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Well, I was horrified the first time I saw the Cocomelon and was unsettled as a dad. This article explains why. I need to check Bluey, we watched Miraculous, t
by Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y ago
Well, I was horrified the first time I saw the Cocomelon and was unsettled as a dad. This article explains why.
I need to check Bluey, we watched Miraculous, tales of Ladybug with our kids and enjoyed it (the plot is for adults).
There is a whole bunch of "junk food" in both tv and videogames (those were you win no matter what). I'm hoping things get better.
- Benjamin_Dobell 2y agoBluey is much more wholesome than Miraculous. Not a judgement thing, my eldest watches Miraculous too and I don't really have a problem with it. It's just not on the same level as Bluey. A huge plus for parents is also that Bluey is WAY more engaging for adults. Far and away my favourite program to watch with my kids. Some episodes really pull at the heart strings.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y agoMiraculous changes a lot in the later seasons. I'm saying this because while our kids were very much into the first 2 seasons, it was me and my wife who got hooked for the other 3 seasons. The first 2 seasons are also full of fillers if you want, I don't shy away from skipping them when I'm alone, but we did watch it all with our kids. We had a good time with it. Not sure if you watched it all, I'm looking forward the next season to see how the plot unravels. But I'll definitely check Bluey :) That being said, I wish there was a genre tagged as "engaging for adults, fun for kids": there are a bunch of movies and shows along these lines, but they aren't tagged in any other way. Another genre that exists but I can't find is "boring for kids but child-friendly", basically any tv show that says stuff they can't properly follow, doesn't have action scenes, but has a convoluted plot for adults. On the top of my mind I can think of Shrinking (my kids still don't understand cursing in english, only italian, so this is great), but I remember there was an even better one that I can't think of right now.
- euroderf 2y ago> I wish there was a genre tagged as "engaging for adults, fun for kids" Rocky & Bullwinkle was here. Loaded with adult-friendly puns and hommages.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y agoThere are a few, it's just not highlighted, and the problem is you can determine it only after watching it. That defeats the purpose unfortunately!
- conductr 2y agoGoing into parenthood I never thought I'd say it about a kids show but Bluey has damn near made me cry and Bandit makes me strive to be a better dad
- sdiupIGPWEfh 2y agoPersonally, I'm convinced Bluey is covertly a wholesome show for parents, dressed up as a kids' show, but ultimately still for the sake of children by way of 1) encouraging watching together, 2) improving parents' mental health and well-being, which has positive outcomes for their kids, 3) getting parents to be more engaged and imaginative.
- DanHulton 2y agoIt's truly, actually a family show, not just a show for kids that parents can tolerate enough to sit through. Pretty much any episode that has the girls learning a lesson is also teaching a lesson to any of the parents watching. Or "adults," I should say -- I don't even have kids and I feel like a better person for having watched!
- jakeydus 2y agoI feel no shame admitting that Sleepytime makes me cry without fail every time I see it. I feel like most cartoon parents are either completely hapless morons (Papa Pig in Peppa Pig) or 100% perfect all the time robots (I love you Mr. and Mrs. Tiger but you're paragons, hard to relate to as parents). Bandit and Chili are incredible parents who also make mistakes and have real emotions and reactions to things. They absolutely make me want to be a better parent in a way that is actually achievable.
- __alexander 2y agoAlong with Bluey, Gabby's Dollhouse is pretty good. It’s not over stimulating and it’s interactive.
- Benjamin_Dobell 2y agoIf you're in Australia, there's a live Gabby's Dollhouse theatre show on at the moment that's also very good: https://gabbysdollhouselive.com/ https://gabbysdollhouselive.com/
- basch 2y agoTumble Leaf. Slumberkins.
- ashton314 2y agoBluey is next-level. S-tier television. It’s wholesome, calm, and entertaining. Episodes like Camping, Baby Race, Cricket, and Onesies are all emotional sucker-punches to the adults watching. (My pet theory, which my wife first suggested: Camping is essentially the Star Trek TNG episode Darmok.)
- ranger_danger 2y agoThe newer Bluey episode "The Sign" made me ugly cry.
- tomhoward 2y agoI felt a lump in my throat as it came to mind while I drove around today with my 4yo son in the back, thinking about how to give him a “good life”.
- noneeeed 2y agoI moved across country and left all my friends behind at the age of 9, The Sign was a hard watch. I was those kids. I can still remember my reaction to being told we were moving (I would have been about 8). Bluey is a certified work of perfection. My kids have stopped watching it now. I'm tempted to watch them all from the start by myself.
- jeffrallen 2y agoLet's not even mention Rug Island, the device in reading on is not nearly waterproof enough for the rain of tears it provokes!
- c-cube 2y agoSo many little things for parents. Your list is good. I was also struck by "early baby", for example, for subtext children will only get when they re-watch in 20 years.
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- abracadaniel 2y ago
- danielvaughn 2y agoI cannot recommend Bluey enough. It’s made me, a 40 year old father of one, ugly cry. And I’m not one to cry from watching a show. If you hate Cocomelon like me, you’ll love Bluey. It’s like the polar opposite of it.
- pfannkuchen 2y agoCan you help me understand why you feel that a show inducing ugly crying is desirable?
- danielvaughn 2y agoIs this a serious question?
- pfannkuchen 2y agoCompletely serious. I understand it's very ingrained in our culture at this point that this is a thing people do. But, if I decontextualize enough mentally, it starts to feel quite strange: manipulating one's brain into having a negative emotional reaction.
- dymk 2y agoThat’s where the confusion is; it’s not a negative reaction. It’s an intense emotional reaction, sure, but not inherently negative or bad.
- xanderlewis 2y agoYou’re not being well understood here, but I do this too, and have done — with everything — all my life. The answer is ultimately that if you deconstruct and logically analyse any particular human activity it either ruins the fun and/or makes you realise how primitive and dark most forms of entertainment are. People like being emotional, for whatever reason. I like the explanation that says it’s about learning, though. Learning somehow feels intrinsically good.
- 2y ago
- robertlagrant 2y agoBluey is phenomenally good. Dance mode? Tears.
- IshKebab 2y agoBluey is easily the best children's TV. I mean I'd barely class it as children's TV; it's good by adult standards. It's a bit annoying really because there isn't anything else like it at all. I would say the closest things are Pixar films which manage to appeal to adults and children. I'm not aware of any TV like that though. Apart from Bluey we're stuck with trash like Paw Patrol, Bing, Blippi, etc. There are a small number that are not extremely annoying, but you still wouldn't actually want to watch them: Gabby's Dollhouse, Puffin Island, maybe Hey Duggee.
- panzagl 2y agoWhen your kids are older there's "Phineas and Ferb" and "Gravity Falls" which are both good enough to be watched without kids.
- trelane 2y agoI would say Gravity Falls much more so than Phineas and Ferb. The latter doesn't have much of a series-long story arc, whereas the former very much does have one. Craig of the Creek was also pretty good, though I don't think it has a wider arc (I am not entirely certain though.)
- dole 2y agoPhineas and Ferb was actually NOT written with kids directly in mind, and as a comfortable pop culture medium between the tame-over-time Simpsons and raunchier Family Guy and South Park. A mostly wholesome, wacky and chaotic series where the good guys always win and usually spectacularly. Phineas and Ferb never really learn anything but the other characters do.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y agoIndeed Pixar movies are the other option when we want to watch them with them.
- dirtyaura 2y agoMoomins - the 90s version especially. Most of the episodes are suitable for toddlers and at least our kids have been enjoying it.
- wincy 2y agoI’d say Miraculous is very French, in a good way. In that it doesn’t try to shield children from difficult adult subjects like death and grief and difficult parental relationships. We only do an hour or two of screen time a week right now (including for me and my wife), but Miraculous was a request for last week’s “movie night”. Then we watch Severance when the kids go to bed and that’s it. Just like there’s junk shows for kids we’ve got junk shows for adults, and it’s hard to deny it to children when we don’t deny it for ourselves. The kids complain way less too when we’re like “well we’re all giving this stuff up”, because they have an innate sense of fairness.