Why I Wanted To Be An Orphan: Parentless TV of the 80's

Vicky's post about childhood nostalgia, got me thinking about things I remember from my own childhood. I was kind of a shy child, but I had an active imagination. (I still do.) I don't remember a lot about my childhood. Most things seem to come from pictures I've seen or stories I've been told. So when I do have a memory, I rarely trust it. For example, I remember being about 6 years old at a place called "The Learning Tree" in Auburn after school (or maybe it was summertime and I was there all day since both of my parents worked full time) and going to the back corner of the playground and singing to myself, probably quietly, in case anyone saw me, “The sun’ll come ooooout TOmorrow...betcha bottom dollar that tomorrooooow!” I wanted to be Little Orphan Annie...because somehow her life was better than mine? Maybe I wanted red hair. Maybe I wanted to have a nightly slumber party with other orphans. Who can even begin to trace the reasons behind what a 6 year old perceives as drama?

I don’t know what it was about orphans, but Orphan Annie is not the only orphan I wanted to be. Does anyone remember Rags to Riches? It was only on for like 2 seasons, but I was obsessed with that show. The premise was basically that this rich man adopted like 5 or 6 orphan girls to help him seal a business deal. His plan was to return them once the deal was done, but he got attached. Rich man rents girls. I think we call that trafficking now. But at the time, we called it really great TV! The girls sang songs that we referred to as “Oldies” back then, but since that means songs from the 80’s now, I should clarify that I mean songs from the 50’s.

My mom grew up in a Children’s Home, so maybe some part of me wanted to be like her. To be without parents. Which is crazy talk because I have really amazing parents. Just this week my mom mailed a package to me with a Christmas tree in it....you guys, she MAILED A CHRISTMAS TREE TO CHINA. Great parents. But something about the parentless TV shows of those early 80’s made me want to go to there.

Here are a few other notable shows that made being an orphan, adopted, or just ambiguously without parents, cool.

Cutest orphan ever.

Punky Brewster: The tragic tale of a father walking out on a family and a mother leaving her daughter at a shopping mall with a dog. Punky was a squatter in an apartment before the grumpy building manager, Henry, adopts her. Henry has some health issues throughout the show, leaving Punky’s stability up in the air. There was always a threat that something would happen to her. That she would be taken away. And constantly her teachers, and residents of the apartment building would come to her rescue. She had so many people who loved her and she was sooo cute and spunky!

The Get-Along Gang: This was a cartoon about a group of animals who formed a gang in an abandoned caboose. Each of the characters had their signature character trait, but the goal of the show each week was to show teamwork or emphasize friendship. They worked together to solve their problems which usually revolved around one person not going along with the group. Considering that, I find it hard to believe I enjoyed the show that much since I tend to NEVER go along with the group. But it seems about right for an 80’s show. For some reason I remember them on skates or skateboards, they always had wheels! I don’t know if they had parents, but I don’t think they made many appearances if so.

This was fun to see.

KIDS Incorporated: This show was like Glee only legit. These kids had a rock band and performed the greatest songs, and some originals. They dealt with real life issues. I can’t say that there were no parents around, because I am pretty sure that a few might have shown up or were at least mentioned from time to time. But the cool thing was that these kids were pretty much on their own making music, which seems like the greatest thing ever. Some of them are super famous now. Fergie for one, Mario Lopez, Eric Balfour, Nichole Brown, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and does anyone remember, Martika? Toy Soldiers ya’ll!

Muppet Babies: I mean, not only were they adorable, but they all got to live and play in a nursery all day long together! A nanny, or rather, her legs, would come in to check on things from time to time, but there are no parents in this scenario. They had amazing imaginary adventures that often referenced famous movies...my first pop-culture cross-over experience! I loved this show well past the age that it was probably appropriate to love it.

Rainbow Brite: I thought about trying to summarize how Rainbow Brite becomes Rainbow Brite, but this Wikipedia description is too wonderful...it speaks for itself. "In the franchise's backstory, a little orphan girl named Wisp is taken by an unknown force to the Colorless World. She must find the Sphere of Light, and along the way she befriends a sprite, Twink, and a majestic white horse with rainbow hair known as Starlite. She rescues the seven Color Kids (one for each color of the rainbow) and finds the Color Belt, which is the tool she needs to bring color to the land. After using it to defeat the King of Shadows (also known as the Evil Force and the Dark One), an evil hooded being with twitchy fingers, the unknown force renames Wisp as Rainbow Brite. She and the Color Kids (and their helpers, the Sprites) live in Rainbow Land and are in charge of all the colors on Earth." Who wouldn’t want to be Rainbow Brite?

Care Bears: With magical places like The Kingdom of Caring, Care-A-Lot, and The Forest of Feelings, who needs parents? I adored the Care Bears. I adored their cousins. I wanted to own them all, hug them all, be them all, and know them all. I think the world would be a better place with a Caring Meter. I wanted a heart on my ass like they all had. In fact, I might not be above that even today. I might not have realized it at the time, but I can say now that these are hands down, the favorite cartoon/characters from my childhood.

Yep, definitely Natalie.

The Facts of Life: So they had parents, and even a housemother, but they lived at a boarding school and they all lived together and shared rooms and stuff which seemed super intriguing when I was 6. Little did I know I would spend 7 years of my life living in dorm rooms, and find it...well, less intriguing. I wanted to be a mixture of Jo and Blair, but was probably more Natalie in reality.

Other notable/possible orphans or parentless characters:
Strawberry Shortcake and Friends
The Smurfs
Hollie Hobbie
The Mickey Mouse Club
You Can't Do That On Television
Different Strokes
Shirt Tales
Alvin and the Chipmunks

In spite of my childhood love for parentless TV, I am thankful I never had to face the trauma or perils associated with growing up without a mom and dad who love me. And even though being in charge of all of the colors on Earth would be fantastic, I ALMOST believe that even though parents might ruin TV, they make life a lot better.

Did I miss any? Should we address shows where 1 parent is dead? Cause that could be a whole other blog! What shows made an impression on you when you were young?