# Your personal opinion, please-Best children’s television series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 25, 2026, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908 "2026-07-25T02:53:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [July 26, 2026, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/21 "2026-07-26T04:36:03Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Mr. Rogers always, afaik (after my time) started his show by putting on a sweater and slippers. Then for God know what reason, continues to wear a tie in the privacy of his own living room. That noose would be the first thing off for me. Which makes me wonder, are there people out there who wear a tie when they’re home? A little googling tells me that, even back in the 1960s, it wasn’t common for men who wore ties in public to keep wearing them at home. Rogers took off the jacket and loafers, and put on a cardigan and sneakers, at the start of every episode, as a framing technique, and to help kids see that he was getting comfortable for his visit with them. But, also recall that the end of each episode used a reversal of that framing technique: he’d take off the sneakers and cardigan, and put the loafers and jacket back on as he prepared to leave the house, end the visit with his TV friends, and head back into the world. It would have been quick for him to take the tie off as part of the episode’s opening, but putting the tie back _on_ at the end would have been time-consuming and complex. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/22 "2026-07-26T08:50:21Z")
My father, who wore a suit and tie to work every day, would get home from work, take off his jacket, and kick back with a cold beer and a pipe of tobacco. His tie was loosened, even through dinner and after. Often, until he went to bed. Mr. Rogers wearing a tie through his show, was perfectly normal to my sister and I. Gentlemen, whether Mr. Rogers or my father, always wore ties. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/23 "2026-07-26T13:20:36Z")
Some of my favorite shows to watch as a kid in the 80s: Mr Wizard’s World You Can’t Do THAT on Television Fraggle Rock Sesame Street as for cartoons: Looney Tunes GI Joe: An American Hero The Smurfs He-Man and The Masters of the Universe Muppet Babies ---
**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:** [July 26, 2026, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/24 "2026-07-26T14:17:16Z")
Personally? As a child? **Batman** (1966) and **The Monkees**. Lots of action and silliness and no attempt to really teach me anything. As an educational tool? **The Electric Company** and the **Schoolhouse Rock** shorts are probably the only shows that actually helped me in school. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/25 "2026-07-26T17:37:52Z")
When I hear of a Children’s television series, I think of something intended to be wholesome and, at least a little, educational. That’s different than _cartoons_. Scooby Doo, Loony Tunes, et al, are certainly animated, and kids watched them, but if we are talking about the stuff you stick your toddler down to watch, one I actually enjoyed was _Sid the Science Kid_. > **[Sid the Science Kid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_the_Science_Kid)** > > Sid the Science Kid, also known as Jim Henson's Sid the Science Kid, is an American animated educational children's television series produced by The Jim Henson Company in association with PBS affiliate KCET, that aired on PBS Kids from September 1, 2008 to March 25, 2013. The show is created using digital puppetry. Each character required two puppeteers working in concert, one performing the face and mouth using a remote manipulator or Waldo, and the other performing the body using performanc D... If we’re going to talk about animated stuff kids watched, there’s a whole world of Hanna-Barbera to discuss. ---
**Author:** ![De\_La\_Rue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@De\_La\_Rue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/De_La_Rue)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/26 "2026-07-26T17:49:38Z")
I’ve only seen most of the first season, but I nominate _Gargoyles_. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/27 "2026-07-26T19:36:32Z")
What happened in later seasons ran from great to absolutely terrible, but agreed, season one of Gargoyles was a gem, much like my personal favorite of the original run of Batman: The Animated Series. Though if I’m voting for what I consider more traditional “children’s series” rather than entertainment/toy selling media… I’m going with 3-2-1 Contact, at least the first season. Of course, that’s an age thing - born in the mid-70’s, 3-2-1 contact was my first experience with a slightly more serious show that had educational components past very simple elements of basic math and vocabulary. If I was younger, it would be other more well-known or popular edutainment, probably _ **Bill Nye the Science Guy** _. ---
**Author:** ![De\_La\_Rue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@De\_La\_Rue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/De_La_Rue)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/28 "2026-07-26T19:56:59Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > I’m going with 3-2-1 Contact _3-2-1 Contact Magazine_ also ruled. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/29 "2026-07-26T20:08:31Z")
For educational TV: _Sesame Street_ For entertainment: _SpongeBob SquarePants_ I personally never liked _Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood_ when it was airing, although I have very high regard for its creator. Unfortunately, I think the puppets creeped me out. > [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > I also liked Arthur… _Arthur_ was fine as a TV series, but I had a hard time taking the character seriously after he got a nose job—all the more ironic since the first book, _[Arthur’s Nose](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur's_Nose)_, was all about an aardvark learning to be happy with his long nose. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/30 "2026-07-27T00:19:41Z")
My kids and I remember Big Comfy Couch fondly. My girl had a Molly doll, just like Loonette, and we always participated in the regular Clock Stretch and 10 Second Tidy parts of the show together. Of course, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse was one of the best kids’ shows ever, but I don’t think we got to see it until they were a bit older. Didn’t stop us from screaming at the secret word! ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/31 "2026-07-27T00:43:58Z")
I watch a lot of reaction videos on YouTube. It’s always interesting watching people who’ve never been exposed to Mister Rogers watching him for the first time as adults. Many of them (specifically from countries in Europe, or Australia or New Zealand) end up getting teary-eyed, wondering how they never had such a show or figure in their childhoods. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/32 "2026-07-27T00:49:06Z")
I never saw one of those “Children’s programs” like Plaza Sesamo or Mister Rogers that I liked, even when I was a child myself, when one started I went out to play. I hated the ones with cartoons specially because they talked and did idiotic routines when _I was there for the cartoons dammit!_ As for the cartoons themselves _Robotech_ is so far above any others that it isn’t even funny. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/33 "2026-07-27T01:02:36Z")
Robotech being so weird because as it’s own thing, it’s somehow better, being larger in scope, and having greater _consequences_ because of the work to combine the dissimilar franchises into a working whole. Of course, we could go on about this for days, but we can let other people have their say. ---
**Author:** ![OldManLogan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oldmanlogan/32/5237_2.png) [@OldManLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldManLogan)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/34 "2026-07-27T15:53:46Z")
**Avatar the Last Airbender** and there really isn’t another answer for pre-teen to teen shows (tried to stay away from things aimed at young children which is very different in format). I love a lot of the older cartoons ( **Voltron, Duck Tales, Gargoyles,** etc.) and even enjoy newer stuff like **Gravity Falls** and **Phineas and Ferb.** But at the end of the day, Avatar has the characters, the humor, the world-building, the epic adventure, the visuals and fight choreography, the themes, and the writing to put it above almost anything else out there. ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/35 "2026-07-27T20:44:14Z")
Wishbone, Reading Rainbow, Gargoyles, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Arthur, Curious George, and Roadrunner cartoons. All of these I have enjoyed as an adult. When I was a kid, watched stuff like Hanna Barbera cartoons. I liked Quick Draw McGraw and his dog. The dog would beg for a treat and go into ecstasy when he received it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/36 "2026-07-27T21:12:02Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > I’ll start with easy, consensus picks: Sesame Street, Mister Rogers Yeah, we’re really just discussing third place, here. I’ll toss in Bob the Builder, because it made it so much easier to manage children. On multiple occasions, I had to deal with children upset because something broke, or otherwise didn’t go their way, and I just said brightly “Can We Fix It?”, and got a chorus of “Yes We Can!”. Also Bear in the Big Blue House. And from my childhood, 3-2-1 Contact. > [@dorvann](#): > > Some of my favorite shows to watch as a kid in the 80s: > > Mr Wizard’s World Oh, yeah, I’d forgotten about that because I only got to watch it at my Gramma’s house (we didn’t have cable at home). Bill Nye is a poor imitation. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/37 "2026-07-28T01:21:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@dorvann](#): > > > > Some of my favorite shows to watch as a kid in the 80s: > > > > Mr Wizard’s World > > Oh, yeah, I’d forgotten about that because I only got to watch it at my Gramma’s house (we didn’t have cable at home). Bill Nye is a poor imitation. Beakman’s World was a decent homage, though. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/38 "2026-07-29T15:04:40Z")
The two I remember most fondly from my childhood were **Rocky and Bullwinkle** and **Beany and Cecil**. Both series reveled in puns and visual easter eggs. Revisiting both as an adult, Rocky and Bullwinkle held up. Beany and Cecil…not so much. It wasn’t a children’s show (at least I don’t think it was), but was eagerly watched and discussed at my elementary school the day after each episode aired, was **Fractured Flickers**. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2026, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/39 "2026-07-29T15:21:22Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Beakman’s World was a decent homage, though. It was the best of that genre, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908/40 "2026-07-29T15:28:32Z")
I never saw the Beakman show, but we did get the newspaper comic for a while, and there were some science inaccuracies that even kid-me recognized. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-personal-opinion-please-best-children-s-television-series/1031908.md?page=3)