Kids These Days [on TV]

Are the days of Lizzie McGuire, Drake & Josh and Even Stevens long gone?

[Prepare for another rose-tinted nostalgia splash, with several points based on flimsy arguments! Sign me up, Buzzfeed!!]

My kind of family portrait

I miss teen sitcoms focusing on regular kids: the girl next door who's biggest stessors were landing her first job and fitting in with the cool kids, the boy down the block trying to balance studying for finals and practicing to make the team or the kids who don't know what to tell the butler when they crashed the new Porsche after going to Katy Perry's party!

Wait a second.... one of those doesn't quite match - I never fit in with the cool kids! Oh wait, I mean the Porsche and Katy Perry one.

But the lifestyles of the rich and the famous are becoming more prevalent on the small screen.

A flip around the stations (mostly Disney Channel and Nickelodeon) now sees teen and family shows focused on superheroes (Henry Danger, The Thundermans), movie/popstars (Liv and Maddie, Big Time Rush, Austin & Ally, Hannah Montana), spies (K.C. Undercover), wizards (Wizards of Waverly Place) and the adopted kids of millionaires (Jessie).

In that world, a show starring a dog who can talk and type (Dog With a Blog) doesn't seem that farfetched.

So what exactly happened to the relatable kids with everyday experiences?

Any easy argument may be that "it's already been done", but if you as a writer can't come with up enough unique 'wacky situations' to fill a season, you're in the wrong biz, pal.

Maybe these deterrents have a point.

Is the average family passé and boring? Will we ever see TV tropes like the embarrassing dad, the annoying neighbor or the sage, advise-giving teacher ever again? This could be a good thing though. As American society becomes less culturally homogenous, once-groundbreaking premises like a blended family (The Brady Bunch) or a crude, blue-collar household (Married With Children, Roseanne) are now as commonplace as the Growing Pains nuclear home.

'90s kids - err... '60's kids were a lot different

If this is the case, will shows like The Wonder Years and Boy Meets World meet a savage end forever?

They're definitely not totally extinct across the airwaves yet. The Middle, I Didn't Do It, Stuck in the Middle, Black'ish, Girl Meets World and Good Luck, Charlie all prove that and carry the flag once waved by Family Matters and Salute Your Shorts. But each of these newer shows puts a perspective twist on the basic sitcom storytelling dynamic.

As such, gimmicks seem all the rage with tube families and teens.

We've seen non-traditional families, time travelers (Best Friends Whenever, Phil of the Future), reunited twins separated at birth (Sister, Sister), single-parent homes and the most non-identical quadruplets (Ricky, Nicky, Dicky and Dawn).

[Is this article starting to feel like watching a tennis match, sponsored by TV Guide… going back and forth, back and forth? Well, prepare for another point on another hand. The other, other hand?]

Balance indeed exists, but are an increasing number of programs setting unrealistically high expectations for kids? Or are they simple further proving the "you can be anything you want to be" trope?

Instead of everyday people doing extraordinary things once in a while, lots of roles are extraordinary people who sometimes do everyday things.

Without jumping the shark, it doesn't help that child actors are no longer child actors either.

Better explained: many of today's starlets are trained in multiple disciplines: song, dance, small screen, big screen and stage - putting emphasis on versatility (never a bad thing). So we are seeing shows centered on highlighting all the cast’s talents.

Obviously the most typical teens on the block!

Luckily, not every show is a ‘High School Musical’. But Nickelodeon and Disney are both trying to cultivate their own crossover stars. The networks can then promote such stars (and coincidentally their shows) when they appear anywhere else: concert tour, Dancing With the Stars, etc. This is a great idea actually, despite spotty track records.

Finally back to the original point, what happened to ‘regular’ kids on kids?

Maybe what is ‘regular’ is being redefined?!

Maybe I just miss Doug Funnie and the gang from Bluffington?!

Or maybe television is merely a great escape and a lot of fun in moderation. Don’t overthink it!