Here are the shows we watch all the time:
Dora
Diego
(these two are on alternating evenings before bed)
Wonder Pets
Blues Clues
Teletubbies
We also like Disney Playhouse, Little Einstiens, Bob the Builder and a few other random ones but I don't know the Saturday cartoon schedule so they are like bonuses.
I super like Wonder Pets. I love the musical style of it, and I love the predictability of the show. I mean, it's predictable but still some little surprises. Like the 'clues' at the beginning about where we are going, and the crazy situations the animals are in. Like the chimp stuck in outer space, or the cow stuck in a tree (a twister blew him there, in case you are wondering how a cow ends up in a tree). Stuff like that cracks me up. I also appreciate the qualities of each character; MingMing's witty remarks, Tuck's encouragement, and Linny's patient teaching. (Driftwood is...wood that drifts.) The graphic style of the show intrigues me as well. I looked it up on Wikipedia, and it is called photo puppetry, and they manipulate real pictures of the animals. Each episode is recorded with a 10 person live orchestra, and takes about 33 weeks to complete an episode, form script to production. Lately Gemma has started chiming in with parts of the theme song; Yaaayyyy! Goooo Pets! Teamwork!
Dora I also love. Good missions, interesting obstacles along the way. Although she has to fix a lot of bridges, I've noticed. I personally like when she is in a maze and she has to match certain paths with a given object to go through. Example; the yellow path leads us to Mary's house; which path is yellow? (showing two options). A question though I have about this show and Wonder Pets is, if the parents(caregiving figures) are always so happy to see the return of their lost child/robot/baby red fish/monster/baby animal why weren't they a little more proactive in the search. I mean, they could have met them half way. Or like in some Wonder Pets episodes it probably would have been super easy for the Mommy to save the day instead of three tiny animals. (I'm thinking specifically of the stuck baby elephant episode.) But anyway... Characters I love? Boots; so enthusiastic, Backpack; has everything, Map; knows everything. Favorite episode? When Benny turns into a potato.
Diego I also like but I am confused about the relationship between Alicia and Diego...I mean, hanging out with an older chick. Ok I looked it up and they are sister and brother apparently. Diego's backpack is not quite as believable as Dora's, but an interesting concept. The Chinese dubbing of Backpack's voice is really obnoxious. (I've never seen an English episode of Diego; is it really shouty and annoying in English?) I like the end of Diego better, where we make the picture of the real animal and put it in our scrapbook, rather than talk about our favorite part of our adventure like in Dora.
The show I like the least? Blue Clues. Steve is so annoying, and not very bright. 'Duh, where's the clue?' and the little kid voce has to chime in,"on the BOWL", and Steve goes, "on the TOES???" to which the kid calls out, "NO! The BOWL!!!". Also, there are too many interruptions. I mean, the point is to play Blues Clues. We're looking for clues, that's easy enough. Well, Salt and Pepper keep interrupting with a song, we have to open a completely unrelated piece of mail. We hardly get to play the game.
Teletubbies I don't mind. It's cute and Gemma likes it. It is pretty random but it doesn't pretend to have a point so thats ok. Gemma especially likes the red one's scooter. I like when they make Tubby Toast.
2 comments:
I liked Dora, it just started when my kids were almost to old for it, I never have watched Diego or Wonderpets. I didn't mind Blues Clues, Harrison liked it a lot, and I didn't mind Teletubbies either. Some people are completely against Teletubbies because they don't talk properly, but I always thought it is not aimed at children who are supposed to be talking properly yet, it is aimed at a very young age group, and they like the bright colors and singing. Also I liked Barnie no matter what anyone else says I like it. He always taught good morals like sharing, being nice etc, he may be annoying, but it was a good show. I absolutely hated The Big Comfy Couch, she is anoying and bad and if the kids do not watch the whole show, they are taught to make a mess and not clean it up, and I did not like Caiou eiter, he is anoying and whiny and cries if he does not get his way.
There are a lot of good kids shows, I find you just have to watch them and see what they are teaching your kids.
hahah...loved the critiques. Kids shows have come a long way.
Have you seen the Backyardigans? It's one of my personal favourites. Nate's very into the Magic School bus these days. Maybe because he's new to school.
If you ever come across it, Saturday Night Live did a Dora skit once. (Not for children of course) I tried to find it on youtube with no success. Too funny though. Picture Dora shouting "Don't think! Just do it!" For the record, I am a Dora fan... :o)
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