# Things you loved as a kid that you now think are terrible **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 20, 2023, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857 "2023-06-20T20:44:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/1 "2023-06-20T20:44:06Z")
This is a companion thread to the things you still like, but now it’s things that are objectively awful and you struggle to understand what you liked about them originally. This is NOT the thread for things you’ve naturally outgrown, like I no longer play videogame football for hours at a time with my friends, but it was a fine activity for a young man, and I’m not embarrassed for having done it, I just don’t do it anymore. OTOH… watching Justice League, the cartoon series, that show is hot garbage, was always garbage, and I feel shame for encouraging the network to continue airing it. I also read, re-read and enjoyed some lousy books, like Battlefield Earth and the Xanth series. I suppose Xanth was OK for a few books, but I read a couple dozen of the things… bleh. In fact, I read a LOT of Piers Anthony books and feel creepy about pretty much all of them these days. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/2 "2023-06-20T20:49:26Z")
Wonder bread and margarine. My mom was a hippy so we got whole wheat. I thought squishy, sweet commercial white bread was the bomb. I wouldn’t refuse it now if I was on a river trip or something, but it’s barely a food… ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/3 "2023-06-20T20:56:13Z")
Marshmallow fluff. And Van Halen. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/4 "2023-06-20T21:04:26Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > OTOH… watching Justice League, the cartoon series, that show is hot garbage, was always garbage, and I feel shame for encouraging the network to continue airing it. Back in 1999 or 2000, Cartoon Network started showing episodes of the original Thundercats form the 1980s. I had to run home from school in 4th grade in order to catch an episode and I absolutely loved the hell out of it. As an adult, I couldn’t make it through a single episode. My mother was right, that show was insanely stupid. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/5 "2023-06-20T21:09:22Z")
Cap’n Crunch. Food of the gods at age 8 or 10. Tried it again at age ~35. Could not finish a bowl, much less a box. Now 30ish years further along not even gonna try. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/6 "2023-06-20T21:09:49Z")
Chef Boy-Ar-Dee is the first thing to come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/7 "2023-06-20T21:12:19Z")
My parents? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/8 "2023-06-20T21:13:39Z")
Never could tolerate Chef Boy Ar Dee. Spaghetti-Os on the other hand were once awesome. Not so much anymore. Although the kid on the CBAD can was later one of my roommates in college. Growing up in LA has some weird side effects. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/9 "2023-06-20T21:17:20Z")
Not “terrible,” but just the other day I had my 12-year-old read a Mad Magazine (compilation of pieces from the 1990s), and he made an astute comment: “Dad, these were written by a bunch of _men_, right? I can tell.” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/10 "2023-06-20T21:17:36Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > OTOH… watching Justice League, the cartoon series, that show is hot garbage, was always garbage, and I feel shame for encouraging the network to continue airing it. The first thing I thought of was 80s cartoons. As a whole, they had horrible writing and production values. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/11 "2023-06-20T21:20:25Z")
Watching _Laugh-in_ is kinda painful now. 50-55 years ago when I was a tween-teen it was great. It was aimed at adults & my parents loved it. They’re dead now, but I bet they’d find it pretty tiresome / insipid today. And would have even a couple years before their deaths 15-20 years ago now. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/12 "2023-06-20T21:24:47Z")
_Lost in Space_ was the best show ever when I watched it at the age of eleven. I remember being upset the night of June 8,1966, when the local TV station kept breaking in with weather updates. And then the tornado came and tore up the town. I’ve tried watching it as an adult and I can’t. I prefer the memories from when I was young. Although Bill Mumy did a good job of acting in Babylon 5. ---
**Author:** ![NinthAcolyte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ninthacolyte/32/13676_2.png) [@NinthAcolyte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinthAcolyte)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/13 "2023-06-20T21:25:04Z")
Bologna. When I was a kid my favorite sandwich was bologna and mustard on wheat bread. Then, one day - I still vividly remember this in crystal clarity - I was sitting in front of the TV watching _Dexter’s Laboratory_ and eating my sandwich when I was abruptly overcome with nausea. I threw up all over the floor in front of me and saw several perfect chunks of bologna in there, with the perfect cartoon-style cutout of my teeth marks in them. I literally have not touched bologna since, probably around 25 years now. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/14 "2023-06-20T21:26:06Z")
_Family Matters_, you know, the show with the Steve Urkel character. When I was a young tween I thought Urkel was absolutely hilarious. Total comedy gold. If I try watching it today I just find him incredibly annoying. The same goes for all of Jim Varney’s “Earnest” movies. I loved the character when I was like 12. I couldn’t stand to watch any of those movies today. This one is going to sound weird, but… Grape Nuts. I guess I was a weird kid when it came to cereal. I never liked the sugary kids cereals, but I liked Grape Nuts for some reason. Then I bought a box when I was in my 20s, and I hated them. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > The first thing I thought of was 80s cartoons. As a whole, they had horrible writing and production values. On that note, I loved _Inspector Gadget_ as a kid. Now I realize that cartoon was so formulaic every episode was pretty much the same plot, with just the setting and a few details changed. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/15 "2023-06-20T21:26:10Z")
I’m sorry, but I can’t stop laughing with your post **NinthAcolyte**. _This one is going to sound weird, but… Grape Nuts. I guess I was a weird kid when it came to cereal. I never liked the sugary kids cereals, but I liked Grape Nuts for some reason. Then I bought a box when I was in my 20s, and I hated them._ **Wildabeast** , I like them myself, still do, and like then I eat them without milk. ---
**Author:** ![NinthAcolyte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ninthacolyte/32/13676_2.png) [@NinthAcolyte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinthAcolyte)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/16 "2023-06-20T21:27:47Z")
You should! It’s a ridiculous story! Glad it gave you a smile. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/17 "2023-06-20T21:33:19Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Cap’n Crunch. Food of the gods at age 8 or 10. No, no no. That was Quisp! ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/18 "2023-06-20T21:40:07Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > This one is going to sound weird, but… Grape Nuts. I guess I was a weird kid when it came to cereal. I never liked the sugary kids cereals, but I liked Grape Nuts for some reason. My parents bought that stuff once in a while. I thought maybe we kids were being punished for something. Supplied in curiously small, yet hefty boxes, this should have been a tipoff. Upon pouring milk, it consolidated into a dense mass in the bowl, sort of like beach sand, and our jaws quickly reached muscle failure trying to chew it. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/19 "2023-06-20T21:43:37Z")
Used to love going to Hershey, PA: you could visit the actual factory, the whole town smelled like chocolate and the Hersheypark rides were still old timey-ish. No more factory tours, I don’t like modern rides (read: roller coasters) and the last time I was there, there was no ubiquitous choco aroma. _Tempus_ keeps right on _fugiting_ along. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857/20 "2023-06-20T22:08:14Z")
When I was in 4th or 5th grade, the Dukes of Hazard was my favorite show. Nuff said. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-loved-as-a-kid-that-you-now-think-are-terrible/985857.md?page=2)