7 Classic Kid's TV Shows Clearly Conceived on (Bad) Acid
Most children's TV producers know that to get kids to watch, you have to terrify the little bastards. Looking back at the weird-ass shows they've cranked out over the decades, it's a wonder that we all grew up to be such, stable, well-adjusted adults.

Slim Goodbody was a friendly Jewfroed health nut who saw nothing wrong with showing you his innards in a way that is both intimate and vomit-inducing.
What The Hell Were They Thinking?
If you ever found yourself wondering what a Steve Gutenberg/Horshack hybrid would look like on the inside, this is the show of your dreams.
Slim Goodbody is here to force you to make good nutrition type choices, or he'll feed you to his robot-man.
Don't get us wrong, we're pleased when the neighborhood exhibitionist takes a unhealthy interest in vulnerable children. The scary part is when the animated picture of the red-track-suited man magically bursts into a nude man who utilizes an inappropriate wide-legged stance.

Note the shiny animated highlights to accentuate the fact that yes, this man has shed his clothes to teach you about love and life.

And we wonder why we have an obesity epidemic? Slim Goodbody utilizes his lumpy flesh-covered unitard to teach all the terrified children of the world why they should eat as much as possible, in order to cover the monstrosities which lurk beneath their skin.

Pay close attention to the part where the animated Goodbody goes through the trouble of turning around to show his half-muscularly-buttocked backside. We contend this visual assault subconsciously prompted millions of children to eat uncontrollably, as they never, ever wanted to be as healthy as Slim Goodbody. Never. Ever.
You know you want some of this lower intestine that is covering my private parts.

Let's see if you can make it past :16 of the intro without collapsing into a scared little ball of tears and urine.
Nice how they suck you in with the jaunty little sailor theme, then slam you with the nightmare fuel.

What The Hell Were They Thinking?
The "Sigmund" in the title is a sad little lettuce heap of worthlessness who, in the course of the tune, is literally beat out of his home by his abusive family. The sea monster dad tells Sigmund to "go out and scare some humans, or you're through!"
No doubt traumatized by his parents' death threat, Sigmund makes a pathetic attempt at scaring some unsupervised children. The children mercilessly taunt Sigmund, laughing as his limp little tentacles attempt to catch a ball they callously fling at his googly eyes. Watch them mock as they force the little blob to hula hoop. He has no torso, you dicks.
Deserving of your sympathy.
Let's all thank the show's creators for turning a disgusting family dynamic in which the parents beat and deride their monster kid out of the home into entertainment. Entertainment for children.
Of course these same children grew up to believe their abused and neglected offspring would become the playthings of laughing beach goers! Hooray! Hooray for deadbeat dads and emotionally abusive moms! Your children are hilarious!

Meet The Osmonds, a clan of sex-crazed Mormon children with extraordinarily large heads.
What The Hell Were They Thinking?
The decade of the Seventies owes the universe a serious apology. In this instance, it's for defying the laws of nature and presenting the many, many Osmond boys as cartoony Jonas Brothers-type sex symbols. Which is ridiculous as soon as you take a look at the size of their ginormous heads or the way they sadly flail their arms and legs around in what has to be the worst animated dancing ever created.

Maybe the most shocking thing about this program, however, was not the audacity of presenting the Osmonds as sex symbols, it was the reality that the Osmonds were sex symbols. Seriously. These guys had your mamas having all kinds of wicked, dirty thoughts back in the day:
Yes, these guys.
We'll pause for a second so you can go wash that little bit of vomit off your teeth.
Not only were the Osmond boys major sex symbols in what will forthwith be known as "The Most Retarded Decade of the Twentieth Century" ("TMRDTC" for short) but they rubbed our noses in it by showing the toothy seven on their knees trying to woo all the women of the world while they fly around in their psychedelic airplane.

Memo to Mormon Church: don't let your little boy members animate themselves wooing the hands of many, many little girls from all over the world. It doesn't look good, you know, on the whole "polygamy" thing. And PS: floating detached heads of little girls in the sky doesn't look good either.


There are no words to prepare you for what you are about to see. This is the type of thing only the Japanese have words for.
What The Hell Were They Thinking?
After being lovingly blinded by their SuperBible, two children and a toy robot thingy are sucked into a dark vortex that deposits them in Bible Times. And while they are never dropped off in the middle of Lot's encounter with his daughters, the SuperMeanSpiritedBook seems to be A-OK with forcing children to battle flying Devil Serpents. Because that's WJWD.

Initially conceived by Pat Robertson as a way to get the Gospel to Japanese children (who are historically enamored with characters who look nothing like Japanese people and also live in American suburbs) SuperBook is among the first anime programs aired in America.

That's right. Pat Robertson forever has the title as one of the guys who introduced anime to American children. We'll be sure his epitaph will read something like this:
Pat Robertson
Ultimately responsible for dirty fan fiction featuring Sailor Moon.
Rest in peace, sweet soldier of the Lord.








omg lidsville was terrifying- also that tomorrow people looks f*****g well good- god bless the bbc and their terrifying child scaring tv shows.
ReplyHey, I loved The Banana Splits! They aired down here (in México) in the 90's and it was fantastic IMO. LOL.
ReplyNumber 3 is BUMBLELION. Half BEE half LION all PURE AWESOME. >.< WUZZLES = Win. I had both Butterbear and Eleroo. Damnit.
ReplyWhat disturbs me the most with that show is the themesong clearly thinking 'living with split-personalities' is a good thing.
You gotta be kidding me. Wuzzles=AWESOME!
ReplyAH! The Wuzzles! I had a Wuzzles book and a stuffed Elroo toy as a kid.
ReplyAs for some of these other ones...thank god I missed out on the '70s, is all I can say.
I used to watch The Wuzzles and my mom used to love The Banana Splitz.
ReplyWeird s**t runs in the family.
How could you forget H.R. Pufunstuff (it's right there in the NAME) or Lidsville? Those are the two biggest "acid trips for kids" of all time!
ReplyHow could you forget H.R. Pufunstuff (it's right there in the name) or Lidsville? Those were the biggest acid trips for kids of all time!
Replylooks like some people didnt lay off the brown acid
ReplyI've heard of the Banana Splits, but I've never watched it. Actually, other than that one, I've never even heard of these shows. I feel ... young.
ReplyFew things end up weirder than when the Japanese get their hands on Western religions. Just look at their Christmas specials.
ReplyI meant the Osmonds, not the writer.
Reply Hide All See All 3 RepliesI picked a bad time to stop huffing paint.
(bonus internet points if you know that phrase)
I don't think he ever mentioned paint actually. The last one I remember is "Looks like I picked a bad time to stop sniffing glue."
Unless you're quoting something else entirely, Racharacha is correct.
Didn't one of those kids f**k his sister for real?
Meet The Osmonds, a clan of sex-crazed Mormon children with extraordinarily large heads.
ReplyWTF? Too much cocaine, perhaps?
The Tomorrow People theme is so much lie the Fringe theme it's not even funny.
ReplyYou mean the Fringe theme is so much like The Tomorrow People theme. Seeing as one predates the other by decades.
What about H.R. Pufnstuf. I haven't been on a boat since.
Replyanyone else find the semi-paranoid "never give into the robots children. NEVER!" message at the beginning of slim goodbody hilarious? especially since it would be so easy to give control over to robots. I mean, all those nuclear missiles must be heavy, why don't you let your robot pals take a few off your hands?
ReplyThe Wuzzles research is a bit off. Everything on the island is a hybrid, including a train/plane. Also, the bear is a female, not a dude. My female cousin was really into that show and was ecstatic when my folks got her that doll.
ReplyAlso, the Moose/Seal cross was PERFECTLY able to walk on his tail flipper (okay, he walked a bit like a penguin, but he could walk) he did not have to drag himself along.
Oh wow, I totally forgot about "The Tomorrow People" I loved that show as a kid, and the intro was awesome! Thanks for bringing back some great memories Cracked.
ReplyAs for Banana Splits, I was 10 when I first saw that show, and my first thought was "this s**t is retarded."
ReplyI remember Slim Goodbody. It was the one show I couldn't stand to watch as a kid. For some reason, my mom couldn't figure out why. After all, it promotes nutrition, right? I wasn't scared as much as supremely grossed out. For the longest time, I couldn't look at a picture of a cornucopia without imagining it being fired like a bazooka by a skinless naked man.
Reply