Why do adults still love childhood TV?
Originally published November 06, 2009
By Stephanie Mlot
News-Post Staff
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Staff file photo by Skip Lawrence
Karlie Herbert enjoys the TV shows she grew up with, like "Seinfeld." |
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Zack, Kelly, Slater, Jessie, Lisa and Screech were often guilty of tomfoolery. But no matter how many times they ended up in Principal Belding's office, it was all right, because they were always saved by the bell.From 1989 to 1993, kids spent their afternoons in the classroom at Bayside High and hanging out at The Max. But those days aren't over for some. In syndication, the 1990s' TV staple "Saved by the Bell" still attracts the now-20-somethings who used to crush on the Bayside babes. "It keeps me aware of how much I have grown up," said Karlie Herbert of watching the 20-year-old show. "Especially when Zack (Morris) is talking on his new, ultra-big cell phone." While channel surfing, if the 27-year-old Hood graduate student comes across an episode of the show she can't help but stop to watch for a while. Herbert said she remembers most of the installments, but occasionally comes across an elusive episode she hasn't seen. "I get a good laugh at how silly it appears to me now." Chelsea Long said, "I loved that they were cool and older, plus they dressed nicely." The 23-year-old pined to be like the show's resident rich kid Lisa Turtle, because "she always had the most fabulous dresses." At a friend's celebrity-themed costume party, Long once dressed up as Kelly Kapowski, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen's character on the show. "I thought she was so pretty and so cool," Long said. The Middletown resident watches "Saved by the Bell" reruns every morning from 8 to 9 a.m. on TBS. Part of the fun in watching teen-hood shows is seeing how far the actors have come, or fallen, in the past decade, Long said. "So many of the people on 'Saved by the Bell' have successful acting careers, even now." The show still makes Long laugh "with its total cheesiness." "As a child, I laughed about the actual jokes," she said. "Whereas now I'm just laughing at the outfits, hair and demeanor." Not so guilty pleasure Memories of being happy while watching shows like "Saved by the Bell" are why Long still fancies them. Unlike some somber material currently on the tube, she said classics from her teen-hood were more lighthearted and cheerful. "It's embarrassing, but it's my guilty pleasure," she said. "The thing is, I don't feel guilty about it!" Long downloaded some of her favorite episodes onto her iPod and watches them at the gym to help pass time on the elliptical, she said. "Plus, Zack was such a dreamboat." Emily Miller, 25, spent high school mornings applying makeup and curling her hair to reruns of "Saved by the Bell." A production assistant at Frederick 's NBC25, Miller remembers being a teenager, striving to be like Kelly Kapowski and hoping to meet her own Zack Morris. The shows of her teen years featured a lot of the same issues plaguing kids her age, Miller sais. "Their plot lines were easy for kids to follow, but complex enough to make kids think. "It was the best of both worlds," Miller said. "We got to be kids, but got a taste of the adult world through our television shows." "'Saved by the Bell' is definitely a nostalgia moment for me," Sean O'Brien said. "It takes me back to high school." He called it "the show about what life would be like as a high school student." At 24, O'Brien is skeptical now about the suspended reality of "Saved by the Bell: The College Years" episodes. "I think about what a crock it was that the dorms were that big, or that you would ever see or care who the dean was," he said. His memories of the original show represent those of a likely majority of men. "When Kelly (Kapowski) comes on, I don't know a guy that doesn't remember how hot we used to think she was." O'Brien still watches episodes and reminisces about the "good ol' days," before things like bills and work became a constant in life. "You can watch one of those episodes and completely forget that you are in a recession or that maybe you have stresses in life," he said. "Because you just think about when you were a kid and your biggest concern was, 'Can I have a snack pack, Mom?'" Hood College psychology professor Dana Cable said the propensity for adults to watch childhood shows could stem from the care-free days. "They bring back a sense of freedom most of us don't have once we get into adulthood," he said. He said most people want to grow up and get out into the real world, but it's comforting to be able to return to something familiar, like television. It is like looking back to a time that was calmer and more peaceful. Cable doesn't think of this as a new phenomenon. He said he often turns on TV Land at night for some episodes of "Hawaii Five-O" or other shows from his past. "Those were the good times, and good memories come with them," he said. Reflecting on shows she used to watch, Herbert said they seem like a huge contrast to what teens are watching today. "I don't remember shows where kids were parents in high school. I think that the shows that we used to watch as kids were family-oriented with issues relevant to our lives and time in history," she said. When Janine Zelik was young, she was allowed to watch only "good, clean shows," like "The Cosby Show," " The Wonder Years" and "A Different World." "I think I liked them because I thought they had a good story line and always seemed real to me," she said. "They made me laugh, think and sometimes cry." Zelik still watches "Matlock" and the Cosby family when she gets the chance. Though some shows originally aired before the 21-year-old was born, she said she still watches them because they're classics. "There will never be another 'Cosby Show' or another 'Saved by the Bell,'" she said. "To me, these shows were the first ones to have all the plot lines you can think about," said Zelik. "They had all the things that you could possibly go through in life." The Mount St. Mary's senior said watching these shows brings back memories of family bonding. "I usually watched these shows with my family and now that we are all grown up it is rare that we all sit down and watch TV together," she said. Though she doesn't own any copies herself, Zelik said she would consider buying some shows on DVD to one day show her children, "so they can laugh at what I used to watch on TV," she said. Long proudly owns the entire "Golden Girls" series on DVD, a show from the mid-'80s to early '90s that she discovered in her adult years. "I also had a slight obsession with 'In Living Color,' and dreamt of being a fly girl," said Long. "I would get dressed up as a fly girl and my mom has the horrible and embarrassing photos as evidence," she said. "I just thought they were so cool." Long called her teen-hood shows pure entertainment in a fun, happy, innocent way; a refreshing series in comparison to what is going on now. Ashlee Thomas, 25, has a laundry list of favorite childhood shows, including "Full House," "Home Improvement," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" and "Friends." "Compared to what is on now, I guess I enjoyed the comedic elements and simpleness of the shows," she said. "They aren't murder investigations, reality shows or soaked in drama." A self-proclaimed TV and DVR addict, Thomas said she frequently watches reruns of childhood shows. "I guess it's nostalgic in a way, as I think back to the TGIF lineup and when I wasn't old enough to stay out late, but could be entertained by new episodes of 'Full House' and 'Boy Meets World,'" she said. "I'm sad to say I have many lines memorized from a lot of my favorite past TV shows. It is good fun to be with a group of friends and break out in song to the theme of 'Fresh Prince of Bel Air' or 'Salute Your Shorts,'" Thompson said. Jolene Sanders, an assistant sociology professor at Hood College, said the marvel of keeping up with old TV shows may be as simple as keeping generations connected to each other, in terms of watching shows they grew up with. "Look at how the Baby Boom generation has held on to, supported and continues to listen to the musicians of their era," she said. "In other words, this is not a new phenomenon or even unique to the youth of today, but a very provocative question all the same."
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