Saturday, November 01, 2008

Weekend morning TV memories


(click image for bigger version)

I've spent much of this morning listening to cartoon theme tunes and remembering heroes, villains, monsters and adventures lived vicariously through animated characters on an old TV screen. I've actually been pleasantly surprised that I know a lot of them - growing up I thought we were in a cultural wilderness having only "poverTV" (RTÉ 1 and 2) but now I think that other than Doctor Who and the Crystal Maze, maybe I didn't miss out on much at all!

I was looking at the above illustration trying to work out how many I could remember watching on TV without looking them up. So here goes, left to right, back to front:

Round the twist (aussie lighthouse drama), The A-team, Jimbo, Count Duckula, Transformers (robots in disguise), Dogtanian and the Muskehounds, Fraggle Rock, He-man (wasn't Skeletor drawn quite scary?) Postman Pat, Supergran (I was surprised how much of the theme tune I knew!), Super Ted, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles (when exactly did they become ninja turtles?), Inspector Gadget, The Flintstones, Gummi bears (bouncing here and there and everywhere), Dangermouse (Penfold, in case you're asked in a Table quiz), Sharky and George (crimebusters of the sea), Thundercats, Ulysses and even though it wasn't on RTÉ, Jim'll fix it.

I know up there there's things like Rainbow, Button Moon, Teddy Ruxpin, Roobarb and Custard, Bod and Grange Hill - all programs I became familiar with either through You Tube or the constant 100 top TV programmes that if you didn't watch as a child, you had no life. I've also remembered Eerie Indiana, The Muppet Show, The Jetsons and of course Sesame Street.



Then of course there were the truly Irish ones that seemed part and parcel of Irish youth. Bosco. Wanderly Wagon. Fortycoats. Echo Island. Mary Kingston in the morning. Anything Goes with Aengus MacNally. Make and Do with Mary Fitzgearld. Zig and Zag. The Den Christmas specials. The Beat Box with Simon Young and Peter Collins.

So, who are the rest of the above? Just how did their theme tune go? Can you remember the lyrics as well as you think you do? What other shows do you have memories of?

Not sure who's in the illustration? Head on over to Annelicious where I found out about the TV Theme Medley. It's a work of art. Enjoy the memories.

10 comments:

  1. "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles (when exactly did they become ninja turtles?)"
    Apparently Ninjas in US, Heroes in the UK
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles

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  2. My absolute favourite was Trap Door

    Also there was a U.S. show called 'You can't do that on television' - it used to tickle me pink :)

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  3. Have you ever, ever felt like this? When strange things happen, when you're going 'round the twist.

    at least some of those lyrics are correct....

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  4. LOL no no no Mumrah from Thindercats was the scariest :)

    I ued to adore fraggle rock and duckula!! awwww all the toons now are crap! :p

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  5. I heard that it was 'ninjas' first and then the PC brigade kicked up and it became 'heroes'. I could be wrong though.

    cheers muchly for the linkage :D

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  6. Don't forget Scratch Saturday (whence Scrap Saturday's name)

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  7. if you are still in Belfast on Sat morning then drop me a twit or an email or comment or something......whatever.....

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