Dragon Ball (and Z, but not so much GT) were good too. Invader Zim (or the first I saw) was funny. The more modern Pokemon I don't really watch, but I think you can't beat the classic pokemon. Oh, and Megas XLR was pretty funny, but I don't think they show it anymore. *M*A*S*H* is cool! So are Legos! For some reason, I'm an eighties person. (I Love Lucy is cute, too. And Miracle on 34th Street.) The most visible side to society (or standard of society or something) to us is plummeting, in my opinion.