The original post: /r/television by /u/Intelligent-Lack-122 on 2025-09-10 19:50:11+00:00.

Well, the Family Channel here in Canada will be shutting down. Now I don’t have as much nostalgic attachment to Family, like I did with YTV and Teletoon. But I wanted to look back on the history of the channel and my own history with Family. If YTV were Canada’s Nickelodeon, and Teletoon were Canada’s Cartoon Network, the Family Channel would be Canada’s answer to the Disney Channel.

In The Beginning:

The Family Channel launched on September 1, 1988. The network primarily airs children’s television series, teen dramas, as well as other programming targeting a family audience. A lot of shows during that were reruns of older Disney shows and as well as some other American and UK shows (this is second-hand information, cuz I wasn’t born in 1988). But over the years, Family started airing their own original series like Ripley’s Believe It or Not!: The Animated Series,

Henry’s World, Franklin, Life with Derek, Degrassi: Next Class, Among others.

I was born in the 90s, and while I remember seeing it from time to time, I didn’t fully watch the channel until the early 2000s.

The Magic of Disney:

From the late 80s to the early 2010s, Family was home to a lot of Disney shows and movies. But I only grew up with 4 Disney shows.

They were

  • Aladdin The Animated Series,
  • The Little Mermaid,
  • Buzz Lightyear of Star Command,
  • and The House of Mouse.

Both the Aladdin and the Little Mermaid series have age poorly in terms of the writing and animation. While the original movies have stood the test of time and can be enjoyed by everyone, the shows were pretty much geared toward kids only.

But the Buzz Lightyear series was alright. It started with a crappy made-for-video movie, which was just a pilot for the show. But I think what makes the series work is that Patrick Warburton as Buzz, his voice and humor fit the tone of this movie more than Tim Allen did in the pilot film.

The House of Mouse has almost every single Disney character to that point, from Mickey Mouse to Snow White to The Lion King, etc, and all they did was watch Mickey Mouse shorts.

There was a plot of the week in each episode, but that was secondary to the shorts. And that’s because it was a retool of a short-lived Mickey Mouse series called Mickey Mouse Works. It was a very cheap show, and the humor was very cringe.

There was also Disney Surfers, a series that went behind the scenes of upcoming Disney movies.

Popcorns Pix, which showed movies on Friday nights and weekends. A lot were from Disney, but there were also non Disney movies like Batman, Batman Returns, and Beetlejuice

Fam Jam, which was a music video segment in between shows, mainly teen pop.

I remember shows like Goof Troop, Darkwing Duck, Recess, Lilo and Stitch series, Timon and Pumbaa, Proud Family, and Kim Possible. But I saw like an episode or 2 of these shows. These would come on in between Power Rangers, speaking of which.

Power Rangers Disney Era:

Power Rangers was one of the franchises for me since I was a kid, beginning with the original Mighty Morphin’, fell out of the series for a bit after MMPR, but when In Space came on, that’s when I started watching every year.

In 2001, Disney bought Power Rangers from Saban. Starting with the second half of Power Rangers Wild Force on ABC Kids (The first half aired on Fox like the other seasons before). Some say Wild Force is a Disney era season, but I consider it more a Saban/Fox Kids era. When I think of the Disney seasons of PR, I think of

  • Ninja Storm.
  • Dino Thunder.
  • SPD.
  • Mystic Force.
  • Operation Overdrive.
  • Jungle Fury
  • and RPM.

All the Disney era seasons, plus Wild Force, aired on the Family Channel. As well as reruns of Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, the only Saban/Fox Kids season to air on the channel. I like Lightspeed Rescue, but it was weird that it was the only season from that era. I would have gone with Time Force cuz that one was followed by Wild Force, or I would have done what Jetix did in the US and aired all the older seasons as Power Rangers Generations reruns of Mighty Morphin-Time Force.

I’ll give my thoughts on each season from the Disney era.

Ninja Storm:

The vibe of the show changed from this point; they started filming in New Zealand, it started with 3 Rangers, then 2, and then another one, and the show was more of a comedic series than the ones that came before.

I was about 10 when Ninja Storm aired. At the time, I didn’t know what to make of the season because it was so different from what came before. But as time went on, I started to appreciate it more and more. I like the comedy, and it has clever humor, not just fart jokes.

Dino Thunder:

When this season was announced back in late 2003, I was beyond excited for 2004, that’s when the show would air. As a kid, I couldn’t believe that Jason Frank was coming back to play Tommy on Power Rangers. And not just a one-off episode, but as one of the main cast. When I saw it, Dino Thunder did not disappoint, and years later still holds up. It’s not just one of my favorite seasons, it’s my favorite season in general.

Not just because Tommy came back. But because it pays tribute to the Mighty Morphin era and the seasons that came before it. But has enough new material to make it its own thing. The characters were similar to Mighty Morphin but updated to reflect the 2000s.

Dino Thunder was also the last season of Power Rangers to air during my childhood, and it was a great way to end my childhood.

SPD:

Unlike other seasons, the rangers in this show are not the best of the best. But rather a group of misfits having to rise to greatness.

Power Rangers SPD had a memorable cast of characters, a catchy theme song, strong writing, a great mentor character in the form of Doggie Cruger, and 2 team-up episodes with the Dino Thunder Rangers. The only downside was with the Omega Ranger, who had no character development and only appeared in a suit for the entire season.

Mystic Force:

I know a lot of fans like Mystic Force, but sadly, I don’t. At the time, it was my least favorite season. This is mainly because I’m not into magic and Wizards, it’s just not for me, I hated the theme song, and Nick is my least favorite Red Ranger, he just came off like a total ass. But looking back, there were some good things about Mystic Force. The fight scenes were great, Xander became my favorite character in the show, and there were some good episodes.

Overdrive:

It was panned by fans for its unlikeable characters, awful villains, pacing, and music. So is it as bad as a lot of fans say? Yes, but looking back, I think we were a little hard on Overdrive. Like Mystic Force, there was a lot of good in Overdrive. It dealt with themes like personal identity, Overdrive having one of the best 6 Rangers, and being the 15th anniversary, the returning Rangers for that episode were the highlight. I still don’t like the show, but there was effort put into Overdrive.

Jungle Fury:

Pretty much it’s the black sheep of the franchise. Some love it, others hate it.

For me, it’s an OK season. It was better than the season that came before. The theme song was great, and the characters, villains, and writing were better than Overdrive. And R.J. is one of my favorite rangers.

RPM:

Apparently, I heard it did air on Family. But I never saw it on the channel, and I only saw RPM on ABC Kids. From what I heard, it didn’t air until a year after the show ended on ABC, and only half of the season aired on Family because Saban bought back the franchise from Disney.

But anyway, this was the last season to be produced by Disney and intended to be the last season ever. It dealt with darker themes such as death, guilt, loss of free will, and corruption. But still kept the overall tone of the franchise, and this is based on a Super Sentai season that was a comedy. It took me a while to get into the show, but it quickly became a favorite season with me and other fans. But my favorite season is still Dino Thunder, though.

There was a remastered version of Mighty Morphin by Disney, but that was only on ABC Kids, not Family. It’s just the first 32 episodes of Mighty Morphin with goofy graphics.

Other Shows:

Aside from Disney Channel shows, the Family Channel also acquired shows from other networks.

The ones that stood out were All That and The Amanda Show, 2 sketch comedy shows that aired on Nickelodeon in America. I was a big fan of both shows; there were like SNL and MADtv for kids and teens. However, I can’t go back to these shows because, in 2024, a documentary series called “Quiet On Set” was released, highlighting some disturbing things that went on behind the scenes on those shows. From child abuse to underpaying the cast to explicit photos. I haven’t seen the show, but I don’t have to to know that creator Dan Schneider is a scumbag.

Modern Day Family Channel :

After 2015, Disney stopped airing shows on Family as Canada got there own Disney Channel, Disney Junior, and Disney XD. And after Power Rangers moved from Family to YTV/Nickelodeon Canada. I stopped watching the channel. However, the Family Channel became the home of another franchise I like, Thunderbirds.

In 2015, a CGI Remake of the original 60s series called Thunderbirds Are Go aired on ITV in the UK and on the Family Channel in Canada.

The new show was updated to reflect the modern era but kept the overall tone of the original series. This is a good example of a remake done right, so…

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