Top 10 - Old school children's television programmes

Back in the late 90s and early 2000s I was at that sort of age where television takes centre stage in your life. School isn't really too demanding, there's hardly any homework and everything falls nicely into place for you. At home, it's all about that box in your living room that emits the childhood gold that you thrive upon. Wake up, television, school, television, tea, television, sleep. It's a running cycle, and one that went on for me for around four or five years as a kid. So back when I was younger, and probably many of you reading this were younger, there were a few shows which still to this day live in the memory. Here's my top 10!

10. Arthur

Hey, what a wonderful kind of day. Where you can learn to work and play, and get along with each other. Those lyrics from Arthur's theme song still flow through my mind every time I think of Arthur - a cross between a human and some kind of rodent. His best friend was a rabbit for carrots sake! This show was a cult hit with children across the nation, often being shown straight after school. Prime time for TV savvy youngsters.

9. Kenan and Kel

Nickelodeon's saving grace. Kenan and Kel, from what I remember, revolved around the lives of two idiotic teenagers in pursuit of Orange Soda. I believe it was Kel who particularly liked the beverage in question. Reminiscing the restaurant episode, in which characters were continually locked in the freezer room due to the door only opening from one side sends shivers... I mean laughter down my spine. That's two jokes pulled already. I'm on a roll!

8. Bodger and Badger

I generally think the theme tune is the only thing I distinctly remember about that show. It was definitely a particularly in depth and intricate jingle. The show's title repeated several times, followed by same dopey voice crying 'na na, na na na.' Spectacular! There was also a mouse who (you guessed it) was called mousey and the title character of a badger called urm... Badger. Yes that's right, of course. Oh, and then there was his human ally Bodger; who from the looks of it, was a live action incarnation of Shaggy out of Scooby Doo. Rice pudding or custard was also one of the main themes, I think. So all in all, a great show.

7. Rugrats

The story of a group of small children living life to the full. This long running programme was one of my favourites as a kid, never once failing to rouse some sort of interest. Just a well rounded show I guess. So this time, I'm not going to be throwing my bottle out of the pram. This one's a keeper.

6. Digimon

Being a boy, I personally probably think that this was the television show of my childhood. A fantasy world, one big adventure, a group of characters I wanted to aspire to and hundreds of digivolving monsters. Life doesn't get much better than that for a hyperactive 8 year old kid. The show blew me away at the time. But on reflection, it was a less successful take on similar programmes before it and not everyone agreed with me at the time that Digimon were the best.

5. Dexter's Laboratory

Everyone loved this programme. I think I just spent too long in my room trying to find the secret button which would take me to my own laboratory. Thankfully, I didn't have an annoying little sister cocking things up all of the time. So you win some, you lose some.

4. The Powerpuff Girls

How many boys can generally say that at one point in their life 'The Powerpuff Girls' weren't their guilty pleasure? Not many, I bet. There were also some top class evil villains in this one. Mojo Jojo, the banjo playing pink furry thing and that camp devil to name just a few. Cartoon Network pulled out something unique with this show. Not only did they tap into the girl's imaginations with female protagonists, they kept it appealing to the boys with fighting and bad guys. Now everyone's happy.

3. Chucklevision

To me, to you. To me, to you. To me, to you. Not much more is really needed, they were legends in their own special way. So if you don't know who the Chuckle Brothers are, you should be crying yourself to sleep every night. Anyway, you need to pass it back to me again so that I can get on with the countdown. Thanks.

2. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

You don't get more kick-ass than these bad boys. There was five of them, varying in stereotypical colours according to the gender of the character. The girls being pink and yellow, typically. And the boys - red, blue and black I think. Then to make it even more complicated for us, a few special characters would pop up every so often to complete the spectrum. The cool thing for kids at the time was the fact they all had a robotic dinosaur each. Who funded the Power Rangers? If not the government, that big blue face I bet. I think he was called Zordon. Anyway, all of those smaller robots could combine into a huge one. When you're five, you live to see a massive robot taking to the streets and knocking ten barrels out of an oversized mutant alien. And that happened every episode! No wonder I loved it.

1. Pokémon

Number one couldn't really have been anything else. And when I say Pokémon, I mean the original 150 - because I'm retro like that. Pokémon determined some children's lives for years on end during my childhood. The trading cards simply made the show stronger, with the whole world embracing Poké-madness. It was the epitome of cool and you weren't cool if you didn't like Pokémon. Thankfully I've grown out of the things now, and it would probably work the opposite way if anyone were to still like imaginary cartoon creatures at my age. Anyway,  Pokémon at the top spot. You must have seen that one coming. They're bigger than God!


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