Companion to this thread Your personal opinion, please-Worst children's television series - #114 by Son_of_a_Rich What do you think the best children’s TV shows are?
I’ll start with easy, consensus picks: Sesame Street, Mister Rogers
I also liked Arthur, and a less well known one called The Puzzle Place. Both showed kids with problems, and the kids working through those problems. What are your faves?
J.P. Patches, the host of a children’s show in the Seattle area.
Currently one of the best Children’s shows is Bluey. But if I go back to my childhood, the best show was Sesame Street and also The Electric Company. I genuinely learned to read from them, and they were very funny. In between those eras, I’d put forward Fraggle Rock as a contender.
Scooby Doo. Of course. Then the Bugs bunny show.
For myself.
When my kids were small I liked most of the Nick Jr. stuff if I really needed them plopped down in front of the TV for awhile. Some of it was cringy but as long as it was kid friendly I didn’t over judge it.
We were soon into Pokemon and SpongeBob. And I watched a little closer and was actively paying attention to what they were seeing.
When they became preteen the only thing I really didn’t let them watch was SouthPark. I’m sure they saw plenty of it elsewhere. I just hated SouthPark. As I’ve aged I’m more tolerant of the off humor and sketchy premises that are so funny to adults. I just don’t think younger than teen should see a lot of that til they can process it better.
Your kid, and YMMV.
I’ll second Mister Rogers and Scooby Doo. Those were two of my favorites as a kid.
Thinking about my own childhood, and TV shows, there are three camps:
I think Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood is going to be about as close to unanimous as anything could be, but I also really liked The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, followed by Thomas the Tank Engine and Theodore Tugboat.
Here in Canada, the CBC excelled at children’s television. Mr. Dressup, the Friendly Giant, and Chez Helene would all be familiar to Canadians of a certain age.
Heck, any time anybody says, “Look up,” some wag will say, “Wayyy up.” That finished up the spoken word intro to Friendly Giant. (“Here’s an armchair for two or more to curl up in … a rocking chair for those who like to rock … now look up … wayyy up. And I’ll call Rusty.”)
Years ago, at work, a pair of electricians were doing some work in the hallway, up above the ceiling panels. One was on a ladder, head in the ceiling, looking for some electrical component.
The guy on the ground, holding the ladder, was directing him. I happened to be walking by while this was going on and the ground guy said, “no, look up…”
Without breaking stride, I said “Wayyy up.” This totally cracked up the guy on the ground while others in the vicinity - much younger than ground guy and me - looked very puzzled.
mmm
The Ray Rayner Show, Garfield Goose, and Bozo’s Circus, as mentioned by kenobi_65, plus one from Lansing MI – The Al E Khatt and Pansy Show (originally Chuck’s Alley).
J.P. Patches from the Seattle area, truly a great show!
The Secret Show.
Backyardigans
I think Phineas and Ferb is one of the best kid shows I’ve ever seen.
The humor is multi-layered, so there’s something for adults too who are watching with their children. The title characters are wonderful - completely guileless, smart, include all their friends in their activities and are instantly enthusiastic for new ideas. There’s original music in most episodes too.
Philadelphia was once an absolute powerhouse of local kids’ television. We had Captain Noah, Sally Starr, Pixanne, Gene London, Wee Willie Webber, and enough other homegrown personalities to turn Saturday mornings into a regional broadcasting carnival. Other cities may have had one beloved children’s host. Philly had a whole crop of them. But even in that lineup, I’d argue that Chief Halftown was the best of the bunch.
The show wasn’t polished, educational, or even especially well organized. It was local, low-budget, chaotic, and felt like it belonged to us. Chief Halftown wasn’t a plastic corporate mascot created by marketing executives to sell cereal and action figures. He was Traynor Ora Halftown of the Seneca Nation, and he came across as warm, calm, and genuinely comfortable around kids—qualities that now seem to disqualify someone from hosting children’s television.
The show ran from 1950 into the 1990s, making it one of the longest-running local children’s shows ever. Generations of Philadelphia-area kids grew up watching him. When he said, “Ees da sa sussaway”—“Let’s get started”—that was the official signal that Saturday morning had begun. And as though hosting a kids’ show for nearly half a century weren’t enough, the Chief was also a champion bowler. Captain Kangaroo had Mr. Green Jeans, Mr. Moose, and Bunny Rabbit, but Chief Halftown could pick up a 7–10 split.
What made the show great was its gloriously homemade quality. Local kids appeared, things went wrong, animals misbehaved, and nobody panicked because the show had failed to deliver a lesson about emotional resilience or STEM skills before the next commercial. Was it objectively better than Sesame Street or Mister Rogers? Probably not. But childhood memories aren’t objective. Chief Halftown was ours: part of Philly, Saturday mornings, sugary cereal, and sitting too close to the television. The show may have been cheap, odd, and occasionally creaky—but so was childhood, and we loved it.
I gotta go with Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Disagree. Not that Rocky and Bullwinkle wasn’t one of the best. It was. Disagree that it was for children! Some of those puns were aimed at the parents, not the kids!
When my kids were little, there was a series called Wishbone, featuring a Jack Russell named Wishbone. He would play the main character in a retelling of a work of classic literature such as Don Quixote, Frankenstein, and suchlike. I think Mark Twain turned up at least once. It was pretty cool, although I would hope that no one took the show as a cue to think “Now I don’t have to read the actual book.”
Mr. Rogers always, afaik (after my time) started his show by putting on a sweater and slippers. Then for God know what reason, continues to wear a tie in the privacy of his own living room. That noose would be the first thing off for me. Which makes me wonder, are there people out there who wear a tie when they’re home? If so, they probably also wear a smoking jacket 
forget it