BW Media Spotlight

In the early days of Nickelodeon they had to import live-action adventure shows for kids. If we had Nick on our cable channel when I was a kid I could have seen The Tomorrow People, which actually got a remake years later when they started a network in the UK. Sadly their original shows were a bit light in this department until they got the Power Rangers series. There were some, but more lighthearted fare or just comedies. Yeah, my timeline is a bit off but unless you count Space Cases they were still using import shows. Note that I’m talking adventure. Animorphs would qualify but Are You Afraid Of The Dark? is more of a kids horror show than a sci-fi adventure. I’m not going to go over the whole list but there were more imports than made for Nickelodeon sci-fi kids adventure.

This week’s Saturday Night Showcase (if it’s still available) I can show you episode one of The Astronauts, though the initial airing included a second episode. The show follows five kids accidentally launched into space and their efforts to survive while awaiting rescue. The show apparently takes place some time in the future, and there’s some other shenanigans I’ll get to in the review. The question is whether kids might enjoy it and if the adults (which I assume is my primary audience) will enjoy watching with their kids…or yourself if you’re like me and can enjoy kids shows if the story’s good. I was expecting a more serious take on the concept for Space Cases but that’s not what we have here. So what DO we have here?

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