The '90s were a great time for TV. "That '70s Show" was the big thing, "American Idol" didn't exist, "The Simpsons" didn't suck yet, Jerry Seinfeld wasn't working for Microsoft, and best of all, "Pokemon" was still on at 4 p.m. on weekday afternoons.
Fast-forward a moment to 2008. I came home today empty-handed with no homework (I can hear you being jealous). So I did what every lazy American does when he's not obligated to do any work and turned on the TV. After flipping through the channels, I was disappointed to find the only things worth watching were cancelled reruns of "Yes, Dear," and it wasn't even that funny of a show to begin with. My other choices were "Arthur" and "Dragon Tales."
And I thought to myself, "What is this?" Broadcast television used to be at the mercy of children on weekday afternoons. I remember sneaking upstairs to my parents' room when I was five to watch the latest episode of "Batman and Robin" instead of doing my homework. Now I can only get dragons prancing with children in fantasy lands filled with talking ladybugs and Judge Judy (which are both pretty much the same thing). Whatever happened to good afternoon TV?
