What children’s program do you love? And loathe?
All that talk from a few weeks ago about Dora made me realise how much I love her. LOVE HER. Sure, she's a bit shouty and can be annoyingly perky at 6am but on balance, I'm a fan.
I'm also a fan of Yo Gabba Gabba (clip above). I'm going to their concert in a couple of weeks and I'm psyched. The first time I saw it I was a bit disturbed. Then I read up on it a little and discovered it was conceived by the dudes from Devo. Remember them? Now I have tickets to their concert next month and am hoping for some backstage passes. Songs like "Don't Bite Your Friends" are really sage advice.
Nobody tells you when you have children that you will have to watch hours and hours AND HOURS of kids shows. And the SAME SHOWS – hell, the SAME EPISODES OF THE SAME SHOWS again and again and a-bloody-gain.
My other fave? Charlie & Lola.
The Times of London has asked writers who have little kids to nominate their most hated kids shows…here are two:
Bob the Builder by Alice Thomson
Can we fix it? No we can't. Not ever. It's just too dreadful.
I've tried my hardest, two of my children are fixated on Bob the Builder who
admittedly is the only one in Britain who manages to finish the job on time.
He's never sexist – although he should make an honest woman of Wendy. I have
watched the DVDs, read the books, slept with Scoop, Muck and Dizzy and my
son all squeezed into the same bed, but the charms of Sunflower Valley elude
me. But I know when I throw out the children's toys, the much-cherished,
half-mangled builder is the one I will have to keep.
Charlie and Lola by Alice Miles
“I Will Not Never Ever Eat a Tomato.”
How many parents have cursed that book? Charlie and Lola might have much to
recommend them, but for the parent trying to raise a healthy child, that
book has a lot to answer for. One of the most useful foods, base of so many
sauces, staple natural ingredient in every picnic and lunchbox, needlessly
condemned.
Come on, I know you're gagging to pile on for this one. Which are your most loved and loathed kids' shows? As the govt backs a proposal for a dedicated ABC Kids channel, what do we want to see on it?
Either those you have to watch now with your kids or those you remember watching yourself from years gone by?
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Kid’s television has really come a long way … or has it? Just recently I watched a re-run of H.R Puf’n'Stuff on pay tv….. whoaa golly! Serious drugs going on there. Maybe we’ll look back on Yo Gabba Gabba in the same way ….
The all time favourite in our house is without question Playschool. It never fails to entertain and I absolutely love it too for the way that they speak to the children – always at the right level for the audience.
Aside from that Lazytown is a favourite for the dancing at the end and Dora, bless her. My son’s first sentence was ‘doradoradoradoradora’. I’m so proud.
My 3yo boy loves Wiggles, In The Night Garden, Roary the Racing Car, Thomas, and Ben10, but claims his favorite to be Playschool.
I quite like Play School, The Wiggles, and In The Night Garden. I don’t know why I like ITNG, I just think it’s cute, and I actually like the music that plays throughout, it reminds me of a music box. Other than that, it has to be at least slightly educational. I also like Shaun the Sheep, and Pocoyo, but only because I like Stephen Fry.
But one show I CAN NOT STAND is Yo Gabba Gabba. It’s so….annoying! The host annoys me, the puppet guys annoy me, that stupid animated superhero girl annoys me. It’s so repetitive. And it’s soooooo American.
That’s my 5 cents worth
In our house also love:
Shaun the sheep (my fav)
Dora
Playschool
Charlie and Lola
Peppa Pig
Mumma mirabelle’s home movies
and Miss 4’s new fav is the Wot Wot’s (although I can’t say I’m a big fan)
We both can’t stand In the Night Garden, I particularly hate it when a bunch of the characters ‘play’ the piano by bashing the keys- it drives me crazy.
Justine Clarke is awesome – love her work.
My kids love:
Trotro
Roary the racing car
Wiggles
Bottletop bill & his best friend corky
Zigby
bob the builder
peppa pig (me and my husband are tagged “daddy pig” and “mummy pig” all the time!)
and the latest is Charlie and Lola. They’ve just discovered them, and they are just like my two kids. My son (eldest) thinks Charlie is great and likes being just like him, and my daughter (younger) is just like Lola “she is small and very funny”..
Basically if i hate a show, they don’t get to watch it..
My son (nearly 5) loves Play school. Especially this one episode we have on our DVD recorder with Alex Papps and Georgie Parker.. I think he’s keen on Georgie..trouble is Alex is singing a version of ABBA’s Money, Money, Money, called “honey honey honey” that my son keeps singing and i can’t get out of my head!!
Yay Josephine & Jaz – more ppl who loved Sooty!
My 4yo and I both love The Wiggles ( saw them yesterday ), Charlie and Lola, Peppa Pig, LazyTown,Upside Down Show,Yo Gabba Gabba, Dora and Diego.Very jealous about the Yo Gabba Gabba concert. Should be….awesome!!!
Loathe ‘Yo Gabba Gabba’. But then, can’t say Devo ever really did it for me either…
Love ‘The Backyardigans’ & ‘The Upside Down Show’. The Umbilical Brothers + children’s TV = brilliant!!
Love? Play School. Karen and Justine are big favourites. How fab is Justine Clarke?
Loathe? Hi Five. And that puzzles show on Channel 10. Haaate!
What would I do without mama mia? thanks to you I know about where the wild things are movie AND I just got tickets to Yo gabba gabba. My 4 yr old will be over the moon!Thanks Mia- a mum’s best friend!
*sigh* Ah Sooty! Yes I remember Sooty!
I used to LOVE Stickin’ Around. If it was on today I would watch it!
Does anyone else remember that one?
My girls love Little Princess, Charlie and Lola Milly Molly and Peppa Pig (this mornings was on recycling). We too have an upside down remote control. Playschool is the ultimate at our house and usually gives some good ideas for craft that day.
It annoys me when the TV characters eat rubbish food- The fairies are always eating cake and honey on toast for breakfast, the bananas eat cake and jelly. Its hard to explain why we eat fruit for morning tea after they watch that.
I loved Monkey Magic, Astro Boy and Inspector gadget too!
My 2yo loves Elmo’s World. Many may find his high-pitched whiny voice worse than nails on a blackboard, but I find I am exceptionally good at filtering all white noise these days (a special talent brought out by motherhood).
Quite like the Wiggles but find myself thinking that Anthony has a cute smile, and that is just wrong. However, I was a rather large fan of the Cockroaches in the day, so I’m thinking it’s just a bad 80’s hangover I’m experiencing.
Belinda, I’m not sure you can criticize Playschool for having celebrity presenters. It’s been a rite of passage for Aussie actors since I was watching it as a sproggin 30 years ago. (Suddenly feeling old).
I don’t have kids yet, but turning 30 the other day was cause for a little nostalgia – I didn’t overly enjoy being a child (was always wishing myself older), but my overiding memories of that time were the fantastic shows (mostly British) that were shown on the ABC during school holidays. My absolute favourites (some dialogue I still remember by heart!) include:
Ghosts of Motley Hall
Mysterious Cities of Gold
Secret World of Polly Flint
Moondial
Round the Twist
Trapdoor
Puddle Lane
The Sooty Show
Does anyone else remember those?
I haven’t seen much in the way of children’s programing recently, by Shaun Sheep is an absolute cracker!
Fun topic Mia! This inspired my first post here
Emma I loved Benita too, I think cause we have the same name LOL!! Loved Noni and John too. My sister and I used to love Astroboy and Voltron – remember them? Oh, and Inspecter Gadget! Gosh, I’m lovin’ this trip down memory lane! xxx
I cannot stand Lazytown at all – am I the only one who finds it creepy and wrong?
Agh – I can’t stand the look of it, all those weird puppets and half plastic people and creeepy grown men hanging around with children. It really gives me the ooks in a big way – my little boy likes it, but I HAVE to switch it off the minute I hear the theme tune.
Am I the only person in the world who doesn’t like it? I’m not exaggerating in the least when I say it genuinely freaks me out – like clowns, weird and wrong and borderline scary. Not to mention Sportacus and the (human) girl have a rather disturbing relationship.
From my own childhood, my faves were The Bananasplits (esp. HR Puff-n-stuff but I was shit scared of Witchy-poo), and Monkey Magic with Sandy, Pigsy and Tripitaka.
Oh and I’m not a fan of Hi 5. Or anything anime. Can’t stand Pokemon etc.
(sorry for the multiple posts).
Oh, I forgot about Babar! Loved Babar!
My sister and I used to watch Captain Planet too, I can still remember the theme song :p
I loved anything Disney (still do!), can’t wait to have kids so I can take them to see kids movies.
And I loved Playschool too, of course. My favourite people were John and Benita, did anyone else have favourites on Playschool?
Does anyone remember Sooty?
I loved Sooty!
I wanna get it on DVD so when I have kids they get to see it too.
Sarah, I loved Noni, too. I was SHATTERED when she became a cop on City Homicide, because it was just so wrong. It was even worse than watching the BBC adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, and seeing John (the older guy, who had white hair) say shit.
I can’t believe I forgot the Upsidedown Show and Bear In The Big Blue House (actually, I enjoy pretty much anything done by Henson Productions)in my other comment. I also forgot The Magic School Bus. They only made a few episodes of it, and I don’t think it’s been aired in about 5 years, but it’s brilliant.
Oops, that should read ‘watches the tv’….
My little one loves Charlie & Lola, but I can’t get past the poor grammar (eg. I have this little sister Lola). I have to change the words every time I read one of the books to her, but now she watches on the tv program and sooner or later I just know I’ll hear those words coming from her.
Love Yo Gabba Gabba. Agree with you Rachel_s, the songs are great. When I had to struggle to feed Master 3, There’s a Party in My Tummy or Try It, You’ll Like It, were always winners. Little Madam loves In The Night Garden.
i’m stunned someone actually said “yes, make it – brilliant idea!” to the night garden and teletubbies – hate those with a passion. and we got rid of the kids channels on foxtel which i’m glad about – makes me more inclined to find another way to occupy my son than plonk him in front of tv.
thankfully, we like the same shows on ABC so happy for these to be on and actually enjoy watching them with him:
- shaun the sheep
- little princess
- yo gabba gabba
- charlie and lola (although he calls it charlie and layla – his sister’s name)
- playschool
BUT: what is up with celebrities in children’s programs? Is it not enough we have them invading every other aspect of our lives? Playschool is now hosted by a thousand different people – most of them (granted, D-list) celebs like Georgie Parker and Brooke Satchwell, Kylie has joined the wiggles with an absolutely appalling monkey song and yo gabba always has a dancey-dance “star”. bugs me
Katrina, why does Yo Gabba Gabba terrify you? It is so happy.
Yo Yo Gabba Gabba is fantastic. My son gets very anxious too often, and songs like ,” Keep trying, keep trying, don’t give up, never give up,” are awesome. Thank you Yo Yo. Initially i thought it was way to much wacky weed but i was wrong. Fan- tas-tic.
yo gabba gabba has literally inspired nightmares in me, it is absolutely terrifying!
Oh I love one of Lauren Child’s picture books ‘Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Book?’.
It was amazing & so clever.
I love the Idea of a TV station purely for Children, and trying to remove tv advertisement as much as possible for them
We love Peppa Pig, Pinky Pinky Doo, Dora and always Play School. Puzzle Play is also liked by my 4 year old.
My 2 year old is just starting to discover the dvd world, and has been watching Bob the Builder and Thomas.
We hate Telly Tubbies and get frustrated by In the Night Garden; all they do is teach the kids to make stupid noises instead of talking.
And Hi-5 is much better than the Wiggles!
The general consensus for faves in our house is:
The Wiggles (although I recently hid half the DVDs because I was going nuts and now I can’t remember where I hid them!)
Handy Manny (or Manny Manny as my 2 year old calls it)
Bear in the Big Blue House (especially because his nighttime coincides with my son’s…)
Justine Clarke ( I love it, I love it, I really really do!)
Bananas In Pyjamas especially when they shake their sillies out. I get the giggles. Probably for the wrong reason.
We HATE the night garden – wierd and freaks me out; we have a conflict of interest over Teletubbies – son loves it, I hate it, but at least he just thinks its the Wiggles in costume and calls them the corresponding names; and Bunnytown.
To whoever mentioned Metal Mickey – what a blast from the past!!!!
in our house we only watch ABC (because its all we have
) and only then: Night Garden, Playschool, Charlie & Lola and anyting else with an English accent is that wrong 
?
Being a prior to school teacher and primary teacher these come up in ALOT of discussions with the children. But my personal faves from back then [im 21 so i recall quite a few and some still make an appearance every so often]..
I loved:
Mr Squiggle {)
Babar
Bill and Ben (according to mum)
Playschool
Captain Planet
Johnson and Friends
Rugrats
Sesame Street
Aaaaaaaaaargh Real Monsters
Rocko’s Modern Life
and i could continue..
I used to love the Wiggles, but sorry Sam you just arent as good as Greg and you lost me. Though there website is great for children to learn [science - the growing of flowers; matching the hats; music/math patterns - the bongo's with anthony].
In our household our 3 year old boy loves:
Thomas the Tank Engine
Bananas in Pyjamas
Playschool
The Wiggles
Pocoyo
Bob the Builder
Maisy
Yo Gabba Gabba
Roary
And I can’t stand:
Lazytown
Hi-5
I would cheerfully strangle Barney and the precocious children on that show. I was a nanny in the States for a year and at the start of my tenure the 2nd youngest loathed me and the only thing to calm her down was to throw a bit of barney on. Thankfully we moved through that but Barney was still a large feature of 2006 for me.
The Wiggles. I am surprised how I can still sing and dance along after many years of exposure. They are keepers.
Love, love, love, Shaun the Sheep and Charlie and Lola.
Cant stand Ben 10 and Hi 5, that Nathan is captivating but not in a good way in a very over exuberant “jazz hands” way.
My boys love The Wot Wots a recent addition to ABC kids, the website is gorgeous fun.
I love Peppa Pig, Charlie and Lola, Shaun the Sheep, the Dan Zanes songs, Pingu and Pinky Dinky Doo.
From my own Childhood – Playschool, Sesame Street, Smurfs, Sooty and Sweep, Jem, He-Man, Bugs Bunny, Flintstones, Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, The Snorks, Inspector Gadget, Rumper Room and Mr Scribble.
Yo Gabba Gabba is a HUGE hit at our house with both our 3 year old and our 8 month old!
We thought it was a little odd at first, but the simplicity of some of it, coupled with some great music by “special guest bands” keeps my muso husband happy.
We’re going to the Melboune show on 30th May, and it looks like there’s still plenty of tickets available there as well as Sydney and Brisbane.
http://www.yogabbagabba.com.au
I love:
Pinky Dinky Doo
Yo Gabba Gabbe (oh so trippy!),
Lazy Town (tragically I perve on Sporticus’ body),
Charlie and Lola (want to adopt them as Charlie seems to do everything in that family!)
Would prefer never to see again:
Fireman Sam (my son watched it on repeat for about 6 months to the point that the theme song was in my head during labour with my daughter)
Night Garden (but as my 18 mth old is transfixed I suffer in silence)
Arthur.
Babar (my heart flutters at the thought of this show).
Noddy.
Sailor Moon.
Rugrats (adore it).
Pingu (he was THE cuteness).
Teletubbies.
Rupert (alot like Arthur isnt it?).
Mr Bump In The Night (?).
My Little Pony.
Rocko’s Modern Life.
Little Bill (Bill Cosby childrens cartoon which portrays African American families in a normal, more truthful light.)
Postman Pat.
Fireman Sam.
I love childrens shows as you can see lol
My kids LOVE The Night Gardens, lazytown, Charlie and Lola and Playschool. They don’t mind Yo Gabba Gabba but I HATE IT!!! They also like the Wiggles, but don’t even watch Hi5. And I agree, Shaun The Sheep is really funny; my husband and I giggle along with the kids every morning when it’s on! xxx
How can anyone ever go past Arthur? Arthur is the best TV show in the history of the world. This is particularly apparent when you have a bunch of 16-17 year olds singing the theme song while canoeing down a river for about an hour.
I also used to love The Wishing Chair. And of course, playschool. Noni was my favourite!
My faves: Justine Clarke, Charlie and Lola – there’s an episode or book for every parental crisis – and Playschool.
Large Child’s faves: Dora, Charlie and Lola, Wiggles, Playschool and (less so now but was rabidly obsessed when younger) Hi-5.
Small Child’s faves: Only just starting to pay attention to TV now but loves In the Night Garden and Yo Gabba Gabba…colours and nonsense are obviously appealing when you’re nine months’ old.
#1 in our house is The upside down show – we all love it. I like to pretend to press the remote control too
I don’t think the Olivia show lives up to the books. The shows don’t quite capture the books humour.
I remember loving Romper Room.
The great oldies came from the BBC in the late 70’s and early 80’s – Metal Mickey, Famous Five (Julian Dick and Ann, George and Timmy the do-o-og), Worzle Gummidge (?) and Catweazle.
Imagination Movers – I don’t know where I got ‘machination’ from…How embarrassing!
Love: Lazy Town, especially when my kids bop around the house during the end credits!
The Mysterious Cities of Gold was one of my all-time favourites – so much so that I re-watched the whole thing last year (I had morning sickness, it was the middle of winter, what else was I going to do at night?).
You Can’t Do That On Television and Sesame Street were also greatly loved.
Actually, enyone remember Torchy the Battery Boy or Clutch Cargo?…Gig, this may be down your alley.
Maybe not strictly a children’s program…but Shaun the Sheep is hilarious…we love it…and we don’t have kids.
the current favourite is My Friends Tigger and Pooh – Mr 4 is obsessed with Buster (the dog). Stanley is also another favourite, along with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins. Mr 4 is already keen to see Secret Agent Oso when it starts. Can you tell we watch Playhouse Disney more than anything else?
BUT I loathe The Doodlebops and Johnny and the Sprites. Imagination Movers annoyed me at first but I’m immune to it now. I don’t like Yo Gabba Gabba (sorry Mia).
I love love love Charlie and Lola! I was reading the books to the kids at work for ages before the tv show came on. We were all very excited when it was made into a tv series. Another fave is The Little Princess – with Bubble from AbFab voicing the princess and Julian Clary as the narrator. Hilarious! Also made the kids race back to the books. Shaun the Sheep is also one of my favourites (and my best).
Was never into children’s programs and Mr. Squiggle used to freak me out.
How much time do you have?
Love:
Playschool
Word World
Little Einsteins
Handy Manny
(the ones I love co-incide with the ones that they sit still for and don’t fight)
Loathe:
Doodlebobs
Hi-5 banned in our house, neither kid has any idea what it is
Imagination Movers
In The Night Garden
There are many more, but that will do for now.
Going back 18 years, my favourite shows were Playschool, Fireman Sam, Gumby (oh how I loved gumby, I had a bendy toy of him), Romper Room, Noddy, Brum, Tugs, Rattys (sp?), and Pingu (because it was so naughty the way he would wee on the ice…).
We’re loving Imagination Movers at the moment. I’m an early childhood teacher & have stong opinions about what I do and don’t like for kids on tv. But my kids have been drawn to shows that I can’t stand (like Yo Gabba and Big Cook Little Cook). I’m big on quality music for kids within the shows and for that reason Jack’s Big Music Show wins major points. In terms of quality, it’s hard to go past Play School. Now that my kids are a bit too old, I’m really missing it, and will sometimes still pop it on when they’re not here – just to get the teaching ideas.
Our other faves from the past 7 years are:
Jasper the penguin
Red Fox
Charlie and Lola
Wonder Pets
Diego
Max and Ruby
Elmo
Play with me Sesame
Balamory
Handy Manny
Little Einsteins
Bambaloo
Hi-5
UpsideDown Show
Magic Mountain
At the other end of the spectum, I would rather poke blunt objects into my ears than sit through another episode of Planet Cook, Bottle Top Bill, Doodlebops, Barney, Boobahs.
When the kids were really little, I knew that it was time to leave the house when I started to get strangely attracted to Steve from Blues Clues.
Happy reminiscing everyone…
I don’t even have kids, and I love little kids TV. Sesame Street is my favourite. Especially the old episodes, although the new ones are growing on me (Play With Me Sesame sucks, though). Also love Charlie and Lola, Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies, Fraggle Rock and Arthur.
I read the article, and I think the parent who dislikes Basil Brush is silly. For one thing, Basil is awesome. For another, he’s so not kids TV. Totally dodgy show (love that, too though).
All ages in our house love:
Play School
Yo Gabba Gabba – kooky and funny and instructive.
The UpsideDown Show – LOVE those men
Charlie and Lola – I want a child like Charlie. Actually I want a friend like Charlie, so dependable and patient.
Night Garden
Good children’s television is a bit like good children’s literature. It has to be compelling for both parent and child.
Who wants to read and abridged version of Snow White (picked up from the bargain table in the shopping mall) over and over again? Not me. But I know The Tiger Who Came to Tea off by heart because it is just so good.
I could also sit and watch Andrew and Justine stick little bits of cotton wool onto toilet rolls over at Play School any day. But I have no interest whatsoever in seeing Bindy sing “you bring out the animal in me”. So we don’t watch it. I see no point filling children’s lovely fresh minds with drivel.
We also skip any channel with advertisements for the same reason.
I am SOOOOO over “In the Night Garden”. Mr 2 LOVES it. I can control the tv side of it but the damn books I have to read over and over. I’m encouraging his interest in Roary the Racing Car, quite like him. Also love Justine Clarke. Have the DVD and the CD is still on high rotation – “I like to sing Lalalalala……”. Saw her in concert – very good.
Mr 5 is in to Ben10 who I was really against but since watching it have changed my mind. It’s not mindless violence as I thought and Kevin Levin is kinda cute (Is it wrong to fancy a teenage cartoon character?). And he’s also addicted to Scooby Doo which is kind of cool. But again it’s the books that do my head in. Over and over and over every night.
Miss 3 is very fickle and has not fixated on anything thank goodness.
I myself quite like Charlie and Lola, Shaun the Sheep and The Upside Down Show.
Mia, I am very jealous you are going to see Yo Gabba Gabba…I remember a couple of years ago my husband got front row tickets to see the Wiggles and I was more excited than my 3 year old at the time.
Machination Movers is also a popular one in our household along with Roary the Racing Car and Thomas the Tank Engine. ABC 2 has some great kids shows on as well during the day.
OOOOh Mia maybe they’ll do a bit of ‘whip it’ mid concert!!! You can live in hope.
I love Dora and Lazytown & playschool. I am not a fan of the Hooley Dooley’s (are they still going?) or the wiggles or Hi-5.
Yo gabba gabba is a big hit with my 3yo as is Thomas and Rory the racing car.
I fear teletubbies….seriously.
Without a doubt ‘The Doddlebops’ and ‘Big Cook, Little Cook’.