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US TV Shows I Loved Watching as a Kid
- Yadav B V
- Jul 8
- 9 min read
Updated: Jul 12
These are the shows that made my day whenever I came back from school. At least the ones that weren't straight-up cartoons. While a couple of these are award-winning shows that were and still are enjoyed by a wide audience, the others are just shows that were a whole lot of fun that either did not age that well or would not make that good of a watch today for a few other reasons.
TV Shows I Watched as a Kid
Go on, take a peek into my childhood, through the TV shows I watched as a kid:
1. Buffy The Vampire Slayer
This was one of the coolest shows of its time and has also aged incredibly well.
Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Anne Summers plays the individual who is blessed with the power of ages to slay vampires, demons, and monsters from the dark side.
One of the most successful adaptations from the big screen to TV, the source material for this series is the 1992 movie of the same name starring Kristy Swanson. If the name rings a bell, then the action comedy series Psych has a couple of episodes starring her as the love interest of Timothy Omundson, who plays detective Carlton Lassiter. The makers of the Psych Series pay homage to her role as the vampire hunter by introducing her using a vampire-themed mystery and crime.
Why Buffy The Vampire Slayer is Awesome
Every character in this series is fleshed out right down to their facial tics. So there would be a significant backstory that would be tackled at length for each character, it would be highly meaningful, containing relatable traits and flaws as well.
While the rest of TV was focusing on cheap laughs, thrills, and scares, BTVS focused on telling a cohesive story that addressed real-life issues, even though the show itself was based on a fantasy, young-adult-themed fiction.
The effects in the series were great, not just for the time but also hold up well to scrutiny today just as well. Most effects were practical, and the remaining were CGI, which was realistic enough not to derail the story.
Cast and Characters
Sarah Michelle Gellar shines in this role, lifting the movie it was based on out of obscurity and placing it squarely in the limelight. She is a fabulous actor, great at action, and even better at portraying complex emotions on screen.
Gellar anchored the whole show with a Golden Globe-nominated performance surrounded by similar stars in the early stages of their careers. She shared great on-screen chemistry with her costars, which translated into highly engaging episodes that told a riveting coming-of-age story with real-life stakes for everyone around her.
Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg plays an awkward supporting character who evolves into someone more confident and more helpful to Buffy along the way, transforming into a powerful witch in time.
David Boreanaz as Angel plays Buffy's love interest as a Romani vampire who is cursed with a soul as punishment for killing a Romani girl, which sets him on the path to redemption by atoning for his past sins with good deeds. He serves as Buffy's love interest and matches her in terms of raw power and good intentions.
He was so well-liked that just after three seasons in the show, he got his own spin-off, where he goes off to do his own thing, solving cases and fighting crime alongside Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase, who was absolutely stunning.
Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris plays the awkward comic relief, slash close friend of Buffy, who adds a certain amount of vulnerability to the whole dynamic, considering he is just a mortal human.
James Marsters as Spike serves as the Big Bad in the series for a long time, opposite Buffy, and commanding his legion of Vampire minions. The relationship between Buffy and Spike is layered, sharing mutual respect for each other as enemies, and also, at the end, there is a possibility of love between them, if only a possibility.
The late Michelle Trachtenberg played Dawn Summers, Buffy's younger sister, who is introduced quite a few seasons later with a link to mystical energies and her being more than anything the team would represent together.
Anthony Head as Rupert Giles is to the Vampire Slayer team what Alfred is to The Batman. Being the school librarian, Giles is highly knowledgeable about Vampires and demons and provides said knowledge to Buffy and her team to help slay them efficiently with suggestions of methods, weaknesses, and weapons needed for the same.
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2. The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years is such a critically acclaimed series and so beloved by all during the time it aired that it is a no-brainer to include this on my list. Although this was in no way light-hearted for me at the time, it was entertaining and funny more often than not. While it aired from 1988 to 1993, it was set in the 60s ( 1966 ).
The intro of this show is heartwarming as it is filmed with a video camera from the 60s with film lines running through the footage, and people moving faster than in real life, as in black and white films of old. Also, each character is named in the intro as they would appear in a Polaroid photo, which makes it all the more endearing to the audience.
Fred Savage plays Kevin Arnold, who narrates all through the series as a 30-year-old voiced by the then Daniel Stern, whom you would remember best as the robber/burglar in Home Alone and Home Alone 2.
Danica McKellar plays Gwendolyn "Winnie" Cooper, Kevin's neighbor and the girl next door on whom he has a crush. Josh Saviano plays Paul Joshua Pfeiffer, Kevin's best friend, all three being raised in an American suburb, either in California or New York, based on the license plates shown in some of the episodes.
Dan Lauria plays John "Jack" Arnold, the typical stern father who is emotionally bottled up with a caring and understanding wife, Norma Arnold, played by Alley Mills.
Jason Hervey plays Wayne Arnold, Kevin's older, bullying brother, who is, at his core is very caring of his brother. However, more often than not, you see Jason picking on Kevin as would happen in a sibling relationship.
While The Wonder Years was not my go-to show to relax, I did find it entertaining and watched it whenever it was on. While the intro theme was great, and there were genuine moments of comedy, the noticeable lack of a laugh track or even frequent background music in tense or awkward moments stood out and made it a tough watch when all you want to do is watch something silly.
One thing that The Wonder Years was and still is - realistic and authentic. It portrayed a time when families would hang on every word of the patriarch at the dinner table, kids would fear their parents, and still attempt to make mischief.
Also, the fact that even though the dad was gruff on the outside, he did care deeply for everyone in his family. The laugh track version of this show would be That 70's Show - Topher Grace's best work on TV so far.
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The Wonder Years is also a coming-of-age story told from the viewpoint of a kid growing up in a suburb, having a best friend, a bully big brother, and a childhood sweetheart.
The last time I saw Fred Savage on TV was in the disastrous dramedy series Friends from College, with a terrible plotline and okay execution. Coming to Danica McKellar, I last saw her on How I Met Your Mother and a few guest appearances, which were forgettable.
3. Early Edition
After simultaneously undergoing a series of events driven by bad luck that include being thrown out of the house by his wife, followed by a divorce, Gary takes up residence in the Blackstone Hotel. The one event that changes the course of his life in a major way is that he receives a copy of the Chicago Sun-Times along with a Tabby cat, which includes the happenings of the next day.
He shares these developments with his colleagues at the stockbroking firm where he works as a stockbroker. While his colleague Chuck Fishman uses the paper to make money, Gary attempts to use the paper's prophetic information to prevent any tragedies from occurring.
With time, Gary uncovers the mystery behind the paper and his predecessor, who received the paper before him. You would probably recognize Gary in Peter Jackson's King Kong movie and other roles in other series.
While the premise of the show is intriguing and is close to the concept of time loops, the execution is lacking, along with substance in the form of plot devices apart from the main plotline.
4. Street Hawk
One of the most entertaining series of its time, if not for anything, but for its motorcycle tech that is similar to the tech that James Bond receives from the quartermaster to complete his missions with ease.
Inspired by the high-tech vehicle-inspired shows of its time, such as the well-known Knight-Rider made the terms KITT and Michael Knight household names, and Airwolf, which Bryan Cranston tends to mention every once in a while in interviews.
I personally feel that Street Hawk was the cooler tech as it was a motorcycle that had a greater degree of stealth and freedom of motion, enabling the rider to infiltrate and extract people from tough-to-exit situations.
My favorite part of the show was when Street Hawk used flashy weapons on his bike, such as a button when pressed, producing massive sparks or machine guns that would put Chuck Norris's gun bike to shame. Some of the best weapons that are used include a "particle beam," a machine gun, smoke, and large sparks.
Joe Regalbuto as Norman Tuttle makes for a great protagonist in Street Hawk, handling his high-tech bike with ease and also with the help of a highly able tech support team. One of the coolest aspects of this series is the bike emerging from the back of a moving truck and then back again into the same truck with a ramp. You also see George Clooney as Kevin Stark in this series.
The helmet of Street Hawk has instrumentation that helps him see equally well in the day or night. Also the bike can travel at really high speeds with great stability reaching well over 200 miles per hour.
The novelty of the show is less in the spy aspect of the plot and more in the use of the tech to solve mysteries or protect a high-value target. Knight Rider also used the novelty of AI tech such as intelligence gathering and automated driving to keep the audience interested in the show.
5. Charles in Charge
Scott Baio plays Charles, who works for a wealthy couple named Stan and Jill Pembroke as a live-in housekeeper in exchange for living accommodations and food which in itself sounds like a really bad deal if not completely illegal or at least unethical. (This is an opinion only.) I felt this when I rewatched some of the episodes of Charles in Charge just a few days ago as an adult.
What's more, the patriarch of the household kept intimidating Charles into doing his bidding regardless of whether it would be appropriate or even fair to shoulder such disproportionate responsibility for several children and running a large house unaided.
But back then, I did not pick up on these cues and thought that everything was hunky-dory and quite enjoyed the sitcom with its reassuring laugh track that hints at all being well. Everyone was happy and coming of age in the storyline, except Charles, who was often bullied into doing things that should not fall under the ambit of a young man.
I am reminded of this show whenever I watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine, especially the episode when Charles Boyle sings the intro song to Charles in Charge while parking his car. A special treat is to see Paul Walker acting on this show when his career as a child actor was just taking off.
The kids on the show all have distinctive character traits of their own, which is refreshing considering the significant character development over the episodes in the first season. the main characters that the show focuses on are the father and mother along with Scott Baio and his best friend.
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I now realize that the laugh track in a sitcom for a child would be reassuring in the sense that you are given cues as to when a funny thing is happening. Also, there would be less left to interpretation, which means you can switch your brain off while watching the show and just kick back and relax.
However, these days, laugh tracks seem like more of an annoyance than something that is reassuring, as the showrunners should come up with scripts where the show can be funny without the help of laugh tracks, and in situations when an emotion has to be highlighted, a subtle background music cue can be used.
