Childhood TV Trauma: What Scared the Bejeezus Out of You as a Kid?
We’re here today to talk about nightmare fuel. More specifically, childhood nightmare fuel.
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Perhaps it was CBS’ annual presentation of The Wizard of Oz, and the sight of those darn flying monkeys, that had you hiding under the covers. Or Tim Curry’s turn as Pennywise in the original IT miniseries that interfered with your REM cycle. Or any given episode of the HBO cult-classic Tales from the Crypt that had you diving for the remote.
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But those are rather obvious examples. Surely, you have more obscure ones. The more ridiculous, the better! Heck, the horror doesn’t even have to be intended!
For me, three examples spring to mind. The first is Disney Channel’s fever dream of a show, Welcome to Pooh Corner — a live-action series featuring characters from the Winnie the Pooh universe portrayed by actors in human-sized puppet suits. (Let me repeat that: Actors in human-sized puppet suits.)
Then there was Disney’s collection of Sing-Along Songs. I spent countless nights unable to close my eyes without seeing the live-action Evil Queen from Snow White, as seen in the Disneyland Fun (Fun?!?) videotape.
And I’m still not over the Season 6 premiere of the TGIF sitcom Family Matters, during which Carl Winslow enters Steve Urkel’s transformation chamber and exits as… Nerd Carl. (I can’t explain it, but Reginald VelJohnson’s Jaleel White impression gives me the creeps.)
During a joint therapy session Slack brainstorm, fellow members of Team TVLine detailed their respective small-screen traumas. For instance, Executive Editor Andy Swift was plagued by Sparky the Dog’s shadow puppetry… Senior Editor Rebecca Iannucci was deeply disturbed when she first encountered “The Tale of the Dead Man’s Float”… and Video Editor Jason Averett couldn’t escape the Abominable Snow Monster come Christmastime.
Now it’s your turn! Drop a comment detailing your (potentially peculiar) childhood TV traumas. (Comments will close Wednesday, July 19 at Noon ET; your responses may appear in a future column.)
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