Staff Reports
June 19, 2008 10:00 am
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During high school and half of my college tenure, television for me was strictly football and hockey.
After my son Devin was born in 2006, though, I see myself watching different programming.
Nickelodeon is now the primary station in my apartment, where sometimes it’s better to watch Devin’s reaction than the actual show. And there are more than a few shows that take up our viewing time.
‘SpongeBob SquarePants’
Don’t get me wrong, there are a few shows Devin and I can sit and watch for an entire day. “SpongeBob SquarePants” is exceptionally popular with my little ball of energy — so much that we have eight to 10 DVDs of the show, mostly so he can watch them while he falls asleep.
SpongeBob is great because it can connect to both a child and a simple-minded adult like myself by using corny humor.
When we watch an episode we’ve seen a few times too many, I tend to casually wait for the humorous reaction from our toddler critic. By far, Devin’s favorite part of the movie is toward the end when SpongeBob breaks into a song, playing a guitar and zapping the mind-control bucket helmets off the people that Plankton tricked into wearing.
During this clip, I’ve seen two similar and entertaining reactions from Devin. He started by jumping off the couch and playing the air-guitar along with SpongeBob, bobbing his head like a rock star.
Although freakishly cute and quite humorous, Devin found need to modify his little stunt the next time we watched the movie. As the song began, Devin jumped off the couch, but instead of jumping into air-guitar mode, he ran for one of our “Guitar Hero” paddles. The sight of my little rocker bouncing with a guitar paddle, which is just about the size of him, was too much for me; my laughter led to a stomach ache and left me near tears.
‘The Fairly OddParents’
We also enjoy “The Fairly OddParents,” a show about Timmy Turner, a 10-year-old boy who has fairy godparents who grant him wishes that usually blow up in his face. Those two shows are just about the extent of where a 2-year-old’s brain and the 21-year-old brain of his father can agree when it comes to children’s programming.
How can we not love “The Fairly OddParents?” I mean who couldn’t use two fairy godparents to grant your every wish? I know I could.
‘Go Diego Go’
Devin loves “Go Diego Go,” the show that takes children on adventures and teaches them Spanish while their parents look for a spot in the wall they haven’t bashed their heads into yet.
One thing I have to credit “Go Diego Go” with is it taught Devin a new word, in English! “Go Go Go,” he shouts during the theme song.
And when Baby Jaguar comes on the screen, I immediately know what his reaction will be. “Kitty kitty,” he says with a little pitch in his voice while rubbing his fingers together as if he were calling the feline.
This is normally the time where I try to explain that it is a jaguar and not a house cat. This is also normally the time the jaguar meows and Devin assertively pronounces “Kitty!”
This show is good for him because he absolutely loves animals. This show is horrible for me because it is “interactive” and sometimes I just don’t feel like saying phrases in Spanish to help this kid save a spider.
‘The Backyardigans’
“The Backyardigans” are hit and miss with my little TV critic. He needs to be in the mood to watch the adventurous yet incredibly annoying characters who play pretend in every episode.
The Backyardigans are some of the most annoying characters on Nickelodeon, but they sing and dance, and therefore Devin enjoys the show.
During an episode about a pie samurai, Devin proved yet again that the show is not as important, as the child’s reaction. After some nifty ninja moves by one of the characters, Devin pointed at the tube with a surprised, shocked look on his face, capped off with a loud “Oh!” Intrigued by his new-found passion of martial arts, pie style, he began to kick and punch the air and then jump head-first into his Sabres bean bag chair.
After he untangled himself from the awkward form of the chair, he gave me an evil smile with his fists clenched, and I realized I was being challenged by the great ninja toddler. We rough-housed for a while until one of his toys caught his eye, then I was able to catch my breath.
‘The Wonder Pets’
“The Wonder Pets” is a show about three brave school pets who save animals in every episode. The problem with this show is Ming-Ming, a duck who has a speech impediment. Now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against people who have difficulty pronouncing words, but this is a children’s show.
Every parent knows how hard it is to get a child to talk correctly. Children mimic television, and the last thing parents need is to correct bad habits induced by a show.
I mean, we have bigger fish to fry, like potty training.
I usually try to keep Devin from watching this show because of that duck, but sometimes I’ll give in.
‘Yo Gabba Gabba!’
Devin enjoys the music-filled show “Yo Gabba Gabba!” This show features DJ Lance Rock, a man you would never want to leave your child alone with, and the five action figures he brings to life in every episode. They learn basic childhood behaviors like sharing and playing nicely together, along with dancing and singing.
Watching “Yo Gabba Gabba!” is gut-wrenching, but watching Devin watch the show is quite amusing.
Devin tries to mimic the moves on the show, but if he gets bored with that, he’ll start jumping and wiggling his arms, providing about 10 minutes of solid laughter. He also tries to sing, which is quite a talent since he’s not forming full sentences yet. You may hear something along the lines of, “Yeah yeah yeah, go go go,” followed by a high-pitched “Ohhhhhh!”
The show is still creepy, but sometimes I’ll look for it so my son can amuse me since I usually have to keep him amused.
—Anthony Custode is a Night & Day intern.
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