Three years ago I hated Recess, now it's my comfort show

I used to think Recess was just background noise for kids. Last month my nephew put it on and I caught the episode where they form a club to fight the playground rules. The writing is actually smart, the characters have real depth like Spinelli and Gretchen. I binged the whole series in two weeks. Anyone else rediscover a show they wrote off as a kid and realize it was better than you remembered?

2 comments

2 Comments

simonl8619d ago

Right, the club episode you're talking about, that's actually not the first time they form a club. They have a whole episode earlier in season one where the kids start "The Recess Club" to get away from the older kids. You might be mixing it up with the one where they fight the new rules about the tetherball court or something. But I get what you mean, the show really holds up. I never hated it as a kid, but watching it now I see how much thought they put into stuff like playground politics and the different cliques.

casey_barnes19d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you're totally right! That earlier club episode where they hide out in the janitor's closet from the fifth graders, that's the one where Mikey brings snacks and they make up secret handshakes. I completely forgot about that one. But the episode I'm thinking of is the one where they try to start a "formal" club with a constitution and everything, and it gets so bogged down in rules nobody wants to be in it anymore. It's crazy how well this show nails stuff like that. I rewatched the whole first season last week and the way they handle classroom dynamics and the different social groups is just spot on. Like, how Randall the kid who always gets caught but never gets in trouble because he's a suck up. That was definitely a real type of kid at my school.