Realizing things aren't the same
Posted by 7237R601@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 120 comments
Has anyone else discovered through the endless reboots, through perpetual recycling of ideas, through our kids' curiosity, or whatever path it took, that some things just sucked and we liked it anyway? Or am I just fully converting to a grump?
My 15 year old is now into Malcolm in the Middle, partial thanks to the reboot, watching the original episodes, and I'm realizing how much I hate the show and always have.
glucoman01@reddit
I keep waiting for the knitted ties to make a comeback.
Substantial_Layer_79@reddit
I saw some in a Dillard's about 11 years ago and got excited because I miss them too.
GreyMom13@reddit
I loved Charlie's Angels when I was in 5th grade. We play-acted it at recess. I was Kelly Garrett. I'll catch a rerun now and then but it can be hard to watch!
Rude_End_3078@reddit
I don't remember ever watching Malcolm in the middle. What was quite popular back then were shows like Dallas, Three's company, Golden Girls, Who's the boss, The Littlest Hobo and then later to some extent - The wonder years.
kbchucker@reddit
Your show timelines are off. The 1980s called you. They said welcome back.
Disastrous-Fly9672@reddit
What does kotter have to do with this
Rude_End_3078@reddit
Fuck would I go back in a heartbeat.
girlpaint@reddit
Yep me either. Didn't that show come along in the 90s? I was on Seinfeld and Friends at this point.
Specialist_Stop8572@reddit
Mitm was later on
prisongranny@reddit
Been hyping my teen grandkids to watch Natural born Killers with me and now scared it will suck. But at least i know the soundtrack was killer too
jables13@reddit
I rewatched that and Pulp Fiction recently. I still like Pulp Fiction, but NBK looks so dated and is pretty annoying. The music still rocks though.
prisongranny@reddit
I still listen to that soundtrack!
jables13@reddit
You made my...shitlist
juniper3411@reddit
That movie still rules.
Step_Aside_Butch_77@reddit
We did a nostalgia watch of The Goonies a few months back. Kids had zero interest, and the Mrs and I thought it was all non-stop yelling.
We also watched the OG Jurassic Park. It doesn’t just stand up to the rest of time, in f-ing roars.
Sintered_Monkey@reddit
I never saw The Goonies when it first came out. I saw it as an adult at a retro-screening. I didn't hate it, but I definitely didn't love it either.
girlpaint@reddit
Same. I honestly can't get through that movie. It's just too...I dunno to "Disney" for my taste.
1plus1equalsfun@reddit
Does it count if I didn't much care for The Goonies when it was released?
Sintered_Monkey@reddit
A lot of the shows and movies that we used to watch just weren't that great. We just didn't have anything else to watch.
We tried to watch The Breakfast Club again, and we couldn't even finish it.
girlpaint@reddit
I still love me some Breakfast Club. For clarity, I used to watch it every year the night before school started, just to give me clarity and motivation. I still love it.
Hab_Anagharek@reddit
No, Malcolm in the Middle is still great
DoublecursedAngel@reddit
I try to remind my children that we had 3 channels and PBS. There was NOTHING to watch. That’s how we learned to be bored or watch whatever was provided. I chose to read or be bored.
AccomplishedIgit@reddit
Lately I’ve been thinking the 90’s music the kids today are celebrating and I’m kind of sad we don’t have better music for them. When we were young our parents music was awesome.
GoingBananassss@reddit
You can play your parents music for them. I do. While I clean, cook dinner. At the end of the night we have what I call a “three song cleanup” I play three songs, we clean the house while they are on full blast. House gets clean and they learn good music from the temptations-Fleetwood Mac - Ludacris.
AccomplishedIgit@reddit
Awee I love that three song cleanup, brilliant!
Adventurous_Bad_4011@reddit
That’s what you take music and arts programs from schools!
7237R601@reddit (OP)
C&C Music Factory is on pretty regular rotation on my work playlist and I just laugh at how absurd that is. I'd still prefer whoever Milli Vanilli really was, some of those are still bangers.
LollipopGirl923@reddit
We change as we grow. The things we liked or loved change with us and so does our attitude towards it.
Specialist_Stop8572@reddit
Wtf I love MITM
radioactivecat@reddit
Yeah seriously. It’s hilarious. I watched breaking bad because I realized it had Hal in it.
Specialist_Stop8572@reddit
Yes! I still remember saving the entertainment section of the newspaper with a story about new show, breaking bad, and telling people I wanted to.watch it only because it was a vehicle for Hal
Terrible_Salt7906@reddit
I have nostalgia fatigue. I was so excited 12 years ago when one of my favorite sitcoms was rebooted but now I am just over it all and ready to move onto something new. You can only look to the past so much
Academic-Bar5300@reddit
I loved New Kids on the Block back in the day.
Children have terrible taste.
Brewdude77@reddit
Leave me and Debbie Gibson alone.
EmbarrassedAge7612@reddit
My 12 year old is into all things GenX. Music, shows, comics, and certain styles. I enjoy sharing some of that but it does remind me of how awful some of it really was. I blame “Stranger Things” for most of it.
SolomonGrumpy@reddit
Rewatch 30 rock to give you back some joy
Araneas@reddit
My kids grew up on Ghibli - they were stunned when we showed them The Adventures of Spiderman, The Mighty Hercules, Max the 2000 year Old Mouse and Rocket Robinhood (IYKYK eh?). As we had to explain - it's all there was.
Novel_Willingness721@reddit
There is probably at least some “best of bad options” going on. When there was no streaming and limited recording options, and there was “nothing else to do” maybe we collectively watched the least “bad” show available.
I’ve honestly not liked any sitcom since the 90s. The only exception is TBBT and that’s a recent change (when it was on the air I stopped watching after season 4), and now it’s more watching clips on reels or TikTok than watching full episodes.
I’ve tried watching 80s action shows and just can’t.
Tastes change, what you once loved (or thought you loved) is no longer appealing.
Southern_Remote_5260@reddit
I think we're in the stage of life where "everything old is new again." In other words, you're feeling a certain way because you're a certain age. We all are, if it's any consolation.
tvieno@reddit
I think our expectation of what is entertaining today has gotten to the point it is too sophisticated to hit all the marks. The humor of the shows from the 50s, 60s, and 70s was more basic (still funny though), the police show were not at indepth and realistic. Today it has to be hyper realistic or 100% accurate or it is not acceptable. It started with the "very special episodes" of the 1970s and 80s and later with advent the "well akshully" crowd that ruined simple entertainment for me.
Ok_Industry3016@reddit
Nostalgia hits hard.
Sudden_Office8710@reddit
Malcom in the Middle was great! Of course I also thought It’s your move was great with Jason Bateman too. I felt like these are a mirror of my 10 year old self. Maybe you didn’t connect because you didn’t participate in the crazy antics like these shows portray. If you couldn’t see yourself in these shows I can understand you not liking it. My kids are into TMBG too. I’m glad they are into it too even though they are way too goody two shoes to see themselves in it and feel like I’m a bad influence sometimes like whipping paper airplanes off 30th floor of our hotel and watching them sail across the Chicago river 🤣 I’m a connoisseur of stupid and proud of it.
Sintered_Monkey@reddit
It's Your Move was ahead of its time. Apparently, some of the same people went on to make Married With Children.
7237R601@reddit (OP)
Plenty of dumb in my past, and I should identify with Malcolm as a recovering G&T kid. But for the last 30 years, G&T has been a bar order rather than the classroom I was in. It's just so over the top with ridiculously awful people I can't stand it.
skeeterbmark@reddit
When we were kids there were like 3-4 networks. Pre-cable, so that was it. When you see some historical show that did massive ratings, the fact that nothing else was on was a huge factor.
CoastRanger@reddit
The Battlestar Galactica reboot is in the top 3 sci-fi series of all time (or fight me)
So I bought the original on DVD, and found Galactica 1980 on Usenet
Wow. It was truly awful by today’s standards. Still enjoyed it
Sintered_Monkey@reddit
I try to watch the 1980 show at times. It is absolutely terrible, almost as bad as Buck Rogers. But it is unintentionally funny.
7237R601@reddit (OP)
After Series 9 and 10, I went deep on Doctor Who and understood why my parents wouldn't stand me watching it on PBS back in the old days. Only plus was I got my own TV in my room, a 13" b&w set, so I could watch that and baseball, which they also couldn't abide.
walter_grimsley@reddit
I noticed it with the X Files revival, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Force Awakens, Fuller House, the various attempts at Ghostbusters, now He-Man, possibly Knight Rider…
CthulhusEvilTwin@reddit
All of the reboots are starting to feel like they're bad photocopies. Each attempt leaves less of an impression.
ShadowyTreeline@reddit
A lot of TV from the 60s and 70s seems kind of gross to me now. Variety shows, the roasts and telethons, some of the comedy/drama series. Not sure what it is.
Squibit314@reddit
It’s the shift in cultural values. What was acceptable back then is not acceptable now.
Revolutionary_Cry884@reddit
The original Malcolm series is still absolutely hilarious with a top notch cast. Bryan Cranston alone makes it a must-watch.
7237R601@reddit (OP)
I'm finding it insufferable. Tempted to ask the boy if he'd rather play Minecraft so I can watch that instead. It's that bad.
juniper3411@reddit
I play Minecraft constantly lol. It’s my zen time.
elphring@reddit
I agree. It’s really, really bad.
ZebraBorgata@reddit
I’ve never liked it either.
the_natis@reddit
I don't know. I still enjoy re-watching Veronica Mars and the updated Battlestar Galactica. I never got into the half hour sitcom genre.
juniper3411@reddit
Veronica mars rules. Fantastic show.
Specialist_Stop8572@reddit
BG is ICONIC
general-illness@reddit
I noticed it with The Force Awakens.
4158264146@reddit
They tried too hard on that one.
wyohman@reddit
The new Malcolm in the Middle is not a reboot.
7237R601@reddit (OP)
Revival
Still don't like it, less so now.
scholly73@reddit
Malcom in the Middle is one of the best shows ever imo
7237R601@reddit (OP)
To each his own. When can my kid come over so I can have my living room TV back?
Oxjrnine@reddit
The 90s show made me realize how much I actually didn’t like the 70s show.
Anything with a laugh track made after 2015 is incredibly irritating.
7237R601@reddit (OP)
Oh, I didn't like That '70's Show much either, but I'm a baby X (77) so I thought it was just me. Don't recall even trying the '90's version. We can put that on the same list though, shows my kids might watch and be like, "Is this how it was?" NO! Not for me, anyway.
Sudden_Office8710@reddit
Well, I thought it was exactly how I remembered it. I loved the ‘70s show too. I was into Cheryl Ladd, Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith. I thought they were so hot! So seeing chics that tried to look like them well it brought me back to my childhood. So maybe it’s because you’re younger than me and can’t connect to those sensibilities.
7237R601@reddit (OP)
Well, eye candy is one thing, turns out people on TV tend toward attractive. I just couldn't relate to what they were doing much I guess.
Sudden_Office8710@reddit
Well one thing for sure doobies back in the ‘70s are no where close to being as potent as customized sativa. I can’t even smoke anymore it’s too strong now. Even the gummies are just too much.
7237R601@reddit (OP)
Ha! Hadn't thought about that aspect of life today, but I have had the, "I prefer ditchweed, thank you," conversation before after half a gummy rendering me a giggling useless blob.
freddieguts@reddit
This happened and very long time ago to one of my best friends and me between the ages of 18 to 20. One day, we found a box set of all of the Godzilla films which he immediately bought. Oh we were so excited until the first movie started. He kept the set of course, but we never made it through the set. Still love Godzilla and watched them all so far.
Another time in high school, a friend and I were being nostalgic about the Atari 2600. Talking it up and stuff. A girl that sat near us offered my friend her Atari for the weekend. Well, he said he played it for a few minutes then went right back to his SuperNES.
7237R601@reddit (OP)
I got a PlayStation a few years ago and fired up Dave Mirra BMX just like the old days. Finally had to pay attention to the seizure warning. I can't imagine throwing my kids Yars Revenge and expecting them to be entertained.
Reader47b@reddit
Things are not usually as good as I remembered them to be in my youth. When you are young, you have less experience, and more is novel. So I avoid rewatching things from my youth for the most part.
Sudden_Office8710@reddit
What?!?! I can still watch Gillian’s Island, I love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver, Good Times, Archie Bunker, Sanford and Son, The Jefferson’s. Hell I still dish out the catch phrases just to mess with my kids 🤣
Reader47b@reddit
Glad you can still enjoy it.
7237R601@reddit (OP)
I've experienced that, this feels different. I just told my wife, this is like watching Yellowstone or something. I'm realizing all of them are awful, and such intense pity for the few that aren't. It's depressing and there's plenty of depressing without fictional depression inducement.
BokChoyJr@reddit
It was a time waster until the X-Files came on.
Correct_Security_742@reddit
We were desperate for entertainment after being forced outside to use our imaginations all day till the sun went down and we were allowed back in.
TeaVinylGod@reddit
Don't rewatch The Monkees. Just dream about the fond memories.
LilBitofSunshine99@reddit
Did you relate too much with Malcolm? I love the OG but my husband can only watch an episode here or there because it reminds him too much of family.
Mindless-Baker-7757@reddit
My Mom hated Roseanne because “It’s so fake” we never told her we thought it was so true.
Quirky_Might_8780@reddit
Have you seen The Conners? I enjoyed it a lot more than Roseanne.
Oxjrnine@reddit
Roseanne, the character would hate what Roseanne Barr has become.
Which is strange because Roseanne was based off of Roseanne.
7237R601@reddit (OP)
That was more aligned with my real life, and I didn't watch the reboot so it wouldn't get ruined.
7237R601@reddit (OP)
Not at all, but that's time working a little bit. I had a pretty low level of teen angst, but it's very clear to me now this was just a dumb show, in my opinion. I've even halfway followed Frankie Muniz's racing career out of nostalgia, but what a crap show.
some_one_234@reddit
The Scrubs reboot is pretty good, better than the Malcolm reboot IMHO
7237R601@reddit (OP)
I've resisted, just burned so many times. I'm fine with their ads, but too jaded to try the show. I'll give it a go, based solely on this comment. Upon your head be it!
trelene@reddit
I also was scared, but am also glad I watched the Scrubs reboot.
Of course liking the original show helps... lol.
RetroBerner@reddit
No, and Malcom was a great show
human8060@reddit
Still is. The reboot was fun.
RetroBerner@reddit
I dunno about that, it was ok, but the writing wasn't the best, the director was slacking and it could have used a bigger budget. Those glitter effects at the end were lame AF.
Apart-Cream-4940@reddit
I'm usually pretty happy with my nostalgia attempts. I still like the movies and music for the most part.
edorhas@reddit
Now you know what Thomas Wolfe meant by, "You can't go home again".
FlatSixFun@reddit
But you can shop there.
edorhas@reddit
I'm hurt. I'm pissed.... I gotta fund a new job.
FlatSixFun@reddit
Great soundtrack. Makes me want to watch it right now. Just might do that.
7237R601@reddit (OP)
This among other object lessons, but yes. And I don't think he ever wrote, "Home was kind of crap too."
hikeitaway123@reddit
Yes! Rebooting the shows we loved and ruining them. No one has an original idea for movies, music, tv and it has to appeal to the masses and not be offensive…which is impossible.
7237R601@reddit (OP)
Offensive is pretty spot on. Rewatching a lot of things has really checked boxes for "You're officially Gen X if..." I felt pretty sheltered as a kid, but watching some of our movies with my own kids has literally made me ask my wife, "Why did my parents even let this VHS in the house, this is filth!?!?!"
LazyDramaLlama68@reddit
I heard they're doing a reboot of Miami Vice.
7237R601@reddit (OP)
Saw an ad for that. Michael B. Jordan and I can't remember who else. Good luck to all parties involved.
LazyDramaLlama68@reddit
Austin Butler (I had to Google it)
7237R601@reddit (OP)
Still had to IMDB him, and my wife probably would recognize him from Disney, and I apparently saw him in Arrow, but still wouldn't know who he was if he came up and introduced himself. Resuming my cloud yelling.
LazyDramaLlama68@reddit
I don't recall ever seeing him in anything, so... I'll just go shake my cane at the sky now
AbsolutesDealer@reddit
It’s a reboot of the reboot of Miami Vice.
Diela1968@reddit
I didn’t watch that when it was airing. Now that I’m retired I’ve been trying to watch all the old shows my grandmother didn’t let me watch or had no interest in. I couldn’t make it through the pilot.
Mistervimes65@reddit
It’s a movie, I believe and I’m interested.
Expensive_Rhubarb_87@reddit
I grok what you’re saying.
And the other reboots try way too hard and suck.
I loved Fantasy Island. Ricardo Montalban was so good.
The reboot was just awful. The movie had promise, but still wasn’t good.
7237R601@reddit (OP)
Great example! I caught the movie at a drive-in double feature, good enough to canoodle with the wife. New show, I don't think we watched 10 minutes. I have re-watched some originals though. Actually, kind of the opposite of my current Malcolm experience. The original looks better through the lens of time, rather than making me discouraged about what I used to be entertained by.
mkeCharlie@reddit
Malcolm in the Middle can be more fun if you think of it as an alternate ending to Breaking Bad.
Walter White survives, turns State's Witness, enters the witness protection program, gets a new identity and a new family: Malcolm in the Middle! The thought experiment might make watching it more enjoyable.
7237R601@reddit (OP)
This isn't bad advice, I'm intrigued, even a little excited about it. Sort of a justice boner angle, and I'm not opposed.
postprandialrepose@reddit
There were plenty of shows on TV that I sat through with zero interest because my parents refused to get cable.
CrankyDoo@reddit
Haha…my parents refused to get cable as well. They also refused to get a color tv or replace the very old 13” B&W television that we had for about 15 years.
7237R601@reddit (OP)
Very relatable. Only did well in school because one of the four channels was PBS, so I read books.
crone_Andre3000@reddit
And I think it's our generation's fault. I think Gen X is a really sentimental generation and we don't really like new things and our stuff is really good.
Mindless-Baker-7757@reddit
I’m not into nostalgia much at all. This sub leans I to it.
PositiveStress8888@reddit
The reboots are exactly that, for parents to introduce thier kids to things they experienced. We were the first generation to be marketed action figures, collectable drinking glasses with cross promotio.
These reboots don't market to your kids they market to you, your the gateway drug to get your kids hooked on Star wars, transformers, and whatever else they think you'll want to relive.
Show your kids the excorcist, we probably saw it too young also and they'll never ask for action figures or toys.
jillyjobby@reddit
The end is never better than the beginning