#preschool shows

[benevolentdinosaur]

My Favourite TV Shows when I was 4

Babar

Pingu

Madeline

Bananas in Pyjamas

Spot

The Morph Files

Noddy

Teletubbies

Postman Pat

Kipper

[elikellyhall]

Preschool characters in a friendly group (Some more)

Brum (C) Ragdoll and Wildbrain Dora the Explorer (C) Nick Jr Noddy (C) Enid Blyton Ltd. Little Einsteins (C) Disney and the Baby Einstein Company Bear in the Big Blue House (C) Disney and The Muppet Holding Company Thomas & Friends/Bob the Builder/Barney/Pingu (C) Mattel Television and HiT Entertainment Bananas in Pyjamas (C) ABC Australia Sofia the First and Doc Mcstuffins (C) Disney Junior

[tumblydovereviews]

Little Bill: Nick Jr's Worst Best Show

The name of disgraced comedian Bill Cosby has, for the most part, been wiped out of existence. The Cosby Show, once a cult classic, is barely mentioned to this day. Fat Albert's movie was both a commercial and critical disappointment. Cosby himself has faded into obscurity, his last media stunt taking place in 2021, when he was released from prison. But perhaps the most forgotten about Bill Cosby creation would have to be the 1999 Little Bill preschool series and, to an extent, the franchise as a whole.

Contrary to popular belief, Willam Glover Jr's adventures did not originally start animated. Instead, Little Bill originated as a series of books meant for children slightly over the show's target audience of preschoolers. The books, written by Cosby himself, focused on a then-older Little Bill navigating everyday childhood experiences such as going to the hospital, dealing with bullies, and even grief. The series received critical acclaim from critics for the nuanced and lack of sugar coating when explaining to children these tough topics. Karen MacPherson says it best- the Little Bill books were, simply, "candid."

In 1997, it was announced that Nickelodeon would be developing the Little Bill books into three separate specials. These plans were later expanded to a full-fledged series, focusing on a now preschool-aged Little Bill exploring life in the same way he did in book form. And finally, after little over a year of anticipation from both production and fans, Little Bill officially made its broadcast debut on November 28th, 1999.

Little Bill ran for two seasons and fifty-two episodes. It received an uproar of positive praise, was nominated and awarded with both Emmy and Peabody awards during the show's five-year run, and managed to live on through reruns for almost a decade, airing on CBS, Noggin, and Nick Jr throughout its time on television.

However, in 2014, after allegations of Bill Cosby sexually assaulting dozens of women during his peak in fame surfaced, all of Little Bill's acclaim suddenly accumulated towards nothing. The preschool series was pulled off the air. Little Bill books were removed off of library shelves. To this day, the series is still unable to stream on Paramount Plus, only being available through digital purchases and old recordings. Little Bill has practically disappeared, all for good reason.

The problem with celebrity preschool shows not aging well has not ended, unfortunately. Little Ellen, a show based off comedian and former talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, was cancelled and removed from HBO Max as a tax write-off, the show's third season never seeing the light of day. The popular British children's show Tweenies was pulled off the air for a considerable amount of time after an episode featured a parody of sexual predator game show host Jimmy Saville.

However, after actually taking a moment to sit down and watch Little Bill specifically, I can't help but find it sad how such an amazing show for kids can suddenly wither because the show's creator was a shitty guy. Yes, Bill Cosby's actions were absolutely unacceptable and he fully deserves his career's falling. Separating the art from the artist is very hard when one realizes that Little Bill himself was based off the lives of Bill and his deceased son Ennis.

At the same time, in an alternate universe where Bill Cosby was never involved with the series whatsoever, I feel as if Little Bill's impact would be much more appreciated to this day.

The series contained some of the best representation I personally have seen in a preschool series produced in its time. Bill himself was a black boy, not smarter or wittier than he had to be. The adultification of children, especially Black ones, has become such an issue in today's society and it is refreshing to finally see a series that doesn't make Bill more mature than he needs to be. The show's cast spotlighted people of all races, from Black to Latino to Asian and White and even had a recurring character with cerebral palsy. Each character is carefully crafted with depth.

Little Bill never failed to 'keep it real." Bill himself is no saint and frequently makes mistakes and/or displays bratty behavior typical of a five year old. In fact, Little Bill's habit of messing up has caused him to earn the 'affectionate' title of "Black Caillou." While the nickname is funny, I, however, have to disagree with this notion in the grand scheme of things.

The problem with Caillou wasn't completely his bad behavior- Caillou's main issue is the show's lack of actual 'characters.' Caillou and the people that populate his world contain little to no personality. Caillou is just "the toddler." Rosie is just "the annoying little sister." Mommy and Daddy are "the parents," and Leo and Clementine are "the friends." Caillou doesn't have any defining traits that may cause the viewer to tolerate him more than they do.

Contrast that with Little Bill, where each character has their own distinct traits and profile. Little Bill is imaginative and isn't always the biggest fan of change and new experiences get him nervous. As the youngest of three he occasionally feels left out and ignored, trying to channel a leadership like role into his play so he can feel fulfilled. Not only does this hand-crafted personality reside with Bill but his friends and family as well. The characters, world, and stories of Little Bill are beyond the limitations of a stereotype- they are detailed and delicate.

The reason Little Bill is one of, if not Nick Jr.'s best show also happens to be the reason that it is Nick Jr's worst show. Little Bill was cared for. From the creative art style to the stellar voice acting to the research done in forming good examples of representation, a vast amount of real, tangible effort was put into making Bill an amazing show. At the same time, the very hands that formed Little Bill into what the show is today also happened to be the hands of a sexual predator, a horrible man who committed the most awful of acts.

Willam Glover's reputation may have bene tainted at the hands of his creator, but the show that he starred in has never gotten old for me.

[shybluebirdblaze]

Is someone going to Expecting A Baby Shows Hatebase Movie yes or no

Could there be a movie? About Baby Shows Hatebase I think Should be Because the preschool characters What's revenge on this Hatebase So let me know If some company Should make a movie about on this hatebase Just let me know

[photo-roulette-wheel]

Brown Thomas

[tumblydove]

They are adorable 🥺

[olli-ii]

We've discovered that the little kids are either bluey or peppa pig kids, and as much as I love Bluey my son is definitely a peppa pig kid

[unwelcome-ozian]

why do preschool/kids shows make me feel sick/uncomftable? is that a trigger?

I don’t know why preschool/kids’ shows make you feel sick/uncomfortable. 

Watching kid’s shows would not be a programmed trigger, (which is designed by abusers to trigger a certain response), in the sense that there is a program that says, “When you watch kids’ shows, you will feel uncomfortable.”  

It seems possible that something in or about the shows could be an emotional trigger for you, triggering your sick/uncomfortable feelings.  The feelings may be related to trauma or other experiences from your past.  Feeling sick or uncomfortable could be a sign of overwhelm, and if you are not being forced to watch preschool/kid’s shows, you don’t have to, especially if part of you may be experiencing the negative feelings.  If you know that the shows bother you, you may be able to process the feelings by writing out and answering questions about the shows in order to connect with the part or parts that are holding those feelings.  

Some possible questions may include:

Which shows make you feel uncomfortable?

What about them?

Are some shows more tolerable than others?  What is the difference between those and others?

What actual are there other feelings related to different elements, characters, characteristics, topics in the shows?

Do you rember anything else about your life at the time these show were on?  What time of day were they on, if you watched them when you were young?

How do you typically cope when experiencing those feelings you have when you watch kids’ shows?

What leads you to watch them?

Are there any patterns of behavior centered around these shows?

If you don’t get all of the answers right away, that’s okay.  At least the question has been asked in your mind, and the answer may come at a random time, or you may find that you are able to write the answers another time.  Memories often come when one is in a safe enough season of your life (which doesn’t always mean perfectly safe) and when your brain somehow knows you can now handle the information.  It is okay to take your time in figuring out these things.  

~Josha

[accessible-tumbling]

[image Description: simple cartoon art of Blue from Blues Clues and Bluey from the cartoon of the same name. They’re holding each other happily at arms length. The background is pale teal with light teal paw prints. End ID]

Comfort doggo of childhood and comfort doggo of the now meet. They would be besties for sure!

[theclasscalico]

I have found myself actively enjoying a variety of shows for preschoolers again. It can be wonderful when you're in a rough mood and need something wholesome and tame to cheer you up.

[miradawhissu]

Basically truth, though, like, why the hell are you all overreacting over something harmless? 💀

[tumblydovereviews]

The Rise of Teletubbies

You wake up in a hole, located inside of a hill in a vast valley. For breakfast, you have some Tubby custard and toast, prepared by your friend Noo-Noo the vacuum. And then, you frolic outside for a while until an intercom shouts, "Time for Teletubbies!" and you follow the voice's call, eager for the day to begin. You are a Teletubby.

It's the grand return of @tumblydovereviews, and what better way to bring this series back by researching one of the most infamous, yet long-running, children's shows of all time- Teletubbies.

Before this post, I just wanted to apologize to my non-existent followers on the giant, unexpected hiatus. My profile tells you that there will be new posts every week or two. Obviously, that's not the case. With schoolwork, sports, life in general, and a lack of general media consumption, I've been running out of ideas on what to post here. But one day, out of the blue, I just became victim to a giant burst of productivity stemming mainly from the upcoming release of the new Bluey special, and, blessed with my new skills of time management, this review blog is back! (Hopefully!)

Expect a long four-part analysis on Bluey and its three latest episodes coming soon, but for now, let's ease back into the groove of things by talking Teletubbies.

Around the early 90s, it was becoming increasingly apparent that technology's impact in society was much more noticeable, and children in particular were interacting with it in a way we hadn't seen before. Inspired by these changes, two showrunners, Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport, who had recently started the process of wrapping up another preschool show of theirs, Tots TV, created a pitch for the show that would later go on to be Teletubbies. While not much is known about the actual pitch as of writing this post, we do know that the BBC greenlit it on first try, loving Davenport and Wood's ideas.

Production was far from easy, even after the show had been commissioned. Filming for Teletubbies was an issue; the crew struggled to find a place that could appropriately depict the type of world they were aiming to film, and when they did find a plot of land, it was ravaged by wild animals and angry locals.

Another problem was in auditioning actors for the four main roles- Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa Laa, and Po. Not many actors were able to prevent themselves from becoming overly babyish and conveying the tone of the Teletubbies in a weird way, which made finding a proper actor even harder. A particular actor the creators were drawn to was Pui Fan Lee, who, despite lacing the ability to speak the Tubby language in an English dialect, still enamored the crew with her native Cantonese. In order to compromise, it was decided that Lee would be brought on as Po and the Teletubby would be bilingual.

The size of the Teletubbies was an issue as well. Because the Teletubbies were so tall (Tinky Winky stood at an whopping eight feet!) everything else around them needed to reflect their large size. A special breed of rabbits were bred to be used on the show, but the excessive reproduction led to heart issues, which led to numerous rabbit deaths on set, much to the sadness of Wood and the on-set animal trainers.

As part of their greenlight, the BBC requested that lice-action scenes featuring real-life kids were put into the series in some shape or form, However, the creators knew for sure that the size of the Teletubbles would easily scare the young kids they needed to film. So, it was decided that the Teletubbies would have the now-iconic television screens on their stomachs, so the children could film outside of set and simply give their footage to be projected to the audience via a Teletubby's tummy.

Despite these issues, production for Teletubbies went on, for the most part, as planned. And, on March 31st, 1997, Teletubbies would officially premiere on CBeebies with the episode, Ned's Bicycle.

Initial reception on Teletubbies was mixed; some critics dismissed the show as harmless for kids, if not a bit nonsensical for parents and older children. Others were less concerned about the Teletubbies' antics and anxious about their unique way of talking. The Teletubbies communicate through a fictional language, sounding like baby babble or gibberish, and some parents feared that instead of stimulating a child's development like the program claimed it would, the series would stunt it.

The odd world of the Teletubbies just so happened to be what drew viewers into the show in the first place, especially students in college and university. In fact, some students have come out and called the show "psychedelic" in a weird, twisted way, comparing the effects the show has on you to drugs.

The mainly gibberish talk also eliminated the need for a large amount of money going into dubs, leading Teletubbies into being a success globally and across different demographics as well, especially in the United States, where the series started its run on PBS in 1998.

Controversy for the series would not end there. In 1997, the season 1 episode titled See-Saw would be banned in several countries for featuring a sketch called The Lion and the Bear, using paper puppets, dark lighting, and cinematography to create a scene some found unsettling for themselves and their children. In 2000, a more child-friendly revised version of the segment would be used as a replacement for the original.

In 1999, eagle-eyed viewers noticed that one of the characters, Tinky-Winky, who was male, had a habit of carrying a bright red bag, similar to a womens' handbag. Tinky-Winky was also purple and had a triangle on top of his antenna, both which at the time were symbols for the gay community. Fear mongering and homophobia would lead to the situation becoming so out of hand that the BBC themselves would need to step into the limelight and confirm that Tinky-Winky was, in fact, straight, silencing the fears of grown men all across the world.

Despite all these controversies, Teletubbies was still a massive success for the BBC, airing a total of 365 episodes across four years before coming to an end on February 16th, 2001. The series would continue to air on BBC for over a decade after its initial run, and would go on to attract a sizeable cult following, mainly of college students and other young adults.

But, the Teletubby fun didn't stop there. In 2014, it was announced that an all-new Teletubbies reboot has been greenlit for release the following year with an initial order of 60 episodes. The Teletubbies were back, and the group of toddler-like aliens made their grand return to small screens all across the UK on November 9th, 2015. 120 new episodes were produced and aired across the world, notably Nick Jr. in the USA instead of PBS Kids, until October 12th, 2018. In November of 2023, a US dub of this reboot would release on Netflix, most notably with Broadway actor Titus Burgess narrating and the sun baby being depicted by a variety of different children instead of one sole actor.

Outside pf the main series, there have been four separate Teletubbies spin-off series, the first being Teletubbies Everywhere, a en-minute series that taught basic letters, numbers, and shapes to a slightly older demographic then the main show. Another spin=off, this time focusing on the Teletubbies' baby counterparts introduced in the 2015 series, the Tiddlytubbies, debuted as a YouTube exclusive, as well as two CG-animated spinoff shorts, Teletubbies: Let's Go, and Teletubbies: Ready, Steady, Go! The characters have appeared both parodied and played straight in shows such as Britain's Got Talent, Regular Show, and Saturday Night Live Korea. Despite the main series having ended decades ago, the Teletubbies have shown no signs of dying anytime soon.

But why?

Well, for one thing, the way the series was produced leads it to be fairly timeless. There are little-to-no pop culture references, the characters barely speak and instead use a universal gibberish, and the themes of friendship and discovery still resonate with kids today, now more than ever.

In a world where chill, slow-paced children's shows are slowly becoming less of the m=norm and more of a rare delicacy, Teletubbies still exists widely. The show's lack of a set theme and more slice-of-life presentation, unlike its short-lived predecessor Boohbah, manages to keep it from aging significantly.

Teletubbies was also a surprisingly progressive show for its time, not being afraid to depict characters of different races, ethnicity, and, most notably, defying gender norms, whether through Tinky Winky's handbag or Po's occasional Cantonese. It's unfortunate that a group of sentient alien toddler-like creatures are more accepting of our differences then some grown adults in our world today, but, alas, that is life.

The truth of the matter is that, while mildly annoying for most people over the age of six and immensely appreciated by others, Teletubbies deserves much more merit than it is given nowadays. For a show that was fairly hated in the past, Teletubbies has aged particularly well.

[mortyisacutiepie]

From one generation to another.

Two blue dog legends meet each other :3

[sandytrish008]

Fanart based on Nick Jr's cartoons! Blue's clues, Team umizoomi, Wonder Pets and The Backyardigans, I got big nostalgia for all of them ❤

[photo-roulette-wheel]

Pizza tower?