TV: Shining Time Station

In the annals of children's television, there are such things as "B-list" television programs. These are shows that, as a child, you pretty much never watch unless the only alternative is daytime talk shows and soap operas. After all, not every kid's show can be a "Sesame Street" or "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood."

For me, one of those second-rate shows was "Shining Time Station." The star of the show (well, the live-action bits, anyway) was station manager Stacy Jones, played by Didi Conn (she was in Grease). It takes a special kind of actress to not despair when performing in what is essentially a lead-in to sell "Thomas the Tank Engine" toys. And yes, George Carlin was in there too, playing "Mr. Conductor":



It's not classic children's TV, but by golly, those "Thomas the Tank Engine" toys fly off the shelves even today.