Thursday, December 07, 2006

Thursday Thirteen #6

Thirteen TV shows that I loved as a kid (and whose theme songs take up too much brain space as an adult)

1. MacGyver: I know I referenced MacGyver in my previous Thursday Thirteen, but my devotion cannot be understated. Since this predated the arrival of the VCR in my parents' house, I used to pray that we would not have to be out anywhere on "MacGyver" night. But why do we have to take him to the hospital? It doesn't look like such a deep cut to me, can't we just put some pressure on it? Besides, Richard Dean Anderson, a hummana hummana hummana . . . .

2. Jem and the Holograms : This show was truly outrageous . . . truly,truly,truly outrageous. I used to watch this in the morning during summer vacation, and wish I was Jerrica Benson. She had it all, folks: - a record company (that someone was trying to sabotage), a super-computer (that could be accessed through her earrings), a hot all-girl band (who apparently hired the same makeup artist as KISS), a dreamy boyfriend named Rio (Rio! Who wouldn't want a boyfriend named Rio, even if he only liked your rock-star alter-ego and didn't know you existed), and best of all, synergy! Outrageous, indeed.

3. The Love Boat : I loved this show for the single reason that my grandmother loved this show, and on nights that I would sleep over at her house, she would let me sit up on her big bed and watch The Love Boat in her room. Really good times.

4. She-Ra: Princess of Power : Basically, this was He-Man for girls, but we all know that Adora could put the hurt on Adam any day of the week. And she had better legs.

5. 3-2-1 Contact : The science nerd in me loved this show, and I always wondered why we never did all those cool experiments in class. Plus, "The Bloodhound Gang" could solve a mystery in about 7 minutes flat, because if "you've got the crime, we've got the time, we're The Bloodhound Gang."

6. Belle and Sebastian : No other show has ever made me want to be an orphaned gypsy wandering the Pyrenees as much as this show. Plus, I also thought a dog with a barrel of "cheer" around its neck would probably come in handy on several occasions.

7. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century : I was not a big fan of space- themed shows, but this was the exception. I mostly wanted my hair to look like Erin Gray's because she was rockin' the 25th century Earth look. (And I am hereby officially conceding to my husband that he has been correct all along about the name of Buck Rogers' robot sidekick, which is Twiki, not "Twinky" like I used to think.)

8. The Great Space Coaster : "Come on board for the Great Space Coaster . . ." This was such a trippy show, but I had the same rainbow overalls as one of the characters, so I was hooked. Plus it had Gary Gnu, and we all know that "no gnus is good gnus."

9. The Young Riders : While all my friends were deciding which New Kid they liked the best, I was obsessing over the Pony Express and the wild west. I used to have a handmade poster in my room that proclaimed this "The Greatest Show on Earth" -- well, that and the circus, apparently.

10. Scarecrow and Mrs. King : The reruns of this show were in my parents' post-VCR era and I used many a hard -earned babysitting dollar to buy blank VHS tapes so that I could watch (and re-watch), and subsequently memorize, every episode of this show. A sickness, I tell you . . .

11. Thundercats : Looking back on it now, this show was virtually riddled with sexual imagery (yelling "Thunder, thunder, thunder, thundercats, HO!!!!!" while your sword grows to preposterous lengths? Really, Lion-O?), but I never realized it at the time. It gives me hope that my kids will go on to lives as productive citizens, even if they are (inadvertently) exposed to crap in their childhoods.

12. Voltron : My question: when will the team realize that when a strange ship/air freight cargo box lands on the planet, it always houses another Robeast? Oh, and that the Robeast will always go for the Blue Lion first because that is the one piloted by Princess Allura (who was the team newbie and a valuable hostage rolled into one)? Come on, guys, use your heads.

13. Battle of the Planets : OK, I didn't actually watch this because I was only 2 when it was on, but this is a little "seven-zark-seven," "G-force," "always 5 acting as one," love note to my husband.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Karen W

Huberama

Christie

Chupieandj'smama

ancsweetandsassygal

Amy Linder

Brony

Carrie

Jenny Ryan


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!


17 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:53 PM

    I loved watching Love Boat. That was fun. Great list!

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  2. when i was in grade 6 my family moved to Belguim. there was no English TV. we came home in the summer for a visit and discovered the wonder that was The Love Boat. my sisters and i spent the entire "welcome home" BBQ glued to the TV watching...

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  3. oh. my. god. i'm dying over here! jem! macgyver! 321 contact! The Great Space Coaster! buck rogers! I'm dying! I LOVED these! Oh, and V the Final Battle, do you remember this mini-series? I was in LOVE with Donovan. Oh the memories.. Great list, what a flashback!

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  4. I loved the Love Boat too. Now when I see parts of it in reruns it looks so cheesy:) Thanks for visiting!

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  5. Anonymous7:31 PM

    I loved Gil Gerard as Buck Rogers..wow, did he look good in that space suit. Great list. My TT is up on why I don't have a cat.

    Merry Christmas

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  6. Anonymous8:21 PM

    Great list!

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  7. I loved the Great Space Coaster! I knew my hubby was "the one" when he was able to sing/remind me how the song went for that theme song.

    Amy :)

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  8. Now I'll never get the Love Boat theme song out of my head, and I was about to go to bed.

    Happy TT!

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  9. i loved love boat too! and macgyver too. i'll admit that i was silly and loved little house on the prairie too.

    i haven't thought about 321 contact in ages, yes, it was a cool show too! wonder if we could get that on dvd...

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  10. Anonymous10:01 PM

    This has nothing to do with your current post...

    While perusing your posts to avoid a take-home-final, i came across the Squeaky wheel post. What an awesome tshirt site! Being an engineer rather than a scientist, I sent the administrator an email inquiring about the incorporation of engineering shirts in addition to the science ones. I got a response very quickly saying she'd add some to the shop and if she sells 5 she'll send me a free one.

    What a nice study break. :-)

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  11. Anonymous1:32 PM

    Finally my cartoon-watching habits have come in handy! Check out the Adult Swim Fix. You can watch episodes of Voltron for free, err, I mean, the fee is $5 an episode, but if you give the money to me, I'll make sure it gets to the "right people".

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  12. I can specifically remember the MacGyver obsession, as well as the Scarecrow and Mrs King obsession. I do, however, seem to recall something about Hardcastle & McCormick...or was that just us being goofy?

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  13. Anonymous5:19 PM

    Yeah, MacGyver was awesome!!

    Did you ever watch Wings? I remember one episode when Thomas Hayden Church's character would not stop talking about what MacGyver would be able to do in all the situations in which they found themselves.

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  14. Meg -- I think Hardcastle & McCormick was all us!

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  15. So with you on MacGuyver and Jem.

    My husband managed to get me into watching Stargate with him solely because of the presence of Richard Dean Anderson.

    And I may or may not still be in possession of a Jem and the Holograms cassette tape. I'll never tell.

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  16. Oh, and I totally forgot to mention that I had one teacher who used to let me watch 3, 2, 1 Contact IN SCHOOL sometimes. Which was, of course, totally awesome.

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  17. Anonymous7:44 AM

    Love the list- esp. the love boat story. I used to watch Hart to Hart and Gunsmoke because I'd watch them with my grandfather when I stayed over.
    mirabella mom

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