I was loving VH1's "100 Greatest Kid Stars" series last week. It gave informative updates on former child stars I had all but forgotten about, stars like Quinn Cummings ("The Goodbye Girl," "Family"), Lara Jill Miller ("Gimme a Break") and Cynthia Nixon, who I knew from "Sex and the City" but had no idea she was also a child star, featured in one of my favorite teen movies, "Little Darlings."
Still, there were some blatant omissions on the show. I know, I know, they can't name every child star from the past 40 years, but some of the stars that they forgot about clearly should have been included. For example:
-- Jay North. The original Dennis the Menace from the TV series. That kid was a McCauley Culkin way before Culkin's time. He was adorable and a great actor. And they didn't even mention his name.
--Leif Garrett. And Donny Osmond, for that matter. Yes, VH1 did include some teen singers in their countdown, but they chose to include New Kids on the Block's Joey McIntyre in lieu of truly great pop stars. Crazy, I tell you!
-- Kim Richards. The greatest child star of the '70s and early '80s. She starred in Disney films like "Escape to Witch Mountain' and television series like "Nanny and the Professor." I expected her to make the top 10 and she didn't even make the top 100?
--Johnny Whitaker. Red-haired child star of "Family Affair" fame and then Saturday morning's "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters," this kid was a bona fide poster child for child stars in the '60s and '70s. Remember him? VH1 sure didn't!
--Billy Mumy. The ultimate child star, in my opinion. Watch any TV show from the 1960s-- from "Bewitched" to "Twilight Zone" to "My Favorite Martian" -- and this kid has guest starred on it. VH1 didn't deem him worthy, but Cindy Brady makes the list?
I'm still scratching my head over that one.....
--
Still, there were some blatant omissions on the show. I know, I know, they can't name every child star from the past 40 years, but some of the stars that they forgot about clearly should have been included. For example:
-- Jay North. The original Dennis the Menace from the TV series. That kid was a McCauley Culkin way before Culkin's time. He was adorable and a great actor. And they didn't even mention his name.
--Leif Garrett. And Donny Osmond, for that matter. Yes, VH1 did include some teen singers in their countdown, but they chose to include New Kids on the Block's Joey McIntyre in lieu of truly great pop stars. Crazy, I tell you!
-- Kim Richards. The greatest child star of the '70s and early '80s. She starred in Disney films like "Escape to Witch Mountain' and television series like "Nanny and the Professor." I expected her to make the top 10 and she didn't even make the top 100?
--Johnny Whitaker. Red-haired child star of "Family Affair" fame and then Saturday morning's "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters," this kid was a bona fide poster child for child stars in the '60s and '70s. Remember him? VH1 sure didn't!
--Billy Mumy. The ultimate child star, in my opinion. Watch any TV show from the 1960s-- from "Bewitched" to "Twilight Zone" to "My Favorite Martian" -- and this kid has guest starred on it. VH1 didn't deem him worthy, but Cindy Brady makes the list?
I'm still scratching my head over that one.....
--
No comments:
Post a Comment