Many people wonder why we get so scared from monster movies and horror films. I blame television. When you are young, you get inidated with scary but funny shows about ghosts, ghouls and monsters, to the point you think they’re cute and fun. And then, whammo! You get older and are subjected to Ring chicks, Blair Witches, and Paranormal Activities! Nice job, TV.

So I thought I would take this opportunity to list all those kids’ TV shows and cartoons that made scary fun, completely bamboozling us about scary things until we got older. 31 to be exact. Why 31? Cause it’s HALLOWEEN! Oh yeah, and cause it’s a… PRIME NUMBER! IT’S A PRIME LIST!

01. THE ADDAMS FAMILY (ANIMATED SERIES)

After the awesome Addams Family movies came out, an animated series followed. It was kooky, silly and very very funny. But not many people remember it. All they remember is when Scooby-Doo met the Addams Family. Not the same.

02. THE NEW ADDAMS FAMILY

Now this one you might not remember. Before The Family Channel became ABC Family, it was FOX Family, and this was their flagship show. It’s like they got a bunch of Addams Family impersonaters and made a show out of it. But hey, it’s better than…

03. THE MUNSTERS TODAY

…ugh. This syndicated sitcom was all “Hey, let’s put the Munsters in the late 80s, so they can do totally rad 80s things!” And where do they get off with calling the show The Munsters… Today??? Didn’t they realize time would continue past this show? Anyway, you get Jason Marsden as Eddie Munster, so that’s a plus!

04. SCOOBY-DOO WHERE ARE YOU?

You knew this was going to be on the list? It’s the scary funny show that dreams and Scooby-Doo Costumes were made of!

05. A PUP NAMED SCOOBY-DOO

I knew there’s like 50 variations of Scooby-Doo, but I had to list this one, cause gosh darnit I LOVE THAT THEME SONG! Scooby-Dooby! Scooby-Dooby-Doo!

06. WHAT’S NEW SCOOBY-DOO?

Okay, I promise, no more Scooby-Doo. But I LOVE this theme song! Best Simple Plan song ever.

07. THE FUNKY PHANTOM

So, no more Scooby-Doo. But get ready for the Scooby rip-offs…

08. FANGFACE

…lots of Scooby rip-offs…

09. GOOBER AND THE GHOST CHASERS

…seriously, a LOT of Scooby rip-offs…

10. THE GALLOPING GHOST

…OKAY, ENOUGH SCOOBY RIP-OFFS!

11. ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?

All right, now we’re talking. The show that made it scary to watch SNICK. When you’re watching this show, try not to wet that big orange couch.

12. GOOSEBUMPS

FOX tried to get in on the scare kids bandwagon with the TV show based on the scary kids’ books. All I remember about this show was the evil dummy. Cartoon Network airs this show every October, further questioning why they are called “Cartoon” Network and not “Show Whatever We Want to Compete with Nickelodeon” Network.

13. THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS

One of the main reasons to wake up Saturday mornings and get home early weekday afternoons. This cartoon was the SHIZ-NITE! I’m still saving my pennies to buy the complete series DVD set. But they weren’t the only Ghostbusters on the block…

14. THE OTHER GHOSTBUSTERS

Based on the live-action 70’s series of the same ilk, this cartoon Ghostbusters came out the same time as The Real Ghostbusters which launched the eternal debut of which Busters bust better. Gotta love The Real Ghostbusters better, simply for the fact they have a black guy on their team instead of a FRAKKIN’ APE! But you gotta give the other Ghostbusters credit for having a villain as bad-@$$ as Prime Evil!

15. EXTREME GHOSTBUSTERS

These ain’t yo daddy’s Ghostbusters! They Ghostbusters… to the XTREME!!! One’s a chick! And one’s in a wheelchair! Take that, society! XTREME!!!

16. SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH

Or as I like to call it, Sabrina Explains It All. This aired for the most part of ABC’s TGIF that I didn’t watch, especially after Family Matters left. Look at those dance moves in the third intro. Wow, no wonder she was on Dancing with the Stars, tee hee. Oh yeah, there’s an animated version, too. I wish there was a cartoon Clarissa. It could’ve led to the inevitable Clarissa/Doug crossover.

17. SABRINA THE CLASSIC ANIMATED SERIES

Yeah, the original Sabrina. With the real aunts. And hanging out with Archie. That’s the Sabrina I love. Sorry, Melissa/Clarissa. Besides, Sabrina made way for one of the grooviest cartoons ever…

18. THE GROOVY GOOLIES

Everybody shout! Come on now, sing out! It’s time for the Goolie get-together! I totally want to go to a goolie get-together. That would be fun. Hanging with monsters. Making lame puns. Solving mysteries. Oh wait, that’s not Groovy Goolies, that’s…

19. THE MONSTER SQUAD

No, not the campy 80’s movie. I’m talking about a TV show with monsters solving crimes. OH NO! SCOOBY RIP-OFFS RETURN! Dangit Dangit Dangit!!!

20. BIG BAD BEETLEBORGS

Alright, let’s go from Scooby rip-offs to Power Ranger rip-offs. Let’s stop having the monsters solve mysteries and instead fight monsters. With three kids in bug suits. And a guy that looks like a cross between Jay Leno and a blue version of The Mask. Man, we just would just watch ANYTHING in the 90’s, huh?

21. WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE

This show is starting to grow on me. I think it’s Selena’s sarcastic timing. Very different from the typical Disney Channel “LET’S YELL REALLY LOUD CAUSE THAT MAKES IT’S FUNNIER” comedy. But seriously, how old is Selena Gomez? She still has the same face from her Barney days. She must use some really good facial cleanser.

22. TALES FROM THE CRYPTKEEPER

That’s right, boils and ghouls! Tales from the Crypt had an animated Saturday morning cartoon for kids! What better way to continue their fun of sneaking out of bed the night before to watch the real show on HBO. You know you did it! By the way, it’s not to be confused with the actual Tales from the Crypt episode, “The Third Pig.”

23. BUMP IN THE NIGHT

Don’t let this show fool you. It’ll suck you in with its music and claymation, but this show’s got the E/I label. That means you’ll learn something, fool! The scariest thing of all. Edutainment.

24. RICK MORANIS IN GRAVEDALE HIGH

NBC had this weird fascination of trying to bring back the “Celebrities in Cartoons” fad of the 70’s. Camp Candy, Jordan, Bo and Gretsky in ProStars, Wish Kid starring Macauley Culkin, Kid ‘n Play, and of course, this series. Is this the last thing Rick Moranis did before he retired? I think so. Either this or The Flintstones Movie. Either way, sad.

25. LITTLE SHOP

Funny, Rick Moranis had nothing to do with this cartoon. But see, this is a perfect example of misleading children. Any kid watching this thinks, “Oh Audrey II is cute” and then you find out later, that plant don’t eat pizza… that plant eats BLOOD! Yeaaah, boyyyy!!!

26. TEEN WOLF

Yes, believe it or not, Teen Wolf had a cartoon. Teen Wolf. But that’s ok. I’m glad movies were made into cartoons. Because it brought us one of the most awesomest movie to cartoon adaptation ever. But you have to say it three times fast to make it show up on the list…

27. BEETLEJUICE

This cartoon was AMAZING!!!!!!!!! I couldn’t get enough of it. Sure, they changed Lydia into a little girl so Beetlejuice isn’t trying to marry her anymore. It doesn’t matter! THIS. CARTOON. WAS. GOLD. I even loved the quickly churned out weekday afternoon ones. It was just a great show. Da-boo-dee-boo-da!

28. CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST

Before Beetlejuice, this was the original ghost with the most. Casper the Friendly Ghost is as old school as it gets. And it got revived to a really cool version, The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper, after the Casper movie came out. Hard to find, but if you do, check it out. Rare to enjoy a series based on the adventures of a dead kid.

29. MONSTER BASH

I’m reaching way back for this one. You would get this little segments in between cartoons on the USA Cartoon Express. Ah, I miss the Cartoon Express. I don’t see why they can’t bring it back. Just make a new cartoon called Little Monk and the Psych Kids.

30. THE MINI MONSTERS

If you know what cartoon series this came from, then I bow down to your nerdy retroness.

31. MY PET MONSTER

How do you sell your toy line? You make a cartoon out of it, of course! But I have to admit I watched this show every week. It was that darn theme song. It lured me in every time. And you gotta love the reference to the Addams Family at the beginning. See, my list comes full circle.

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 4:15 pm by Andre BlackNerd and is filed under LISTS/PRIME LISTS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.