The shows you never quite understood till you were an adult

[SandrA9810]

I guess the 80's and 90's were full of them and probably even earlier.

Take the Golden Girls. To a kid, it seems like good clean humor and to an adult can mean something totally different. Watching reruns now makes me wonder how they would even let something like that on tv, or that my family watched it.

Or songs like, "my angel is the centerfold", referring to the naked girl in the middle of the magazine.

What other shows/songs do you know of that means two totally different things to two different age groups??

 

[Disneyland1084]

I agree about the Golden Girls. I watched Silver Spoons as a young girl. I thought Ricky's train was the family's car. I have a better understanding now of the old shows. It's unfortunate that comedy shows of the 50's to the 80's don't exist anymore.

 

[lemondog]

Three's Company. This was my absolute favorite show as a kid...loved the physical comedy but the rest of it went totally over my head. Still think it's hysterical, just in a whole new way, lol!

 

[Philagoofy]

Not a particular show but in old movies, when a couple kissed and in the background there were fireworks going off, I thought there was just a town setting off fireworks. Now I know what it really meant.

 

[SandrA9810]

Archie Bunker... every one thought my grandfather was him. He looked so much like him and watched the show every day.

 

[oldbay]

Peanuts cartoons. Now that I have kids, I laugh at every joke. I used to think it was a cute cartoon but never understood what all the fuss was about. My Dh and I constantly joke about which of our kids is like which character.

 

[jemgumby]

Ever listened to the lyrics of My Sharona......pretty nasty.....when I was 7 I just like singing "my my my Sharona"....

 

[Shel]

I remember watching Laugh In as a young girl, probably 7 or 8 years old. It went way over my head.

 

[powellrj]

My mom use to let me watch Love American Style when I was a kid. I watched some episodes when I was an adult and was really surprised that my mom let me watch it. It went way over my head!

 

[Sheree Bobbins]

In Thomasina I thought the father was terribly mean especially when he wouldn't look after the cat. The kind lady (Susan Hampshire) was portrayed as a witch at first by the children, and she scared me after that (I was sensitive). Seeing it as an adult, I see the doctor was being professional and the lady was actually very nice.

 

[SandrA9810]

Kinda makes me wonder why parents are so "protective" over what kids watch. Usually it just goes right on over their heads. Well besides violence and actions, talking/jokes aren't really understood until they become an adult.

 

[The Orchid]

Kinda makes me wonder why parents are so "protective" over what kids watch. Usually it just goes right on over their heads. Well besides violence and actions, talking/jokes aren't really understood until they become an adult.

I couldn't agree more!

I remember some DISers going crazy several years ago when "Cat in the Hat" came out. There was a scene where the cat goes into the garden and sees a dirty ho leaning against the fence. So he looks it and calls it a "Dirty Ho." To a child, that had no meaning other than the fact that there was a filthy garden tool leaning on the fence. To adults, it was probably the only funny moment in an otherwise utterly boring movie.

Honestly, I was amazed at how offended a few people were by the insertion of a little adult humor in a kid's movie. But I really wonder how many kids understood the meaning? And if the kid was old enough and experienced enough to know what it meant, well then that line sure isn't going to corrupt the freakin' kid anymore than it already is. Good grief!

 

[bananda]

i remember watching "the vicar of dibley" as a kid. i just thought it was a funny show. now i understand it a little better. lol.

my friend and i were talking about this a couple of months ago, but in relation to songs. we were huge backstreet boys fans but some of the lyrics went straight over our heads, such as: "if you want it to be good girl, get yourself a bad boy." we had no idea what they were talking about when we were younger

 

[TJ's Mom]

My surprises were in songs - The first was Grease Lightening from the movie Grease.

The second was Let's Get Physical from Olivia Newton John. I actually thought it was about exercise!!!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I guess I knew too much...not much went right over my head. Although the Greased Lightening line with chicks did...

I watched Benny Hill, Mary Hartman, Fawlty Towers, and Monty Python at a young age.

 

[SandrA9810]

A long time ago, when we still all lived together. My aunt was talking about how trashy shows are today, women showing off too much, bad language.... all the good stuff, right?
Well that night 007 comes on, and my aunt is all excited about a good classic movie coming on. And in like the first five minutes, I asked "And those girls are better dressed?" My aunt really didn't have a good answer for it.

 

[PUZZLDY5]

Not an old TV show but Shrek is the best example of this. When my kids were younger and it first come out we watched it. My DH and I got the jokes but it went right over our kids head. They just thought it was a funny movie.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Three's Company. This was my absolute favorite show as a kid...loved the physical comedy but the rest of it went totally over my head. Still think it's hysterical, just in a whole new way, lol!

My surprises were in songs - The first was Grease Lightening from the movie Grease.

The second was Let's Get Physical from Olivia Newton John. I actually thought it was about exercise!!!

All three of those suggestions would be tops on my list. The stuff people said on game shows used to be crazy, too!!! No way you'd get away with it now. (Match Game, The Newlywed Game, etc)

Some other songs...

Last Dance with Mary Jane by Tom Petty

She Bop by Cindy Lauper

Darling Nikki by Prince