I decided to reward myself for a semester of hard work by sitting down and binge watching the new episodes of “Samurai Jack,” which recently came back on air after 13 years. The renewal was brought back by the series original creator Genndy Tartakovsky and is being broadcast on Adult Swim instead of its original spot on Cartoon Network. The move makes sense because of the shows darker tone and adult themes, plus what kid watching the network today would know what the show is? As I was watching though I started to think of the nostalgia buzz most entertainment producers have been running on lately.

Back in early April a teaser was released for an “Invader Zim” made for TV movie. People who watched the show in their youth were ecstatic as it’s something the fans have been dying to here. However, it’s not even the first bombshell that has been dropped by Nickelodeon in the past few years as they announced a “Hey Arnold” movie coming down the pipeline roughly a year ago. Companies seem to be bringing the nostalgia factor far past eleven and it’s not just TV either the “Power Rangers” movie released at the end of March is further proof of the recent trends in entertainment as it was another childhood show, that was adapted for the big screen. While it’s great to see a horde of my favorite childhood characters return I’ve been wondering exactly what this entertainment movement says about our culture and society as a whole.

The shows and movies being produced weren’t made for the current generation of children. They have no clue who these characters are or even what the names of the shows are. Do you know who will tune in to watch though? Us, the millennial generation who watched these characters in our childhood and who have been eagerly awaiting to find out what will happen to our favorite characters. At the same time though they’re just cartoons and old cartoons at that. I have been wondering recently why corporations have been so adamant about marketing to millennials instead of to the next generation. Don’t get me wrong they’re being marketed to just like the rest of us but it’s the quality of the content that is in question. For those with cable TV go to the Disney Channel what’s on? Probably some live action show with poor performances and a lot of unnecessary drama or maybe you’re lucky and caught the tail end of a Pixar movie you’ve seen a hundred times. Content producers have become extremely lazy in recent years, which is why they are bringing shows back from our generation. The problem though becomes one of cultural stagnation if creators think the only thing that they can sell to us is the tried and true then eventually that will be the only thing we have.

Now I’m not saying that nostalgia is a bad thing or that the shows that are being brought back are bad either, but there needs to be a sense of balance when it comes to providing content to a wide audience. The best example I can think of comes from our own generation. I remember watching “Scooby-Doo” and “Loony Tunes” on Cartoon Network when I was younger and I’m sure others do as well and not only did our generation have them but our parents’ generation did too. They also got to share that experience of re-watching them with us. Those reruns became so popular that they led to brand resurgence and helped spark movies like “Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island” and “Space Jam,” which were very successful do to their ability to reach multiple generations.

I think today’s companies can learn a lot from methods used in the past to better market to multiple generations, but it’s also important that we as millennials not reminisce on the past too much. The shows we watched had their chance and now it’s time to have some quality for today’s youth and maybe we can enjoy that too. Of course I’m just a poor college student watching cartoons to cope with the stresses of adulthood so what do I know?