Tot TV Watch

Nickelodeon has announced yet another new interactive series that will include viewer uploaded content. Premiering in September of 2007, iCarly will join ME:TV as one of the numerous convergent entertainment experiences recently launched by Nickelodeon. iCarly is a comedy about a young girl who produces her own home-grown web show. Carly, played by Miranda Cosgrove (of Nick and Jake fame), will give viewers a specific assignment and direct them toward the web site to upload their creations. The uploaded content may be included in a future episode, or as part of Carly’s online web cast.

The description from Nickelodeon is as follows:

In iCarly, Miranda lives with her twenty-something brother/guardian Spencer (Jerry Trainor) and produces her web casts from a makeshift third- floor loft studio. Grappling with adolescence, she never aimed to gain fame as a rising star/underground celebrity to kids. As events unfold in the pilot, it all happens by accident when a teacher (guest star Mindy Sterling, Austin Powers’ Frau Farbissina) puts her in charge of the school talent show. She and her sassy best bud Sam (Jeannette McCurdy) turn the audition process into a show, which Carly’s tech savvy smitten friend Freddy (Nathan Kress) tapes — including their hilarious banter and great chemistry — and posts on the web unbeknownst to them. The online audience clamors for more, and a pop phenomenon blooms, with Miranda and sidekick Sam’s regular web casts ultimately featuring everything from comedy sketches and talent contests to interviews, recipes and problem-solving.

iCarly is set to begin taping the first thirteen episodes in March of 2007. Personally, I can’t wait to see this show take off. Nickelodeon has found a fresh new way to foster creativity in kids and I think we’ll be seeing a lot more shows combining television and user-uploaded content in the future.

iCarly, Nickelodeon, Miranda Cosgrove, ME:TV, interactive, user-uploaded content, web cast, Jerry Trainor, Mindy Sterling, Frau Farbissina, Jeannette McCurdy, Nathan Kress

Good things are in store for Nickelodeon viewers in the 2007-2008 season. Nick recently announced plans for new seasons of SpongeBob SquarePants, Zoey 101, The Fairly OddParents, and Dora the Explorer. The Naked Brothers Band and Just Jordan have both been picked up for second seasons as well.

Three new animated series will be added to the slate, as well as the previously announced Mighty B, Tak and the Power of JuJu, Back to the Barnyard, and the recently launched El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera. The three new series include The Umizumiz, an interactive series featuring preschool punk music; Bubble Guppies, an animated variety show set in an underwater classroom; and Making Fiends, the story of two unlikely friends, Vendetta and Charlotte.

All together, the network plans to show over 700 new episodes this season.

(Photo: Nickelodeon/PR Newswire Photo Service provided by Newscom)

Nickelodeon, 2007-2008 season, SpongeBob SquarePants, Zoey 101, The Fairly OddParents, Dora the Explorer, The Naked Brothers Band, Just Jordan, Mighty B, Tak and the Power of JuJu, Back to the Barnyard, El Tigre, The Umizumiz, Bubble Guppies, Making Fiends

Don’t forget to watch “Star Mountain“, the new Dora The Explorer episode tomorrow. This week is “Catch A Shooting Star” week on Nick Jr. You can catch three more star studded adventures, “Little Star”, “Star Catcher”, and “Por Favor”, throughout the week as well as a repeat of “Star Mountain” on Friday.

Dora the Explorer, Catch a Shooting Star week, Star Mountain, Little Star, Star Catcher, Pro Favor, Nick Jr.

One of the more entertaining aspects of writing on the web is watching the page’s stats. Occasionally I like to check and see where my visitors are coming from so that I know what to focus my writing on. The most common search string I get for this site is generally some variation of “Steve Burns on Jack’s Big Music Show” or “Steve Burns groundhog video”.

In order to appease my readers, I have been searching for the video online but haven’t been able to find a copy that I could post here. It was available on YouTube for a short while before Viacom insisted that all of their content be removed from the video sharing site. As of now, the only place online that the “I Hog The Ground” video can be seen is on the Noggin web site. Go on, you know you want to rock out with Steve one more time!

Steve Burns, Jack’s Big Music Show, I Hog The Ground, ground hog day, search strings, YouTube, Viacom, Noggin

As the posts accumulate around here it dawned on me that it may start getting a little difficult to find things. The posts are pretty well categorized, but if you are looking for a review of a particular TV show you still have to search through a pretty long list to find it. To make your search a little easier, I have created a “Tot TV Reviews” page that lists all of the shows previously reviewed in alphabetical order. This list does not include news items or other posts, only reviews of specific shows. You can get to the list by clicking on the link at the bottom of the “About Me” box in the sidebar. I hope that this makes things a little easier to find for everyone.

By the way, if you are looking for a review that isn’t listed, it just means that I haven’t gotten around to reviewing it yet. Please leave a comment or use the “Contact Me” link to to the right to send me an e-mail and I would be more than happy to review the show you are looking for.

Tot TV Reviews, children’s television, reviews

Manny Rivera is just an average pre-teen boy living in Miracle City, but he possesses superpowers that he’s not quite sure what to do with. With a quick spin of his mystical belt buckle, Manny transforms into the mighty El Tigre, but he just can’t decide whether he wants to become a superhero or a supervillain. Sometimes he manages to be good, but other times he really enjoys just being bad. Most of the time he is just interested in finding a new adventure for himself and his best friend Frida. Frida isn’t always a great influence though, as she often leads him down paths he would have otherwise avoided.

Manny’s father Rodolfo, once a superhero himself, is trying to steer Manny in the right direction, but he’s not always successful. Although he is semi-retired and prefers to focus on his family and 9 to 5 job, he still transforms into White Pantera and saves the day when there is a dire emergency.

Manny’s Granpapi, also known as the super villain Puma Loco, loves his grandson dearly and strives to show Manny the ropes of his villainous ways. Though he claims to be retired, he still manages to pull of an occasional heist. He never misses a chance to show Manny just how fun it is to be bad.

Overall, El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera looks like a good show. The struggle between good and evil is always present and it is interesting to see which way El Tigre will turn. Created by husband and wife team Jorge R. Gutierrez and Sandra Equihua, El Tigre is an entertaining Mexican-folk inspired cartoon. While younger viewers may enjoy the animation, it is probably best aimed toward the elementary and/or tween age range.

El Tigre premiered on March 3, 2007. You can catch new episodes on Nickelodeon Saturday mornings at 10:30 a.m./9:30 a.m. Central. The episodes will also re-air throughout the week on Nickelodeon. Check local listings for times.

El Tigre, Manny Rivera, White Pantera, Puma Loco, Nickelodeon, Jorge R. Gutierrez, Sandra Equihua

As part of the “Learn Along With Sesame” program, iTunes is offering six free educational episodes from Sesame Workshop. That’s right, I said free.

The episodes, featuring all of your favorite Sesame Street characters, cover topics from health and safety, to handling emotions, to music. Following is a brief summary of the available episodes from iTunes:

Talk, Listen, Connect–Elmo finds it hard when his Dad has to go away. This program helps military families and their young childdren cope with the challenges experienced during deployment.

Happy Healthy Ready for School–Elmo discovers some wonderful things as he learns to get ready for school.

Music Works Wonders–Elmo helps Mr. Hoots put on a concert, and learns a lot about music.

You Can Ask–Elmo, Telly, and Big Bird present four stories that explore fear, loss, bullying, and differences. Their experiences can help parents and kids find positive ways to talk about their feelings together.

A is for Asthma–Elmo and Rosita learn what to do when their friend has trouble breathing.

Lead Away–Oscar, Elmo, and Rosita learn how to protect themselves from the dangers of lead.

In order to download the episodes, you do have to have iTunes installed on your computer. You can download the free application here and then click here to download the episodes. You can also find the Learn Along With Sesame episodes by browsing the “kids” portion of the “TV Shows” section within iTunes.

iTunes, Sesame Workshop, Learn Along With Sesame, Elmo, Sesame Street

I flipped on the TV this afternoon, scrolled through the episodes recorded on the TiVo and finally settled on Dora The Explorer. When the show started playing, there was no Dora or Boots on the screen. Instead, we were treated to an episode of Rocket Power, a cartoon I had never seen before. We didn’t watch it for long because for some reason we had recorded the Spanish version and my son looked a little confused, but it was still fun to watch something new.

With my curiosity piqued, I decided to do a little bit of research and find out more about the show. Produced by Klasky Csupo, who also created The Rugrats, Rocket Power debuted on Nickelodeon in August of 1999. It revolves around four middle school aged kids from Southern California who love extreme sports. Otto Rocket, Reggie Rocket, Maurice “Twister” Rodriguez, and Samuel Dullard all have different specialties that mold together to form quite a diverse group.

Three made for TV movies were created based on the Rocket Power characters: Race Across New Zealand, Reggie’s Big (Beach) Break, and Island of Menehune. Both the made for TV movies and the animated show have featured cameos from popular sports figures such as Tony Hawk (Enter the Hawk-trix), Andy MacDonald (…Beach Break), and hockey players Jeremy Roenick, Luc Robitaille, and Martin Brodeur (Power Play).

While I didn’t get a good feel for the dialogue of the show (since the episode was in Spanish and I don’t speak Spanish) it did look entertaining. It seems to be aimed more towards the Elementary/Tween range.

If you’ve seen Rocket Power, leave a comment and let me know what you (and your kids) think of the show.

Rocket Power, Otto Rocket, Reggie Rocket, Maurice “Twister” Rodriguez, and Samuel Dullard, Nickelodeon, Klasky Csupo, Tony Hawk, Andy MacDonald, Jeremy Roenick, Luc Robitaille, Martin Brodeur

It has been one long busy weekend, so I’m going to leave you with a video today while I try to catch up.

TheBigDaddyD has created a series of 80’s cartoon intros on YouTube. Being a child of the 80’s I remember watching many of these cartoons, but there are some I’ve never even heard of. Take a look for yourself and see how many you remember.

If you want more, go check out Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5. Just make sure you have plenty of time to waste before you get started.

YouTube, cartoons, 80’s

It has been a big week of announcements for Nickelodeon and today I have yet another one. On Monday, March 12th, Nick Jr. will premiere a brand new episode of Dora The Explorer. The new episode, entitled “Star Mountain”, will teach viewers shapes and colors in Spanish. It will also introduce Dora’s new friends, the Tres Estrellas Exploradoras (Three Explorer Stars), that will travel along with her and Boots on their journey.

Here is the full description of the episode from Nick Jr.:

In “Star Mountain,” Dora’s grandmother makes her a necklace to match her favorite bracelet, but it isn’t long before Swiper flings it all the way to the top of Star Mountain. To get to the peak, Dora and Boots must race up 15 star steps and climb up a diamond to get to the giant star. Along their journey, Dora and Boots team up with the Tres Estrellas Exploradoras (Three Explorer Stars), made up of Glowy, the bright light star, Tool Star, the star with the cool gadgets, and Saltador, the jumping star. Together the group battle fog, ice, wind, snow and steer clear of the rising green goo. Dora and Boots ask the preschoolers at home to help them find Dora’s necklace by teaching them numbers and colors in Spanish.

Be sure to tune it on March 12th at 9:00 a.m. (ET/PT). If you miss the first showing, you can catch it again on Friday, March 16th at 9:00 a.m. (ET/PT). You can also catch a two-minute sneak peak at Nick Jr. Video online beginning on March 9th.

*Image Source: Nickelodeon
Provided by Newscom

Dora the Explorer, Nick Jr., premiere, Star Mountain, Tres Estrellas Exploradoras

Nickelodeon and Mall of America announced today that they are teaming up to revamp the mall’s current seven acre theme park. The new park will feature new rides and attractions, inspired by Nickelodeon’s popular shows and characters. They are still in the planning phase, but Mall of America has confirmed plans for a free-fall tower and an upside-down rollercoaster based on the series Avatar:The Last Airbender.

Besides the new rides, the park will feature a variety of costumed Nickelodeon characters, live shows, retail, games, live interactive entertainment, and food service establishments. Kids and parents alike will be able to find their favorite characters around the park such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Danny Phantom, Jimmy Neutron, The Backyardigans and many others.

If you prefer shopping to rides and entertainment, Nickelodeon will also be opening a brand new Nick store in the mall that will fill over 4,000 square feet of space. It will offer branded t-shirts, souvenirs, novelties, and more.

The new park is expected to begin construction in 2007 and be ready for the public in Spring 2008. If you are planning a trip to Mall of America this summer, you just might want to wait another year.

*Image provided by PR Newswire Photo Service via Newscom.

Nickelodeon, Mall of America, theme park, live shows, games, rollercoaster, SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go!, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Danny Phantom, Jimmy Neutron, The Backyardigans