Recently, I saw a post on Facebook where people were listing all the shows, cartoons and movies they watched as kids. I got inspired to write down my own list, and it kept growing and growing until I decided to add it here as a blog post. I was able to track down a few of the opening credits/themes on youtube for some of them, so I'll add links where possible. I don't know why once I read a few of the names, my faded memories just kept coming back - I'd like to document them here so I don't forget them again.
Growing up, we had just one state-owned tv channel called PTV. It is surprising how many international shows PTV aired at the time in addition to our own dramas and news shows. But people in our country were either lazy or didn't have the resources for dubbing, so all shows were shown in original English. Here are the children's shows and cartoons, and other shows that I remember:
- Fraggle Rock (usually shown early morning on weekdays): very faded memory of watching this show when getting ready to go to school
- Wind in the Willows (the BBC TV series): the song is so hauntingly beautiful and sad! My dad loved this show and made me watch it in the mornings when I was having breakfast before going to school. It is a stop action animation, and my dad's favorite
- Thundercats (usually shown in the evenings on weekdays): I loved snarf so much. But I was scared of Mumm-Ra - I once had a nightmare where the vacuum cleaner in the corner turned in to Mumm-Ra and my grandma just couldn't understand who/what it was while she was trying to calm me down.
- Silverhawks: very faded memory of watching this show, some older cousins probably watched it and I remembered it when I saw the opening credits again
- Chronicles of Narnia (BBC TV series): Loved this show so much, it was generally shown on weekends
- the Jetsons: my Mom loved this show and would put it on for me. I was fascinated by Rosey the robot
- Gumby: another one of my mother's favorite show that we watched together
- Rentaghost (BBC series): when I got a little older, I was really into this show - it was such fun
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: I remember for some reason I wanted a Ninja Turtle, the red one, Raphael... and I was very ill those days and kept asking for it. My parents got a Ninja Turtle pencil sharpener from a stationery shop for me. I didn't particularly like it, but at least I had a Ninja turtle that was a pencil sharpener from the waist down, and it was cool to show off at school.
- ALF: I didn't understand English very well, but I loved the alien and thought it was hilarious.
- Amazing Stories: my parents watched this series, I think it used to air on the weekends and I watched it with them
- Ainak Wala Jin (the genie with glasses): the only Urdu tv show for kids back then, and I think still the best one created by PTV. A Jinn is banished from his tribe because of his failing eyesight, and ends up alone in a busy city among humans. A young boy and his dad help the Jinn get eyeglasses so he can see better, and he becomes friends with the boy and his little sister. There are other Jinns, a Wizard and a Witch racing to catch the near-sighted Jinn and trap him in a bottle, and fairies who travel on clouds. So much fun!
- The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest: I was a little older when this show came on, and I was obsessed with it! The Intro theme is still my favorite
Here are some other cartoons and shows that I used to watch on PTV: Tom & Jerry, Looney Tunes, Sesame Street, Captain Planet, Smurfs, Dexter's laboratory, Addams Family, Simpsons, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Full House.
PTV also aired news slots from BBC, CNN and Deutsche Welle. We got a Hollywood movie on Saturday night and a special movie (either Home Alone or Honey I shrunk the kids) around Christmas and New Years. Shows I was absolutely allergic to were Miami Vice and the Flash that were shown on weekend afternoons.
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