living in a time like now, when it seems like the “intended age range” of any fiction is determined primarily by the age of its protagonists… it’s strange to watch and read older media from times when that wasn’t the case.
Yes, Star Trek TOS was marketed largely at children. Yes so was Tron (1982). Yes, freakin’ Amelia Bedelia was a grown woman with a job.
Kids’ media used to be defined by subject matter, not who it was about. Protagonists used to be allowed to not be obviously similar in any way to the audience expected to enjoy them.
I’m watching Automan now, and from the viewpoint of the present day it feels at once “so fundamentally silly that it can’t possibly have been intended for audiences more mature than 9,” but also “so full of Adult Situations that it can’t possibly be intended for anyone below the upper teens.”
Really was a hell of a different time.