# Doper Parents: Discuss Children's TV Programs Here **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 7, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450 "2005-12-07T02:46:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/41 "2005-12-08T07:11:09Z")
We don’t have time to watch a lot of these, but we love **Oobi**. Yes, we love Oobi and are proud! That show cracks me up. They are just hilarious. We quote Oobi all the time. **Tiny Planets** is also great, except for the episode where they put a fan on their airboat to make wind for the sail. Argh, bad science! But hey, a great theme song. _Bing and Bong, heroes of the universe…_ and of course, **Sesame Street** is classic, but mostly we watch the DVD, 'cause I hate Elmo and his world, yes indeedy. Also it’s too long, half an hour is about our limit for the little one since she gets grumpy. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/42 "2005-12-08T09:55:43Z")
> [@KJ](#): > > The worst children’s show I’ve seen has got to be **Boobah** , by the makers of the Teletubbies. I can’t tell if it’s for children or people tripping out on acid. Children who grow up with Boo-bah are going to have a really messed up view of reality. I don’t understand what the point of it is; there are some aliens, or something, and they jump around and make weird noises with a bunch of rainbow sparkles or something, then they…go into their alien pods, or something? 😕 Boobah… _shudder_ I don’t have any kids and I’ve ALREADY decided they’re never watching that show. Arthur is great, I think. And Caillou didn’t bother me so much. His name means “pebble”, not “big head”. That would be “gros tete”. I have fond memories of shows such as The Busy World of Richard Scarry and Rupert, but apparently they scared the hell out of all my friends. And they all liked Sesame Street while the muppets creeped _me_ right out. I just… don’t… like… the look… of furry puppets. _twitch_ Has anyone seen Sitting Ducks? It’s a European production that appears to be set in Italy, or at least somewhere with ducks on Vespas. It’s pretty neat. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/43 "2005-12-08T11:08:07Z")
I feel pity for all the American parents out there. No **Bob The Builder**? No **Postman Pat**? No **Little Red Tractor**? No \*\*Tractor Tom \*\*? All strong little case favourites, and Bob and Pat are cool. **Peppa Pig** is hilarious, and leads to much oinking. About the only American {or is it Canadian?} show _I_ can stomach is **Blue’s Clues** , although little case quite likes it. {Is it just me, or does Joe look like Joaquim Phoenix?} **Clifford** is just annoying - here’s the moral, kids: be nice. In case you missed it, here’s another: share nicely. **The Wiggles** rate pretty low: too much singing and dancing, not enough construction equipment. **Hi-5** doesn’t even place with the younger voter, although I like it because that Malaysian looking chick who’s always dressed for clubbing is _hot_. All-time favourites, though, are the DVD’s of **Dangermouse**. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/44 "2005-12-08T12:50:53Z")
I’m definitely checking out Arthur after reading this thread! I had to add that our neighbors gave Chloe a Boohbah for her birthday - it even makes weird noises when you squeeze it. Chloe is very disturbed by it and won’t play with it. The few times I’ve offered it, she’s gotten really upset and said, “A-WAY, a-WAY!” Until I remove it from her sight. Smart kid. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/45 "2005-12-08T13:56:37Z")
We do mostly PBS and DVDs. My 4-year old is mostly into Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder (shockingly dubbed into boring American accents). He used to watch Barney, which I (in an apparent minority of one) actually don’t mind, and sometimes he watches Sesame Street (he loves Big Bird, Cookie, Grover and the Count). I don’t know why they dub Thomas and Bob, since we have a Kipper video, which he loves, British accents and all. On DVD he’s just gotten into something called Hard Hat Harry, which has the worst production values outside of Roger Corman movies, about a genie who takes kids on educational trips to learn about farming, airplanes, space travel, etc. It’s not a bad series, if you don’t mind cringing at the bad acting and worse special effects. My 18-month old is into music. Any time one of his brother’s shows plays music he stops to listen. He mostly watches Baby Songs, a series of DVDs that’s all music that teaches something. We’ve seen Boobah and it is EVIL. ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/46 "2005-12-08T14:00:07Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > I feel pity for all the American parents out there. No **Bob The Builder**? No **Postman Pat**? No **Little Red Tractor**? No \*\*Tractor Tom \*\*? All strong little case favourites, and Bob and Pat are cool. **Peppa Pig** is hilarious, and leads to much oinking. Oh, we get Bob the Builder here. Our two year old loves Bob. She made a big fuss last night because she wanted to bring her Bob and Wendy toys to bed. I hear lots of complaints about Barney, but frankly there’s plenty worse stuff that we’ve seen. We got as a hand-me-down a tape of a show called **The Big Comfy Couch** and I can’t tell you how much we hate that thing in our house. It’s the Necronomicon of children’s shows. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/47 "2005-12-08T16:25:16Z")
We don’t have **Postman Pat** , but I’ve seen it in Danish as Postman Per. Boy, that was a good show. Best theme song ever! Oh yeah, we are also Thomas fans here, only we only ever watch it on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/48 "2005-12-08T16:31:34Z")
> [@Ceejaytee](#): > > We do mostly PBS and DVDs. My 4-year old is mostly into Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder (shockingly dubbed into boring American accents). It’s a two way street: US shows like Clifford (the big bland dog) are also dubbed into English accents for the BBC, although they appear to keep to the original script. When they say things like “I do too” and “Too bad” it doesn’t sound quite right. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/49 "2005-12-08T21:14:14Z")
If we’re talking **Bob the Builder,** can I say that PBS’ recent trend of airing the new British BTB shows undubbed bugs me? The voices are all “wrong”! ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/50 "2005-12-08T21:49:35Z")
> [@Trion](#): > > We got as a hand-me-down a tape of a show called **The Big Comfy Couch** and I can’t tell you how much we hate that thing in our house. It’s the Necronomicon of children’s shows. I used to like this show back when I was younger. Canadian import. **Case Sensitive** , _Blue’s Clues_ is American. I can identify the country of origin of most kids’ shows. We get _Peppa Pig_ over here, as part of a preschool cartoon block called “Tickle U” along with some other American, Canadian, and British cartoons: _Firehouse Tales_ (American), _Gordon the Garden Gnome_ (British), _Little Robots_ (British), _Gerald McBoing-Boing_ (Canadian, based on the Dr. Seuss character), something about a kid with a bucket of dinosaurs (Canadian), and something about three African animals with funny names, I think its _Yoko! Jakamoto! Toko!_ (don’t know country). > [@flyingramenmonster](#): > > Has anyone seen Sitting Ducks? It’s a European production that appears to be set in Italy, or at least somewhere with ducks on Vespas. It’s pretty neat. I thought that one was Americanian. Quick check shows it is. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/51 "2005-12-10T03:58:03Z")
> [@Trion](#): > > I hear lots of complaints about Barney, but frankly there’s plenty worse stuff that we’ve seen. We got as a hand-me-down a tape of a show called **The Big Comfy Couch** and I can’t tell you how much we hate that thing in our house. It’s the Necronomicon of children’s shows. There is plenty worse out there, but something about Barney just drives me up the wall. That and when I babysat on a regular basis the only thing Jessy would watch was a tape of Barney Live In New York City… It was just watch it, rewind and watch it again for hours on end. (Though I did drag her outside to play and try to distract her in other ways). I kinda like Big Comfy Couch personally, though I have seen people complaining about it teaching their kids to put the toys away into the couch. If Velociraptor is up late enough for that show (it comes on at 7:30 now, we usually put him to bed then) we pick up our toys at the same time as Lunette picks up hers… and put them away in the stands for that. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/52 "2005-12-10T04:13:59Z")
> [@Flutterby](#): > > I kinda like Big Comfy Couch personally Me too. I’ve been working on replicating the wearable wind up key Major Bedhead receives on my niece’s tape. Making a wearable wind up key that turns is easy. I’m having problems with making one that will click when turned. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/53 "2005-12-10T04:21:44Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Me too. I’ve been working on replicating the wearable wind up key Major Bedhead receives on my niece’s tape. Making a wearable wind up key that turns is easy. I’m having problems with making one that will click when turned. You do it, you gotta show us pictures! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/54 "2005-12-12T13:43:17Z")
This weekend, I was intorduced to the horror that is the Doodlebops. Does anyone have any idea what they are supposed to be? ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/55 "2005-12-12T15:02:35Z")
Do they still show _Bananas in Pajamas_ anywhere? Talk about nightmares! To call it corny would be an insult to corn. One of my sisters–never having seen the show–bought a tape for my young daughter, who, of course, LOVED it. _I_ found it to be a spectacular crap-fest. Fortunately for me, even my two-year-old soon grew tired of it! I am tremendously grateful that it was a short-lived love affair, but it seemed like _years_ at the time! ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/56 "2005-12-12T18:10:00Z")
Oh, thanks a LOT. Now I’ve got the _Bananas in pajamas_ theme song in my head, even though I’ve never actually watched the show. World’s catchiest song, is what that is. ---
**Author:** ![MrFantsyPants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MrFantsyPants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFantsyPants)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/57 "2005-12-12T20:53:22Z")
**Peep and the Big Wide World** is one of my favourites. A baby chick, a baby cardinal, and a utterly narcissistic duck explore the world, discovering basic science. They end it with live action of young kids doing experiments to solidify the content. Joan Cusack narrates. It’s all good. and, yeah, Damn, I hate Hi-5. That one guy who never stops smiling creeps me out. I never want him around my kid. ---
**Author:** ![AlexCDG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7993a0/32.png) [@AlexCDG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlexCDG)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/58 "2018-01-09T22:03:41Z")
> [@Flutterby](#): > > He does have a good rapport with them. I love how he gets so excited about everything. Unlike some shows where the kids just seem unenthusiastic and bored with being there, he’s just a natural and is honestly enjoying himself. > > Which reminds me of the one that really bugs me. _Storytime Girl_. At least I think that’s what it is called. They show short clips between episodes on the Treehouse channel and I just want to throttle her when I hear her. She sounds so falsely perky with that ‘It’s story time it’s story time! I’m so glad it’s story time!’. She makes up little stories about stuff she finds in a talking box and tells them to a talking clock, doorbell and aforementioned box. Maybe if they had someone else it would be fine, but she just seems forced perky to me. > > I would change the channel, but by the time I’ve found the remote she’s usually almost done and the show I wanted to put on about to start. I’m just glad it’s clips a couple minutes long, not a whole 20-25 minutes. Hi, I know this post is **EXTREMELY** old, but if you could tell me more about the show, I’d be overjoyed. The Lost Media Wiki Forums ([(Request) "My Special Book" (bizarre lost treehouse show) | Forums - The Lost Media Wiki](http://forums.lostmediawiki.com/thread/1419/request-special-book-bizarre-treehouse)) is looking for this lost Treehouse gem. Do you, or anyone else, have more information about the show? ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/59 "2018-01-10T01:03:07Z")
My daughter is a teen now, but when she was little, we saw The Wiggles live three times. We all loved them, their show or one of their tapes was on often in our house. I also agree with the OP’s other choices. Jo Jo’s Circus, Max and Ruby, and Charlie and Lola. They bring back sweet memories. Another one we used to love was Peep and the Big Wide World. I also have another shout out for Bear in the Big Blue House. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450/60 "2018-01-10T01:06:16Z")
Barney was never on in our house, we do love Clifford, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-parents-discuss-childrens-tv-programs-here/334450.md?page=4)