What are the Top 3 TV Shows that define your (personal) youth?

SLVRDRGN@lemmy.world to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 146 points –

Please try your best to narrow it down to THREE! Can you recall which shows on TV feel synonymous with your youth? Can be your childhood phase, your adolescent phase, etc. - whatever you define as your youth!

For me: Jackie Chan Adventures, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Pokemon

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Earlier:

  • Star Trek: The Next Generation
  • The Simpsons
  • ReBoot

Later on:

  • SpongeBob SquarePants
  • Invader Zim
  • Futurama

Animaniacs

Gargoyles

Doctor Who (Classic)

Dragonball Z introduced me to anime which became a life long enjoyment.

Clarissa explains it all exposed me (a guy) to more female lead content and I learned a bit more about other perspectives.

Captain Planet introduced me to the idea that we'll never really stop pollution because super heros aren't real lol

This is actually a pretty hard question. At first I couldn't think of any show but the more I thought about it the more came to my mind.

I narrowed it down to these three:

  • MAS*H
  • Hogan's Heroes
  • Dinosaurs

Not because I'm so old but because they where first aired in my home country in the early and mid nineties when I was at my granny's place a lot of afternoons.

Later I moved town, kinda lost touch to my grandma and wasn't really there when she got very old and then died.

Looking back it's really sad that I wasn't there for someone who spend a whole lot of my childhood with me and in fact was always there for me.

Thanks for sharing your memory. I hope you are able to cherish the memories you had together.

As a kid.

  • Saved by the Bell.
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
  • Ducktales.

As a teenager.

  • The Wonder Years.
  • Friends.
  • Party of Five.

I didn't include The Simpsons since growing up in the 90s, that's a given.

Knight Rider, The A-Team, MacGyver

Honorable mentions to Dukes of Hazzard, The Fall Guy, Magnum, Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, TJ Hooker, Manimal, Automan etc

What a time to be a kid

In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them...maybe you can hire The A-Team.

Being the generation that grew up as kids of Vietnam vets was a trip. You had these dudes with BA Baracus looking like he was ready to fuck some fool up to pity them. After that, you had the privileged White middle-upper class family of the Brady Bunch being all corny af, saying shit like, "Gee whiz, Mom! That's positively fantastic!" There were eight people living comfortably off of one wage with a housekeeper.

Imagine that today. The A-Team would be four Afghan and Iraq vets all tatted up working out of a desert-colored F150 Raptor hunting down pedos. One of them would be called Ricky Recon with the signature phrase, "It's time for some group therapy!" They'd also have a lady with them that would be the reasonable one. Every episode would include one line where someone bitches about the VA. The next show would be Modern Family.

Sliders

The Tomorrow People

Family Ties

Honestly, I read a lot more than I watched tv. There are tons of books that shaped me, but I had to struggle to remember the shows that helped me along.

I imagine I'll ask about books in another post soon then, but it looks like it will be a tough one for you! In the meantime, you can think on it 😉

Thanks for sharing!

  • The Simpsons: From seeing Season 2 episodes someone had recorded from Sky TV on VHS before it was on terrestrial TV, through to Season 9 when it stopped being good many years later. It was on all the time and we never got bored of it.
  • Red Dwarf: The first TV show I was allowed to stay up “late” for, when it broadcast at 9pm. Felt like I’d entered a new stage in my life watching a late-night comedy show.
  • The X Files: Similar to the above, this was the first serious, “grown-up” TV show I watched, and I was hooked. I thought anything with a paranormal tinge was awesome at that younger age (I guess I still do, although through an admittedly far more sceptical scientific lens these days).

I felt the exact same way about the X Files while I watched it too! It was on my personal honorable mentions ✅

  • Monty Python
  • Doctor Who (reboot)
  • Firefly
  • Star Trek The Next Generation
  • The Simpsons
  • Late Night with Conan O'Brien

Battlestar Galactica (original) Buck Rogers Dukes of Hazard

Honorable mentions McGuyver A-team

Avatar the Last Airbender

Power rangers

Scooby doo

All from different eras of my childhood I think, some existing in more than one but I obsessed over all of them

Star Trek: TNG

Batman: The Animated Series

Space Ghost Coast to Coast

Star Trek

The Waltons

Happy Days

Yes, I’m old!

Well these are the answers I'm hoping for! Thanks for sharing a window into an essential part of you and your youth!

The Simpsons

The Magic School Bus

Friends

Honorable mention to Sailor Moon

  • How It's Made (with the witty British voice over)

  • Myth Busters

  • Big Bigger Biggest

I would lay in front of the Discovery Channel for hours while playing with Lego. Wouldn't you know it, I grew up to be an engineer!

The Simpsons

Power Rangers

Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

These are from young child up to late teens/20s

In chronological order from kid to teen:

Scooby Doo
Duck Tails
The Wonder Years

Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, the Lone Ranger.

I'm not THAT old, but New Zealand didn't have television until late in the day, so we got cheap, years-old US kids' shows. I was ten before our region got TV and it was a few years after that when we got our own set. The first TV I ever watched was coverage of what must have been one of the early Saturn rocket launches. We went to my older sister's boyfriend's house to watch it. Very exciting!

I liked Lone Ranger best. "Hi ho Silver, and awaaaay!"

  • Out of this world
  • Gargoyles
  • The Simpsons

Dragon ball z Ren n stimpy Beavis and butthead

The first three that come to mind are:

  • Daria
  • Hey Arnold
  • Round the Twist (Australian kids show)

Beverly Hillbillies, I Dream of Jeannie, Mission Impossible

  • Bill Nye the Science Guy
  • Reading Rainbow
  • Wishbone

Oh man these were on my list to narrow down from too! So good!

  • Knightmare
  • Bad Influence
  • The Crystal Maze

MacGyver
The Secret City
Mr. Wizard

Great question. I could list dozens of shows that were favorites, or have special meaning to me, or that I watched the most, or ones that had a more longterm impact on who I am. But, specifically about impacting my world as a young person, I'll say these three.

Honorable mentions: Looney Tunes, Cheers, MASH, Family Ties, The Young Ones, Doctor Who, You Can't Do That on Television, Ren and Stimpy.

I appreciate the feedback. It's nice to think about these formative things sometimes. Glad you were able to dig deep for this one! Thanks for sharing!

Hilarious, because it appears as though none of you were alive in my youth... My parents were too damned smart to let me watch the "Boob Tube". Turns out they had wicked foresightedness - now you have hundreds of streams and almost all of it $hit.

So this is what I did see: Howdy Doody, only at my friend's house Captain Kangaroo which I could watch when I was sick That Was The Week That Was (TW3) which I could watch because it was intelligent, political satire.

I'm no worse for the deprivation, and probably better.

Shows from my youth I’ve watched with my kid: The Muppets Full House Animaniacs

Only three is hard, probably:

  • Scooby Doo
  • SpongeBob
  • One of those local sitcoms that have raised about 3 generations on reruns and "would never be produced now" yet are still played on TV

Angry Beavers

Family Guy

SpongeBob SquarePants

Me and my brother would watch the first two for hours. I don’t know how many times we went through all of the seasons of Family Guy he had on dvd

I once got made to write "I will not say 'Reeeeee!' anymore" 50 times on a sheet of paper by my mother.

Rocko's Modern Life

Ren and Stimpy

Spider-man: The Animated Series

The Simpsons.

Stargate SG-1.

Star Trek Deep Space 9.

The Ren & Stimpy Show

Saved by the Bell

You Can't Do That on Television

(But really, so many more.)

Byker Grove

Art Attack

Fawlty Towers

Wow I've not heard of a single one of these! I'll have to look into them.

Star Trek the Next Generation

Night Court

X-files

Dr. Who

HR Puffenstuff when I was tiny, I remember it freaking me out

Star Trek the Next Generation

Gilligan's island

I dream of Jeannie

Perry Mason

Fun fact: both Jeannie and The Skipper (too) were extras on episodes of Perry Mason.

From the picture: only Ducktales and Scooby Doo

Overall: probably Scooby, Cosby Show, and Dukes of Hazzard

Young:

  • Animaniacs
  • Sailor Moon
  • Bill Nye the Science Guy
  • Wishbone
  • Powerpuff Girls
  • Courage tve Cowwardly Dog

Older:

  • Invader Zim

  • Inuyasha

  • Daria

  • Justice League & Batman the Animated Series

  • Still Courage the Cowardly Dog

  • I wanna say it was called "Kablam?"

(I'd add ATLA, but I didn't watch it until after it was completed and I was in college.)

Darkening Duck Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers And another one for Samurai Pizza Cats

Pokemon Scooby-Doo Demon king daimao

While the first two are probably fairly generic choices. The last one is the first anime i watched ( i dont count pokemon as anime ) when i was a teeneager ( naturaly it is a crazy schol fantasy harem anime , they were kinda trending at that time and they mostly sucked , similar to iseaki today . This one is probably no exception but i kinda look at it with rose tinted glasses and i havent watched it for a long time . ). Mostly because crunchyroll was an app on ps4 and i installed it and at that time everything was for free after a week. And boy o boy that was a start of journey through a very very deep black hole that im still very deep in.

Friends, Beverly Hills 90210, Seinfeld (and Big Bang Theory as young adult)

Considering I forgot about it and got back into it, bringing back memories, first slot definitely goes to Franklin.

I'd definitely say second would have to go to a show like Ed Edd n Eddy since I used to watch way too much of it, I think...

And third would absolutely be a toss up since I watched way too many cartoons growing up. So I'd probably have to go with Death Note since it's the first anime I recognized as anime instead of just a cartoon back when I was in freshman year highschool.

Edit:

Someone mentioned Invader Zim and that would definitely be a contender because that show made me start to like weird and sometimes disturbing things. Here's looking at you, Dark Harvest. Also saw an Angry Beavers mention. Definitely a close 3rd since beavers are my favorite animal thanks to that show and Franklin.

Death Note was a great anime! And also one of the earlier anime I came across - but I was just older than "youth" when I saw it.

In order, Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM), Pokemon, Digimon

Avatar the last Airbender

Star Trek TNG

Lizzie McGuire Show

Saved by the Bell, You Can't Do That on Television, and Nick Arcade. Honorable mention to SK8-TV.

  • The Simpsons

  • Seinfeld

  • Friends

  • South Park (honorary mention)

The Simpsons was sacred in my house, we watched every new episode as a family, and taped them all on VHS to re-watch. I can quote from the first 12 seasons endlessly.

Seinfeld was my introduction to stand-up comedy, which has become a life-long passion and a personally fulfilling hobby. I liked the show, but I loved watching his stand-up bits.

Friends was a show I would watch with my mom whenever I helped her in the kitchen. I was always hanging out in the kitchen, and Friends was a staple on TV at the time. I connected very much with Chandler.

South Park was the show my older brother watched, and I only ever got to catch once in a while, but the show was groundbreaking in its concept and execution. While being vulgar, it also succinctly expressed complicated ideas that resonate with me still to this day (When Randy talks to Stan about marijuana is one of them).

Good Luck Charlie, Lab Rats, My Little Pony.

*somebody mentioned Duck Tales (80s version)... gah now I can't choose what to replace.