This thread reminded me of a comedian, I think it was Paul Rodriguez, that expressed the same thought as the OP. So he sits his nephew down to watch some "good" cartoons from his youth, particularly Pepe Lepew: the overly amorous skunk.
After the show he asks his nephew if he learned anything and the kid says, "Yeah sometimes you just have to take the pu#@y!"
Perhaps the older shows are not as innocent as we remember.
Yep, Four Square is one that the kids and adults can agree on as being unwatchable! Can't see it lasting much longer!
It is actually rather popular. The show is for really really young kids. My son first noticed it at about 14 months old. My mother-in-law would put TreeHouse on TV and he would ignore everything but Four Squares. He was drawn in by the colours. As he grew he was able to sing along and try to copy the actions. This particular show is less about entertainment and more about stimulation. He grew out of it not long after his 2nd birthday. I'll probably have to endure seeing it again in about 10 months or so when my 2nd is of that age.
I don't mind Ruby & Max either. I did hate it when my nephew (now 8) watched it but I don't mind it too much now that I have kids and have been broken down by other kids programming. Ruby & Max is kinda hilarious, its like watching real kids play together.
I haven't watched much of this and my son doesn't seem to care for it, but I think the animation (claymation I guess?) is top notch.
Pocoyo! My son loves it, especially the duck Pato (he cracks me up as well).
Max and Ruby is terrible, agreed. My son's favourite is "In the Night Garden" (he loved the Teletubbies when he was younger, we had to hide the DVD as he cried when it was over). Toopy and Binoo is the other one he likes to watch.
Treehouse haunts me. I think I know all the theme songs after being home the last month.
Started by a 27 year old with no kids and no likely opportunity to do so for quite some time!
I really appreciate everyone's opinion on the subject. Obviously you guys are the ones out there raising the kids, and would know better than I do what works and what doesn't.
Someone asked if I was writing a paper, but no, I'm just quite interested in child development due to my own sketchy upbringing as well as those of the kids I deal with every day at work. TV was my best friend for a few years there and I really do thank god for the educational shows I had back then. Maybe they weren't as good as I remember them being but they definitely helped shape the person I am now.
Plus it was a chance to rant against the pill-popping generation a little bit.
classic cartoons taught me so much about vocabulary and culture.
Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes had so much vocabulary and adult puns buried into it as well as smatterings of all kinds of art and culture and just interesting concepts. It was always hilarious when Bugs and Daffy ("let me slip out of my accoutrements") or even Wily E. Coyote switched to intelligent mode and started speaking smart.
Also, man this episode is amazing. This sort of thing could make kids like Opera. What other kids show could do this? I still remember all these songs in my adulthood. Learned alot about music and my first young experiences with music just because of this episode. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u0zY...eature=related
I agree with the original poster. Letting Treehouse raise your kids is a terrible idea. Parents should be more like my uncle and give the kids something more interactive. He gave my little three year old cousin a Wingman controller and Doom and said "Here. This is a game called 'SHOOT'. Have fun. I'm gonna be over here watching the hockey game."
But seriously, I don't think Treehouse or no Treehouse has all that much effect on how kids are turning out today. For one, I don't think kids are turning out all that bad today... my dad once told me the things that he got the strap for and I was like, HOLY CRAP - YOU ONLY GOT THE STRAP FOR THAT?!? For two, I think the reason, AND THE ONLY REASON, that kids are any more warped than they were 20, 30, 40 years ago is because they are spoiled rotten. Most have far more toys, far more food, far more leeway than any kid should have. They want a Malibu Stacey, they cry, they get it.... Oi. If I wanted a new baseball mitt, I had to deliver newspapers at 5am to get one.
All of the old stuff is not really as good as we remember it...
"The earliest episodes of Sesame Street are being made available on DVD, but the NYT notes Volumes 1 and 2 carry a rather strange warning: 'These early 'Sesame Street' episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today's preschool child.' So why are they unsuitable for toddlers in 2007? Well, in the parody 'Monsterpiece Theater,' Alistair Cookie ? played by Cookie Monster ? used to appear with a pipe, which he later gobbled. 'That modeled the wrong behavior,' explained a Sesame Street executive producer, adding that 'we might not be able to create a character like Oscar [the Grouch] now.'"
Also stuff in it like a young girl crying on the side of the street and some strange old man invites the 6 year old into his house for milk and cookies.....
I think you might wanna screen that episode before you show your children.
On a positive note, I just got all the "Fraggle Rock" espisodes for my kids. Talk about a show ahead of its time, there are sooooo many "inuendos" in it that fly right over children and right into the parents, it very similar to the way they do the "Shrek", "Cars" movies these days.. Really is interesting watching for both parents and kids..
________ SWALLOW CUM
Last edited by metal_geek; 05-06-2011 at 12:00 AM.
Well, to be honest it's not a huge worry. I'm a psychology student and I work with youth with various levels of mental health problems. It's more a topic of interest for me. More youth are diagnosed with various disorders than ever before and I am curious to investigate all the possible reasons for this. There are many. Not trying to say that television is the biggest or baddest, but it still belongs in the discussion I think.
So is it that we are getting better at diagnosing disorders or that disorders themselves are on the rise?
I have most of the episodes on PVR and will watch them just for the good music (the 'Sleep' episode is especially terrific). One reason for the good music is that Mark Mothersbaugh (Formerly of Devo, and responsible for the Wes Anderson soundtracks) plays a major role in composing and arranging guests. He does make for a creepy artist however.
