“There are a hundred and four days of summer vacation, and school comes along just to end it. But the annual problem for our generation is finding a good way to spend it…” This is an excerpt from the theme song of Phineas and Ferb: a show that aired on Disney Channel from 2007-2015. But kids now shouldn’t be planning to spend their one hundred and four days on Disney Channel.

The majority of students at Bingham High know that song by heart, or are maybe more familiar with the themes of Kim Possible, the Suite Life of Zack and Cody or Hannah Montana. We grew up with these shows, and the impact will stay with us forever. Seeing that nearly all the TV shows back then are now cancelled, will the new Disney Channel shows step up to the plate and continue the qualities we love and miss? According to Joe Flint of FoxBusiness, Disney’s once stellar numbers of viewers are rapidly dropping as time goes on, and it’s not appearing to get any better. Due to a lack of hit shows in the recent years, Disney Channel has lost close to 4 million viewers. Whether we like it or not, our childhood channel may be taking a turn for the worse.

Maybe it was just nostalgia that made all these shows comedy gold to us as kids, but maybe not. A survey was put out to the students of Bingham High School, and a whopping 98% of students surveyed agreed that they prefer the old school Disney Channel compared to the new Disney Channel. Could this just be us not willing to keep up with the times, or do we have valid reason to resent these newer shows? Well, many of these newer shows consist mostly of potty jokes like Pickle and Peanut, or are just spin-off shows from movies that did well in the box office. They lack what most shows of our time exceeded in: quality, values, and good storytelling. They gave examples of the values we as kids (and people in general) should have, while also getting us excited to watch with their unique and entertaining storylines. From Phineas and Ferb keeping us engaged with their infamous flair for the creative, to Hannah Montana trying to balance life between pop star and average school girl, these shows taught us the meaning of close friendships, a good family, and how fun everyday life can really be.

Although there have been newer shows, such as Gravity Falls that have captured the essence and values of some of our favorites of the original Disney Channel, it just isn’t quite the same. For those of us that grew up with the originals, nothing will ever compare. So why doesn’t Disney go back to the way they did it before? All we want is the same creativity, and the same feel good atmosphere we all remember, before what we like to call “The Downfall of Disney Channel”.