Antidote To Nickelodeon

[dr_pretentious]

And boy did I need one!

It wasn't so bad when Gareth was satisfied with The Backyardigans. Run the "Samurai Pie" and "Mission to Mars" episodes on infinite repeat, and I can live with that. But then he discovered Kai-Lan, which is written right at his level, with no layer of anything that engages adults. We don't watch a lot of tv in our house, but it doesn't take much Kai-Lan to make a grown-up twitch.

Thank goodness for Li'l Cthulhu. What every parent needs to counterbalance all the blasted cuteness of kid-focused marketing is a heavy, if much-sweetened, dose of vintage horror.

Comments

[louiseroho.livejournal.com]

http://www.makingfiends.com/

[temporus.livejournal.com]

No Yo Gabba Gabba? At least that has 80's references for the parents.

[happy-dr-friend.livejournal.com]

I actually have a sneaking fondness for Kai Lan, sad as it is to say. Yo Gabba Gabba gives me the creeps, though I can't entirely say why. But nothing is quite so bad as Diego.

[tigira.livejournal.com]

F thinks Kai-Lan is cute, but doesn't really pay attention to the program. He loved Backyardigans.

Those are in the past, now, though. Now, if he wants to watch something, it's Spiderman, or Fantastic Four, or, occasionally, Ben-10.

[tigira.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow - Yo Gabba Gabba drives me nuts. I've passed that onto the kiddo...

[red-haired-girl.livejournal.com]

When he gets a little older, try Avatar: The Last Airbender (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_the_last_airbender). This is *NOT* related to the new James Cameron movie.

They spent a huge amount of time studying many different Asian cultures and martial arts styles. They also managed to put a western spin on Anime, so it has an additional appeal to both Eastern and Western viewers. It's also got a *gasp* story arc (though it did get truncated, at the end). Very good, for adult watching, as well.

[evilbunny.livejournal.com]

We're doing Sesame Street and Word World here. I can live with them, except no one in the house seems to like Abby Kadabby. *shudder*

[shellyinseattle.livejournal.com]

I second these plus Curious George, Sid the Science Kid, and Super Why. Thank goodness for these when I was sick last month!

[shellyinseattle.livejournal.com]

Also, there's some new dinosaur show on, but we haven't caught it often enough for me to remember the name.

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

When I was au pairing, I strictly limited the 3-year old's tv time to an hour a day, except for one day a week when we watched a film (Wizard of Oz, An American Tail, or The Land Before Time - immediately followed by some related games/activities to drag her away from the box). She loved Barney, but I managed to get her to watch The Puzzle Place and Sesame Street instead. Weekends were Barney time, while I was out of the house. Good gods, that purple monster makes me feel ill to this day. It sets my teeth on edge just to think of it. I can feel my blood pressure rising....

Maybe I Haven't Had Enough Exposure...

[daurdabla.livejournal.com]

...but I love Backyardigans. We've watched them so many times I've lost count, and I still like them. When finances allow, I'm seriously pondering getting the disc with Samurai Pie on it for myself, even if The Girl is no longer watching Backyardigans at that point.

What's funny is I expected to dislike them; something about the name annoyed me. Go figure.

[thecrimsony.livejournal.com]

There are so many shows and such a wide berth of quality in kids shows now, Kai Lan is like a heavily improved Dora or Diego. Coming off of those, she was easy to tolerate. Backyardigans, though is still enjoyed, even as the monsters find other things and after we turn off the cable. Now, we tend to pop in a full movie.

Just yesterday, the kids watched a bunch of Invader Zim episodes. :)

Also Cool

[daurdabla.livejournal.com]

I love Curious George!

[violet-moon25.livejournal.com]

Backyardigans and Curious George get my vote for most watchable for adults. I like Sesame Street as well (the kid is lukewarm on it). Dora and Diegeo he loves and I find boring/annoying (even more than Kai-Lan). Max and Ruby is one of the few we both like (based on a series of picture books). Yes, probably too much TV....

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

I've never tried Yo Gabba Gabba. I let my sister vet most kids' tv shows for me. She knows my tastes and threshholds well enough, she can call my attention to the things I'm mostly likely to withstand after repeat viewings. Her oldest is two years ahead of Gareth, and there's just more tv consumption in her hosue generally. Yo Gabba Gabba doesn't do it for my nieces, which may or may not mean anything.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

Dora and Diego annoy me to no end. Dan bought Gareth a Dora DVD while I wasn't looking, so I had to deal with one episode daily for a while. My cooking improved temporarily, because I fled to the kitchen for most of that time.

I still prefer Dora and Diego over Barney, though. Barney's just an abomination.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of looking forward to the comic book heroes. This is one of the ways in which I feel lucky that I had a boy. Offered a choice between a child fixated on Spiderman and one fixated on Barbie, I'll hang out with the Spiderman fan, any day of the week.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

sabrinamari turned me on to Avatar when her stepson was about six. Good stuff! At the time, I was still getting to Tai Chi class semi-regularly, so I got a particular kick (as it were) out of how beautiful all the characters' martial arts forms were.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

I hear many good things about Word World. Sesame Street just ain't what it used to be. I know kids love Elmo with an elemental passion, but he just gives me the willies. One of Gareth's playdate buddies has introduced us to Curious George. I enjoyed it, but Gareth hasn't been asking about it, so we'll see if he gets more interested later.

I'd never heard of Sid the Science Kid or Super Why before. Thanks for the tip!

[tigira.livejournal.com]

Like you, I'm glad I have a boy. They have much more fun toys, too, in my opinion. I liked my dolls as a girl, but I don't know if I could play dolls for hours. I don't have any difficulty playing "Bear Hunt in the Woods," or Clone Troopers, or even Power Rangers.

Then again, I'm the mom that didn't separate the boys playing martial arts stuff together, I went to make sure they were doing it right (or as right as their bodies could manage).

Re: Maybe I Haven't Had Enough Exposure...

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

I didn't expect to like them at first, either. I'm just not big on musicals. The writing is so often so strong, though, I think they could do the episodes in Noh or Kabuki style and get away with it. (Heck, there may be Noh and Kabuki episodes I just haven't found out about yet.)

Yesterday at Thanksgiving, we sang again and again about the Great Pie.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

Gareth's been exposed to Barney in the playroom at the gym I go to, but he's never, thank the Gods, asked to see him at home. I don't know what I could say. Probably words I wouldn't want him repeating in front of witnesses.

Last time he played puddle stomp, he gleefully yelled, "Dammit, dammit, dammit!" I guess I must have said that after some especially memorable puddle incident. Barney would likely induce worse.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

They might be ready for the animated Tick episodes, too. I'm really looking forward to sharing Zim and The Tick with Gareth.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

Especially when you have two very young kids and many long hours with no adult help, you do whatever you've got to do.

Haven't tried Max and Ruby, though Gareth has asked me to read him some of the books with those characters. The books don't do much for me, but I'm not allergic to them.

Have you tried the new Olivia show? I love those books.

[violet-moon25.livejournal.com]

Part of the problem is the older one is wiped out after preschool and really still could use a nap but absolutely fights taking it. Sometimes he will fall asleep watching cartoons if he is tired enough. Now the little one is starting to pay attention to TV if she hears singing--so far Backyardigans and Wonder Pets. Wonder pets is entertaining in it's almost operatic style--almost everything is sung--but it isn't as creative as Backyardigans. The Max and Ruby show I like better than the books (though the stories are sometimes the same). When they are animated the facial expressions are very funny (Max has very few spoken lines). I have read the first Olivia book and like it but A. doesn't love it so we haven't seen the show.

[violet-moon25.livejournal.com]

It's Dinosaur Train. It's okay to watch and they sprinkle some real science facts into it about the dino of the day. I am sure there are plenty of kids who are really into dinosaurs that love it.

[violet-moon25.livejournal.com]

I have one of each so we will see how it turns out. I liked Superfriends, Wonder Woman, Battle of the Planets (70's anime) and stuff like that as well as Barbie. I don't love all the videos and stuff with Barbie on it nowadays. But our Barbies lived a very exciting life with gymnastic competitions, ballet dancing, fashion shows and a long running soap opera one summer when Barbie and all her friends took turns sleeping with Ken (for all the good it did them). Along the way we built her a house out of decorated boxes and I learned to sew doll clothes.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

Your Barbies had a way more interesting existence than my Barbie did. I asked for one when I was seven, and took it to the house of a friend who was a serious Barbie devotee to find out how to play with it. Her repertoire consisted entirely of taking clothes off the doll, putting clothes on the doll, and demanding that her mother buy more doll clothes. It didn't occur to me that there might be more I could do with a Barbie than that, so I went back to my books.

A friend from grad school later explained to me that I'd been missing out--she and her friends had built a little theater and staged elaborate adventures based in part on Indiana Jones, only they didn't bother with Ken, and gave all the cool parts to the Barbies. From Barbie Adventure Theater, they segued easily into D&D.

So, it looks like I failed my Barbie imagination roll. :)

[(Anonymous)]

Well, I know you have a great imagination now. If my baby daughter takes up Barbies in a few years you are more than welcome for a playdate (all the superhero action figures can come too).

David and I are already discussing how to get the kids started on role playing. The leading choice is a superhero game called Capes which is simple enough that mid elementary age kids could play. (When we played the guy running it included his 7 year old and he did fine).