In recent years, I have spent many day wondering who will take my crown when I can no longer name all of the hosts of Talk Soup. My first thought,of course, was that my oldest daughter would one day become the Queen of TV. I started her off early watching age appropriate shows that also had a long history like Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. To my constant amazement, some shows became favorites while others inspired no excitement whatsoever. What kind of a kid doesn’t want to watch Free to Be You and Me?

It wasn’t until the kid reached her pre-teen years, that she showed a strong interest in one particular show. That show was Full House. Everyday, oftentimes more than once, the extended Tanner family entertained what I hoped would be my successor. It was clear that I needed to strike while the iron was hot.

I quickly printed out a comprehensive list of Full House trivia questions and spent hours quizzing her until her mind was filled with various information, such as the fact that D.J. Stands for Donna Jo and Danny’s late wife died in a car accident. I felt that she was on her way, but their was only one way to be sure. She needed to perform in public.

So, one night, I brought her with me to a comedy show where I was performing. After I was introduced, I challenged someone in the audience to come on stage and display their knowledge of Full House trivia. A young woman in her twenties came onstage and was ready to challenge me. Little did she know that she would be going up against a nine year old girl. What followed was a bloodbath.

My daughter answered almost every question correctly and before the adult could get even open her mouth and she did it with such ease that I could barely compose myself to sing the theme to Who’s the Boss and close my set.

Unfortunately, like most topics, she lost interest in TV trivia pretty quickly and nowadays when I try to quiz her on the particular show she’s watching, I always get the same answer…”I don’t know. Be quiet. I’m trying to watch.”

Now I know how Prince Albert felt.

Hear more from the King of TV on The Paul Goebel Show podcast and at his website, www.TheKingofTV.com. You can also follow Paul on Twitter @PaulGoebelShow.

One hundred and twenty three years later, my son began a project on family and heritages.  What would a 10 year old think of his heritage? Would it be difficult for him to imagine what life was like during that time?  The story of his great-great grandparents was the same as so many Americans during that time – traveling westward to get a piece of their own American dream.  Many died, and many others turned back. But his great-great-grandparents endured the trip, and eventually settled in North Dakota.

Luckily, my Grandmother had written down her research on her parent’s travels, so my son was able to read about their adventures. I have to admit, I was much more into this slice of history than my son.  However, his interest peaked when he made the connection that lefse was from Norway (lefse is a Norwegian flatbread made of potatoes – a recipe I learned from my Grandmother which my kids love to eat today). He also thought that his 3-times Great-Grandmother’s name “Gro”, was a very strange name. I explained to him that according to my Grandmother, Gro hated her name and made her children promise not to name any of their children after her.  He also tried to imagine living in a house without a floor, since the Gullickson’s lived in what was called a ‘sod’ house and they couldn’t afford the wood for the floor.

I have a renewed respect for my heritage and I hope Logan does as well. Our ancestors took great risk during their lifetimes in the name of a better future for themselves and their children.  It’s a piece of his history that I hope he takes with him through his life.  I know I surely will.

Today, nearly thirty years later, the Green Lantern finally comes to the big screen. And on Father’s Day, I’ll be going with my son to see it.

We’ve shared many passing on the torch of fandom moments, some of which I’ve written about here. But this one is a bit different. Unlike Godzilla, which is appealing to us both in the same way, or Star Wars, which I resigned from the beginning to him being a prequel-brainwashed fan, Green Lantern is something which may not appeal to him at all. I’m hearing early buzz that the movie is a disappointment (I’ve been suspecting as much for a while, but I’m hoping everyone is just being negative). And, the things I love about Green Lantern may not be captured in this film. There may not be a Green Lantern vs. his equal (Sinestro? another rogue lantern?), and it may be more of just a bland origin story with a non-iconic villain setting the stage for later films. This may result in my boy giving it a “meh.” Rating.

On the other hand, I could be pleasantly surprised. I panicked at the start of Thor, as they laid out all of the backstory necessary for the film. I feared that the 15-minutes or so of prologue would lose my son’s interest, but he hung in there and loved the film. It may be that he gives Green Lantern a blindly loyal shot and comes out liking it. We will see.

But for me, it’s another chapter in fatherhood. Another interest shared, fingers crossed that it will take with him (probably not so much my daughter, but I’ll give her the opportunity as well.)

The Lemonade Game was a very, very early precursor to the Sim City-style games of the turn of the century. And, for those of use in Ms. Safran’s 4th Grade G&T pullout class, it was the best reward she could ever offer us.

About ten years ago, I found the Coolmath4kids website, and the first thing I did was play a 30-day game of Lemonade Stand. It only took me three “days” to recall my trademarked secret recipe with the perfect ratio of lemons to sugar to ice to make almost any day a profitable day.

The memories this rekindled alone were fantastic, but the game play remains fun and challenging enough to promote it on this site.

Whether you are someone old enough to have played the game when you were young or you work with young people aged 8 – 18, I suggest you check out the game (and the rest of the coolmath4kids site).

You can play the Lemonade Game at http://www.coolmath-games.com/lemonade/index.html.

After pouring over the offerings on PBS Kids and other channels that catered to little ones, I decided to look outside of that particular box. I started looking at channels that played things I liked and found a lot of great stuff.

Over on the Hallmark Channel, I discovered reruns of The Muppet Show and I was ecstatic. I set my VCR to record every episode and looked forward to laughing at the antics of Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo and the rest alongside my little girl. Sadly, those dreams were dashed pretty quickly.

For some reason, my daughter failed to appreciate the brilliance of Henson, Oz and their pals. While she enjoyed the colors and funny voices, the humor was completely lost on her. As she got older, her interest continued to wane and the Muppet tapes ended up being packed away with the VCR.

I decided to give it another try when I saw an ad for Free to be, You and Me on TV Land. I thought, “How could anyone not enjoy a mix of uplifting songs and stories mixed with the hilarious comedy of Mel Brooks and Marlo Thomas?” To my pleasant surprise, she loved it.

The talking babies and cartoons with morals were a huge hit  She was particularly fond of Ladies First and I was ecstatic. We watched it together, sand the songs and had a great time. I even went so far as to buy the soundtrack to play in the car while we ran errands.

Sadly, that joy ended soon enough. As kids do, she quickly lost interest and moved on to shows that she found more compelling and I found unwatchable. This tradition continued when her sister was born and still lives today. So, as they watch Rihanna videos and Khloe and Lamar in the living room while I watch old episodes of Dr. Who in the office, I am forced to ask myself, “What part of awesome don’t my kids understand?”

Hear more from the King of TV on The Paul Goebel Show podcast and at his website, www.TheKingofTV.com. You can also follow Paul on Twitter @PaulGoebelShow.

I paused, not sure how to answer the question. Should I be truthful with her, and spoil the fun of believing in the typical imaginary things of childhood? Or should I continue the charade? She told me that many of her classmates have been telling her that there is no such thing as the tooth fairy or Santa, that it is actually just your parents giving you money under your pillow and gifts under the tree and in your stocking. The thing is, kids seem to really love believing in the “magic” of these things. Is there any harm in this? Are we just lying to our children, only to leave them disappointed later when they find out the truth?

So, I beat around the bush for a while. I read her a story called The Real Tooth Fairy by Marilyn Kaye, which deals with this issue. In the book, a little girl named Elise wakes up in the middle of the night to find her mother taking her tooth and putting money under her pillow. She then believes that her mother is THE tooth fairy and has the important job of traveling all over the world and putting money under all the children’s pillows. Then Elise’s friend at school says he woke up to find his father putting money under his pillow. Elise asks her mother about this, and she tells her that the tooth fairy transforms to look like someone the child knows so that if they wake up in the middle of the night, they see someone they know and trust so that they don’t get scared and think it’s a stranger in their room.  She enjoyed the story, but then asked me, “Mom, what is the genre of that story: realistic fiction, fantasy, or nonfiction?”

Wow! Kudos to her third grade teacher for teaching her about genres, but I also think this was Ashleigh’s way of asking me if the tooth fairy is really real!

I told her that it is up to her to believe or not believe, but if she doesn’t believe in the tooth fairy or Santa, she will no longer receive gifts from the tooth fairy or Santa. I reminded her about how this happened in movies like the Polar Express, Miracle on 34^th Street, and The Santa Clause.  I pointed out to her that is her choice to believe or not believe, but children who choose not to believe can sometimes miss out.

I am still debating on how to answer Ashleigh’s questions. She has told me that she wants to know the truth. I feel like I should honor her request, but I also don’t want her to be disappointed, or even upset that she has been “lied to.” One thing I know for sure – my little girl is growing up!

I embraced some of these fandoms whole-heartedly (others I replaced with my own less mainstream interests, such as Dan Fouts Chargers, Dan Majerle’s Suns, The Fixx, etc., ), and I see exposing my son to these as both a parenting duty and a reward.  Of the pop-culture passions from my youth, one of the most fun to share has been Godzilla.

Godzilla, the Japanese man in a rubber suit with all the glorious toy tank smashing, Kaiju wrestling, and fantastic music, has become one of my son’s favorites, and I have happily watched him share the phenomenon with his friends.

Let me clarify that we are not speaking of the Godzilla-creature from the 1998 Matthew Broderick film (aka GINO – Godzilla in Name Only or ‘zilla), we are talking about the original TOHO monster.

My son is a fan of all the classic films, but he tends to share Destroy All Monsters or Final Wars with his friends as a gateway film, just because the target audience is so desperate for action these days. I’m not worried, though, because he will just as happily sit and watch Godzilla vs. Mothra, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, or any of the older films.  Where I used to have to wait to watch them weekends on Channel 11 or Channel 9, he can simply hit a button on his Zune – but the passion for the films is still there.

We own all the Godzilla video games for Nintendo systems and have a couple of Godzilla toys and shirts from various sources.  One of the best things we’ve discovered was Kaiju Big Battel. We first found Kaiju Big Battel as part of Monkey Bar TV’s Action Blast! But when that show ended, we continued to follow the mayhem, and last year we attended our first live Kaiju Big Battel match.

(Someone else took this video, not me – I just found it on youtube… but you can see me in the upper right corner, wearing a red shirt, at the 6:15 mark) It was one of the greatest experiences we’ve shared to date, and I can’t wait to go back again.

That’s pretty much been my whole vibe on sharing Godzilla with my son. Sharing Star Wars has been awesome. Being San Diego Charger fans together is incredible. But there’s something about Godzilla and watching my boy sell others on the fandom that shoots it right up to the top of the list.

Is it our own fault that Hollywood continues to make awful movies based on childhood projects from the 70′s and 80′s? I remember when I took my children to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. The experience was so excruciating, I wanted to abandon them and flee the theater. Afterward as they talked about how much they loved it, it reminded me of how much I enjoyed the first revival and my parents teaching me all about Ross Bagdasarian and the genius of The Witch Doctor.

I may be late to this party but it occurs to me that the plan is for me to take my children to The Smurfs and pretend that it was their idea. Then whether I enjoyed it or not, the kids will be hooked and just like many of us, will buy the stickers, socks and key chains bearing their favorite blue creature.

Now I wasn’t a fan of The Smurfs in the first place, but I recognized their significance to pop culture. For what it’s worth, they were the first cartoon to use their own name as every conceivable part of speech and never apologized for it. The Smurfs pioneered that practice long before The Snorks appropriated it or people started using Lewinsky as a verb.

What I came to realize was that I and my generation are directly to blame for the revival and subsequent molestation of our beloved childhood icons. I knew Yogi Bear was going to be terrible but I just had to see it for myself. It was clear that The Green Hornet would be sub-par and still I shelled out good money to witness it firsthand. I even chuckled at Eddie Murphy’s gassy antics in the remake of The Nutty Professor instead of LOL-ing at the far superior original with Jerry Lewis.

So before you bemoan the fact that Hollywood insists on co-opting your childhood memories, take a look at yourself in the mirror and be thankful that Romper Room will never be remade … probably.

Hear more from the King of TV on The Paul Goebel Show podcast and at his website, www.TheKingofTV.com. You can also follow Paul on Twitter @PaulGoebelShow.

Senoritis is usually limited to high school seniors, although a few juniors have been found on occasion to show symptoms.  Senoritis can become contagious – especially among students who are often in close proximity of each other. Symptoms include:

A desire to skip classes (especially in the mornings, or on Fridays, or minimum days, or when the weather is nice). This desire strengthens as the school year progresses, reaching its peak around May.

Procrastination:  May show a tendency to do the minimum work required. Often manifests itself in the form of  waiting until the last minute to complete homework assignments, studying for tests, or completing projects.  This typically results in 2:00 AM cram sessions that cause parents to question why they had children in the first place.

Lack of motivation: Includes going through classes with very little concentration and a tendency to either sleep, text, or do anything except pay attention to the lesson.

Appearance of ‘short-timer’ syndrome:  A short-timer is one who is approaching the end of his/her high school career and as such begins to demonstrate a lack of caring for high school overall. Also known as “I’m outta here” disease.

Thankfully, my 8^th grade daughter has a few years before she is at risk for Senoritis, but I know it is coming.  I can already see some symptoms of ’8^th-gradeitis’ (a sister disease of Seniorits, but not as severe) in her daily routine. I am sure she will be in for a rude awakening this fall when she begins her Freshman year at the local high school.

Even with the symptoms mentioned above, I don’t believe Senoritis is all that terrible as long as it’s kept in check. I am a survivor of ‘Senoritis’.   My attitude toward school during the end of my Senior year plummeted.  By May, Fridays were known as ‘beach days’ rather than school days.

In the end, I, like the vast majority of Seniors, made it through the end of high school and was completely symptom free by the first week of my Freshman year at college.  Then again, I had my Dad – a seasoned high school teacher – who knew how to manage the disease: allowing me just enough freedom to let the disease run its course, but all along ensuring that I did not steer too far away from the path to college.

So many of the choices he makes stand out to my wife and I as having “what would Dad do?” in them. We try to encourage him to be his own person, and I want nothing other than for him to make choices that will bring him happiness. I’d be lying, though, if I didn’t admit that I find it flattering how highly he regards me.

So, I was touched two years ago when Jay asked me if he could put a championship trophy I earned playing street hockey on the shelf with the two runner-up trophies he earned in his street hockey league. I still have the text he sent me the night my team won the championship stored on my phone:

Wow Dad thats great. Can I have your trophy please? :O

He placed my trophy on his shelf, and proudly showed it to his friends when they came into his room. He shared his own trophies as well, but the pride in his voice was always evident when showing off my trophy.

This year we each played street hockey once again. My season ended first, with my team winning a second championship. We received another trophy, and I was surprised (but flattered) when my son asked me if he could have that one as well. “You can come and visit them anytime,” he told me.  For three months his shelf featured five nice sized trophies… his two runner up trophies, my two championship trophies, and a participation he earned for a roller hockey exhibition.

Well, Wednesday night was the awards ceremony for my son’s most recent street hockey season. The team had done better than expected but still finished in fourth place overall out of 7 teams. Unlike the runner-up trophies he’d earned in previous years, this consolation prize was the same trophy given to bottom five teams. It was a fraction of the size of the other trophies, had almost no detail… I expected to have to convince him to keep it.

On the way home from the awards ceremony, before I could address the topic, my son informed me “You can have your trophies back, Dad. I’m going to need room for this one and it’s getting crowded up there.”

I was so pleased that he valued his own accomplishment over mine. One of the (many) fears my wife and I have as we watch our kids grow up is that they will try too hard to please other people and lose their own identities and sense of self-worth in the process. I thanked my boy for having taken such good care of the trophies and asked him to help me find a good spot for them in my office.

“Make sure you leave room in case you win another next year!” he told me as we made the switch.

My boy is growing up, and if this is the kind of young man he’s growing into – I can’t complain at all.