''Going Great'' is a Canadian

newsmagazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or n ...

type show that originally aired on CBC and premiered in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

on October 1, 1983. Produced by Michael Maclear and hosted by

Chris Makepeace Christopher Makepeace (born April 22, 1964) is a Canadian former actor, known for his starring roles in the coming-of-age film ''My Bodyguard'' (1980) and comedy horror ''Vamp'' (1986), and supporting roles in the screwball comedy '' Meatballs'' ...

, ''Going Great'' focused on kids of all ages who did very amazing feats in the world some people couldn't do. New episodes aired on Tuesdays and Thursdays until February 14, 1984 (39 episodes).

History

Originally produced by CBC for 13 episodes, Nickelodeon was so impressed by the show that they ordered an additional 26 episodes, bringing the total number of episodes to 39. ''Going Great'' was one of Nickelodeon's lowest rated TV shows, receiving a 2 out of every 6 people watching it. '' Against the Odds'' is the lowest with 1 out of 6 people watching it. ''Going Great'' focused on being able to do amazing, extreme things. Kids were shown and asked about their bravery, and they always said: "I'm not brave". With help from Nickelodeon, kids were able to do great things, hence the name ''Going Great.'' In 1984, Keanu Reeves was a correspondent for the show.YouTube clip
CBC RetroBites: Keanu Reeves

Response

While ''Going Great'' focused on child prodigies, it left normal kids with low self-esteem when Nickelodeon took it to focus groups, with the common response being "Well, I'll never be that good so I won't try that."

References

1980s Nickelodeon original programming 1983 American television series debuts 1984 American television series endings {{US-child-tv-prog-stub