When I was younger, I remember my parents always saying "back in the day" things were so much better.

My mom would get together with her friends and talk about what they wore, who they hung out with and the music they listened to.

"You wait 'til you get older," my mom would say. "You'll be doing the same thing."

What can I say? When she's right, she's right.

I recently found myself reminiscing on younger days because today's society is so much different from yesterday's. And I'm not just talking about the major differences in violence, war and diseases. I'm talking about the simple pleasures of television programs and music.

There was a time I could wake up for school, or an early Saturday morning, and find the most interesting cartoons and programs ever created blaring on my television screen.

I used to watch cartoons such as "Woody Woodpecker" and "Inspector Gadget" or shows such as "Punky Brewster" and "Out of This World."

For those who don't remember these shows, I'll give you a quick run-down.

"Woody Woodpecker" was, obviously, a woodpecker whose character was similar to Bugs Bunny - a smart aleck who continuously got away from the characters chasing him.

"Inspector Gadget" was a bumbling, robotic detective who always got himself into trouble. If it weren't for his niece Penny and her dog, Brain, the good inspector would never have made it through the day's events. He always was foiling the plans of the evil Dr. Claw, who vowed at the end of each episode, "I'll get you Gadget - next time."

"Punky Brewster" was adopted by an older man named Henry who tried to keep her and her best friend Cherie out of trouble. In one episode, Cherie actually managed to lock herself into a refrigerator and almost froze to death. The show was filled with morals and unlikely situations, but as a 14-year-old, there was nothing better.

"Out Of This World" had Evie as the main character who inherited powers from her Anterias-born, alien father. She had the ability to stop time simply by touching her two index fingers together.

I'd much rather watch my shows from back in the day, but they won't play them any more because they could never compete with today's "Digimon," "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" or shows such as "The Real World" and "For Love or Money," which forget the fact that these situations rarely, if ever, happen in reality.

This decade's entertainment value has diminished, as reality television has taken over and people now find it comedic to watch MTV's "Jackass" crew perform idiotic stunts.

Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of "The Real World." Not because it lets me view others going through similar obstacles as myself. Neither I nor my friends has gone through anything remotely similar to what they do. I watch this program because there isn't anything else on.

And it's not just the regular television shows - even music programs are different. Today, nothing beats MTV. They have music awards, video awards, videos, true-life programs, reality TV shows, everything.

But when I was in middle and high school in Detroit, nothing, and I mean nothing, beat The Box. The Box Music Network was a music video channel where you could request any video you wanted. It was computerized, so you called, entered the number of the video you wanted to see, then waited for it to be played.

It is true that you could spend practically a whole day waiting for that video, but unlike the antsy stations of today, the whole video was played from beginning to end.

It was a simple concept: Let them pick what they want to watch and we'll play it. Now we have MTV's "Total Request Live." They do play the videos you want to see, but you never really get to watch it because it's over in 5 seconds.

Don't take this column to be a griping one, because I am still a huge television fan. I just wish that "classic" programs weren't eliminated from the high-tech lineups of today.

There's nothing wrong with watching Fred and Barney on the tube. I actually think about "The Flintstones" every time I am in a bowling alley. These cartoon shows are not even that old but are nowhere to be found during the course of channel surfing.

I'm reminded of a song by one-hit rapper Ahmad.

"Back in the day, when I was young, I'm not a kid anymore. But some days I sit and wish I was a kid again."

I couldn't have said it better myself. I'll just sit back on the couch and agree with Edith and Archie Bunker of "All in the Family" when they remind us that "those were the days."