Many Gen Z students grew up on television, not social media. What are the children missing out on today? Keep reading for some nostalgic recommendations as the Life section reflects on their favorite shows to watch when they were younger.
Ayyan Tamjeed, Associate Life Editor, art24001@uconn.edu, he/him/his
If you asked me this question in elementary school, I would have enthusiastically said “Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu.” Looking back on it, I don’t know if the show was even that good; it was like one of those kids’ cartoons from the 1980s that were implicit advertisements for whatever toy they were selling. I bought a lot of Lego Ninjago sets though, so the subliminal messaging must have worked really well on me.
Cartoon Network in the early 2010s was on a generational run though. You had “Steven Universe,” “Adventure Time,” “The Amazing World of Gumball,” “Uncle Grandpa” and my favorite of them all, “Regular Show.” Every episode, you start at the park with Mordecai and Rigby finding ways to skip the easiest tasks imaginable, and 11 minutes later they’re in a NASA facility trying to curb a rapidly expanding black hole because they lied about being astronauts for a free grilled cheese — rinse and repeat for eight seasons.
“Regular Show” also has a top three needle drop out of anything I’ve ever seen. The final montage with David Bowie’s “Heroes” in the background brought a few tears to my eyes.
Jaylyn Davis, Staff Writer, iue25001@uconn.edu, she/her/hers
I watched many TV shows as a child — because of that, it’s hard to choose which one was my favorite. However, I have a few that I really enjoyed.
The TV show I watched the most was “Dora the Explorer.” I watched every episode when I was in kindergarten and in first grade. What I liked most about the show was Dora’s Spanish speaking. This allowed me to acquire a few words like “gracias,” “hola,” “adios” and “amigo.”
Another TV show I really enjoyed was “Miles from Tomorrowland.” As someone who loved outer space and space travel as a kid, this show really aligned with my interests. “Miles From Tomorrowland” features a family that lives in a colossal spaceship. In the show, they travel to various planets and do different things, such as conduct experiments and meet new lifeforms.
A third TV show I cherished was “Paw Patrol.” This was one of my favorites because of the dogs. Skye was one of my favorite characters because of her helicopter. I also liked Everest because she’s from a snowy environment. I loved the snow as a child, which made Everest feel relatable to me.
Manya Trivedi, Campus Correspondent, manya.trivedi@uconn.edu, she/her/hers
Growing up, I watched every single Disney channel show that was on air, waiting for new seasons and new episodes each week. But the show that never managed to leave my mind was “Good Luck Charlie,” a cute and funny series about a Colorado family with one-too-many kids. The series followed Teddy Duncan, the eldest daughter, navigating her family, school and social lives all together.
The reason I loved the show so much was that I relate to almost every character and would relate my family experience to the chaos of the show. My favorite part of the series was the Christmas movie special “It’s Christmas!” where the family was separated from each other, leaving Amy (the mom) and Teddy to find their own way in time for the holidays.
Other honorable mentions for my favorite Disney shows include “Shake it Up: Chicago,” starring Zendaya and Bella Thorne, “Jessie” and “Wizards of Waverly Place.”
All three of these Disney shows feature similar character archetypes to “Good Luck Charlie,” but with a twist. “Shake it up” was a dance show; “Jessie” was set in New York City; “Wizards of Waverly Place” featured, you guessed it, wizards.
So, if you’re ever looking for a nostalgic fun-loving show to watch, I recommend turning back time and turning one of these Disney comedies on.
Silver, Campus Correspondent, hqo24003@uconn.edu, he/him/his
My all-time favorite TV show as a kid was the classic “SpongeBob SquarePants” on Nickelodeon. Till this day, I think it remains one of my top three favorite comfort shows.
Every Saturday morning I’d get up bright and early to watch the newest season of “SpongeBob” and laugh at SpongeBob and Patrick’s silly antics. One of my favorite episodes that my siblings and I constantly quote is the Hash-Slinging Slasher episode “Graveyard Shift.”
The episode is about SpongeBob and Squidward taking a night shift at the Krusty Krab, when Squidward tells SpongeBob a spooky legend about a former Krusty Krab fry cook who accidentally sliced his hand off cutting patties, replacing it with a rusty spatula.
He supposedly comes to the Krusty Krab every Tuesday night for revenge. The three signs that indicate he’s there are the lights flickering on and off, the phone ringing with no caller and the ghostly bus arriving to drop him off. The twist is that later that night all three signs occur, and a shadowy figure matching the Slasher’s exact description arrives outside.
SpongeBob and Squidward are terrified, but it turns out the “Slasher” is just a regular old customer looking for some grub. It’s a hilarious episode and I recommend everyone watch it once in their lifetime.