The
Continuing Decline of Children’s TV Shows
There
was a time, not too long ago where I could turn on the TV and watch very
entertaining TV shows for children and would learn an educational or moral
lesson. I could find these shows on any channel that was targeted at children.
Over the past couple of years though, the channels have taken these shows off
air and instead show new TV shows that have no quality and seem to be out of
touch with their audience.
Shows specifically aimed at children and teens haven’t
been around for long, due to the fact that when cable was first introduced,
there were few channels and they had to be family-oriented, so the whole family
could watch it. Ever since cable came out, more and more channels have been
launched, which have targeted different audience members. Naturally, channels
that had programs for children eventually came out. The 1990s was when shows
for children and teens were in full swing. Nickelodeon was among the first
channels to have entertaining shows for kids. While the shows weren’t
educational, they did, however, relate to everyday life for kids.
When you think about the children shows today you have to
ask yourself, “What are the exact type of shows that I feel have decreased in
quality?” so let’s break the different shows down. Cartoon, life-action, and
educational are the three main types of ways of entertaining
Disney
Channel launched on April 18, 1983 and like Nickelodeon, aired foreign shows
for kids. Years later, Disney Channel started to air their original shows. The
first show I want to talk about premiered on October 25, 1998 and was called The Famous Jett Jackson. It was about a
teen actor named Jett Jackson, who starred in a spy show. Realizing that he
wants a normal life, the production of this show moves to where his father
lives. Disney’s next series, So Weird, which
premiered on January 18, 1999, added the supernatural to its premise. The show
was about a teen named Fiona Phillips who toured with her rock star mom and had
a fascination for and encountering paranormal activity. Disney Channel
continued with idea of teen sitcom with a fantasy touch and premiered The Jersey on January 30, 1999. The Jersey was about four friends who
discover that the football jersey of one of the friend’s late grandfather’s is
magic and when any of them put it on, they are transported into the body of a
pro athlete. Disney later premiered Lizzie
McGuire on January 12, 2001. Lizzie
McGuire focused on its titular character and her two
All of these shows had key elements that made it suitable
for its audience. I added the premise to all the shows I listed because all of
the shows, even the fantasy ones, were all relatable. When it all boiled down
to it, the kids acted like kids and had conflicts that any kid would have at
that age. Like I said earlier, the targeted audiences for all of those shows
are children and young teens. They need to see a show where they have a main character
that has faults, but has a good heart and learns a lesson, or gives a lesson,
or both. Another element is at least one of the main character’s parents is present.
The parents were always there to give their child advice. One other element was
the fact that both boys and girls could watch the majority of the original
series. This last element is surprisingly crucial and could be the reason why a
lot of life-action shows have lost their quality. All the shows I mentioned
were not filmed with a multi-film setup (ex.
The Big Bang Theory,) were not filmed in front of a life studio audience,
did not use a laugh track. Since the writers didn’t have to write a joke every
chance they got, they didn’t have to have their characters make one joke after
another and instead, have the characters speak like normal people. Without the
constant joking, the writers could write about realistic drama.
The next show Disney Channel aired was when the channel
started to film in a multi-camera setup and was either filmed in front of a
life studio audience or used a laugh track. This show was That So Raven, which premiered on January 17, 2003. The show was
about a teenager named Raven Baxter who had psychic visions which would lead
her into sticky situations. At first, the series was
good, because all the characters were likable and a point could get across.
Eventually, when more multi-camera shows of Disney Channel were being aired,
Raven’s personality and a lot of other characters’ personality started to
become annoying, perhaps to coincide with the personalities of other characters
from other shows.
Disney’s next show was when the premise of many their
later shows became completely non-relatable. This show was The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and it premiered on March 18,
2005. The premise was that eleven-year-old twins Zach and Cody and their mother
lived in an exquisite hotel, because any child can relate to that (sarcasm of
course). In the show’s fairness the characters were initially likable and the
twins did learn a lesson. Later on in the series, as the twins got older,
though, it seemed as if the writers wanted to make the characters say clean
profanity like “darn you to heck.” Not only is it annoying, but it is hinting
at what the actual saying is, “damn you to hell.” Another incident I found was
an episode title of theirs called “Heck’s Kitchen.” The problem I have with
this is that they are trying to clean up the term, “Hell’s Kitchen,” which is a
historical term. A more appropriate term they could have used was “Hades’
Kitchen” which is a more clever and educational choice. The next show that
Disney released is when everything went downhill.
Hannah Montana
premiered on March 24, 2006. Its premise was a seemingly normal young teen was actually
a famous pop star. Like That’s So Raven
and Zack & Cody the show started
out alright. The main character was nice, but as the series progressed, she
started to become mean, selfish, and would use her alter ego to her advantage.
To further prove my point, Sam Kramer, a
journalist major at Penn State wrote about the show in his article, “Children’s
TV Losing Quality,” and this is what he said:
“Then
there’s “Hannah Montana,” a story depicting Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus) as she
“struggles” to live a normal life while being a teenage pop star.
First
of all, I don’t know how dumb Disney writers think we are, but I can still
recognize someone when they put on a wig. That’s not the only problem with this
show, though — the characters are mindless, simple and predictable. The humor
revolves around fart jokes, clumsiness and babbling.
“But
most of all, it’s absolutely nothing we can relate to. How many of you are
hiding behind a wig from a million-dollar pop music career? How many of you
have a beach house in Malibu with a father who sports highlighted,
shoulder-length hair?”-Sam Kramer
After
Hannah Montana, all the shows started
to have the same problem. The premises of the shows were not relatable, to a
point that it was repetitive, the actors overacted their character, and there
is less parental authority. If anything, the parents are a much of a kid as
their own children do. For example, other shows that came after Hannah Montana include Sonny with a Chance which was about a
small-town girl who gets her big break and becomes part of a popular sketch
show called So Random!. Another show, Jessie, is about a teen from Texas who moves to New York City and
becomes a nanny for a rich family. If anything, later shows become even more
unrealistic. Despite all the issues
I have with all the shows I mentioned these shows continue running and have
similar plots. One of the reasons could be due the fact that these days,
writers are unsure of what to write about (Coles). Children, however, are
enjoying these shows. One reason is kids will watch anything. Another reason is
this is all they show. Disney Channel no longer shows any of their older shows
or if they do, they show it at 2am.
Nickelodeon also has similar shows that Disney Channel
has. They are filmed in front of a live studio audience or use a laugh track.
They also have the same premise that is not relatable. For example there is True Jackson, VP, which is about a teen
that gets a Vice President position at a renowned clothing business. iCarly, another show by Nick, was about
a teen who becomes an internet celebrity. While in today’s terms, this is probable,
the humor is too suggestive.
While children enjoy these latest shows, it is certainly not
in their best interest. If kids today could watch TV shows that came out a mere
ten years ago, I believe they would really like it. This issue is so big, that
I could write a book about it, but unfortunately, I am limited to talking about
a fraction of the issue.
Works Cited
Kramer, Sam. “Children’s TV shows losing quality.” The Daily Collegian. September 14, 2011. Web. July 4, 2012
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2011/09/14/childrens_tv_shows_losing_quality.ahttp://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2011/09/14/childrens_tv_shows_losing_quality.aspxspx
Coles, Bobby. “Assessing the decline of quality family oriented television series.” Helium. October 26, 2007. Web. July 4, 2012.
http://www.helium.com/items/665021-assessing-the-decline-of-quality-family-oriented-television-series
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