25 Great Children’s TV Shows That Aren’t On DVD

Brett Singer

25. Thundarr The Barbarian

ABC, 1980-1982

This fantasy/sci-fi/adventure series gets a lot of love online, collecting over 9,000 signatures on a petition for a DVD release. The plot, for the uninitiated, is as follows: in 1994 (you know, the future!), Earth has been decimated by a "runaway planet" that sliced the moon in half (hate when that happens). Then, two thousand years later, "Earth is reborn?" The main characters are Thundarr, a big dumb barbarian with a special weapon called the Sun-Sword, Ookla the Mok (basically Chewbacca with fangs) and Ariel, a tart sorceress who tolerates Thundarr’s stupidity. The three travelers wander the now-decimated planet, which is full of "ancient" technology such as movie projectors, cars, and soda machines. Somehow, high-level magic has become commonplace, and pirates (pirates!) roam the land, making life both difficult for the common folk and extremely entertaining for the viewer.

24. The Beatles

ABC, 1965

According to BeatlesCartoon.com, the Beatles’ Saturday morning cartoons have never officially been released on VHS/DVD ? and that’s a shame. These charming animated adventures were very much of their time, obviously, but the animated Liverpool Lads are just as cute ? and the songs just as hummable ? as they were in the sixties.

23. The Jackson 5ive

ABC, 1971-1973

Before Michael Jackson had so much plastic surgery that he looked like a cartoon, he actually was a cartoon! This little gem originally aired on ABC from 1971-1973, but it must have continued in re-runs because I remember it more vividly than I care to admit. Oddly enough, if Wikipedia is to be believed, the Jacksons didn’t actually contribute anything to the cartoon other than their music.

22. Wonderama

Syndicated, 1967-1977

"Snake cans!" This wonderful local program was a variety/game show of sorts and featured actual kids ? many of the YouTube videos are from the grown-ups who were in the audience at the tapings.

21. Scooby’s All Star Laff-A-Lympics

ABC, 1977-1979

Although you can get discs containing every episode of "Wacky Races" (cool!) and "Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines" (um, who cares?), the never-ending competition between The Scooby Doobies, The Yogi Yahooeys and The Really Rottens is thus far confined to the dustbin of cartoon sports history. With everyone still high on the Olympics, this is a perfect time to put these out.

20. The Magic Garden

WPIX, later syndicated, 1972-1984

Sherlock the squirrel, Flapper the bird, the Chuckle Patch ? ah, the memories. I had a big crush on hosts Carole and Paula, especially Paula (I think it was Paula), who kind of looked like my babysitter at the time. The bell-bottoms, the looong pigtails, the guitar ? what’s not to love? The ladies are still around, still friends, and their website says they plan to release the shows on DVD soon.

19. Zoom

PBS, 1972-1978 (Remake: 1999-2005)

"Won’t you zoom, zoom, zooma zoom?" In contrast to the more amped-up kids’ television produced today, the intro to Zoom, even now, has something of a calming effect. The kids, who created much of the content for the show, were real kids, they looked like real kids, and they even danced and sang like real kids, even if that meant musical numbers that were not terribly polished (take that, High School Musical!). There is a VHS collection of select moments from the original 1970’s run, but no DVD. There was also a remake in 1999 that ended in 2005; the website is still active, noting over five million visitors. Um, hello? DVD, please?

18. Romper Room

PBS, 1953-1994 (various incarnations)

It started in 1953, which puts it at the very beginning of children’s television (or television at all, for that matter). Romper Room was like a virtual kindergarten class, but it was so sweet and easy you loved every minute of it. The hosts were always "Miss" ? Miss Nancy, Miss Louise, and the one I remember, Miss Mary Ann (here’s an interview with her from 2006). Who doesn’t remember hoping to hear their name when Miss Whoever closed out the show with, "And I see Peter, and Lucy, and Pilot Inspektor?"

17. Batman (Live Action TV Series)

ABC, 1966-1968

Adam West may not be interested in The Dark Knight, but that’s probably because he still thinks of himself as the one and only Keeper of the Cowl. Despite huge demand, this classic and campy take on Bob Kane’s creation is not available on DVD, except for the 1966 TV movie. Disputes over rights abound, but the episodes are still shown in syndication.

16. Big Blue Marble

PBS, 1974-1983

Big Blue Marble was one of many children’s shows in the 1970’s that asked the question "can’t we all just get along?" This one did it by partly by encouraging viewers to become pen pals; some web sites claim that many children stayed in touch long after the show went off the air. "Together is a word we must learn to understand?Love your fellow man, woman, and everyone." Nothing wrong with that, right?

15. The Wonderful World of Disney

ABC, NBC, CBS, Disney Channel, 1954-present (sort of)

This Disney anthology show had various names and incarnations, and is still around in some form (including airing in Spanish as El Maravilloso Mundo de Disney). It included movies, cartoons, and Walt being his imagineering self — this is the Disney that guys like BoingBoing’s Cory Doctorow revere, not the company that currently produces nonsense like Hannah Montana. Select shows are available on DVD but there is no "complete season"-style release.

14. Bozo the Clown

Syndicated, 1956-2001 (various incarnations)

Only a few episodes are available on DVD, none featuring Bob Bell, who appears to be the fan favorite, despite the fact that many actors donned the red rubber nose and dopey hair. (One of them, Bill Britten, was an acting teacher at the High School of Performing Arts and even appeared in the movie Fame.) Bozo is the most iconic of clowns; even though there is no current version on the air at the moment, future generations can enjoy his evil doppelganger: Krusty.

13. Kid Superpower Hour with Shazam!

NBC, 1981-1982

This hour of superpower contained two segments ? "Hero High" and "Shazam!" The former is on DVD in full, the latter is not because of rights issues. "Hero High" is hilarious, but mostly hilariously bad, especially the live action musical segments, which make The Archies look like Metallica. As for Mr. Mightiest Mortal, he’s still around in various forms, but this animated version was much beloved by many (including me). The robot walker thingies in the intro jogged my memory immediately. A live-action Shazam film is supposedly in the works with The Rock as Black Adam.

12. Shazam! (Live Action)

CBS, 1974-1977 (later changed to The Shazam!/Isis Hour )

Look! It’s Billy Batson and his GIGANTIC HAIR! And when he says the name of the great wizard Shazam, he becomes Captain Marvel! A superhero with significantly smaller hair! Shazam, if you didn’t already know, is an acronym made up of the names of powerful gods: Solomon (wisdom), Hercules (strength), Atlas (stamina), Zeus (power), Achilles (courage), and Mercury (speed). After the first season, Isis joined the show for a double-shot of superheroic goodness. However, while The Secrets of Isis is available on DVD, Shazam!, sadly, is not. Stupid rights disputes.

11. Villa Alegre

PBS, 1973-1980

Villa Allegre was apparently thought of as a Spanish Sesame Street, but it was more than that. It was (and I’m doing this from memory, I couldn’t find any video online) very authentically Spanish. No "Spanish word of the day." They would do entire segments en español. Take that, Dora! Since I grew up in the Bronx, this show felt like my neighborhood. I very clearly remember learning, via this program, that tomatoes are actually a fruit, not a vegetable. Why? Because they have seeds. So there. No DVDs are available for sale, and I couldn’t find any video online. But you can hear some of the music, especially that catchy theme song, on two different MySpace pages.

10. The Marvel Super Heroes

Syndicated,1966

Five days a week, five different Marvel heroes rocketed into your living room: Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, The Invincible Iron Man, The Mighty Thor, and Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner. The animation was so stilted that it was barely animated at all, the plots were pale shadows of the stories that appeared in the original comics, but there was still something really great about these. With all of the recent successful films based on Marvel characters, it’s very surprising that there isn’t a DVD collection of these shows.

9. The Thing / Fred and Barney Meet The Thing

NBC, 1979

"Thing ring, do your thing!" This was one of the lesser animated series based on Marvel characters. Fred and Barney didn’t really have much to do with the strongest and most orange member of the Fantastic Four, and the idea that a kid named Benjy Grimm had a ring that turned him into The Thing was pushing it, even for comic book fans. But in 1979, there were three channels, and we weren’t that picky.

8. Captain Kangaroo

CBS, 1955-1984

When Bob Keeshan died in 2004, I didn’t cry, but I was definitely sad. Keeshan’s kiddie TV cred runs deep; he played Clarabell on the old Howdy Doody show. As the Captain, he was like your Grandpa, but without the cigars and whisky. (Wait, that was my grandpa. Moving on?) Mr. Green Jeans, Mr. Moose, and Bunny Rabbit were his co-stars. Simple, sweet and fun.

7. The Banana Splits Adventure Hour

NBC, 1968-1970

If you don’t know the theme song to The Banana Splits ("One banana, two banana, three banana, four?"), you’re either too young or too old to have enjoyed the show when it was on the air. The Splits were a motley crew of misfits, who, like seemingly every other collection of weirdoes on children’s TV in those days, were also a rock band. The Banana Splits consisted of four animals, but they were animals that looked not so much like animals, probably because they were designed by the prolific and brilliant Sid and Marty Krofft. They shared the show with short segments like "Danger Island," which starred Jan Michael Vincent (who knew?). There was a lot going on and it was a lot of fun to watch. Fun fact: Richard Donner, who went on to direct big-screen Superman movies, directed this show’s first season.

6. Hot Fudge / The Hot Fudge Show

PBS, 1974-1980

Although all shows had music back then, this one really had music, and pretty funky music at that. Reading about it now, it apparently had a whole hippy-dippy educational agenda, but it must have been a well-disguised one, because all I recall are the tunes. A reunion of the original cast aired on Detroit TV in 2007, and the official website vaguely implies that a DVD will be for sale at some point.

5. Great Space Coaster

PBS, 1981-1986

The Great Space Coaster was another "let’s all be friends" endeavor, but it featured more of a variety show format. They would occasionally show clips from La Linea, an Italian animation series. What I remember is Gary Gnu, who hosted the Gnus of the Week. Gary, rebel that he was, would add a "g" to seemingly every word. The Great Space Coaster also featured celebrity guests such as Mark Hamill (that’s Luke Skywalker, kids). Fun fact: Gary Gnu is mentioned in a rap song by Blackalicious.

4. Vegetable Soup

PBS, 1975-1978

The person who posted the intro to YouTube put it best: "This is either the intro to the 70’s era children’s PBS program ‘Vegetable Soup‘, or it’s the first thing Jerry Falwell saw the moment he arrived in Hell." This might be the weirdest children’s show ever. EVER. Just the title of the bizarre puppet segment ? "Outerscope 1, Trail is Discovered" ? should have been enough to make parents scream "WHAT?" According to the producers at the New York State Education Department, "the goal of Vegetable Soup, a television series for children, is to help counter the negative, destructive effects of racial prejudice and racial isolation and to reinforce and dramatize the positive, life enhancing value of human diversity in entertaining and affective presentations that children can understand and relate to." Well, everyone at the Department of Ed must have been ingesting large quantities of illegal substances because I defy anyone to understand what the hell "Outerscope" was all about. "It takes all kinds of vegetables / To make a Vegetable Soup", but I think it took an enormous amount of LSD to make this program. Should be released on DVD as a warning against the dangers of hallucinogens.

3. Whatever Turns You On / You Can’t Do That on Television

CTV (Canadian Television); Nickelodeon (some episodes banned), 1979-1990

Until I did a little research, I remembered You Can’t Do That On Television strictly for its use of "slime" (goo that was dumped onto the heads of unsuspecting participants). Then I saw that the title of the show was originally Whatever Turns You On, and a light bulb went off. At times, this program could be kind of daring, and some episodes were banned in the United States after airing in Canada. You Can’t Do That . . . was kind of a kiddie-SNL, with sketches featuring both kids and adults. One had a teacher showing his class a pornographic film; that one never made it onto U.S. airwaves. In the "Divorce" sketch (above), a mother enters her children’s room and announces that she and her husband are getting a divorce. The kids are actually very pleased, and then the mother proceeds to demand everything in the divorce settlement, including THE SLIME. That one aired only once before it was pulled. A complete DVD set, with the banned/deleted sketches, would be most welcome.

2. Sesame Street

PBS, 1969-present

Now I know what you’re saying (because, you know, I’m psychic.) Sesame Street is available on DVD. I have a bunch of them at home and the entire family loves them. Ah, yes. BUT! Wouldn’t it be great to have complete seasons available to watch, in order, so you could see how the show developed over time? Characters that time (and the Old School box sets) forgot, like Roosevelt Franklin. Heck, just to see the show before Elmo took over the whole damn thing. The current episodes are great, but a box set of, say, the first five years? That’s a sunny day.

1. Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood

PBS, 1968-2001

Again, I know what you’re thinking. And yes, there are various DVDs out there containing Fred Rogers putting his sweater on and off, changing his shoes, and doing his thing in The Land of Make-Believe. But I want to start from the beginning and see how it all ends. Unlike Sesame Street, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood does have an ending, and a sad one. Being able to watch the first episode ever, and eventually seeing Fred’s heartfelt sign-off, would make it a beautiful day in my neighborhood.