Wednesday 24 February 2010

The good, the bad & the just plain weird of cBeebies...

So as you know, The Little Dude has been a poorly bunny since Friday. (He does appear to be lots better this morning - but I don't want to jinx it, staying home & taking it easy today just to be a million percent sure!) Anyway, the last 5 days have been spent mostly curled up on the sofa, with him on my lap in various states of half-awake, watching cBeebies.
We don't usually watch an awful lot of TV - just In The Night Garden (because Dylan loves it) & Mister Maker (because, well, you know why...) so three days of watching it more or less all day, has been something of an education. Here are my thoughts.
The Good:

I Can Cook. Real kids, making reasonably real food. Good stuff. And although I could live without Katie’s ‘re-cap songs’ (cringe!), I could see myself recreating her recipes with LD in years to come. (Unlike Big Cook Little Cook, we’ll get to them in a minute.)

Charlie & Lola. We actually really very love this. The animation is quite kitsch & old school – and I like that it doesn’t dumb down the English language for little people. Thumbs up.

Timmy Time. It may just be because I love Wallace & Grommit, or I might have been brainwashed by maybe the catchiest theme tune ever, but I like it.

Chuggington. Not one of my favourites (let’s face it – it’s just Thomas Tank for the next generation, right?), but the little man seems to love it- I think because it’s really bright & colourful. And again, I challenge you not to get the theme song stuck in your head.

The Bad:


Show Me Show Me. Does. My. Head. In. The girl presenter, looks like she’s dying inside (I’m a classically trained actress don’t you know – how did it come to this??!), her male friend could only ever have been a kid’s presenter (really, could he be more enthusiastic about everything?!), and I’m sure it’s a huge thrill for the parents of the children who get to go ‘Show Me Show Me …Penelope!’, but personally, I just find it annoying. And Penelope is a rubbish cartoon anyway. The LD generally zones out when it comes on, so I’m guessing he’s not a fan either.

Big Cook Little Cook. What fresh hell is this? The best café in town? Really? When you have to wait God knows how long for little cook to whizz away & get half the ingredients to make whatever delicacy Big Cook’s book reckons you’ll love? And really, they may differ in size, but they are equally enormously annoying. And unlike Katie – their ‘recipes’ really are rubbish in the main. Last time I checked, ketchup wasn’t an ‘ingredient’. Richard Herring sums them up better than I ever could. (Go have a read, hilarious!)

The Just Plain Weird:


Waybuloo. The jury’s out on this one. It seems to catch the little man’s attention, and I guess the characters are cute in a weird big-eyed kind of way, but what’s with the pigeon English? Is this the best example for ‘cheebies’ that are learning to talk? I’m not so sure.

Dirt Girl World. I thought I’d caught LD’s fever first time I saw this one. It’s just odd. I’m all for teaching children about growing veggies, and taking care of the planet & such – but I’d prefer the little man to join The Green Balloon club than watch this weirdness.

So yes, a mixed bag, to say the least! I’ll be glad when we can get back to filling most of the day with music & playing & going to the park & stuff – I fear too much more cBeebies may melt my tiny little brain!

What do you think?
Do your little ones have any favourites that make your head hurt?
 

11 comments:

  1. thankfully we no longer get cbeebies out here so i am spared the horror that is big Cook Little Cook. My god i hated that program.

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  2. We only get one kids channel here. Baby TV. My little one loves it. It's bright, colorful, sing-a long channel. so much she has learned to count 1 to 10 because of the song "Charlie and the numbers". Glad you little man is feeling better.

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  3. I always get the impression in Big Cook, Little Cook that Big has always hastily rushed on set after snogging a make-up women and putting out a cigarette. I saw them make cupcakes out of sticks of rock once. Waybuloo - please stop. I like the bedtime song, though that might not be for its musical merit.

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  4. Oh dont you know its time to get grubby. I love dirt girl world!!

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  5. Hilarious comment re Big Cook Little Cook. Thankfully we're past the stage of having to watch CBeebies unless my six-year-old nephew's around *sigh*

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  6. My 3 year old does enjoy show me, show me and loves Charlie and Lola.
    At a slight tangent I recommend you try Hilltop hospital on CITV - the romantic with nurse kitty, Sally and Dr Matthews has me hooked ;-)

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  7. This made me giggle! Did you know that Big Cook Ben and Little Cook Small do quite a risqué stand-up show in 'real life'? Some of the innuendo's they slip in to BCLC are quite funny.

    Kai actually loves 'Show me Show me' but only the 'groovy moves' bit where he shakes his behind like it's going out of style.

    And I also love Charlie and Lola, in fact I put it on even when Kai's asleep. We're even thinking of naming a daughter Lola if we ever get the chance!! x

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  8. Ha! You have a very similar viewing schedule to us :)

    We have banned Waybuloo - it's just plain wrong. Timmy, however, is AWESOME. We love him in our house. In fact I have just started knitting a Timmy for our daughter. I also love the fact he's on the iplayer and therefore available 24/7 :)

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  9. Chugga, chugga chugga chugga Chuggigton...your right about the theme song, we had to watch the DVD all the way from Edinburgh to Birmingham a couple of weeks ago..I had lost the will to live by the time we got to Preston.

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  10. So funny...I've been wanting to do a post for a while now, about Cbeebies...good stuff there but I'm with you on the Big Cook Little Cook. Weird ass recipes.

    However, we are HUGE "Show Me Show Me" fans. Yes, it's a wee bit annoying but Little Miss adores it, mainly for the groovy moves but she goes around the house yelling for "Stuffy" & "Miss Mouse". Rather funny.

    Waybuloo is a good one as well but I agree...the bizarre language is a bit annoying. Again Little Miss is a big fan! ;) Great post here Mrs!

    Karin

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  11. I love Wallace and Gromit, If Timmy Time is anythin like Shaun the Sheep, then it will be great tom and jerry fodder for the young one!

    Seems like you watched more cBeebies than your child!

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