Five of the Weirdest (but Greatest) Kid's Shows from the 80's and the 90's

I was born in 1979, so I got to see some pretty crazy shit as a kid. I think the folks over at Nickleodeon were definitely smoking some of the best weed possible to air half the crap they did. There are certainly a crap-ton of other shows that are either equally as weird or more so than these, but these were my favorites:

The Adventures of Pete & Pete

I straight up loved this show. Super strange show about a family living in the suburbs and the weird, surreal hijinks they get up to. Also, both of the sons are named Pete Wrigley. The opening music is pretty damn catchy too.

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Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Imagine the conversation that must have occurred in the board room for this one...

"So, like...we want to scare the crap out of kids. Think of this as like a junior version of the Twilight Zone or Tales from the Crypt...but like, with kids. And still scary."

Again, I think the folks making decisions over at Nickleodeon had great weed...but I think they also made a good decision airing this one. Each episode was its own standalone story, which meant you didn't need to watch all of them, but if you liked the show, then you damn sure made sure to catch each episode.

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Ghostwriter

So...these elementary-aged kids find a ghost who happens to be mad smart when it comes to language. The ghost befriends these neighborhood kids who then go on to solve neighborhood crimes with the help of this literary ghost (because of course). Aired on PBS and was definitely one I never missed.

I also just realized that Samuel L. Jackson plays the father of one of the kids in the show.

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Eerie, Indiana

This one aired on basic cable (CBS, if I remember right). Basically a kid moves to a new town with his family and realizes something is REAL fucked up with the majority of the people who live there. He befriends one of the only other normal kids in town and together they....yes, they solve crimes or mysteries because that's just what kids do. They solve mysteries, okay? Obviously.

Anyway, I remember one episode where twins were kept in large tupperware containers at night so they wouldn't get older. That's the kind of weirdness you're dealing with on this one. Definitely worth a watch. I remember the episodes being pretty good, but then again...I also remember eating glue at more than one point in my life, so my judgment may be questionable.

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You Can't Do That on Television

And yet...they did it anyway. This was basically sketch comedy for high schoolers, but like...WAY off the fucking rails. This show had some dark moments, like one recurring sketch where one of the kids was tied up to an execution pole and then screams out "wait wait, stop the execution," where a conversation takes place between them and their executioner where the executioner ends up getting shot instead. This was nearly every episode.

This was also the show that got Alanis Morrisette started in show business. And all the green slime on Nickleodeon for years after. This show was the teenaged version of Monty Python's Flying Circus, so it's no wonder that I eventually fell in love with THAT crew later on when I got older.

How this show remained on TV for so long is pretty amazing, but I'm glad it did.

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