What is it about this show that makes it so special to me? I was a newborn during its first run, so I was most certainly infected by its charms when it was in syndication. I'm sure it's got much to do with the monsters (or "bears" as the show runners referred to them), but there's much more to it than that. It's another example of a show (some movies also follow suit) that carries such value for me. I want to just pass it off as nostalgia for my youth, and maybe there's some of that, but I think the sincerity of the creators almost always shines through. There's such a curiosity for things greater than ourselves within its stories. Some of the messages and couched opinions are strong, some of the stories are dark and scary. And yes, some of the sensibilities of the past are evident here, but there's almost always a ray of hope, or maybe a general lack of cynicism. There's definitely a near absence of nihilism, which is so overwhelmingly present in almost every show made today. This show is a time capsule that you can crack open and discover a different perspective of the way things work or an attempt to make sense of what doesn't actually make sense.