Netflix has become a haven for those who wish to retain some sort of decency on their home television screens when children are present. It seems like a hundred years ago when a parent could actually sit down with their kids in front of the TV without having to possess a trigger hand faster than the Sundance Kid. Today it has become something of an art; how quickly can you turn the channel before hearing the words “ass” “bitch” or “Pres. Bush.” I’m sure it sounds like a fairy tale or a myth or a Tony Snow press conference when I tell you that once upon a time kids could watch an entire night of prime time television on one of the three major networks without a parent even worrying about having to reach for the remote. Sadly, that is no longer the case. Thank you, Netflix, for providing me with old Disney movies and old television shows that I put into DVD player and actually feel confident when I leave the room for a few minutes.
One of the Netflix offerings that you should get if you have kids that you don’t want exposed to the plagiaristic and unfunny borrowings of Family Guy are the collected works of comedy that have been making kids laugh for nearly a century. Netflix has quite a collection of Our Gang shorts, otherwise known as the Little Rascals. I know you remember the Little Rascals. I can remember watching them before I left for school and then later watching them after I came from school. Of course, this back in the days when afternoon television didn’t consist entirely of sub-literate discussion show hosts talking about explicit incestuous sex with illiterate trailer trash. If you have forgotten all about Spanky, Buckwheat, Alfalfa, Darla and the gang, then you need to get to Netflix and reacquaint yourself. And if you have kids and you are wondering whether they are too sophisticated from watching Unfabulous and Zack and Cody then I have good news. My kids thoroughly enjoyed the Little Rascals despite the fact that, sad to say, they actually find Zack and Cody to be entertaining.
The Little Rascals, as you probably known them, were so-named after being repackaged for television. They were originally part of a long-lasting series of shorts known as Our Gang. Several of the kids featured in Our Gang went on to fame as adults, including Jackie Cooper and Robert Blake. But if you remember these great little tykes, it is probably through the middle section from 1935-1938. This was the golden era of Spanky and Alfalfa. Mind you, there are some passages from Our Gang that are a little rough going when it comes to racism, but despite the stereotypes the argument can still be made that the black actors featured in these shorts are treated better than most adult black actors. Admittedly, it sickens one to see the way the black kids seem to get scared far more easily than the white kids, but despite all else, Buckwheat and the other black kids are treated as a full-fledged member of the gang.
Our Gang-or the Little Rascals if you will-are a throwback to an era when kids in comedies meant a lot more than adults being made to look like idiots and laughs being retrieved as a result of hearing kids curse like characters in a Martin Scorsese movie. There is an innocence to these shorts even while they present a world that is far more sophisticated than real life. The highlights, of course, were always the wild plot points that the kids found themselves in, as well as Alfalfa’s conviction that he was a talented singer. This was also the era that featured many stories revolving around the He-Man Woman-Haters Club. If you have a soft place in your heart for the Little Rascals it is probably due to the shorts made during this period.
Fortunately, Netflix has a big collection of Our Gang DVDs featuring shorts from the beginning to the end of the series. Do yourself and your kids a solid by putting them on your Netflix queue. You’ll save yourself injury from trying to reach for the remote too quickly and you’ll be able to show your kids that all the comedy they think was invented in the last decade was actually first done almost a century ago.
