Why are we all so Nostalgic?

I was wondering it myself, and I was also wondering if these shows are better than what is on Nick now, or do we just think they are better because we used to watch them? I think the latter.

I think that it is the philosophy of the shows. In the "Golden Age" the shows were about kid power. Everything had a more rebellious flavor to it. The shows had kids as people who were brave and clever. Salute Your Shorts and The Adventures of Pete & Pete are both prime examples. Kids who existed mostly within the rules, but when they felt they were being treated unjustly they would rally together and achieve some measure victory. Today Nick has embraced the classic sitcom mold of, kid breaks rules, gets into trouble, is punished(either by parents or the situation created by their rebellious actions) but learns a lesson. Do they even have game shows with kids anymore?

So, why are we as adults still attracted to kid power? Because, most of us aren't at the top of the food chain. We still want to believe that if we are being treated unjustly, we can band together and affect some sort of change.

One more thing, the characters weren't so hammy. They were actually relatable instead of being caricatures of kids. I don't know if thats the writing, the directing, the choice of actors, the producers, or if it comes down from the top, but it has resulted in a lower quality show. Maybe they are going for surreal and just have no clue how to hit that part.

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Moss: Why are you giving me the secret signal to shut up?

I agree that now that we're getting older, moving into the twenties, we're looking back at our childhood and remembering how simple and carefree it was (before SATs, college, boyfriends/gfs, work, drama). So of course we remember what we watched and it can bring us back to that simpler feeling. I love to reminisce about old school nickelodeon, and when you do talk about those shows to people our age, everyone remembers those shows and is excited to talk about them.
I think that television has changed, and the world has changed since the nineties. I did like it better back then. I agree that we're wrapped up with technology (but hey, we're here on imdb and we get to use it to talk about this stuff lol). im glad i didnt have a cell phone at 8, or an ipod. i got to go outside and play, and get my knees scraped. hehe. and i look at those nick shows they have now, and they're horrible. kids aren't kids anymore. they want to be older. that hannah montana show has girls that are 12-14 dressing like they're 19 and wearing makeup and it's like wow...be a kid! our shows were a lot more relevant, and they definitely questioned authority and i value that. i think that made me who i am today. now those shows are so conformist. salute your shorts, pete and pete, alex mack, all that, clarissa, are you afraid of the dark, you name it..they were all about weird kids, not perfect looking. and they all had something to say, they were cool they were different. your right, there was a feeling of kid power. and it made us feel like we had the world in our hands. even the movies (little giants, heavyweights, mighty ducks, sandlot..) it was all about the underdogs. those shows and movies of our generation just had a rebellious type spirit, and i'll always love them. i wish they had cool shows like that now, but hey, i'll always remember them.

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Times were simpler. We could all relate to what they were going through because the characters were real. The things they dealt with were things we dealt with, not a situation blown 10x out of proportion because it makes good TV drama. As someone who not only grew up watching this show along with all the others (Hey Dude, Pete & Pete, Are You Afraid of the Dark, etc.) but also became a TV/film student, I find it incredibly peculiar that everyone refers to this as the "Golden Age of Nickelodeon" without any sort of background in TV. Not because they are wrong, but on the contrary, because they are completely right.

Nickelodeon during this time WAS in its golden age, and it wasn't by any sort of accident. I'm currently taking a children's TV class and one of our textbooks is called Nickelodeon Nation. Through reading this book, I have learned more about the business side than I thought I would want to know, but it's actually fascinating. The people in charge of Nickelodeon from its inception through the mid-90s went about business in a way that was the total opposite of other networks at the time. They put the creators in charge of their animated shows and developed a philosophy that put the kids first as opposed to the profit first. I think this deteriorated once the network became established and other channels started competing with them more heavily. Once Nick became successful, they could no longer stick to their grassroots philosophy and mode of operation, because now there was money at stake.

It's truly unfortunate, because watching Nickelodeon now you don't get a sense of brand like you used to. The shows don't have anything unique about them, but instead feel like the traditional watered-down adult sitcoms aimed at kids. I think part of this falls on society too, because having worked with kids in elementary school for 3 years now, it's clear that they are much more jaded by societal/cultural ideologies.

I'm hoping that with the economy the way it is, people will realize there is more to life than materialism and the necessity to always be on the go, and we will see a return to the simpler times we grew up in. Who knows? Maybe children's TV will revert back to the quality programming it once was and we can sit and watch with OUR children shows akin to what we watched ourselves.

On a personal note: I had a conversation last November with my current children's TV professor before even starting the class this January, and she said that I should try to get involved in children's TV since I seemed to feel strongly about it. At the time, I brushed it off, telling her I wanted to do film and make action/comedy, but now I realize it's up to people like us to change things for the better. I'm not sure if I'll take her advice, but after watching episodes of Salute Your Shorts and Brotherly Love recently, it seems more viable than before.

I would highly recommend that those of you who are still in college, and even those of you who are not, take a children's TV course if it is offered and maybe consider making a career out of it. It's obvious that there's a desire to return to what once was, but if all we do is sit around and talk about it without trying to take control of the industry, nothing will ever change and the iCarlys and Spongebobs will continue to reign.

It wasn't just kids that watched shows like Pete and Pete, I was in college when Pete and Pete was on the air and it and some of the other Nick shows were very popular. I can remember sitting in the lounge at my dorm with a group of people watching these shows.

I collect dead pigeons then I press them between the pages of a book.

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