Tuesday, March 18, 2014

The top 7 tolerable shows on PBS Kids

 Peg + Cat

I have a daughter who is two. I do not have cable. So we watch a lot of PBS.

Some of the shows are great. Some of them annoy me to no end. Here are my top seven shows that I can watch with her without losing my mind. Note that Mr. Roger's Neighborhood is not on the list, as it isn't carried by our local PBS station. If it was, it'd be number one easily.

1. Peg + Cat
2. Word Girl
3. Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood
4. Clifford the Big Red Dog
5. Wild Kratts
6. Sesame Street
7. Arthur

Peg +Cat has the most adorable theme song ever. The two main characters, Peg and Cat, are the most likeable on kid's tv. It's produced by the Fred Rogers company and it teaches math (something we sorely need more of in this country). The animation is very creative, and using graph paper as the background is a very nice touch. This is one of my favorite shows on TV period, and I'd watch every episode even if I had no children.

Word Girl is a fun kid-friendly super hero spoof. A lot of fun humor that adults will appreciate, and the main character reminds me of my good friend @nerdwriter.

Growing up a Mr. Rogers fan, I love Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. I like that these characters live on for new generations to enjoy, and hearing Jason Mraz do the theme song in the season 1 finale gave me a whole new appreciation for him.

And being a John Ritter fan, I had to include Clifford the Big Red Dog (the late Ritter provided Clifford's voice). The stories don't grab me the way the previous three shows do, but it's a kid's show and that's to be expected. Still, it's really faithful to the book, and I appreciate that.

Wild Kratts is silly fun. A lot of real-world footage of animals is fun to look at, and it's the one show I watch on PBS Kids that I learn something new from each episode.

I'm not a huge fan of the 3D animated segments that Sesame Street has for Abby Cadabby and Bert and Ernie, but the show still holds up well. I don't despise Elmo the way others do, so I understand those who can't stand Sesame Street due to Elmo's presence. Controversial personal life allegations aside, Being Elmo was a fantastic documentary.

The guest stars on Arthur are nice. And it gives me some nostalgia for my childhood, as it's been on the air since 1996. Some of the secondary characters like Buster can be very annoying, and the stories seem a little too generic, but anything featuring an animated Fred Rogers is ok in my book.

I did not include Callilou on this list. Callilou is a horrible cartoon, and it's painfully obvious that the writers either don't have experience dealing with children, or they check those experiences at the door each morning before starting work. I refuse to let my child watch this stupid show.

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