Throwback: Favorite Cartoons

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Since Comic-Con officially starts today, I thought that I'd do a throwback that features some of my favorite cartoons. And not just those from childhood, either. I totally watched cartoons through high school, haha.Sure, I still catch them on Netflix every now and then, but I haven't regularly followed any (not counting The Simpsons and South Park, since they're not geared toward children anyway) regularly in years.

My mom tells me that I had a Rainbow Brite obsession as soon as I could discern specific programs on television. I remember renting a few at the video store when I was learning to read, but I honestly can't remember watching the show on regular television. I still love Rainbow Brite, and will be rocking a shirt from the show tomorrow! (Today is my Marvel shirt. of course.)

Now, my very favorite from elementary school: ThunderCats. You better believe that I was the only girl in the first grade rocking a ThunderCats lunchbox and thermos! I loved that show, from how cute Snarf was to how cool it looked when Cheetara ran to the Rober-Berbles and how neat it was to have robot pandas around. Mumm-ra was a pretty scary bad guy, but I thought he was unique.

Next, the cartoons that I watched religiously after school as part of the Disney Afternoon years: Gummi Bears, TaleSpin, and Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers. As I've probably mentioned before, Rescue Rangers was what we talked about at snack time in Kindergarten, so I had to be up the latest adventures of Chip, Dale, Monty, Gadget, and Zipper! FatCat was my favorite villain, though Nimnul ran a close second! I thought that the storyline for Gummi Bears was just fabulous, and the characters were quite lovable. With TaleSpin, it was simply the characters. I thought that Don Carnage was a hilarious bad guy, and the idea of "cloud-kicking" blew my mind. The storylines were a bit outrageous (I wasn't the best at allowing myself to have a willing suspension of disbelief as a child) and wrapped themselves up all too quickly, but how could you not love Wildcat, Baloo, Molly, Kit, and the others?

And, on the weekends as a youngin', Foofur and Punky Brewster were my Saturday Morning Cartoons of choice. As a kid who was deathly afraid of dogs, the idea that a bunch of canines lived together (along with Fencer the cat and a few rats) with no real owner was amusing. The constant hiding from the realtor was funny to me, and I just remember laughing at the show all the time. With Punky, I think it was Glomer who first sucked me in. He seemed like such a cool "pet" and I had a fascination with magical creatures and the world of fun that they could create for someone. Sure, Punky and her friends were cool, but Glomer, he was amazing! 

Middle school was pretty simple for me... Rugrats and Doug. I was new to having Nickelodeon, and those two shows were big hits with me and my siblings. While everything that the rugrats ever did was pretty unbelievable, I adored their ability to teach about other cultures and holidays, and thought that the writing was great. Doug was quite a bit more believable (well, not the fact that people were blue, haha), and I thought that most of the secondary characters were well-written and developed... like Judy, Connie, and Mr. Dink. I'll even admit that I actually liked the Disney episodes of The Brand-Spankin' New Doug, which wasn't a hit with a lot of other people. I thought that aging the kids a year did a lot for the show and the way they handled the situations that were faced.

In high school my favorites included The Weekenders, Teacher's Pet, Recess, and Pepper Ann. The first two were Saturday morning shows, the latter two were afterschool shows (though they began on Saturdays, of course). I've written about a few of these before, but in a nutshell, it was the characters that kept me coming back. In The Weekenders, the cast was pretty small, so it was easy to latch on to each of the four, and understand where they were coming from and what they were doing. With Teacher's Pet, the idea that a dog went to school was pretty intriguing, but the fact that his teacher was also his owner (and she didn't realize who the dog was) baffled me to the point that I just couldn't stop watching, waiting for the day that she discovered the truth. My fourth grade wasn't like Recess in any way (we didn't even have cliques yet), but the storylines were incredibly believable to me, and the roles that the kids took in each scheme just made sense. Similarly, although I couldn't directly relate to Pepper Ann, I just "got" the show and her interactions with other characters was just moving for me. 

My college cartoon was totally As Told by Ginger, which I just thought was written well. There were a bunch of characters, the storylines were more pre-teen/teen-oriented, and the depiction of social life at school was a little more believable than a lot of other shows. Plus, there was a special where they went to camp, and I spent two of my summer during college working at a resident camp, so that held a special place in my heart. 

I know you're dying to share... what have your favorite cartoons been throughout life??

Top 10 Single TV Moms

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Since Mother's Day was this past Sunday, I thought that it would be nice to take a look at some great television moms. And, not just any moms, specifically single moms on TV. There are quite a few out there, and in order to excel, they have to work much harder than mothers with more of a support system. I had a fun time thinking of single mothers, and then choosing which ones to feature today. Since I undoubtedly missed some candidates, feel free to suggest other fabulous single moms!

10. Millicent Torkelson, The Torkelsons / Almost Home. Raising five children (three in the second series) is a great deal of work for any parent. Millicent works hard to give her family what they need, and takes on the odd job here and there to make ends meet. She tries to be creative about their issues (like altering thrift store dresses, using recycled bottles to serve bottled water at a party, etc.), and is rather proud to be able to make it on her own (she was shocked that the community donated a box of canned goods to her family). While they do have a boarder to help with expenses, and they later move across the country (Pyramid Corners, Oklahoma to Seattle, Washington!) and move in with another family to keep things going. While the kids weren't in love with their situation, they appreciated everything that their mother did for them, time and time again.

9. Lisa Cuddy, House. Now a mother to Rachel, Cuddy tried for a while to have her own child through IVF, with donor sperm. Then, she tried to adopt with unsuccessful results for a while. Finally, she got Rachel, and she has been an overly caring mother to her. When Social Services came to inspect, Cuddy was so afraid that she'd lose custody because of an old diaper that hadn't been disposed of. Cuddy genuinely cares about her daughter's health and well-being, and despite having such a high-profile job, still makes a lot of time to spend with Rachel, though she does have a part-time caretaker for the toddler.

8. Christine Campbell, The New Adventures of Old Christine. Though she was technically married to her best friend, Barb, in the fourth season, (to keep her in the country) Christine was a singe parent throughout the show. She tried hard, making sure her child went to a good school, that the school was diverse, and that she wrote down everything that might help her son through life. She even volunteered for multiple programs at the school, though she sometimes had to push her ex-husband or her brother to fulfill those obligations if she got slammed at work. 

7. Angela Bower, Who's the Boss? The situation here is a bit different. Though Angela does have her mother living with her, and she hires a live-in male housekeeper, she is still a single mother to Jonathan. Parenting isn't the biggest topic in this series, but Jonathan has his share of issues that Angela must deal with... stolen hubcaps, being bullied, trying to get a girlfriend, etc. Luckily, when Angela knows that she isn't the best person to deal with her son's troubles, she has Tony there to help her out and lend a manly ear to whatever is going on.

6. Jackie Harris, Roseanne. Jackie was a doting mother to little Andy. She was paranoid about what he'd eat and how he'd play, which was a big change from the way her sister raised her own kids. Jackie wanted Andy to have a good life, and that even meant breastfeeding at the altar. But, the marriage (to Andy's father) didn't last long, and Jackie went back to being a single mother, who continued to pay much closer attention to her child than anyone else paid to theirs on that show (with perhaps the exception of David & Darlene's little Harris, since she was so premature).

5.  Amy Juergens, The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Of all the women on my list, this one is the hardest to argue for, since she has a great support system when you look at it. Peers at school found a daycare for her son, a job for Amy, and throw her a shower. Her family provides her with a car, helps her with household chores, and even gives her the opportunity of a lifetime to attend a summer music camp - by watching her son while she's away for several weeks. Nonetheless, Amy started the ninth grade pregnant, and conceived during her very first intercourse, so she definitely faces a difficult life ahead of her, as her child will practically be reading when she starts college!

4. Murphy Brown, Murphy Brown. It would be wrong not to include Murphy Brown, as she made such strides for single mothers both on and off the screen. While it was heavily criticized for a woman to willingly take on becoming a single parent (perhaps you remember Dan Quayle's issues with Murphy Brown?), Murphy did it in stride. She chaperoned field trips, hunted down the hot Christmas toy, stressed over how to talk to her son about death, and even dealt with having cancer while being a single mother.

3. Ms. Tonitini, The Weekenders. Tito's mom doesn't have a first name from what I can remember. Her ex-husband lives on the other side of the country, and only appears once throughout the run of the series. She has some very great characteristics for single motherhood... she's really into cooking healthy meals (tofu and seaweed often appear in their household), she has a very open relationship with Tino (it's clear that she knows a lot about his past problems, as she finishes sentences for him when he tells stories), and she gives very sensible advice without sounding overbearing and matronly. While she's not a major character, she appears frequently, and is always saying or doing something interesting.

2. Reba Hart, Reba. She is perhaps one of the most memorable single moms out there. It's not a bed of roses for her, as she deals with her oldest daughter's teenage pregnancy immediately after getting left by her husband for a younger woman, but she tries. Nobody knows how bad things are (she takes out a second mortgage on the house that nobody knows about for a while), and she eventually takes a job working for her ex-husband before starting a business with her son-in-law. While parenting Jake isn't a problem often, Reba often has to deal with helping Cheyenne to make good decisions and steering Kyra in the right direction. And, she does this all while her ex-husband's new wife continually pops in on her and her family.

1. Lorelai Gilmore, Gilmore Girls. Clearly, Lorelai is a wonderful single mother. She left home as a teen mom, and made her entire life out of nothing. Her wealthy parents offered her support, but she chose to ignore them completely for many years. Instead, Lorelai worked as a maid while she a Rory lived in a small guest house. She eventually bought a jeep and a house, and eventually went to night school, got a degree, and opened an inn. Rory is delightfully well-adjusted, an ambitious academic, and very cautious in all of her endeavors. The relationship that Lorelai and Rory share is enviable in many ways - from hanging out on weekends watching movies to sharing bits of personal experiences to just being a phone call away at all times. Lorelai Gilmore, winner!

For those who missed this post when it was first published, my apologies. It was one of the many lost in Blogger's maintenance problems. I was waiting it out for Blogger to correct the problem, but it's been a week and I'm just going to move on.

I'm Living for the Weekend

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I've always been a fan of Saturday Morning Cartoons. Even up through high school and into college, which explains how The Weekenders is one of my all-time favorites, even though it didn't debut until 2000. It ran on ABC, and ruined Pokemon's run on the WB. It's not on at all anymore, although reruns were on ToonDisney and a few other channels for a few years.

This show worked HARD on being completely original and setting itself apart. The show centers on four kids and what they do on the weekends. Two guys and two girls, and their families are seen from time to time. Tino, voiced by Jason Marsden, is the main character, and often breaks the fourth wall while telling the audience about what's going on. But, two things that set the show apart: the kids' clothing and hairstyles actually change, which is rare for cartoons; the pizza place that they frequent is never the same background... the theme of the place is constantly changing. Some of my favorite themes were Cirque du Pizza, Mount Pizza-Uvious, Sherlock Pizza, Mission Impizzable, Pizzamergency, and Lord of the Pies.

Rarely was school a topic in the show, and I think that was a big draw for kids looking for an escape from other shows (which Recess did in a similar manner, but focusing mostly on playground situations). The crew could be found hanging at the arcade, the mall, movies, listening to music, playing sports, and other things tweens might do. There are no "very special" topics, but there was a holiday episode showcasing Christmas, Solstice, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah.

It got the boot because it was a Disney show. Disney and their fear of a show losing viewers just stops shows in their tracks.

This is a very early episode in the series, but it shows families, hobbies, and the general tone of the show.




Later Days!