Growing up with 90s television
Hi, my name is Jade, and I’m a TV lover,
aka, the telly, aka the television, aka, the moving box.
Now hold on all you moaning Minnie’s out there who think that watching TV is a waste of time and that there are far better things to do with your time than vegetate in front of the moving box.
THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT HOW I THINK YOU MUST WATCH TV , but more about the joy that TV has brought to my life, especially growing up, as a kid in the 90s.
Oh, phew, there all better. You calm now? Good!
Childhood memories
The best part about my week day when I was still at school, was coming home to tune into K-TV, making homework a “ later-in-the-day ” problem.
Now, for those of you too young to know what the heck I’m talking about here… K-TV was the long-running kids TV show that ran on Mnet back in the day that most kids in the 90s grew up on. Do the names Candice Hildebrand , Jena Dover and Josh Feldman ring a bell? If it does, then virtual high fives for you!
Some of my earliest memories are of waking up at sparrows fart, getting my blankie and pillow and heading off to the lounge to watch the K-TV Power Edition on a Saturday morning, where Barney was the first show on at 7am. And then the ultimate experience was when we my best friend and I were given the thumbs up to be an audience member of the Saturday show a few years later in one of my pre-teen years. Best time ever! And in my 2 minutes of TV time, I felt like a celebrity I tell you. * SUPERSTAR *
K-TV was also one of the first places that helped inspire my entrepreneurial side. Once a year they hosted their Market Day . And although my home-made chocolate products weren’t chosen to be part of the market, it still got me going baking and convincing my neighbours to buy my yummy treats.
Show power
Still to this day, you can get a group of mates together, reminiscing and having the ultimate 90s TV talk moment. It’s such a conversation starter that sometimes will lead to sing-a-longs of the shows theme songs, line recitals and a huge amount of laughter.
Nothing beats it I tell you!
Kids in 15 years time might also be having the same conversations about Ben 10 and goodness knows what else is popular these days, but for us 90s kids the memories will live strong with some epic shows.
My TV journey
As mentioned it all started with some good ol’ fashioned animated awesomeness :
| Barney and Friends | Recess | Hey Arnold! | Marsupilami |
| Animaniacs | Pepper Ann | Freakazoid! | Dexters Laboratory |
| Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers | PB&J Otter | Johnny Bravo | Power Puff Girls |
| Darkwing Duck | Doug | I Am Weasel | Power Rangers |
| Ducktales | Biker Mice from Mars | Cow and Chicken | Smurfs |
| Gummi Bears | BraveStarr | Reboot | Dinosaurs |
| The Adventures of Rupert the Bear | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Liewe Heksie | The Flinstones |
| Babar | Care Bears | Berenstain Bears | The Jetsons |
Then as I got older the TV love affair moved to teen shows like:
| Saved by the bell | Boy meets world |
| Carmen Sandiego | Sweet Valley High |
| Sabrina the Teenage Witch | Pugwall’s Summer |
| My So-Called life | Breaker High and Young Hercules* |
*My love affair with Ryan Gosling started here * blush *
And no one could replace the hilarious comedy series selection :
| The Nanny | Step-by-step |
| Home Improvement | Full House |
| Family Ties | Empty Nest |
| Married with Children | The Fresh Prince of Bel Air |
| Perfect Strangers | Family Matters |
And a show that showcased some pre J-Lo dance moves as a Fly Girl and Jim Carrey when he was still known as James Carrey , In Living Colour added some light hearted fun to the mix.Then of course, we had to have some drama in our lives too:
| 7th Heaven | Popular |
| Party of Five | Beverly Hills 90210 |
| Melrose Place | Touched by an Angel |
| Buffy the vampire slayer | Gilmore Girls |
| Roswell | The Wonder Years |
| Murder, She Wrote | Dawson’s Creek |
How about a bit of action, romance and drama in The Adventures of Louis and Clark anyone? There was also some tuning into Radio 2000 for the English translation of Môre is nog ‘n dag to see Corky and co. That theme song still makes me smile when I hear it. And even though I didn’t quite understand the Afrikaans much at the time, Orkney Snork Ni e was hilarious!
But hands down, the ultimate 90s show has still got to be FRIENDS . My box set still comes out OFTEN and the jokes never, I repeat, NEVER get old. Just thinking about all these shows brought up such good memories. And yes, maybe it does sound like I could have spent my life growing up watching TV and doing nothing else. That seriously isn’t true. TV is just one aspect of my childhood that made it was it was, just like so many others like me. * Wave your hands in the air like you just don’t care 90s kids!*
And yes, the love affair continues today, but I promise that my time is split up equally between all facets of life, but I can happily admit that I love TV and no, I don’t care what you think.
The end…