Going Great

Last updated

Going Great is a Canadian newsmagazine type show that originally aired on CBC [1] and premiered in the United States on Nickelodeon on October 1, 1983. [2] Produced by Michael Maclear [1] and hosted by Chris Makepeace, Going Great focused on kids of all ages who did very amazing feats in the world some people couldn't do. New episodes aired on Tuesdays and Thursdays until February 14, 1984 (39 episodes).

Contents

History

Originally produced by CBC for 13 episodes, [1] Nickelodeon was so impressed by the show that they ordered an additional 26 episodes, bringing the total number of episodes to 39. [3] Going Great was one of Nickelodeon's lowest rated TV shows, receiving a 2 out of every 6 people watching it. Against the Odds is the lowest with 1 out of 6 people watching it.

Going Great focused on being able to do amazing, extreme things. Kids were shown and asked about their bravery, and they always said: "I'm not brave". With help from Nickelodeon, kids were able to do great things, hence the name Going Great.

In 1984, Keanu Reeves was a correspondent for the show. [4]

Response

While Going Great focused on child prodigies, it left normal kids with low self-esteem when Nickelodeon took it to focus groups, with the common response being "Well, I'll never be that good so I won't try that." [5]

Related Research Articles

Keanu Reeves Canadian actor (born 1964)

Keanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, Reeves began acting in theatre productions and in television films before making his feature film debut in Youngblood (1986). He had his breakthrough role in the science fiction comedy Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), and he later reprised his role in its sequels. He gained praise for playing a hustler in the independent drama My Own Private Idaho (1991), and established himself as an action hero with leading roles in Point Break (1991) and Speed (1994).

Children's television series are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evening, allowing younger children to watch them after school. The purpose of these shows is mainly to entertain or educate. The children's series are in four categories: those aimed at infants and toddlers, those aimed at those aged 2 to 10 years old, those for adolescents and those aimed at all children.

<i>All Grown Up!</i>

All Grown Up! is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. It served as a continuation of the series Rugrats, as explores the daily lives of protagonist Tommy Pickles and his childhood friends, now adolescents. The concept for the series was based on the episode "All Growed Up", which served as the original series' 10th anniversary special and proved successful with audience.

<i>Watch Mr. Wizard</i> Television series

Watch Mr. Wizard was an American television program for children that demonstrates the science behind ordinary things. The show's creator and on-air host was Don Herbert. Author Marcel LaFollette says of the program, "It enjoyed consistent praise, awards, and high ratings throughout its history. At its peak, Watch Mr. Wizard drew audiences in the millions, but its impact was far wider. By 1956, it had prompted the establishment of more than five thousand Mr. Wizard science clubs, with an estimated membership greater than one hundred thousand."

<i>Double Dare</i> (franchise) American game show

Double Dare is an American television game show in which two teams compete to win cash and prizes by answering trivia questions and completing messy stunts known as physical challenges. It originally ran from 1986 to 1993. A revival ran in 2000, and the most recent revival ran from 2018 to 2019.

Hangin' In was a Canadian television sitcom which aired on CBC from 1981 to 1987. It aired briefly on Nickelodeon and in syndication in the United States.

<i>Nanalan</i> Canadian childrens television show

Nanalan' is a Canadian children's television series created by Jamie Shannon and Jason Hopley. It began in 1999 as a series of three-minute shorts and later ran for a season of full-length episodes spanning 21 minutes each. It chronicles the small-scale adventures and discoveries of a three-year-old puppet girl named Mona in her grandmother Nana Bea's backyard. The title is a contraction of the phrase "Nana Land," referring to the setting.

<i>The Third Eye</i> (American TV series)

The Third Eye is an American anthology series on Nickelodeon. It consisted of several English-language science fiction serials from the United Kingdom and New Zealand. All of the program's featurettes focused on characters with psychic abilities.

Noam Zylberman is an Israeli-born Canadian voice actor.

<i>The Naked Brothers Band</i> (TV series) American musical comedy television series

The Naked Brothers Band is an American musical comedy television series created by Polly Draper, which aired on Nickelodeon from February 3, 2007 to June 13, 2009. It depicts the daily lives of Draper's sons, who lead a faux world-renowned rock band in New York City. As a mockumentary, the storyline is an embellished parody of their real lives, and the fictional presence of a camera is often acknowledged. The show stars Nat Wolff and Alex Wolff, the lead singer-songwriter, and drummer, respectively. Nat's fictional female interest and real-life friends Thomas Batuello, David Levi, and Cooper Pillot, as well as Qaasim Middleton—who has no prior acquaintance with the family—feature as the other band members, with Draper's jazz musician husband Michael Wolff as his sons' widowed accordion-playing dad, and her niece Jesse Draper portraying the group's babysitter.

<i>Invader Zim</i> American animated television series

Invader Zim is an American animated science fiction dark comedy television series created by comic book writer and cartoonist Jhonen Vasquez for Nickelodeon. The series centers on an extraterrestrial named Zim, from the planet Irk, and his mission to conquer Earth and enslave the human race along with his malfunctioning robot servant GIR. He is antagonized by Dib, a young paranormal investigator who is determined to stop Zim from succeeding.

<i>The Mighty B!</i> Nickelodeon TV show starring Amy Poehler

The Mighty B! is an American animated television series created by Amy Poehler, Cynthia True and Erik Wiese for Nickelodeon. The series centers on Bessie Higgenbottom, an ambitious Honeybee girl scout who believes she will become The Mighty B if she collects every Honeybee badge. Bessie lives in San Francisco with her single mother Hilary, brother Ben and dog Happy. Poehler provides the voice of Bessie, who is loosely based on the character Cassie McMadison, who Poehler played on the improvisational comedy troupes Upright Citizens Brigade and Second City before she joined the cast of Saturday Night Live.

<i>All That</i> American sketch comedy television series

All That is an American sketch comedy television series created by Brian Robbins and Mike Tollin. The series originally aired on Nickelodeon from April 16, 1994, to October 22, 2005, lasting ten seasons, and was produced by Tollin/Robbins Productions and by Schneider's Bakery in season ten. The pilot episode was originally shown as a special "sneak peek" on April 16, 1994, with the show officially debuting as a regular series on December 24 the same year.

<i>Sid the Science Kid</i> Childrens TV show

Sid the Science Kid is an American computer-animated children’s television series on PBS Kids. It aired from September 1, 2008 to March 25, 2013, with a total of 66 half-hour episodes produced over two seasons, and lasted for four years. The computer generated show is produced by The Jim Henson Company and PBS affiliate KCET channel 28 in Los Angeles, California using the Henson Digital Puppetry Studio. The show is produced by motion capture which allows puppeteers to voice digitally animated characters in real time.

Bill & Ted is an American science fiction comedy franchise created by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. It features William "Bill" S. Preston Esq. and Ted "Theodore" Logan, portrayed by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves, respectively, two metalhead slacker friends who travel through time and beyond while trying to fulfill their destiny to establish a utopian society in the universe with their music. The series spans three films: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991), and Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020). The series has been mainly produced by Scott Kroopf.

<i>Bubble Guppies</i> US childrens television series

Bubble Guppies is a CGI children's television series produced for Nickelodeon and created by Jonny Belt and Robert Scull. The series is a combination of the sketch comedy, edutainment and musical genres, and revolves around the underwater adventures of a group of merperson preschoolers named Molly, Gil, Goby, Deema, Oona, Nonny, and Zooli. The program premiered on Nickelodeon on January 24, 2011, and originally ran for four seasons until its conclusion on October 21, 2016. The series is produced using Autodesk Maya 3D software.

The 17th Youth in Film Awards ceremony, presented by the Youth in Film Association, honored outstanding youth performers under the age of 21 in the fields of film, television and music for the 1994–1995 season, and took place in 1996 in Hollywood, California.

"A Rugrats Kwanzaa" is a television special from the American animated television series Rugrats. It is the 13th episode of the seventh season, and the 143rd episode overall. It examines Kwanzaa from the perspective of toddler Susie Carmichael during a visit from her great-aunt. Susie, her friends—Tommy Pickles, Chuckie and Kimi Finster, and Phil and Lil DeVille—and family learn about the holiday from Aunt T., but Susie becomes depressed after thinking she is the only member of her family not to achieve greatness. Aunt T. consoles her by sharing her memories using a scrapbook. The episode concludes with Susie realizing she still has plenty of time in her life to discover what makes her great.

<i>Bill & Ted Face the Music</i> 2020 science fiction comedy film

Bill & Ted Face the Music is a 2020 American science fiction comedy film directed by Dean Parisot and written by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. It is the third film in the Bill & Ted film series, and the sequel to Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991). Alex Winter, Keanu Reeves, and William Sadler reprise their roles as Bill, Ted, and the Grim Reaper, while Kristen Schaal, Samara Weaving, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Anthony Carrigan, Erinn Hayes, Jayma Mays, Holland Taylor, Kid Cudi, Jillian Bell and Beck Bennett join the cast. In the film, Bill and Ted must write a song to unite humanity before space-time is destroyed. The script was laid out as early as 2010, but a production deal was not confirmed until 2018. Filming commenced on July 1, 2019.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Adilman, Sid (April 1, 1982). "Special to The Star". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  2. "Series sold". Newspapers.com. February 18, 1983. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  3. Adilman, Sid (February 17, 1983). "CBC hurrah". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  4. YouTube clip CBC RetroBites: Keanu Reeves
  5. Hendershot, Heather (2004). Nickelodeon Nation: The History, Politics, and Economics of America's Only TV Channel for Kids. NYU Press. p. 147. ISBN   9780814736517.