While I feel the messages in a lot of these old clips could still be of benefit to the kids of today, the teachings of the Computer Critters are hands-down the most obsolete of all of ABC's educational efforts. And that's why I love them so! To me, it's fascinating to no end to be able to go back in time through clips like these to see how PCs were percieved in their infancy, and how much they've grown in such a short time.

This is a landmark series for two reasons: It had the foresight to spread the knowledge of computers to the youngsters who would go on to be a part of the first generation to depend on these wacky machines in pretty much every facet of living. And second, it features one of the first interracial families of kids TV. We've got a racoon, cat, fox, a squirrel -- I think -- a dog and one of those rare forest-dwelling alligators all apparently living under one roof.

Seeing these critters overcome with bewilderment as they pop in a disk capable of holding almost 400 massive kilobytes really takes me back to the days of my old Tandy from Radio Shack... Playing games like 'Insanity!' and bootleg freeware gems such as 'David's Kong'... Then there was 'Oregon Trail' and 'Millionware' on the Apple IIe at school... but I digress. That forest gator wasn't lying we she said computers were coming our way, but even she couldn't have fathomed that one day her young viewers would be able to sit here and watch her once again on their computers! It's crazy times, folks. Each of these one-minute lessons looked at a different aspect of computing. They were produced by Buzzco, who also made 'Zack of All Trades.'

1. Introduction - (Best read in the voice of this guy): Tonight, Della brings home the family's first computer, but it's going to take a little more than that to impress Foxworthy on 'Computer Critters!' Then, a tennis match takes a deadly turn on 'Dr. Henry.'

2. Word Processing - The cleverly named Hacker informs sister(?) Tabby that she can use the computer to compose her report for school!

3. Database - Hacker clues ol' Dad in on the power of the database. Organize everything from your budget to your Boy Gerbil tapes!

4. Input devices - I want to get me one of them light pens, they look like fun!