You will invariably live during spans of time that you immediately recognize as cornerstone moments. I’m not talking about personal milestones like graduating school, getting married, and having children. Or professional milestones like landing your first big job, breaking into an industry you long to work in, or–for those of you unlike me–retirement. I’m not even talking about historical moments like the Challenger explosion, the fall of the Berlin Wall, 9/11, or the collapse of American Democracy in real time. Those are momentous, yes, but what I mean are smaller, quieter moments. Moments when certain things enter the zeitgeist that speak to something deep with you, resonate along your personal frequency, and you think, “This will forever be an important time even if only to me.”
Sometime prior to 2010, staid television titan, the Discovery Channel wanted to shake things up a bit. They wanted to create a channel that had appeal beyond their core, something that spoke to the teen and tween market. They wanted something newer, fresher, friendlier, and frankly cooler than their existing effort, Discovery Kids. So they teamed up with acclaimed toy and game maker (and minority stakeholder) Hasbro to create a new network that offered original programming that often leveraged the toy giant’s expansive portfolio of IP. This effort resulted in the pinnacle of post-millennium entertainment: the Hub.
In 2010, I was in my mid-30s and well outside the target demo but children’s media has always been where my heart is. If you know me at all, you know I love middle grade fiction, shows, movies, and video games. My heart bleeds Goosebumps, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Pajama Sam, Nancy Drew, and Just Add Magic. Yes, I enjoy tons of adult-focused entertainment options but there’s something about media in this lane that fills my soul. I’m not a nostalgic person but stuff like this brings me close.
Also during that time, I had two young kids and we loved watching stuff together. And, as much as I enjoyed the myriad and amazing offerings of PBS, I wanted options beyond edutainment.
While the Hub only lasted four beautiful, wondrous years, it gave the world a bounteous array of gifts. I highly recommend you watch any of the many videos talking about the Hub’s offerings but I wanted to call out a handful below. This list is so very far from exhaustive but it speaks to my personal favorites and, I hope, intrigues you to dig a little deeper.
R. L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour
Let’s kick it off with the king: R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour. I am positive you have at least heard of the Goosebumps line of books and probably also the mid-90s television show that spun off from them but this four-season show, based off Stine’s anthology collections of the same name, exceeds even that classic series. (No offense, Goosebumps, I love you.)
Darker, edgier, and scarier than its better-known sibling, The Haunting Hour is an anthology horror series that ran for 76 chilling episodes. The stories run a familiar gamut–living dolls, spirits inside mirrors, haunted hotels, monsters in the house, nocturnal ice cream trucks–but the creators always found a spin that made it feel modern and far creepier than you expected coming in.
I highly recommend checking out this series. which you can stream on Prime, especially if you have a tween who is into horror. You’ll have fun recognizing the many young actors who went on to other projects.
Spooksville
Staying on the “scary shows based on children’s books” train, Spooksville brought Christopher Pike’s classic series to the small screen. Unlike the above show, Spooksville is not an anthology but instead focuses on the tale of a teen named Adam whose father relocates the two of them to the small town of Springfield. While his new home seems all too normal at first, Adam, along with new friends Sally and Watch, soon discovers all softs of strange goings-on–from vampires to witches to aliens to cat-people–and even a surprising secret about his deceased mother.
Spooksville only ran for one season of 22 episodes which was highly disappointing at the time and, y’know what, remains highly disappointing even now. No, you won’t get the big mystery wrapped up in a bow but you will still have a fantastic ride. So watch it.
Spectrum subscribers can stream it online. Unfortunately, as of when I’m writing this, it is not available anywhere else. So…I guess don’t watch it. Unless you’re a Spectrum subscriber. Then do. Definitely do.
Clue
The Hub’s Clue was a five-part series kinda sorta based on the classic board game. The story focuses on six teens accused of doing something they then set out to prove they didn’t do. This leads them down a rabbit hole of conspiracy and the possible existence of a secret society called the Shadow Keepers.
So, yeah, it’s a loose interpretation. But I love seeing old ideas chopped up, remixed, played with, and reimagined. This was super fun and you can stream it on Tubi or the Roku Channel.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
That’s right, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, the celebrated series that reinvented those plastic ponies of yore for a new generation and that gave the world the term “Bronies” debuted on the Hub. Not only that but since it ran for 229 episodes over the course of nine seasons, it actually outlived the network that gave it life.
Hands down the standout star of the Hub’s original programming, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is just excellence all around. From the adorable visual updates to the smart script to the dizzying array of pop culture references buried in each episode, this show is the masterclass on how to pluck a IP from the depths of time and reinvent it for the modern era.
If you’ve never watched it, you should. You can catch the entire run on Prime Video.
A Short Life but a Beautiful One
The above is but a small sampling of what the Hub offered. It also gave the world Transformers: Prime, G.I. Joe: Renegades, Pound Puppies, Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch, Family Game Night, and many more.
Sadly, the Hub was short-lived. The majority of the shows struggled to capture ratings and Hasbro reportedly reduced its investment in the channel. Discovery eventually decided to broaden the scope of the network to include everyone in the household coming together. Almost exactly four years after the Hub launched, it was rebranded to Discovery Family. Some of the Hub’s offerings survived, most did not. The Hub, in name and spirit, was gone but its legacy endured.
If you weren’t there–or were and just didn’t catch it–you missed out. There was something truly special about this channel. Something that harkened to 90s Nickelodeon–the reigning champion of kids’ television–but spoke to the moment. A channel design3ed for kids and folks like me. A channel that, even while watching it, I already felt a longing for.
Rest in Peace, the Hub. You were amazing. And you are missed.
