BY EMILY PERL
Ask someone born in the 90’s what their favorite television show to watch after school was, and the answer will be along the lines of Even Stevens, Hey Arnold or Boy Meets World. It was probably every kid’s favorite thing to do after school, and still is. If you turned your TV on today and watched the Disney Channel, you might find a show about being an overly intelligent 11 year old in high school or having a vampire for a babysitter. If you think there is not much content concealed beneath these concepts, you are right. The newest Disney Channel television shows lack substance and don’t shine a respectable light on issues that our society is facing today.
Kids of the 90’s are familiar with shows such as Lizzie McGuire, Even Stevens, That’s So Raven, and Boy Meets World. Lizzie McGuire was a show about a girl trying to survive high school with her two best friends, Even Stevens focused on the lives of a brother and sister getting into trouble and Boy Meets World followed a boy through his entire life from child to a married adult. Back then, Disney Channel tried to focus the plots of their shows around scenarios that the average kid could relate to.
These 90’s shows addressed real issues that went on in the lives of teens. In Lizzie McGuire topics such as eating disorders, the dreaded “picture day” rumors and friendship were all brought up and addressed. These shows had meaning and were considered survival guides for any young adult.
Current Disney Channel shows have no foundation. Although they’re capable of prompting moderate laughter, they are essentially pointless. It’s not just Disney Channel that is hurting either. According to Netflix, Nickelodeon had a recent decline in ratings. The quality is no longer there to make shows worth watching.
“What’s on T.V. now does not compare at all to what I would watch when I was younger,” senior Amanda Winer said, “The children I babysit for are so content with these shows with no depth or purpose, I don’t understand it.”
Shows such as So Random!, Shake It Up, Hannah Montana, My Babysitter’s a Vampire, and Jonas L.A. posses no beneficial content. The plots lack substance and are solely a marketing strategy. So Random! and Jonas L.A., appear to have been created exclusively for the purpose of helping Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers further their careers. Both shows were short lived, most likely due to lack of interest. The shows were too focused on their singing and not enough on other things.
Aside from the pretentious plots, the actors in these shows can’t perform. The acting has definitely been downgraded to the point where it seems forced and stiff. Disney Channel re-uses the same actors over and over to the detriment of shows. Fresh new faces would be beneficial. Also, the dialogue in the shows are written and spoken as if they’re trying too hard to fit in with the times. On the show Shake It Up, one of the characters says, “I could just eat you up, well if I ate,” This line outraged numerous people, including Demi Lovado, who is recovering from an eating disorder.
“The acting looks so insincere and detached,” senior Jenelle Chang said, “I couldn’t imagine trying to relate to these characters growing up.”
Although younger kids may enjoy the shows they are watching, they are not gaining anything substantial. The shows of the 1990’s will always remain classics. Their concepts need to be revisited and shared with our current generation.
