Weekly Analysis 2

The first icon contemporary icon I chose is Who Wants to Be a Millionare, television game show, which offers large cash prizes for correctly answering a series of consecutive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. The program originated in the United Kingdom, where it was hosted by Chris Tarrant. I chose this game because when this game show started airing on the ABC network in the US, it became an instant hit television series.

The other contemporary icon I chose is the animated series, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, which was created, produced, and hosted in live action bookends by comedian Bill Cosby, who also lent his voice to a number of characters, including the titular one. The show, based on Bill Cosby's remembrances of his childhood gang, focused on the lovable, oversized Albert, with his signature rumbling exclamation "Hey hey hey!", and his friends. This show although old is still very popular especially among people who grew up in the 70s -80s. It was also popular because it primarily spoke to African-American youth in low-income families, a segment of the population previously ignored by Saturday morning programming. However, the show had an impact on children across the United States, regardless of race. Even my young self, growing up in a relatively poor to middle-income family in Zimbabwe, remember the show as always having an educational lesson emphasized by Cosby's live-action cameos. Cosby's Kids had an upbeat attitude and were eager to learn, in spite of their apparent poverty. This I believe, is what made the show popular world-wide especially in poor communities, because the kids in those areas could relate to the struggles, Fat Albert and his friends were going through.

The last contemporary icon I chose is Care Bears which are a set of fictional characters created by American Greetings in 1981 for use on greeting cards. The cartoon characters became so popular that they appeared in their own television series from 1985 to 1988, in addition to three feature films. Each Care Bear comes in a different color and has a specialized sign on its belly that represents its duty and personality. The Care Bears are now part and parcel of American Pop culture and people buy them as Christmas gifts or to show loved ones that you care. They can also be seen in hospital beds, especially the ones which specialize in taking care of children because they are so huggable.