I know I usually start these posts off with a story, but in this case, it would be silly if I didn’t cut right to the chase.

If you are familiar with the awesome HBO intro, feel free to skip ahead. If you’re not, or if you just want to watch it again, click here. Ignore that static part. That’s new. We don’t like that.

Did you watch it? Good. That’s pretty much the greatest thing that ever happened. Now gather ‘round, while I regale you with amusing anecdotes from my past that you may or may not also remember.

When you saw this before a movie, the movie seemed like so much of a bigger deal. Movies don’t feel like much of an experience to me anymore. I don’t know if it’s because I’m older or because something just isn’t quite the same.

In fact, that intro affects me more than most feature length films these days. It just might be the most perfect minute or so ever put to tape. The music, the visual, everything. Phenomenal.

A few years later HBO unveiled another intro. It was great, but obviously it doesn’t come close to touching its predecessor. You can watch it here. This particular video has a woman’s voice saying, “The following movie is rated PG,” but there was a guy who did it too.

I always felt so dirty when he told me that the following movie was rated R. I knew I wasn’t supposed to be watching whatever it was and I guess I imagined a disapproving inflection in his voice.

But if you were a kid with HBO in the 80s, the things you were supposed to be watching were incredible. Fraggle Rock stands tall above the rest, but even the lesser-known programs were just as good. If you have time, you should definitely watch old clips of all of them.

First up, Encyclopedia, a show that made brilliant skits about random encyclopedia entries. It was like a Sesame Street for older kids, without the Muppets. It was a genius blend of learning and entertainment, the way it should be. The clothes don’t hold up but the skits absolutely do. The song in the clip I linked has been burned into my memory and I still find myself humming it out of nowhere, all these years later. All of these clips are fun and you are doing yourself a great disservice by not watching them.

Encyclopedia also paved the way for the special Buy Me That which taught kids how advertising is lying to them. It’s filled with tons of old commercials so I highly recommend you watch the entire thing. You won’t be disappointed.

And of course there was Brain Games. That link goes to an entire episode of the show. I haven’t watched it yet, but I’m sure you’re in for a treat. It was another program that mixed education with awesomeness, and just like Encyclopedia, I think it still holds up over twenty years later.

Speaking of education, when I got a little older, HBO was great for seeing boobs. As I’ve mentioned before, it was tough to see real, unscrambled boobs in the days before the internet, but the Home Box Office almost always came through. My friend Jim will attest there was nothing worse than turning on HBO at midnight expecting to see boobs and sadly getting stuck with an episode of Spawn or Inside the NFL. But the times they aired Real Sex more than made up for it.

HBO is still making amazing original programming for adults, but I don’t think they’re the player in the kids’ market that they once were. I can give them a pass on not having another cool intro, because that first one is impossible to top, but it would be nice to see them get back into working on things for the kids.

I could sit and write about this stuff for hours, but truthfully, I’m more interested in watching all of those links I just posted. So I’m gonna go do that. I’m sure you understand. See you in a week.

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