There is a lot of nostalgia when it comes to television, especially animated series. If you think about it, that makes because if you’re an ‘80s or a ‘90s kid, Saturday morning cartoons were probably a pretty big highlight of your week as a kid and revisiting the series that made those mornings great brings back lots of good feelings. But when we revisit those glory days of great cartoons, there are a lot of common series that come up — think Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Smurfs, Muppet Babies, Batman: The Animated Series and more — and that doesn’t quite tell the full tale. There’s another Saturday Morning Cartoon that may just be the actual best — and 53 years after its original debut, we could use another revival.
Videos by ComicBook.com
While it might not make the top of most nostalgic cartoon lists, ask most 80s and 90s kids and they’ll tell you that they remember Schoolhouse Rock! The series debuted on ABC all the way back in 1973 (which means that some 70s kids probably remember this one, too) and ultimately ran for 7 seasons across two different releases. The first ran from 1973 to 1985 while a second ran from 1993 to 2000. Then, in 2009 the series got yet another little revival with a direct-to-DVD release focused on climate change. It’s a pretty impressive run for a series that was actually educational programming, but the show was just so well done that it’s stuck with people for decades and would be fun to see come back again.
Schoolhouse Rock!Helped Teach Multiple Generations About Science, Civics, Grammar and More (And Was Fun)
Generally, the idea of educational programming sounds like anything other than iconic, but Schoolhouse Rock! was different from the jump and that was largely by design. Series creator David McCall recognized that his own son could remember music lyrics (specifically Rolling Stones songs) with ease but struggled with multiplication tables and had kind of a genius idea: what if educational information was paired with catchy songs? At its absolute most basic level, that’s the concept behind Schoolhouse Rock! You take educational elements, you give them a catchy song, and when you add some animated characters and figures, you get told. The series hit ABC as 3-minute segments highlighting specific topics and information and between catchy songs and fun little cartoons, it was impossible not to retain information.
Schoolhouse Rock! covered just about everything. The seasons had themes, like Multiplication Rock, Grammar Rock, America Rock, and Science Rock. Later installments gave us Computer Rock, Money Rock, and Earth Rock and those lessons were gold. Like, who doesn’t remember “I’m Just a Bill” from the third season, America Rock, that aired in 1975 and 1976 for America’s Bicentennial? And it isn’t just “I’m Just a Bill” that was iconic. Some of the video segments were parodies of pop culture, like “A Victim of Gravity” from Science Rock that parodied Grease. That was the magic of Schoolhouse Rock!. The series was all about learning, but it was also just a good, fun watch.
It’s Time to Bring Schoolhouse Rock! Back
While cartoons and how we consume them simply is very different than it was back when Schoolhouse Rock!debuted in 1973, the concept of the series is honestly timeless, which is why now would be a great time to see the series return with a full-on revival. It’s not like the series has left cultural consciousness. Back in 2023, there was a musical television special to celebrate the series’ 50th, Schoolhouse Rock! 50th Anniversary Singalong. There have also been live adaptations as well, the latest being 2000. So why not bring the series back, even as just a fun little web series, today? There are certainly a lot of new educational concepts that kids could learn about and it would also simply be fun to see some of the classics reinterpreted for a more modern audience. The short format for the little episodes would also work very well in the short form video and social media age with their being a so-called attention span crisis. Something like Schoolhouse Rock! could work very well on platforms like TikTok, just short little videos that are fun for everyone, impart some knowledge, and give 80s and 90s kids a little nostalgia, too. We’d be all for that.
For now, there doesn’t seem to be any revival plans for Schoolhouse Rock! but that’s okay. The original series is currently available to stream on Disney+.
24 Years Ago, the Best Cult Sci-fi Show of the 2000s Premiered With the Wrong Episode (& Was Cancelled After 1 Season)
More TV Shows
-
TV Shows
19 hours ago7 Years Ago, A Near Perfect Comic Adaptation Debuted, But Fans Were Robbed of Its Second Season
-
TV Shows
20 hours agoNew Marvel Footage Reveals First Look at Character Teased 15 Years Ago By MCU Easter Egg
-
DC TV Shows
23 hours agoThe People v. Gorilla Grodd Casts Big Bang Theory Favorite in New Role, & Fans Have Guesses
-
Image Courtesy of The CW TV Shows
23 hours agoThe CW’s Most Underrated Supernatural Series Turns 19, And It’s Time to Start Talking About a Reboot
