Fast forward to the 90's. I was forlornly hoping a cable channel called "The Disney Channel" might have some of the animated classics I grew up with. So I tuned in. Instead of that, I found "Anne of Green Gables", and I was greatly impressed. I discovered they had not only made a new movie based on the classic books, but they had also cooperated with the CBC to make an entire television series based on the books. They also had an Australian import called "Ocean Girl", and another import called "Spellbinder". These were seriously good television shows, and I was hooked, finding other fans on the new fangled Internet - fans who were as old as I was in some cases!
I soon discovered Nickelodeon - a network that was doing the same thing. "Clarissa Explains It All", "The Secret World of Alex Mack", and "You Can't Do That On Television" - soon to be replaced by the even better "All That". I was hooked on this network as well!
Fast forward a few more years. Now a father, I was very happy with the state of things on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon - having shows I could watch with my daughter and enjoy. Good, clean family entertainment of the sort I thought I would never see again in my lifetime. But there it was - relegated to supposedly children's networks. A happy era of "Lizzie McGuire", "Even Stevens", "Drake and Josh", and many others. A new Nickelodeon show premiered - "Unfabulous". Having discovered Yahoo groups, I made a fan club for it - expressing my delight at the good clean family entertainment value. And - to my surprise - I heard from the mother of cast member Malese Jow! She appreciated what I was saying about the show, and her daughter. A friendship was born!
And it wouldn't be the last. Another new show was premiering called "Zoey 101". By this time, I was becoming aware of the producers who made these shows. One of the best is a kindly gentleman named Dan Schneider - who had made statements that he wants his shows to be enjoyable by parents with their children. Of course this show had some anticipation due to the younger sister of Britney Spears, but I was captivated by a positive portrayal of science by Erin Sanders, who played Quinn. One of my concerns is how girls often abandon math and science in high school - here was a character role model that actually enjoyed science. I found Erin's fan group, and soon became friends with the family.
But wait - there was more going on in "Zoey 101"! To my surprise - I was seeing literary devices such as imagery, foreshadowing, metaphors, symbolism - in a Kid's show???? These are high end literary devices, not present on television for the most part. The writers were intentionally putting together literary quality scripts - and I guess the ratings prove once and for all that great stories written well produce viewers! Not only that, but there were references to things like Star Trek and Star Wars that no kid would get - but adults certainly would! The show not only was intentionally written to have literary elements, it was intentionally written to appeal to adults as well as kids!
Quinn was such a powerful character that I actually booked Erin for an appearance at Texas Instruments as part of their "take your sons and daughters to work" day. Her appearance created enormous interest, to say the least! Zoey 101 was a hit, and kids came out in droves to see her. More importantly, they saw the real Erin - not as science geek Quinn, but an intelligent young lady with a healthy interest in Texas Instruments technology. Very cool experience for them!
To my astonishment and delight - The Sanders arranged for my daughter to be an extra on the Zoey 101 television show! It was an absolutely fascinating experience, seeing the production of the show from the inside. By that time, I had two friends in the cast - Victoria Justice and her mother had contacted me. So it was not only a great experience for my daughter, it was the opportunity to meet and enrich friendships with the cast parents, who I can truthfully say are wonderful people we consider quality friends.
I had the opportunity to thank Dan Schneider personally for the great family television he is producing. Of course it is a profession, and he is under the constraints to produce a product that rates well with kids - the grown-ups are secondary, but welcome viewers. My overall impression of Dan? An extremely hard working, dedicated, professional person who puts everything he has to give into his work. I remember being concerned for his health - his schedule was so grueling he had to catch naps on the set to get enough sleep. He loves each production that much. And believes in his cast, crew, and writers. He develops friendships with his young cast members, which only helps to seed even more ideas for scripts and eventually new shows. I have seen generations of shows - "All That" spins off "The Amanda Show" which spins off "Drake and Josh" which spins off "iCarly". Not direct sequels, but drawing on the talents of cast members from previous shows. These aren't the only spins - the heirarchy grows to this day! That tall, skinny 13 year old Victoria Justice now has blossomed into a beautiful and talent young woman with her own show "Victorious" - and it is chock full of the most talented kids I have seen anywhere, a miniature "Glee" without objectionable story lines. And singers who sing as well as anybody on "Glee"!
I know I am gushing over with admiration for Mr. Schneider and leaving out other Nickelodeon and Disney producers who are producing amazingly good television. But my praise for Dan in particular is well placed, because he seems to be the best of the best. Besides, anybody who collects old radios like I do can't be all bad! You can catch him right here on Blogspot at "Danwarp". And his wife - "Hungry Girl" Lisa Lillien has some really yummy recipes and endorses some good products (as I eat Fiber one yogurt with her cartoon personna printed on it). I've often thought - what a great couple, she promotes things good for the body, he produces things good for the soul.
Television is in good hands. Young Hollywood is bursting onto the scene - you better be ready to enjoy a new era of quality entertainment!
