Tot TV Watch

Tomorrow, July 16, 2009, the newest show called Stoked premieres on Cartoon Network. All those out there fearing another live action show is coming as part of CN Real can stop worrying as this is a new animated show for the network that is no longer just cartoons. Seriously I never thought I would have to specify that a new show coming to Cartoon Network is animated, but now that they have CN Real it cannot be assumed the show is animated.

Stoked is another show that Cartoon Network is importing from Canada, so it is not exactly new, but even in Canada it only premiered in June 2009. The show is from the creator of several other shows now on Cartoon Network (6teen, Total Drama Island, and Total Drama Action). This new show is about a group of groms, which are young surfers (yeah, I had to look that term up). The show is about them spending a summer at legendary Sunset Island in British Columbia, Canada. It seems to be about them working at the island while also enjoying surfing for 12 weeks as their first summer away from home.

I am not into surfing or even Cartoon Network, but this show actually sounds like it has much better potential for me to enjoy than the other shows by this creator. That said I still probably will never watch it unless I stumble on it being on, especially since I still have another three weeks of no television while I am on my cross country baseball road trip.

VeggieTales An Easter Carol has been on DVD for years, but tomorrow is its first time on television with its premiere on Gospel Music Channel. Not sure about cable companies that carry this channel, but I get it with my mid level DirectTV package of channels. For DirectTV customers the channel is 338. They are showing it April 10, 2009 at 7pm Eastern Time and 8pm Eastern Time, April 11, 2009 at 9am Eastern Time and 4pm Eastern Time, and April 12, 2009 at 1pm Eastern Time. If you have not seen it, then catch it first on television. If your kids enjoy it at all, then you may want to consider the DVD, which has tons of fun bonus features.

Charles Dicken’s classic Christmas Carol story gets what I think is its most creative and wackiest parody ever in VeggieTales An Easter Carol. I am a big VeggieTales fan despite not being pretty much not religious. It just is such a funny and entertaining series that at the same time always teaches important lessons in a way that kids can understand. The Easter Carol one is definitely one of the very Christian ones in the series because in the end it teaches the real meaning of Easter. Thus I would not really recommend this for non-Christians as much as some of the less Christian specific ones in the series.

I am not saying if you are not Christian you cannot enjoy this or that you should avoid it because it teaches a very Christian centric story, but just that be prepared for the kids to be confused and have questions if they are not at all familiar with Jesus and Christianity. In fact it can be used well to teach kids about Christianity without saying that they have to believe in Christian beliefs, At least that is how I see the series. I always have seen it in that it only pushes morals while mentioning Christian beliefs, but it does not feel like it is trying to convert you if you are not Christian or very faithful.

The newest Playhouse Disney show premieres tomorrow. The new show is called Special Agent Oso. The show’s main character as mostly guessed by the show’s title is named Oso and is a special agent in training for U.N.I.Q.U.E. (United Network for Investigating Quite Usual Events). Oso is a sort of clumsy teddy bear. Personally that makes me think Pooh, but really the inspiration is supposedly drawn from James Bond and the Pink Panther as a sort of homage to the classic spy drama.

The show is an interactive show like pretty much all of the preschool shows these days. This show enlists viewers to help in the special agent missions. This main way it is supposed to educate kids is by teaching how to break tasks into mostly three easy steps, as Oso does this for his training missions. The show promotes using observational skills and cognitive abilities. It seems the missions involve helping kids do different things, such as mailing a letter and using the library.

Each episode has two ~11 minute stories (i.e. what I like to call half-episodes). I really do not like this type of episode structure seeming to take over kids programming. I guess it more has to do with almost all animated shows getting this type of treatment than just preschool shows, but for once it would be nice to see some non-Nick Jr show do one plot line per episode. It is like saying kids do not have the attention span and cannot possibly enjoy a full fleshed out 22 minute plot. Anyways, at least Disney usually makes the shows entertaining for the parents and caregivers, too, and I do think it stands a chance of being a good new show.

The Penguins of Madagascar have been shown on Nickelodeon a few times as their sneak peek episode in the past few months. This Saturday right after the Kid’s Choice Awards on Nickelodeon the show is premiering for real and actually beginning its run as a current Nickelodeon show. This has been a long awaited series, as it was pushed back at least a year from its original release and the teaser sneak peek episodes just made it more frustrating that it was not really coming to Nickelodeon until March 2009. However, the sneak peeks also ruined the whole excitement for the show for me because it proved that the show would not be anywhere near as good as I expected.

I reviewed it back when the first sneak peek aired here. The main thing that turned me off of it is that the King Julian character is plain annoying and he seems to take a central role. I really love the Christmas Caper cartoon with the penguins and the whole penguin operations, but the adding of King Julian ruins the show. I will still probably watch it and keep it on season pass on my DVR, however, I will not care if I watch the new episodes as they air and will likely watch my other recordings first and leave those episodes for last. Basically it is the least liked of the shows I have on Season Pass and it only gets the honor because I really do still like the penguins and am holding out hope that in at least some of the episodes King Julian does not have much of a role.

Anyways the premiere episode description about the penguins wanting to go on vacation on the moon and investigating a spooky noise do sound interesting and little less King Julian focused than the sneak peek episode.

Do not forget to comment and get an entry in our March Comment Contest and have a chance to win a TV on DVD.

Tomorrow, February 8, 2009, the newest Disney Channel show premieres at 8pm Eastern/Pacific (perhaps some other time based on your location and television provider, as for me it first airs at 6pm on Direct TV 290). The show premieres with two episodes in a row with the “Sketchy Beginnings” episode first and then the “West Coast Story” episode. The show is about Sonny, a girl from Green Bay, Wisonsin, being discovered to star in a show called So Random! (sounds somewhat like All That) when the producer sees her homemade comedy sketch videos online (sounds iCarly-esque). The show seems kind of like a mix of iCarly and Hannah Montana and potentially will interest tween girls, but I am not so sure about it. It just seems that Disney is becoming very girly and while I do admit to still liking Hannah Montana somewhat, so much of the channel is too girl drama oriented. I have a feeling this show will be more comedy drama and closer to the Zach and Cody series than iCarly and Hannah Montana. However, it does seem that the main drama is between Sonny and a co-star Tawni, who sees Sonny as a threat to her career. There also seems to be show rivalry between So Random! and MacKenzi Falls, which is a teen drama that films next to So Random!.

I think this show will be okay as far as the parts about them making the show and the rival dramas. However, I am not into comedy sketch stuff at all and the show So Random! is supposed to be a show inside of the show, so we shall see how big a part this plays and if it turns me off from liking it overall.

Do not forget to comment and get an entry in our February Comment Contest and have a chance to win a TV on DVD.

If you do not know already, I am a big fan of penguins. At the same time I barely like Nickelodeon shows these days besides a few of the Nick Jr ones that I think are a good balance of entertainment and educational television for preschoolers. However, the penguin obsession is definitely a stronger feeling and since I have already been tortured by the premiere of Mighty B! this year why would not I watch the preview of the newest Nickelodeon cartoon.

The new show is called The Penguins of Madagascar. The movie is based on the penguins and a few other characters from the Madagascar and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa movies. I love both movies including the holiday special they released with Madagascar on DVD that features the penguins in a Christmas caper. This show takes place after the events in the second movie. The penguins are back at the zoo and so is King Julien, the king of the Lemurs. The show is basically about the penguins secret missions as they compete against Julien to be the supreme ruler of the Central Park Zoo.

Before I get to my view on the sneak peak let me just start with my rant on why I am annoyed with Nickelodeon again. This sneak peak was supposedly supposed to premiere at 6:45pm on Nickelodeon 1, but when I watch my recording it was the Spongebob part of the half hour as the sneak peek aired at 6:30pm. Luckily I still had time to set up the showing at 9:30pm on Nickelodeon 2 to record, as this time I knew to have it record the part that said Spongebob and not Penguin. However, since I had been up since 2:30am I was not going to stay up another three hours to see it.

Overall I am glad I finally got to watch it this morning, as I do love the penguins doing their missions. However, this is not as good as the Christmas Caper DVD. The main reason is that I do not like King Julien and his role seems to be quite central. I still think I will watch the show when it really starts airing next year, but I am no longer as excited about it as I was before today. It really would be much better without King Julien.

If you missed the sneak peek, you can also catch it several times tomorrow, but I would not count on the TV listings being correct about the air time. The actual series, The Penguins of Madagascar, is expected to premiere in March 2009. The first season is supposed to have 26 episodes.

This Saturday Whiffle and Fuzz premieres on Playhouse Disney. It is a new short that appears between shows, like the Lou and Lou shorts I blogged about pretty recently. The time slot for Whiffle and Fuzz is 6:55am Eastern Time or 5:55am Central Time. Personally this seems like a really early time to air a new short and hopefully it will shift around in the times it shows like the Playhouse Disney shows seem to do from week to week.

The characters of this short are obviously called Whiffle and Fuzz. Whiffle is a red fuzzy sphere creature with stick figure like arms and legs. Fuzz is similar, except he is blue and shaped like a cube. From the previews I have seen it looks like this is a show about guessing what the animals are behind a screen that has a few holes that are revealed as they find clues related to the animal.

You can watch some Whiffle and Fuzz videos on the Playhouse Disney website for this show here.

The new show Chop Socky Chooks premieres tonight at 9pm Eastern and Pacific Time on Cartoon Network. This show is features three chickens as the main characters. These three chickens are named Chick P., KO Joe, and Chuckie Chan. They use their martial arts skills and super spy technology to protect the citizens of Wasabi World, which is the fictional city/mall this animated show is set in. Their enemy is Dr. Wasabi the evil person running Wasabi World.

Looking through the Cartoon Network site for this show I found a listing of the episodes. It gives episode descriptions for episodes 1 through 26. Interestingly enough it premieres tonight with episode 5 and then next week it is showing episode 4, so kind of illogical order. Anyways tonight’s episode is called Game Over Chooks and is about Dr. Wasabi kidnapping Chuckie Chan’s students. He tries to use their skills in a video game that causes Chooks in the real world to be destroyed.

Main Character Bios:

Chuckie Chan: One of the three main Kung Fu heroes of the show. He is the Kung Fu master and follows its true path in pursuit of enlightenment. His Kung Fu mastery includes mystic abilities.

KO Joe: Another one of the three main heroes of the show. This is the character with an afro. He has a generous spirit and selfless in his sense of justice.

Chick P: This is the girl hero in the show’s trio of heroes. She works undercover at the mall and is the team’s engineer turning any object into a fighting tool.

Dr. Wasabi: He is the villian of the show carrying out his evil plans from his fishbowl headquarters at the Wasabi World Mall.

Bubba: He is a giant gorilla that helps Dr. Wasabi. He is portrayed as a dumb sidekick.

Ninja Chimps: These are Dr. Wasabi’s main minions that try to keep his plans from being thwarted.

This Fall, Nick Jr. is introducing a groundbreaking new animated series for the preschool crowd. Ni Hao, Kai-Lan will introduce children to Chinese Language and Culture during the half-hour interactive series. It will teach Mandarin words and phrases, as well as explore social-emotional skills.

Kai-lan Chow is a young Chinese-American girl who speaks both English and Mandarin (much like Dora and Diego speak English and Spanish). Viewers experience the Chinese culture along with Kai-lan and her family. The show mainly centers on Kai-lan and her relationships with her grandfather, YeYe, and her animal friends. YeYe is a big part of Kai-lan’s life and helps to guide her to her own discoveries. Kai-lan is a very thoughtful and caring girl, who has a gift for helping her friends. Her friends include: Rintoo, a rambunctious five-year-old tiger who loves to play, Tolee, a five-year-old koala who always puts his friends first, Hoho, a three-year-old monkey full of boundless energy, and Lulu, a happy six-year-old pink rhino.

Ni Hao, Kai-Lan focuses on social and emotional issues such as taking turns, disappointment, and jealousy, while also highlighting cause and effect thinking. There is no shortage of music either as the show introduces simple coping strategies through playful songs that teach valuable lessons. In each episode, Kai-lan and her friends explore their emotions and stop to consider the feelings of others.

Ni Hao, Kai-Lan will premiere on Nick Jr. on Monday, October 22nd. My family and I will definitely be looking forward to watching the premiere episode.

Ni Hao Kai-Lan, Nick Jr., Chinese-American, Chinese culture, Mandarin, bi-lingual, language, culture

It’s been a little bit harder getting back into the groove of things than I expected. Part of that has to do with the condition I left things in and the other part has to do with a certain two year old who seems to be quite off schedule. He doesn’t want to go to bed at night, which means I don’t get my precious computer time and then he doesn’t want to get up in the morning. All of this is really throwing me off and not allowing me to bring you the latest Tot TV news.

Thanks to my routine being all out of whack, I’m a bit late bringing you the information about Nick Jr.’s four week long Dance Party. The big party started on Monday, the 23rd, but it will continue through Friday, August 17th. During the Nick Jr. Dance Party, you can catch music and dance themed episodes from Dora the Explorer, The Wonder Pets, Blue’s Clues, and The Backyardigans. Each week, Nick Jr. will also be premiering one never-before-seen music video from the upcoming new series Yo Gabba Gabba!, which will debut in August.

The Nick Jr. Dance Party episodes will air as follows:

– Monday, July 23 - Friday, July 27 - Five music-themed Dora the Explorer episodes everyday at 9:00 a.m., beginning with the premiere of “La Maestra de Musica” on July 23.

— Monday, July 30 - Friday, August 3 - Five episodes of The Wonder Pets! featuring Ming Ming’s greatest musical adventures will air everyday at 11:00 a.m.

– Monday, August 6 - Friday, August 10 - Five episodes of Blue’s Clues featuring Blue’s biggest musical moments will air everyday at 10:00 a.m.

– Monday, August 13 - Friday, August 17 - Five episodes of The Backyardigans featuring some of the best dance moves from the five backyard pals will air everyday at 10:30 a.m.

Kids and parents can also log on to the Nick Jr. website to vote for their favorite music video of the week. Each Friday, Nick Jr. will announce the results of the favorite video votes on air.

Nick Jr. Dance Party, Dora the Explorer, The Wonder Pets, Blue’s Clues, The Backyardigans, Yo Gabba Gabba!, video, music, dance

Nick Jr. is kicking off summer with four new episodes of your favorite preschool shows. New episodes of Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go!, the Backyardigans, and the Wonder Pets will air during Beach Party Week Monday, June 25th through June 29th. Catch a new episode each day during Beach Party Week, then watch them all again in a mini-marathon on Friday from 9:00-11:00 a.m ET/PT. The episodes will air as follows:

Monday, June 25 (9:00 a.m.) - Dora the Explorer “Baby Crab”
* Dora and Boots are having a blast at the beach when they hear a call for help. A baby crab is stuck in a net! Dora finds a pair of scissors inside Backpack and frees the crab, but as he scurries off, he realizes he forgot which way to go. Dora and Boots take him through the Squishy Squid’s Musical Sand Castle, over a mountain of rhythmically snapping clams, and across the ocean to his Mami on Crab Island.

Tuesday, June 26 (9:00 a.m.) - Go, Diego, Go! “An Underwater Mystery”
* Diego and Alicia are exploring the ocean in the Rescue Center Submarine when they hear a cry for help. Using Click, the duo find a mystery fish named Lucy who has lost her way. In order to bring her back home, Diego and Alicia must determine what kind of fish Lucy is by finding clues. They discover Lucy has 3,000 teeth, skin with spots and stripes and a tail she wiggles from side to side. What could she be?

Wednesday, June 27 (9:00 a.m.) - The Backyardigans “Into the Deep”
* In their incredible submarine, deep-sea explorers Tyrone and Pablo, plunge to the deepest part of the ocean to discover a rare mermaid. Meanwhile, mermaids Tasha and Uniqua will do anything to protect their mermaid garden from intruders. Set to a Bollywood soundtrack, an exhilarating underwater chase ensues until the mermaids realize that all the scientists want to do is capture them — on film!

Thursday, June 28 (9:00 a.m.) - The Wonder Pets! “Save the Goldfish”
* The Wonder Pets fly to a child’s bedroom where a pet baby goldfish in an aquarium is trapped inside a bubbling treasure chest. The trio dive into the aquarium to search for the goldfish and encounter a toy mermaid and toy statue of Neptune, King of the Water. They finally reach the trapped fish and try unsuccessfully to use Neptune’s trident to lift open the treasure chest. The Wonder Pets then find a set of keys hanging on the toy pirate and use teamwork to unlock the chest and save the baby goldfish.

Nick Jr., Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go, Backyardigans, Wonder Pets, Beach Party Week

According to Animation Magazine, HBO has recently acquired Magic Cellar for broadcast. Magic Cellar is a 3D animated series based on African culture and the first animated African TV show to be sold to a major American network.

The ten-episode series is based on African folk-tales, many of which were collected from village elders, passed down from generation to generation. The show follows eight-year-old Pula, who recently moved in with her Gogo (grandmother). At Gogo’s house, Pula and her new friends discover the Magic Cellar where they go to hear stories and interact with a talking gecko and a wise old cricket.

Each Magic Cellar episode contains two stories that celebrate Africa’s culture and traditions, while also promoting reading and important social skills such as sharing and telling the truth. While it is based mainly on African culture, it also celebrates multiculturalism by including Indian, Caucasian, Asian, and mixed-race characters as well.

Magic Cellar will premiere Saturday, June 23rd, at 6:00 p.m. ET on HBO Family and will repeat on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Magic Cellar, Africa, culture, multicultural, HBO Family, Animation Magazine, folk-tale, premiere

Wayside, a new animated series based on the books series by Louis Sachar, premieres June 25th on Nickelodeon. The first season of 26 episodes will air weekdays at 12:30 p.m. ET/PT.

Wayside is a 30-story grade school where wacky occurrences are just part of every day life. Somehow, when Wayside school was built, each classroom was mistakenly built on a separate floor instead of built side by side on one floor. The series focuses on the adventures of Mrs. Jewls’ class held on the 30th floor. It follows Todd, the new kid at school, and his new friends Maurecia, the tough girl who uses physical actions to express herself, Dana, the slightly emotional over-achiever, and Myron, the politician of the school. You can also catch a glimpse of the class weirdos including the boy who wears an elf costume every day, the kid that is always upside down, and the girl who is always asleep (boy does that bring back memories!).

The stories presented in each episode deal with issues that kids are faced with in every day life but are presented in a humorous way. Somehow, even the most twisted and wacky scenarios can can teach a great lesson.

Don’t forget to tune in on Monday, June 25th, when all the wackiness begins!

Wayside, Nickelodeon, Louis Sachar, Mrs. Jewls, Todd, Maurecia, Dana, Myron

Tonight I had the pleasure of previewing two episodes of the new show Bindi: The Jungle Girl that is premiering this weekend.  Bindi Irwin, daughter of the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, is the host of the show.  From high atop a jungle treehouse, she upholds her father’s legacy by educating kids and adults alike about animals and conservation.  From leeches, to elephants, to the snake that sleeps in her bed, Bindi shows her love for all wildlife.

Throughout the show, there are clips of Bindi and her father experiencing wildlife across the globe.  Bindi’s mother, Terri, shows up now and then and her little brother even makes a quick appearance.  It is obvious that this show is very much a family effort. 

Each episode features a regular segment called “Bindi’s Blog” where she logs in to answer questions from kids around the world.  The Crocmen, Bindi’s four-man singing and dancing crew perform original songs and present “Croc Facts” during each show as well.

I was a little surprised at how fast-paced the show moved at first.  Bindi seemed a little over excited at first, almost gasping for a breath in some scenes.  But as the show went on, the pace did slow down a little and even managed to keep the attention of my almost two-year-old for a while.  He was very interested in all of the strange looking animals.

Bindi: The Jungle Girl premieres Saturday, June 9th, at 5:00 p.m. ET on Discovery Kids.  You can also catch Bindi hosting My Daddy The Croc Hunter, where she will share clips from her father’s career, including his latest croc research adventure in August of 2006.  It will air Friday, June 8th, at 9:00 p.m. ET on Animal Planet.  Animal Planet will also be premiering Planet’s Best With Terri and Bindi on Sunday, June 10th, during which the Irwins will introduce viewers to 1001 different animals while hosting the best wildlife programming Animal Planet has to offer every Sunday night.

Bindi Irwin, Bindi: The Jungle Girl, Steve Irwin, Terri Irwin, Crocodile Hunter, Crocmen, Discovery Kids, Animal Planet, My Daddy The Croc Hunter, Planet’s Best With Terri and Bindi, animals, conservation, jungle

May 13th is quickly approaching and mothers everywhere will be celebrating one of their most important roles in life. If you are still searching for a gift, you can check out the great lists here, here, or here. However, sometimes the best gift for Mom is letting her have some quiet time to relax. I suggest bringing her breakfast in bed (along with hand-made cards from the kids), then whisking the kids away for a while so that Mom can have some quiet time to read a book, peruse her favorite blogs, or just take a nice hot bath without any interruptions. If you need a way to entertain the tots while Mom is relaxing, you can always keep them busy with some of these Mother’s Day specials, new episodes, and activities:

• Dora the Explorer’s Mother’s Day Marathon will be airing on Nick Jr. Friday, May 11th, from 12:00-2:00p.m ET/PT, but you can always record it to a VCR, DVR, or TiVo and save it for the big day.
• Noggin will be celebrating by airing an all-day Mother’s Day marathon on Sunday, featuring an all new episode of Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends. The marathon will run from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET.
• Playhouse Disney will be airing new episodes of My Friends Tigger and Pooh at 10:00/9:00c and Handy Manny at 10:30/9:30c on May 13th. The Handy Manny episode will feature special guest Marion Ross as Mr. Lopart’s mother. Kids can also find some great Mother’s Day craft ideas on the Playhouse Disney web site.
• The PBSParents web site also has some great craft ideas and activities, as well as Mother’s Day breakfast recipes that are definitely worth checking out.

If those don’t interest your kids (but I’m sure they will) you can always watch their regularly scheduled favorite shows. Of course, you could just take the kids out to the park for a couple of hours. I’m sure when you return, Mom will be ready for some snuggly family time.

If you have any other great Mother’s Day tips you want to share, please leave them in the comments section below.

Mother’s Day, Mother’s Day Tips, gift ideas, Dora the Explorer, Mother’s Day Marathon, Nick Jr., Handy Manny, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, Playhouse Disney, PBS Parents, crafts, recipes