FUNside

Recently I recovered a lost memory of my early childhood. Browsing though Joost I stumbled upon “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids“, and simply remembered that I was watching this in the 80’s re-runs and just hadn’t thought of it since.

Now I know that this was created in the 70’s and had as primary target group the black american kids living in the ghettos, it is described as “the educational adventures of a group of Afro-American inner city kids” after all. I didn’t mind watching it though as a kid and must admit that watching it again now was more than a pleasant experience.

I was surprised with the quality of the artwork, while Bill Cosby’s narration is smart, honest and funny. But most importantly I appreciate his effort to try to make the next generation a better one with the simple lessons presented in the series. Of course later on all the efforts of this show and sesame street were wrecked by gangsta rap but that’s another story. Oh well, what can you do…

I’d like to insist a little more on the educational spin of the series as I can’t help wondering where did all this enthusiasm on kids shows has gone. Today we’re bombarded with 3D cartoons that have the standard “good guys vs bad guys” storyline and in most cases involve monsters and aliens. Most importantly you can watch an hour of WOWing imagery and not get anything to think about afterwards. Is that the best they could come up or is it an elaborate plan to turn kids into passive viewers from the beginning?

For me, it’s shows like “Fat Albert” that lifted up the bar when I was young and had higher standards for what I chose to entertain myself later on in life… If you want a taste of “the good old days” catch a few episodes available for free at a Joost near you