Kid's programming
 

I need to ask. Am I the only one out there that actually looks forward to one of their kid's shows? I actually look forward to watching Backyardigans with the kids.

Am I going nuts?

Nuts? Yeah, a little bit probably.

But if you've got kids, being a little bit nuts is usually a good thing. If nothing else, it saves you time in going nuts eventually.

Not at all. I look forward to watching Sesame Street with my 3-year old. I especially enjoy seeing the occassional old skit from when I was a kid.

I enjoy watching Sesame Street, but mainly for sentamental reasons as you point out.

I actually look forward to Backyardigans coming on. I guess it is because the kids on the show play the way I did as a kid, "Let's be secret agents!" etc.

OKay, so I have a 4 year old and a 19 month old, just to set the scene.

I like Blues Clues, which my 19 month old is currently nuts about.
I like the new show Upside Down, which they both love.
My oldest adores the Backyardigans.......which drive me nuts. I absolutely can't stand them, to me they are everything thats wrong with kids tv today wrapped up in a ball of crap.

Bring me classic Sesame Street any day (and not the PC crap they play today)

Yes. It's not the high quality fare that we had back in my day, like Zoobilee Zoo.

http://www.zoobileezoo.com/zooframe.htm

How bout those motherfucking Wonderpets. Seriously that show is written by manatees.

Pick some obscure baby animal, and then put him in some horrible situation that makes little or no sense. And of course team works gonna work.

Backyardigans was cool for awhile until I saw every episode like 5 times. I used to like Blues Clues when Steve was on, but now that Douchebag Joe is unwatcheable.

dola.

I love Spongebob, but I don't think it's necessarily a kids show.

I can't say I really enjoy any of them, but they are bearable. And it's fun to watch little kids' reactions to them. Most people hate the Wiggles, but I somewhat enjoy them simply because they make my kids laugh, dance, and sing. Can't be all that bad.

If I had to pick one kids show that I think is a legitimately good show and not annoying, it would be Arthur. That show is well done, entertaining, teaches kids something, and is watchable for parents. Although it isn't for the youngest viewers, it does have something for most ages of kids, since the show focuses on Arthur and his little sister.

Definitely. I have legitimately laughed at Arthur more times than I can count... usually because something my 2 boys have done was reflected in the show somehow. But sometimes, it's actually just funny.

I think The Backyardigans is one of the better shows also, because the songs are actually decent.

Agree with stevew about The Wonder Pets being written by sub-human creatures. It is the most inane thing.

I think my favorite is actually Nanalan' (on some PBS stations, or on local PBS digital channels if you get those), which is essentially about a little girl who spends time over at her Nana's house while her mom is away at work. Unfortunately, I think there are only like 5 of these shows, but my 4 year old LOVES it, and I think it's gentle and sweet without being ridiculously repetitive like Dora and Wonder Pets.

Our 2 year old watches Backyardigans, but it must be on only during the week in mid-morning, because I've never seen it.

I thought I was the only one in the world that remembered zoobileezoo. Even then I watched it all of the time, but realized it was utter crap.

Noggin rocks.

Our 2 year old daughter loves...I mean LOVES...Jack's Big Music Show on Noggin. If we don't see it, the whole day is ruined.

And since there are only about 8 or 10 episodes, she tells us what is going to happen 2 minutes beforehand.

And I'll echo the Backyardigans sentiment. Those damn songs are so catchy, I find myself singing them all the time.

On a kids shows/music-related topic, I'm anxiously awaiting (honestly) the new Winnie the Pooh show that is supposed to debuton Disney Channel next year because Andy Sturmer of Jellyfish apparently wrote the theme song. He also did the Teen Titans and Puffy AmiYumi theme songs, as well.

I'm a freak, I know.

My problem is the kids love Wonderpets, which I detest.

I agree with the Blue's Clues analysis. It was great while Steve was on, but Joe just doesn't have it. Now that they started the whole Blue's Room segment its even moved into creepy territory.

Jack's Big Music Show is a hit with my 2 year old, but not as much with my 4 year old. For me, it's hit and miss, some episodes are great, others aren't.

Backyardigans is the only one both of the kids absolutely love. After almost every show, my 4 year old pretends to be Tyrone, and I have to be Pablo. My wife is Tasha, and my 2 year old is Austin, but that's just for reference, they hardly ever play. Then we have to be whatever the show was.

The shows I hate for the most part are those on Disney. Aside from the Wiggles and Handy Manny, most of the stuff is just drivel.

What I think it is, is that Joe is so universally reviled by parents, that they had to try some other schtick to keep the show running. And if possible, Blue's Room is even worse than having Joe hosting. Joe just tries too damn hard. Steve was perfect... low-key, but silly at times. My kids loved that when they were 3-4.

the phone is weeennneeengg

Funny little story about Blue's Clues.

My best friend's brother looks very much like Steve. So, I used to always call him Steve. They replace Steve with his real life little brother, I think anyway, Joe.

My friend's brother's name is Joe. We got a big kick out of it all when it happened.

My 3 year old daughter loves Sponge Bob and Jimmy Neutron. My wife wants her to watch PBS and Disney, so I get a lot of the Wiggles and other crap. I like Jimmy Neutron the most.

I'm ok with most of the shows. Caillou is the big exception - I just want to slap the whine right out of that fucking kid. everything else is pretty decent - even Barney to be honest (it helps having my computer in the same room, so I have something to distract me).

Graham's really big on Handy Manny. Hannah absolutely loves Little Einsteins. It's hilarious to hear a 20 month old sing along with the theme song and "pat pat pat" to help the rocket ship lift off.

curiously, I have a coworker who looks just like Steve.

Joe is not Steve's RL brother, btw. His name isn't even Joe - it's Donavon, and he's related to George S Patton. I don't mind him, fwiw, although the rest of the show has jumped the shark with blue's room and the animated notebook cartoons

We won't let our youngest watch the non-educational stuff. In fact, we won't even let the 7 year old watch SpongeBob. But now she's into the old Scooby-Doo show and the Disney shows like Hannah Montana and Suite Life of Skinny and Fatty Twins, which unfortunately means the 2 year old is watching stuff we'd rather she not see for a few more years.

I've thought for years now that Filmore was one of the most underrated cartoons on any of the channels. That's probably the one show that I watched occasionally whether Will was around or not.

THIS IS SERWIOUS!

Backyardigans rock hard. I think that they are releasing their second season of new shows beginning this month. Jack's Big Music Show is good.

I am amazed by how much better Noggin is than PBS kids, where the shows are markedly inferior. Disney is in between the two--the Wiggles are getting lazy (Wiggles Kids, give me a break), and appea very infrequently in their own shows any more. Granted, PBS launched the still classic Sesame Street, but a lot of the shows on PBS are just awful (Arthur, Caillou, Teletubbies.) I would almost conclude that children's television has demonstrated the virtues of the free market over state sponsorship--although a lot of these children's shows (Franklin, Little Bear) are coming from Canada. They tend to be pretty good overall.

Can you tell that I watch a fair amount of children's television :confused:

Explain.

At least with Scooby-Doo, there's an element of deduction that gives it some worth. When I'm able to watch it with her, I always quiz her at various points in each episode about what each clue means and who she thinks did it. It's a far more entertaining version of Blue's Clues, basically. Not to mention, my wife and I grew up with it, so it has our nostalgia going for it.

SpongeBob has far more in common with typical cartoons and not much else going for it.

I like watching Dora with Lesley my 4-year old simply to see how excited she gets when the show comes on and how much fun she has interacting with the show. "Swiper No Swiping!" she yells. Makes me proud.

When Cassandra was alive, at night when I fed her (she had a g-tube so we could feed he upstairs in our bedroom) we would sit on the bed and watch SpongeBob which she LOVED. Cassie could care less about tv, but she'd giggle and laugh at SpongeBob, and when I'd laugh, she'd laugh too, which made me laugh more, which made her laugh more. Good times....

Whlie on the topic of kid's shows and PBS...

Did everyone actually see the spoof videos by Melanie, the former host of the Good Night show on Sprout? They were on Youtube, etc, so probably still there. That is some pretty funny stuff!

Oh, most definitely

Callou is a fuckface.

They sent her packing already? What was that, a 6 month run? I know that channel was brand new when I got rid of my DirecTV, and I thought she was kinda hot.

Some videos surfaced of her in college doing some skits that were "inconsistent with her role" on PBS, and they let her go within like 24 hours of them coming to light. I think this happened 3-4 months ago.

For 13-14 bucks that Laurie Bertner Band CD/DVD combo was worthwhile. My almost 3 year old loves it, and some of the songs are quite catchy.

Sometimes I think Lazy Town is okay, other times it's kind of annoying.

Yeah, awhile ago actually.

She told them about some spoof videos she had created in the past...I think something like 7 years before the show.

Obviously, not something you want your kids watching...but if your kid is searching the net for these, s/he probably isn't watching Sprout to begin with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy4-RL5WB_A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73m4nJH2yKg

I yearn for more Ren and Stimpy.

Interesting, thanks for the links. Stupid spoofs anyway... and hardly anyone has viewed them. Someone must've threatened her with it maybe?

That is the approach we take with our kids. If there is some redeeming quality, it is ok. Old Scooby-Doo is fine, we just don't watch it a lot. The new ones where the monsters are real, etc., etc., we don't watch at all.

Most Disney shows have very little to offer as well. The Wiggles will get the kids dancing and moving so that is fine. However, Little Einsteins has very few redeeming qualities to me. Higglytown Heros at least educates kids about different occupations so I tolerate it, but I can't stand the show. "Hey kids! It's the trashman! He's a hero!"

On the flip side, most of Noggin's shows have some deduction skills as others have pointed out. Dora and Blue's Clues are the obvious ones here. Oobi, I actually like quite a bit because of the situations they find themselves in, and the lessons learned. Don't get mad about mistakes, be honest, etc., etc.

For me it is night and day between the quality on Disney and Noggin, but my wife just puts on whatever the kids want for the most part. I'm actually surprised I haven't come home to the kids watching Sponge Bob yet.

Little Einsteins is a disappointment, I agree. The videos are great for infants, but with this show, it's like they just took other show's ideas, slapped some classical music on them, and figured they would get big props for introducing kids to classical music. Woop-dee-freakin-doo!

Especially after the big build up they had for the show teaching kids XYZ, etc., etc. Then you watch the show and half the stuff is made up crap. It wouldn't be bad if it was the kids using their imaginations, but its not.

That is part of the appeal with Backyardigans for me I guess. You have the songs and dances, which gets the kids up dancing around. Then, you also have the kids on the show pretending everything. My older son has actually pretended much more after watching the show than he did before. Before it was always Star Wars. Now it is any one of a number of things. It's really been amazing the difference.

Backyardigans is pretty cool. I also look forward to Mighty Machines with my 20 month old son. But I REALLY look forward to Hi-5. Mostly because of.....

http://www.hi5america.com/cast-jenn.html

I agree on Backyardigans. I especially liked the new episode where they were either ninjas or pie makers and the music was in the style of spaghetti westerns. Good stuff.

Wonder Pets makes me want to stomp on baby ducks.

there are plenty of shows that I don'T mind watching with my youngest, of those like the Backyardigans, Franklin, Little Bear, Dora, Go Diego Go, Timothy goes to school, Rollie Pollie Ollie. Not sure these are all available in the States as I know some of them are canadian.

Do you guys get Max & Ruby? Max just cracks me up. When he gets on with a word, he doesn't let up for the whole episode, we all find that funny. :)

I don't get all the hate for Caillou. We like him all right.

I do agree that the frigging Wonder Pets are simply bad but the kid likes them, heh.

FM

I'll back you on that FM...Max is a sly little bastard! You can see it coming from a mile away, what he's going to do...but Ruby never catches on!

The worst ever would be Angelina Ballerina--on Sprout. That whiny little bitch...she cries EVERY single episode. My 2 year old daughter even knows!
"Oh...she's crying again!"

And Kipper...whoever came up with a British dog...that was a good idea.

Wow man, somebody beat me to it. Yes, yes.

And Max indeed is a sly little bastard.

No no no. You're talking about Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, which is a very bad Dora ripoff.

Little Einsteins is all about Classical music and is pretty good for that (listening for the instruments, etc). There is also a fair bit of geography involved. My kids (especially the 16-month old son) just love it. The 3.5-year old daughter and I will be doing something else unrelated that'll have me count backward "5-4-3-2-1" and he happens to hear and throws his hands high in the air. My daughter loves to say "I can not be-lieve it!"

Dora remains #1 though by a pretty wide margin. Bob the Builder is up there, too, but that seems to be mostly for the theme song.

Also...someone back me up on this...

Everytime there is an episode of Dora that they show her family...I insist to my wife that Dora's father is Lionel Ritchie...and she laughs at me. :(

Anthony enjoys Max & Ruby, I'm not so high on it, mainly because I want to slap that bitch Ruby. :mad:

For whatever reason I love Kipper. Don't understand it at all, but Kipper rocks. And now, that's a frog.

Kipper = Mr. Belvedere...just as a dog.

I don't know where my original post on this went, but I HATE this show with a passion. The kids love it, and I always try to have Go, Diego Go! on before they realize this is on. Anyway, last weekend my wife and I are in the kitchen looking for something. I make the comment that we are going to have to use the mystery mouskatool. Long story short, we wind up making up the porno version of the show. The Minnie Mouse Whorehouse, come inside, won't you come inside. :D