Okay, we all know that education is a good thing.....I think.
It’s good to learn. It’s like growing or whatever. And as someone who is part of the third generation (at least) to be “raised by television” it shouldn’t be surprising that much of what we learnt as kids and teens came from television. Whether intentional or not.
Of course we all had the basic letters and math and “being good” shows as little ones. In Australia we had shows like Play School and some Brit imports like Fireman Sam. We obviously got some Yank imports like Sesame Street, Arthur and Blue’s Clues (or is that from Cunuckistan?)
But some TV shows (and movies) do this better than others. I dare say some even made it entertaining.
My favourites to this day has to be the live action Horrible Histories. Based off the highly successful book series of the same name, this was actually the second attempt to adapt the works. This one was overseen by the original author (who sometimes made cameos) and insisted on strict historical accuracy, only making exceptions for the sake of some jokes. Engaging, a little cringe but overall surprisingly informative.
Another favourite of mine was Walking With Dinosaurs and its spin off Walking with Beasts. A genius idea of a show, imo. The conceit was that it was a sort of nature documentary, following the trials and tribulations of various dinosaurs and later ancient mammals, as they tried to eke out an existence. The CGI was fairly decent for the time and I would assume the budget constraints. But I would love a remake, especially since so much has been discovered since then.
Wishbone sparked in me a love of literature. Whilst I do think it was more constrained by its target audience and needing to have a moral, it was a fairly decent attempt to try to get kids to relate to the canon.
Still not all shows were educational in the sense of “academia.” I feel like I learnt a lot from shows such as Daria. Whilst it could get very preachy at times, it wasn’t just about learning facts. It pondered things about life, art, sometimes even philosophy. I actually watched it at a very young age the first time. So I didn’t like it at first. But then it came on reruns during my high school days and I “got it.”
I didn’t like shows that “preached” messages to me. It always felt condescending even as a kid. The closest I got was watching 7th Heaven with my cousin as a kid. And since it was religiously based I sort of let the preaching slide as just a consequence of the genre. Though I have seen other similar shows and I think it pulled it off better than most.
Special Shout-out to Mr David Attenborough. The voice of nature documentaries so iconic, I can’t seperate the two.
What are some of your faves? Which ones do you think struck a good balance between edumacation and entertaining? And do you think there were any that just fell flat on their face?
Have at it
It’s good to learn. It’s like growing or whatever. And as someone who is part of the third generation (at least) to be “raised by television” it shouldn’t be surprising that much of what we learnt as kids and teens came from television. Whether intentional or not.
Of course we all had the basic letters and math and “being good” shows as little ones. In Australia we had shows like Play School and some Brit imports like Fireman Sam. We obviously got some Yank imports like Sesame Street, Arthur and Blue’s Clues (or is that from Cunuckistan?)
But some TV shows (and movies) do this better than others. I dare say some even made it entertaining.
My favourites to this day has to be the live action Horrible Histories. Based off the highly successful book series of the same name, this was actually the second attempt to adapt the works. This one was overseen by the original author (who sometimes made cameos) and insisted on strict historical accuracy, only making exceptions for the sake of some jokes. Engaging, a little cringe but overall surprisingly informative.
Another favourite of mine was Walking With Dinosaurs and its spin off Walking with Beasts. A genius idea of a show, imo. The conceit was that it was a sort of nature documentary, following the trials and tribulations of various dinosaurs and later ancient mammals, as they tried to eke out an existence. The CGI was fairly decent for the time and I would assume the budget constraints. But I would love a remake, especially since so much has been discovered since then.
Wishbone sparked in me a love of literature. Whilst I do think it was more constrained by its target audience and needing to have a moral, it was a fairly decent attempt to try to get kids to relate to the canon.
Still not all shows were educational in the sense of “academia.” I feel like I learnt a lot from shows such as Daria. Whilst it could get very preachy at times, it wasn’t just about learning facts. It pondered things about life, art, sometimes even philosophy. I actually watched it at a very young age the first time. So I didn’t like it at first. But then it came on reruns during my high school days and I “got it.”
I didn’t like shows that “preached” messages to me. It always felt condescending even as a kid. The closest I got was watching 7th Heaven with my cousin as a kid. And since it was religiously based I sort of let the preaching slide as just a consequence of the genre. Though I have seen other similar shows and I think it pulled it off better than most.
Special Shout-out to Mr David Attenborough. The voice of nature documentaries so iconic, I can’t seperate the two.
What are some of your faves? Which ones do you think struck a good balance between edumacation and entertaining? And do you think there were any that just fell flat on their face?
Have at it
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