Kiddie Shows (or, Unleashing Your Inner Barney)

I'm sure many of you have been in this situation - you have a day off of school, or maybe it's just a lazy Saturday morning and you have nothing to do. You're flipping through the channels... you don't really have a preference for what you want to see, you just need *something.* Your mind is just completely numb from sleep (or, hopefully this isn't the case, something illegal) and you're just craving some sort of mental stimulation. You suddenly receive a greeting from a man in a sweater informing you that it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. It's a horrible show, yet it's so colorful and there's puppets and singing and a castle and... you can't look away! This guy in the sweater and his way-too-friendly mailman are dragging you in! You're so ashamed of yourself, because you're enjoying a kiddie show and you're not acting your age... or are you?

Yes, friend. You're allowed to sit back and enjoy "Mr. Rogers," because it's completely normal.

Over the past couple years, I've watched as shows I once loved sank into a pit of hellishness from which they may never return - The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live, Family Guy, Doctor Who. All of them went down the toilet. So, I've stopped relying on the television for entertainment, and more on the computer; more specifically, YouTube. Once I figured out that people were endlessly uploading old, long-dead TV shows onto that site, a simple source of Internet enlightenment turned into a bad habit. I started endlessly searching for shows I remembered from various points in my life... oh, how there were so many I cherished. Shining Time Station, Carmen Sandiego, Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, KidSongs, Ghostwriter; all of which brought many a smile to my prepubescent face. It was upon resampling these shows on YouTube that I came to a realization, and one that I'm certainly not ashamed to admit - compared to the other crap on TV these days, kids' shows are just more entertaining!

Perhaps it's the desire to relive my childhood, or perhaps it's the giddy joy that comes from seeing a favorite "Ghostwriter" episode again after twelve years. But there's just something fascinating about watching them all these years later. I doubt that many people realize it, but kids' shows really do have another level of comedy intended just for the older viewers; there are plenty of jokes in shows like "Sesame Street" that went waaaay over my head when I was seven. They did a parody of "Rocky Horror" for example - what seven year old kid would get that? And what kid would pick up on a naughty joke on "Bill Nye the Science Guy"? However, that's not to say that the maturity of these shows didn't extend beyond the comedy as well; I was surprised recently to see that an episode of "Shining Time Station," which everyone remembers as that kiddie show with Thomas the Tank Engine on it, dealt with a teenage boy who had emotional and behavioral problems due to his abusive upbringing. Pretty deep stuff, and probably something that the younger set paid no attention to, as long as the puppets in the jukebox sang "This Old Man" right afterwards.

But it's nice to know I'm not alone in this newfound pleasure. There is a band called the Dead Hensons that performs songs from Sesame Street and the Muppet Show to crowds filled entirely with adults, and yet the audience members know every word. I've also heard from plenty of people who fondly remember "KidSongs," and tuned in every week to see Billy and Ruby Biggle sing another popular song in their rather... uh... *unique* fashion. (Not to mention, I've figured out that I definitely wasn't the only one who had a childhood crush on Alexandra! Man, did that girl make my Sundays worthwhile!) And finally, there are the people who will gladly pay anywhere from $300 to $3000 on eBay for a full set of "Bill Nye" episodes. Hell, if I could afford it, I would too; that man taught me about the troposphere for goodness sakes.

Admittedly, it's become increasingly difficult to figure out why these shows still have the ability to appeal to the older crowds, because they're all so different; but I've come to the theory that even though on the outside we may appear to crave the sex and blood and bullets of prime time TV, some part of us needs an escape from all of that. Some part of us needs to watch something with singing and dancing and pretty colors that makes us happy. Some part of us needs to memorize the "Carmen Sandiego" theme again, and cheer every time our favorite Gumshoe scores a point.

So go ahead, relive your childhood. Go on YouTube and look for that "Sesame Street" song you remember, or your favorite video that Mr. McFeely delivered. Let yourself be seven again, and take pride in it; because you're not the only grown-up visitor to Hooper's Store.