When we reach our late twenties and early thirties and realise how much we miss good television, we tend to go down the nostalgic path. Growing up, with summer vacations lasting a full month and shorter school days, picking a show to watch was perhaps the most challenging assignment. Our TV schedules were quite set, and included everything from Disney cartoons to Indian comedy. This edition includes a chart of five programmes we watched over and over again as children and would gladly reserve time in our work calendars to watch.
TOM AND JERRY
Everyone has heard of “Tom and Jerry”, the only well-known programme where a mouse routinely outwits and humiliates a cat ten times its size. Tom and Jerry had the most straightforward stories, but you never lost interest in them because they were so humorous and snarky. You were eager to learn what new scheme Tom had in mind and how Jerry was going to thwart it. Even though the show ran under a different name and with different studios in each decade, Tom and Jerry continued to air in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and even the 2000s.
TAKESHI’S CASTLE
For a generation raised during the Pogo and Nickelodeon periods, watching “Takeshi’s Castle” meant seeing people fall into mud puddles. This programme will return in more than 240 markets in 2023 thanks to Amazon Prime. Takeshi’s Castle, an Indian adaptation of a Japanese programme, became well-known for its entertaining chores and Jaaved Jaffrey’s hilarious commentary.
COURAGE THE COWARDLY DOG
The majority of cartoons from the early 2000s were often highly joyful and heartwarming. However, “Courage the Cowardly Dog” was a show about scary monsters that looked like they could be straight out of some Steven King book or an old horror movie. It wasn’t really the most kid-friendly show, but it had to be one of, if not the all-time popular cartoon of the 2000s.
SHARARAT
How we wished we were three magicians who lived in a house where they could make anything happen. For us, that was “Shararat”. This childhood show was almost like a fantasy world for Indian children—a mansion with three generations of magicians living in “Muggleland.” Therefore, we had this tiny region of Indian magicians long before the world had Harry Potter and the country of Hogwarts. It was seasoned with sweetness, spice, and just the proper amount of vice.
SCOOBY-DOO
Everyone who was born after the 1960s has seen “Scooby-Doo” at some point in their lives. In essence, Scooby, Shaggy’s talking dog, and four youngsters (who appear to be in their mid-20s) look into numerous crimes that happen around town. The twist is always that the crimes were perpetrated by some type of monster, ghost, spirit, beast, or pretty much any extra-natural entity. The characters on the programme were Fred, who was slick and sophisticated, Velma, who was nerdy, Shaggy, who was laid back and easily scared, Scooby, who loved scooby snacks, and Daphne, who played a sort of damsel in distress role.
