EDUCATION|ENTERTAINMENT|TIME TRAVEL

Years When Television Was My Babysitter And I Was A “Latchkey Kid”

These are the top (and terrific) shows that helped shape my character and guide me into young adulthood

The above photo is a terrible photo of me, but it’s the only one I have with me showing my house key around my neck.

A latchkey kid, or latchkey child, is a child who returns to an empty home after school or a child who is often left at home with no supervision because their parents are away at work. The child can be any age, alone or with siblings. -Wikipedia

My mom was a single parent who worked a full-time job, and sometimes, she worked a part-time job for extra money.

She moved away from South Philadelphia, where most of my family lived, to North Philly, which is where one of my 4 uncles lived and another uncle worked.

I attended after school daycare until I was in third grade. Then I started being dropped off by the school bus at the corner of my street around 3:15pm and walked home where I stayed until my mom got home around 5:30 or 6pm.

The following picture showcases several different styles of TVs my family owned throughout my childhood.

My mom was not a stickler about me doing my homework at any particular time, nor did it take much time for me to do it. So, once I got inside my house, I always turned the TV on right away!

My mom generally did the same because she loves television.

Ironically, once I left home at 18 years old, I stopped watching television on any kind of regular basis.

However, until the time I graduated high school, I would say that I was heavily into watching TV.

So when Misty Rae wrote a story about the top 10 TV shows that shaped her and asked others to share theirs, I immediately traveled back in time and thought to myself, “How am I going to choose the best??!”

Then I read the story by Pierce McIntyre that inspired her and at the end he wrote:

If you want to list more or less than 10 shows — go for it. Whatever makes you happy!

Sooo here I am, “going for it” by sharing 12 FANTASTIC television shows from the 80s and 90s

-along with video clips from them, as a response to these stories, and as an, “Ode to my youth.”

1 Thundercats (1985- 1989)

Despite the fact that I cheetahs and leopards were my favorite animals, I absolutely loved the female character, “Cheetara,” in the show. I can still sing all the lyrics to the opening song and think that this show was BADASS!

2 Garfield and Friends (1988–1994)

I was a big fan of the comic strip Garfield and was overjoyed when the cartoon came to life. The hardest part was getting up by 10am on Saturdays to watch it. My mom nor I are “morning people”.

3 Transformers (1984–1987)

I was so in love with this show. Optimus Prime was like a father figure to me. I was only 11 when this show was discontinued and I was completely crushed…when it eventually became a movie many years later, I was elated! But the films don’t compare to those years of watching these cartoons on a regular basis.

4 I Dream of Jeannie (1965–1970)

Even though this show, and the following, “Bewitched,” were already over by the time I was born, they lived on through re-runs! I loved the idea of witches and sorcerers. How badly I wished I had superpowers….

5 Bewitched (1964-1972)

6 Good Times (1974–1979)

This show was my heart! I could especially relate to all of the children who were main characters as well: JJ, Thelma and Michael. It featured a Black family in the housing projects, which is where I lived until I was 7 years old. They were all shown in ways that I didn’t see elsewhere on television. I especially loved that JJ was portrayed as a gifted artist, Thelma as gorgeous and Michael as extremely intelligent (as well as being a political and social activist).

7 The Facts of Life (1979–1988)

These girls, and their “housemother”, taught me a LOT about topics related to adolescence, puberty and life in general. My mom didn’t like talking about such things with me, which made me pay attention that much more!

The Facts of Life is an American television sitcom created by Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon and a spin-off of Diff’rent Strokes that originally aired on NBC from August 24, 1979, to May 7, 1988, making it one of the longest-running sitcoms of the 1980s. The series focuses on Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae), as she becomes a housemother (and from the second season onward, a dietitian as well) at the fictional Eastland School, an all-girls boarding school in Peekskill, New York

-Wikipedia

8 Diff’rent Strokes (1978–1985)

I had a big crush on Willis and Dudley. This show also addressed some serious social issues which was uncommon to do in sit-coms during that time.

The series made stars out of Coleman, Bridges and Plato and became known for the “very special episodes” in which serious issues such as racism, illegal drug use, alcoholism, hitchhiking, kidnapping and child sexual abuse were dramatically explored.

I also daydreamed about what it would be to adopted or “taken in” by a rich family, which is an aspect of what I liked about this one and the following one, “Rags to Riches.”

The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson, respectively, two African-American boys from Harlem taken in by a rich white Park Avenue businessman and widower, Phillip Drummond (Conrad Bain), for whom their deceased mother previously worked, and his daughter Kimberly (Dana Plato).

-Wikipedia

9 Rags to Riches (1987–1988)

10 The Wonder Years (1988–1993)

In 1988, I turned 12 years old, which accounts for the shift in my taste. I became boy crazy and was somewhat obsessed with finding out any and everything I could (remember, no Internet) about dating, love and sex.

It was also (apparently) a DAMN GOOD SHOW!

The show earned a spot in the Nielsen Top 30 during its first four seasons.[5] TV Guide named it one of the 20 best shows of the 1980s. After six episodes, The Wonder Years won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1988.

The show was also awarded a Peabody Award in 1989 for “pushing the boundaries of the sitcom format and using new modes of storytelling”.

In total, the series won 22 awards and was nominated for 54 more.

-Wikipedia

11 21 Jump Street (1987–1991)

My longest running celebrity crush has to be Johnny Depp, which started with this show. I don’t know exactly when the magic with Depp faded for me, but this show still lights my fire and reminds me of how excited I used to get when it would came on.

I think it’s the first “detective, crime or cop” type of show I ever liked. I could relate it because I was in high school at the time and Holly Robinson, a featured actress, looked of mixed ethnicity, like me, which was rare for me to see.

The series focuses on a squad of youthful-looking undercover police officers investigating crimes in high schools, colleges, and other teenage venues.

-Wikiepedia

12 My So Called Life (1994–1995)

This show was so short-lived, yet had a huge impact on my life at that time. I later learned that I wasn’t alone in these feelings. I thought Jared Leto was one of the most beautiful boys I’d ever seen, but it was the unexpected, uncommon and deep themes that the show brought to light that made me fall in love with it.

My So-Called Life dealt with major social issues of the mid-1990s, including child abuse, homophobia, teenage alcoholism, homelessness, adultery, school violence, censorship, and drug use. Many shows at the time used these themes as a one-time issue (a “very special episode”) that was introduced as a problem at the beginning of an episode and resolved at the end, but on My So-Called Life these issues were part of the continuing storyline. The title of the show alludes to the perception of meaninglessness that many teenagers experience and encapsulates the main theme of the series. The show depicts the teenage years as being difficult and confusing rather than a light, fun-filled time.

And you? Care to share which, if any, television shows shaped who you are as a person?

Any and everyone are welcome to respond with your favorites and/or write your own story about them.

Natasha Nichole Lake, JA Vassili, Gerald Washington, Ticapo, Nathalie Clair, Richard Steele, Crystal A. Walker, Purbita Chakraborty, Lucy Socha, Andrea