# TV shows you hated as a child **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346 "2018-01-10T18:15:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/241 "2018-01-16T13:23:03Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > You are exactly right. It started out as collaboration, then became rip-off. > > Short version: McDonald’s ad agency (Needham, Harper & Steers) approached Sid & Marty Krofft, and asked them to develop a proposal for using the Pufnstuf characters for a McDonald’s ad campaign. After the Kroffts did so, and the agency told them it would be going ahead, the agency then suddenly cancelled the campaign. > > However, the agency was, in fact, going ahead with the campaign, just with slightly-modified versions of the characters, so they could avoid having to involve (or pay) the Kroffts – they even hired former Krofft employees to work on it. The Kroffts sued Needham and McDonald’s for copyright infringement, and won. > > [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid\_%26\_Marty\_Krofft\_Television\_Productions\_Inc.\_v.\_McDonald's\_Corp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_%26_Marty_Krofft_Television_Productions_Inc._v._McDonald%27s_Corp). Good to know, thanks! Evil McDonalds! Glad they lost & had to pay up. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/242 "2018-01-16T13:42:53Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I bet you’re thinking of “Make A Wish.” The guitar guy was Harry Chapin’s brother, Tom. Artwork by Peter Maxx? I remember that one! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/243 "2018-01-16T14:18:54Z")
> [@pdhenry](#): > > I remember coming across Teletubbies for the first time. I was flipping channels and - say, what’s this? 15 minutes later I was still standing in front of the TV, mesmerized. Mind you, I was well into my 30’s. > > I understand the power it must have had on mostly non-verbal little kids. As I’ve argued before, _Teletubbies_ becomes bearable for adults once you real;ize that it’s basically the setup in _The Time Machine_. The Teletubbies are the Eloi, living in a perpetual garden under the daylight sun, and cared for by the Noo-noo and the presumably unseen Morlocks that stayt underground. Tinky Winky becomes bearable if you assume that eventually he would be rendered into Teletubby steaks and eaten by the Morlocks. ---
**Author:** ![Doubticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@Doubticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doubticus)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/244 "2018-01-16T15:14:01Z")
I think it is funny that many of the shows that came to mind have already been mentioned. Eight is Enough Full House My Three Sons I also could never get into Perfect Strangers either. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/245 "2018-01-16T15:22:10Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I bet you’re thinking of “Make A Wish.” The guitar guy was Harry Chapin’s brother, Tom. Artwork by Peter Maxx? Yes, yes. I remember now. I have brothers named Tom and Harry. I was supposed to be the Dick ( don’t think it) but I was a girl. My family call me Beck. So it is ‘Tom, Beck and Harry’!! My Mom was strange. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/246 "2018-01-16T16:57:27Z")
Does anyone remember [this piece of shit](https://youtu.be/Q9hwZotllHc)? As I look at it now, the directing is quite competent, but the writing was so horrible. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/247 "2018-01-16T17:12:34Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Does anyone remember [this piece of shit](https://youtu.be/Q9hwZotllHc)? As I look at it now, the directing is quite competent, but the writing was so horrible. Ohhh, that was one of my favorite shows when I was 6. 🙂 Much like “The Banana Splits” (my very favorite childhood show), when I happened upon “Lancelot Link” as an adult, I was horrified by just how bad it was. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/248 "2018-01-16T17:14:54Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > That was directing, not acting. The producers and director of the show were not exactly visionaries and wanted a squeaky-clean version of Dennis. The two main directors, Charles Barton and William D. Russell also directed _Family Affair_, another show with chirpy child characters. > > If you watch him in other roles, North was more believable. He was physically and verbally abused by his aunt and uncle, who were his guardians at the studio. (His mother worked, invested North’s salary, and never knew about the abuse.) He was actually a very angry and damaged kid, as you can see in [this interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfFZSe__Ua0&t=4s), in which he says, “I absolutely despised that show, and I’m sorry I was ever associated with it.” > > I hated the show, but I don’t blame North. Yeah, I’ve read about that, another horror story concerning a child actor - so many have come out damaged or dead, it seems only Ron Howard made it out alive… (But I still feel Jay North was too big and stiff to be a cute little DtM. I DO understand how casting a smaller, younger child as a lead character would have been a nightmare for the producers.) ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/249 "2018-01-16T17:22:43Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Does anyone remember [this piece of shit](https://youtu.be/Q9hwZotllHc)? As I look at it now, the directing is quite competent, but the writing was so horrible. I have no recollection at all of this, but holy crap, that is hilarious! I couldn’t stop watching…and now…I sorta want to watch more? The intro seemed to go on forever. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/250 "2018-01-16T17:26:49Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > What are your acting credentials? None whatsoever, just like Jay North lacked in 1959… How about yourself? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/251 "2018-01-16T17:39:02Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > None whatsoever, just like Jay North lacked in 1959… How about yourself? Note that dougie\_monty [got himself banned yesterday](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=847061) for his last few posts in this thread, so you won’t be getting an answer. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/252 "2018-01-16T17:39:45Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Does anyone remember [this piece of shit](https://youtu.be/Q9hwZotllHc)? As I look at it now, the directing is quite competent, but the writing was so horrible. I loved LAAAAANNNNCE as a kid! Now I’m going to have to watch one and come to terms with my sense of quality TV when I was 10. Or, maybe it holds up? I shall see! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/253 "2018-01-16T17:49:22Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Or, maybe it holds up? I shall see! Beyond the bad puns, it is sloooooooooow. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/254 "2018-01-16T18:41:01Z")
Some of you already said what I was gonna say. The Wizard of Oz always put me in a funk. IIRC it was always on a Sunday (Easter, maybe?) which as I’ve mentioned before was not a good day for me as a kid. The whole part on the farm was so bleak and then she wakes up in this strange place and it jut felt like she was all alone on another planet. It really disturbed me. And anytime Toto was out of his basket, running behind her I really had an anxiety attack. Today, I mostly enjoy it, at least singing along with it anyway, but I can completely remember / understand why it distressed me. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory didn’t sit that well with me either. It just had a . . . vibe. And for all you haters of The New Zoo Revue, I had the record AND stuffed animals. Let me refresh your memories: It’s the new zoo revue Comin’ right at you Where three amazing animals Have fun with what they do We learn with our friend Doug And his helper Emmie Jo With Freddy, Charlie, Henriettttttttta We have learning what we don’t know Lest you think I looked that up, I was singing it in my head while I typed it :o It’s as if I’m scarred. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/255 "2018-01-16T18:42:18Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I bet you’re thinking of “Make A Wish.” The guitar guy was Harry Chapin’s brother, Tom. Artwork by Peter Maxx? [I remember this show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdNpAFi-EPA)-nice music. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/256 "2018-01-16T18:51:22Z")
In the early 90’s Canadians were subjected to [Kideo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9i0M5iqThU), featuring three hair-rock doofi in primary colours pushing motivational crap onto kids. Admittedly I wasn’t a kid then but I’m sure any at the time ended up bent out of shape. Irreparably. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/257 "2018-01-16T18:55:32Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > That was directing, not acting. The producers and director of the show were not exactly visionaries and wanted a squeaky-clean version of Dennis. The two main directors, Charles Barton and William D. Russell also directed Family Affair, another show with chirpy child characters. I like to binge old sitcoms on Netflix and Hulu while leveling WoW characters, and I was surprised to find that _Family Affair_ was less chirpy than I remembered it. They actually touched on some serious topics in a mature way–things like children feeling abandoned, Uncle Bill’s combination of loving the kids and being frustrated at having his bachelor lifestyle upended, privilege, and things like that. Yeah, a lot of it was pretty syrupy, but I found it kind of charming. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2018, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/258 "2018-01-22T21:47:26Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Ain’t neither of this got shit on Boohbah. [https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=boobah&view=detail&mid=C7056518484F55A933D7C7056518484F55A933D7&FORM=VIRE](https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=boobah&view=detail&mid=C7056518484F55A933D7C7056518484F55A933D7&FORM=VIRE) > > Problem is, that was the “Brown” acid. The bad stuff. Whoa. ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/259 "2018-01-23T13:05:42Z")
> [@SykoSkotty](#): > > Sometimes at night I wake up in a cold sweat and I can still hear it… > “My Three Sons…da da da daaaaaa…” > :eek::eek::eek::eek: Just watched an episode…I still like it but am always recalling how they said that Fred MacMurray never liked acting with kids > [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Davy & Goliath. > > Blasted mealy-mouthed boring little jerk. and his little dog too! Bite your tongue! I loved the show! I’ve seen a few reruns and their voices just dont sound the same. I imagine its just too corny of a show now > [@terentii](#): > > I have _ **The Partridge Family** _ on right now. Back in the '70s, I never watched it much beyond the first season, so I missed the last one with four-year-old Ricky Segall, its version of “Cousin Oliver.” > > Holy crap! :eek: What the hell were the producers smoking the day they decided to add him to the cast?!? :smack: OMG you said it! If I see he is on that episode, I dont watch, Oliver either! Has anyone seen the commercial featuring the actor that played Oliver? I think its a good one! ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346/260 "2018-01-23T17:34:12Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Whoa. Yeah. I was channel surfing one time in high school and found this show and, I shit you not, my three dogs stopped doing whatever it is they were doing and just stared at the TV, transfixed, for the better part of a while 5 minutes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-hated-as-a-child/806346.md?page=14)