A Closer Look at Children’s Television: Past…Present…and Future!!

Since this is my last blog for the semester, I thought it might be nice to just think about how children’s television has changed over the years. Looking back on the shows that were popular when I was a kid…I have to say I’m a little disappointed by many of the shows out there today. Maybe it’s just me but I feel like there was a lot more creativity behind the shows that I loved watching when I was little. Let me explain what I mean.

When you look at the shows on TV nowadays for kids to watch you’ll find that a majority of the shows are animated. Now, there is nothing wrong with animation…goodness knows I love a good animated movie from Disney any day of the week, but when you look at the shows that were on air in the late 80’s and 90’s the shows just had so much more creativity behind them. For example, take a look at some of the shows I have already talked about like Mister Rogers, Sesame Street, Lamp Chop, and Eureeka’s Castle. One thing all of these shows have in common is that they involve puppets. Now, I’m not just saying this because I made a children’s show with puppets, but I just think that those kind of shows incorporate so much imagination behind them. When I think back to Eureeka’s Castle and I look at all of the variety of characters and the puppet design I am amazed. You think that each one of those puppets had to be imagined by someone and created by hand. This summer I read a book about how Sesame Street got started, and one thing that really stuck out to me was how many of the puppeteers for the show said that it wasn’t until after they put the puppet on or started playing with it that they were able to come up with a personality for it…each puppet had a specific personality that only a certain puppeteer could help bring to life. It’s almost out of this world. Another show that I remember watching, but didn’t get to blog about was Zoobaleezoo. This show was pretty much live actors dressed up in animal outfits who sang and danced. I remember I loved this show because not only was the music and dancing great, but the costumes were so elaborate and beautiful…I always wanted to be the pink Kangaroo!!

It just seems like each of the shows back then were each so unique and different from the others. For example, Sesame Street and Mister Rogers both had educational purposes behind them and involved a massive amount of research, but they were so different in the topics they covered and even the design of the puppets. The important thing is that both were successful and taught the kids so much. I feel like today there is so much discretion over what can or should be addressed in children’s television that many of the shows have become much of the same thing only different characters. (I’m still mad that they made Cookie Monster stop eating cookies!!)

I will admit that there are some really cute shows out there today that are unique and teach kids valuable lessons. Charlie and Lola is probably my favorite. I love how they capture the magic of the imagination and show the importance of getting along with your siblings or other children. Wonder Pets with it’s unique form of animation and lessons about teamwork is another show that is working its way into my heart. I just feel that kids need and deserve a wide variety of choices if they are going to watch TV. They need shows that will not only help them in school and in society, but that will also help them develop their imaginations into powerful tools they can continue to use as they journey through life. Hopefully one day I’ll have the opportunity to contribute to the magical world of children’s television, but for now I’ll keep on the look out for more exciting new shows and keep you updated as well!!! Thanks for reading, and have a very happy holiday season!!

A Closer Look at Children’s Television: Zuko…the Bo…and Me!!! (My Show!!)

Rating: TV-Y
Target Audience: Preschoolers-early elementary school
Episode Length (Pilot): 17 minutes


Well…it’s been two long semesters, countless hours of work (which I’m not even going to attempt to calculate the actual number), but I can honestly say that all of the stress and anxiety was totally worth it. To be able to sit in the front of Mueller Theatre in McKelvey and see my show on a big screen, to see Zuko’s head come up and see talk to a real audience (not just me from a computer screen) was the coolest feeling I think I have ever experienced. At that moment I felt so proud I can’t even begin to express how I felt.

It was a long journey, but the road to Zuko…the Bo…and Me taught me a lot about children’s television and creating TV shows in general. First, there is a lot to think about. Right from the beginning I had to decide what I wanted the show to focus on and make sure that I could keep it simple enough for an audience consisting of 3 and 4 year-olds. That’s hard to do considering that it’s been how many years since I was that age myself. It really helped to watch other children shows to see how they set-up their shows and how in depth they go. Since I had a lot of problems starting school when I was young I felt that would be the best topic for my show to focus on. I understood how scary it could be for kids and could incorporate my own experiences. When writing I also wanted to make sure the dialogue stayed conversational and natural. It really helped that my brother and sister had been talking in these voices for so many years because I could just think of how I would talk to them any other time and that was what I would write. I’m really proud of how natural the dialogue in the show came out. Even in the scenes with my parents, it never sounds like anyone is reading from a script or memorized anything. Its like we’re actually having those conversations in real life. The puppets are addressed and treated as if they we’re real children.

Working with puppets I had to figure out how I wanted to film the show. Since the puppeteers can’t be seen by the audience, you have to have them behind something or below the camera far enough so they won’t be seen in the shot. That was difficult to arrange since there are so many different height between everyone involved in the show. Eventually, I decided on a kind of classic puppet show set-up where the puppeteers are behind the puppet stage…only the stage is actually one of the beds you’d find in a nurse’s office. Then I would be situated in front of the bed where I could look at and talk to Zuko and Bo. That is one thing I really like about working with puppets, you have so much opportunity to think outside of the box when it comes to set-design and filming. For example, we needed to have the puppets moving along with my dad and me during the school tour and it couldn’t be done with Adam and Ashley on their knees, so we got some gym class roller carts and Adam and Ashley rolled around on those. It really worked well and you can’t even tell that’s how it was done.

Another part of the show I am really proud of is the montage of student interviews from my dad’s school. All of the kids I talked to were so polite and so articulate…I was so impressed. They really gave me some fantastic stories and comments about school and how they first felt that it gave the show an even greater level of authenticity. It gives it another level that the audience can connect with and see that it really is perfectly normal to be afraid of starting school…grown-ups don’t just say that.

Zuko…the Bo…and Me has probably been my favorite project that I have ever done!! Throughout the entire two semesters of research and work there was never a time when I got tired of it or wished I had chose a different project. I do admit I got a little stressed here and there (as my family and friends can testify I’m sure), but in the end it was completely and 100% worth it. I am so proud of how the show turned out and so happy with the way it flows from one conversation to another, and one scene to the next. Of course, there are a few things I might change if I could do it over (like using a mixer for the sound) but none the less I am very proud of my show and extremely grateful to all who helped!!!

A Closer Look at Children’s Television: Now Mom and Dad!!

The last two people I would like to say thank you to are my parents. There are many reasons I feel I owe them a lot, for example if it weren’t for them I wouldn’t even be here, I wouldn’t be in college, and I wouldn’t have had any of the experiences that inspired and influenced Zuko…the Bo…and Me!!!

Aside from those facts, there are still more reasons to thank them. First of all, if it weren’t for my mom I never would have even thought to make a children’s show based on our cats. It was my mom who thought it would be a good idea since my brother and sister do the voices all the time and other people would probably find them just as entertaining as we do.

Next I want to thank both my mom and my dad for all the advice they gave throughout these past two semesters. When my professor capstone said we should have mentor(s) for our projects I immediately thought of my parents. My Dad is an Elemetary school principal and my mom is a music teacher, so who better to ask about what they think would work for children than people who are with children all day long. I also asked Dr. Mandy Medvin who is the chair of the Psychology department here at Westminster and specializes in Early Childhood Development and she gave me some great advice as well, but it was nice to go to my parents who I could talk to at any time of the day or night and get their opinion of things. I would constantly have them read over my scripts in the summer time and ask them if things made sense or if it was too confusing for kids to understand. I really trust them to tell me the truth about what I come up with and know that they know what they are talking about. I think we’re all used to it since they constantly read my papers throughout high school. They care so much about education and children that I knew that whatever they said would only make the show more effective for the audience.

I also would like thank my dad for letting me use his school for my show. This was really important because since we were using puppets I wasn’t completely sure where we could film that would work so you wouldn’t see my brother and sister controlling the puppets. I changed my mind from so many different locations from my apartment living room, to our living room at home, and then finally the place we ended up using, the nurse’s office at my dad’s school. It was very last minute, but we made it work and I thank my dad for finding the space to film in. My dad also rounded up some of his students that I interviewed for the show about their experiences in school to give the show something extra to make it useful to young children and families. To be able to use a real school in the show in my opinion takes to a whole other level that brings it closer to being like a professional production rather than something teenagers make for their high school English class.

Finally, I want to thank my parents for being such wonderful actors in the show. When I decided that I wanted to have a tour of the school with the principal and a meeting with Bo’s teacher, I knew my parents would be the best people for the roles. That’s exactly what they are. They brought so much realness to the show and such authentic concern that Bo feel more comfortable with starting school that watching the show you know they care. I also loved that when you watch the show they don’t sound like they are talking to puppets, it sounds like they’re talking to real children (I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that they’ve been reacting to Zuko and Bo’s personalities for the past 8 years). It sounds exactly how I wanted it to sound and I am just so grateful to for that.

So once again…thank you, thank you, thank you mom and dad!!!!! Thank you for all the support and encouragement you have given me over the past year and my entire life. You have always believed in me and everything I work for and I really, truly appreciate all the love you have given me!!!!

Thank You So Much!!

A Closer Look at Children’s Television: My Wonderful Puppets and Puppeteers!!!

Today I would like to take a little bit of time to say thank you to two people who without their help Zuko…the Bo…and Me!! would never have happened. Actually, I should really be thanking two people and two cats. If you don’t remember, my children’s show Zuko…the Bo…and Me!!! was inspired by my family’s two house cats Zuko and Angus (Bo). Without those two adorable creatures I don’t know that I would have ever even thought that creating a children’s show for my capstone project would be possible…or at least not a smart choice. However, we do have the cats and I also have two very crazy yet brilliant siblings who from the day we had the cats gave them very distinct personalities and voices.

Soon it will be a year from the day my mom mentioned the idea of creating a show out of the cats. I thought she was crazy. I thought to myself, “how would you even begin to try to pull such a project off?” Then I thought about it some more, and eventually it became the project I just had to do. No documentary or any other idea would ever come close to being as creative and as fun as making a children’s show out of our cats. So that’s what I did. Now it’s almost a year later and the show is finally done!!! It was a long process and filled with tones of research, writing, rewriting, filming, and editing and a ton of stress all in a pretty short time period. Now that I can breathe again, I am so proud of my show and so amazingly grateful to everyone who helped me.

As I said before, I would like to take this time to thank my brother and sister for their help with all of the puppetry and character voices. There wasn’t too much I asked them to change from how they normally portray the cats besides toning some of the attitude down in Zuko’s case and toning Bo’s voice down (usually it is a horrible high pitch scream). They worked so hard and listened so well to what I asked them to do. Of course, that’s not say they didn’t have any fun with the characters. There were so many times during filming when I had to remind them that we very tight on filming time because they would just go on with random conversations in the cat voices or make the puppets do very random things like hold a stuffed cat holding the mic (microphone cat) and make him sing. They really helped keep things on the lighter side which helped especially when I started getting stressed.

I also want to say thank you for all the random positions I put them in. For example, they spent most of their time lying on the floor in the school’s nurses’ office with one arm in the air holding up the puppets. I know that could not have been easy or clean, especially for my brother is about 6’. They also have to roll around in the hallways on carts you find in elementary school gym classes in order for the puppets to appear to be walking along during the school tour. And all this had to be done while also making sure they were low enough so that they themselves could not be seen in the camera. I know that could not have been easy and once again I want to say thank you for being such wonderful and obliging siblings. I’m sure most would not take that kind of time and energy to help their little sister graduate from college…so thank you…I love you…and owe you big time!! J

A Closer Look at Children’s Television: Not as Easy as It Looks!! 

Watching children shows involving puppets like Sesame Street and Mister Rogers, the people on camera and behind the scenes make everything look so easy. Believe me, it’s not as easy as it looks. After making my children show pilot for my capstone project I found that it’s a huge undertaking.

First, let me just say, I wish I could see the set of Sesame Street and how they have it designed to hide the puppeteers. I know for Mister Rogers he has set pieces he could stand behind, but with Sesame Street the puppets are on the same level for the most part with the humans, so the puppeteers have to be below. For my show, Zuko…the Bo…and Me!! our bedroom set was the nurses office at my dad’s school. We used one of the nurses beds, a shelf from my dad’s office, a lamp, some toys, and very limited space. What made the set-up of the room even harder was that we had to make sure we didn’t get the curtains that go between the beds in any of the shots. Also, the bed itself could only go up so far which meant that my puppeteers (my brother and sister Adam and Ashley) spent most of their time lying on the floor with their arms in the air behind the bed. With all of these factors there was really one way to set up the room to get the right wide shot for the show.

I would like to take this time to thank one of my best friends, Lori who helped me out majorly by filming most of the show for since I was in a good portion of it. She put up with all of the craziness that my family and I dished out and really did a wonderful job of filming the show. I had such a variety of shots to work with. Some my favorite shots are the close-ups. Between Lori’s filming and Adam and Ashley’s puppetry they are some of the funniest shots and really make the show something special.

I would also like to know how the puppets on Sesame Street walk or move around the set. For my show, many of the scenes during the school tour required having the puppets move into the shot. To do this we used the little carts that are used in gym class. The carts actually worked really well, but once again I have send out a huge thank you to Lori…I know it was not easy to follow us around and make sure everyone was in the shot, could be seen, and that the shot looked good and would work for the show. There were so many levels of height to keep track of…you had my dad who is pretty tall…my mom and myself are about the same height at about 5’5’’…and them the puppets of course were down lower because Adam and Ashley were on the ground trying to keep their heads and arms out of view. It was a lot to think about and to watch out for. In the end the show turned out wonderful and demonstrated a variety of shots and angles and just a load of fun. So once again, Thank You Lori…for putting up with all the craziness and chaos that was the making of Zuko…the Bo…and Me!!!!

A Closer Look at Children’s Television: Wonder Pets

Rating: TV-Y
Target Audience: Preschoolers
Episode Length: 30 Minutes
Schedule: Nick Jr. weekdays at 1:30 pm

A couple of years ago my older brother and mom got hooked on a new children’s show called Wonder Pets. At first I was very hesitant about what I thought about the show…it seemed a little weird. To see oddly animated animals flying around in a boat singing and helping other animals just didn’t really appeal to me. Then, as it usually happens, I watched the show more and more while at home and found that while Wonder Pets can get on my nervous after long periods of time, it is a pretty unique and even cute show.

Wonder Pets is a show about three small classroom pets who travel around the world to help other small animals who need rescuing or help solving different problems. The three main characters include Linny (a guinea pig), Ming-Ming (a duckling), and Tuck (a turtle). Each one has a different personality and different strengths that they contribute to the group. Linny tends to be the leader of the group and helps the other two decide what should be done. My favorite is Ming-Ming; she’s really funny because although she loves to help others, she can also have a real attitude about her. In one episode she and Tuck get into an argument that goes on for most of the episode. Of course, they resolve their differences, but I think the attitude and disputes they have add a little bit of reality to the show. Kids won’t always agree on things and fights will happen, but the important thing is that they resolve any problems they do have. Tuck is also very cute and smart. As I stated above, each episode consists of the Wonder Pets traveling around to help other animals in need. They don’t have any super powers, but what they do have can be even more powerful: Teamwork!! They even have a song they sing when they first head out on their mission. Music is a big part of the show, its actually almost a mini-opera, but the music is very simple so kids can easily sing along. Each episode revolves around the goal to teach the audience the importance of teamwork, as well as teaching problem-solving skills and appreciation of music.

What makes this show different then all of the other shows out there besides the freshness and realness of the characters and the creative musical numbers is the style in which the show is filmed. The show uses photo-puppetry animation. Basically this means that instead of the show just being your typical animation, the animators manipulate photos of real animals to appear to be talking and singing and moving all over the place. Its actually really cool when you think about it, kids are seeing real animals and real environments that the animals live in, but you don’t have to worry about the fakeness of computer animation. It takes the realness of the show to a whole other level and is a sight to see. It’s a really creative and cute show that whether you like it or not you find yourself falling for these crazy adorable characters and singing along about the importance of team work!!

For more info on Wonder Pets visit:

http://www.nickjr.com/wonder-pets/

A Closer Look at Children’s Television: Caillou

Rating: TV-Y
Target Audience: Preschoolers
Episode Length: 30 minutes
Schedule: PBS weekdays at 2:00pm

I like to think that I am fairly easy to please when it comes to children’s television. There aren’t many shows out there that I have seen that don’t overall have more good qualities than bad. However there is one show that just kind of annoys me a lot. It’s another one of the ones that my family started watching at the beach. The show is called Caillou.

Caillou is an animated show about a little boy who is about 4 years old and has a very big imagination. Now hopefully by now you have read enough of my posts to know that I am all about imagination and thinking creatively, this show just annoys me a little too much. What bothers me is how bratty Caillou can act at times. I understand that he’s 4 years old and so kids at that age are going to misbehave or act selfishly at times, but I’m sorry he just wines a little too much. Also, in other shows when there is a character that acts out or doesn’t demonstrate the best behavior, there is usually another character who balances it out. In Caillou there really isn’t a balancing character. Caillou has a little sister Rosie, bbut she doesn’t really talk and isn’t always involved in the plot. Also, I feel like Caillou’s parents don’t always do a very good job of correcting Caillou when he is misbehaving. Eventually he learns his lesson, but it’s just not done as well or as effectively as on some other shows.

On the bright side, I will say that kids can learn from Caillou. His stories do have lessons behind them like sharing, or having patience in trying times. Even if you just want to be entertained, Caillou can also succeed in that area. It also uses a mix of animation and puppets. Each episode consists of 2 stories and in between each story is a puppet segment with puppet versions of Caillou’s cats. It’s nice and also gives some variety. There is also usually a segment in the show that shows real kids participating in an activity highlighted in the show.

So although I find Caillou himself extremely annoying, after thinking about it a bit more I guess I do have to admit that the show does have some really nice aspect in it like the variety of formats or styles and a nice balance between imagination in the animated story and the real life glimpse of kids doing their thing. It’s a little bit of all types of children’s television mixed in one.

To find out more about Caillou visit: http://pbskids.org/caillou/index.html