Poor Oscar the Grouch. Not even PBS' ombudsman will cut him a break. No wonder he's so grouchy. Well that and he lives in a garbage can. That would make me more than a little perturbed.
A clip of a two-year episode of Sesame Street popped up on YouTube thanks to conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart's on his Big Hollywood blog in which Grundgetta, Oscar's girlfriend, makes a crack about "POX News" that sounds very close to "FOX News." PBS' ombudsman Michael Getler said while the name could be construed as a "clever and appropriate title" to the "Grouch News Network," the joke about the reference "should have been resisted.
I was shocked when I saw it. Oscar the Grouch has a frigging girlfriend?!?
[via Popeater]
PBS ombudsman criticizes Sesame Street for 'POX News' joke
Will Cookie Monster become the Veggie Monster?
The Internet's never ending "series of tubes" were circulating rumors that I thought had already been addressed years ago by TV Squad, The View and even the monster's own mouth. Rumors started circulating earlier this morning that Sesame Street's Cookie Monster would drop the "Cookie" on his business card and replace it with "Veggie." It became the top Google search this morning and fueled rumors that the character would make the official change on the show's 40th Anniversary on Nov. 10th.
A show rep said Cookie Monster will remain as such, even if he considers cookies a "sometimes food." That's good ol' Cookie Monster, teaching kids the value of nutrition while sacrificing the value of good grammar.
Heroic Brit dies protecting CBBC kids from elephant
When watching any nature special from PBS or the BBC featuring dangerous wild animals photographed at reasonably close range, how often do you stop and consider the very real danger men and women are in while getting that footage?That danger proved deadly this past weekend when a rampaging African elephant trampled and killed a British tour guide (Anton Turner, 38) who was trying to protect a group of children visiting Tanzania.
The kids were in Africa serving as TV hosts for the CBBC (BBC's children's channel) show, Serious Explorers. Seven children were planning to follow the steps of Victorian explorer Dr. David Livingston.
Reports say, when the elephant charged a group of the CBBC kids, Turner challenged the elephant and attempted to shoot his rifle at the animal. But, he was unable to open fire in time and was trampled. Turner leaves behind a pregnant wife.
Continue reading Heroic Brit dies protecting CBBC kids from elephant
Comic Soupy Sales passes away at 83
When I was a kid, I remember watching Soupy Sales. He had a children's show, The Soupy Sales Show, on channel five in the New York area and he was a wacky, funny guy. He had bizarre creatures around him, puppets named Pookie and White Fang and Black Tooth. Soupy did outrageous things and often ended up with a pie in the face. In a lot of ways, there might have been no PeeWee Herman if there hadn't been a Soupy Sales. In my memory, I always liked Soup and liked his show. On Thursday, Soupy Sales died at the age of 83. In addition to The Soupy Sales Show, Soupy was a comedian. He played clubs and did shtick, and all through the 1960s and 1970s he was a regular on game shows, including What's My Line, To Tell the Truth, Match Game and Hollywood Squares.
Continue reading Comic Soupy Sales passes away at 83
Cowabunga! Nickelodeon buys the Ninja Turtles
Nickelodeon is hoping to win back some of those younger eyeballs by buying up one of the most beloved children's franchises of all time. The "first kids' network" bought the global rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with plans to turn the property into a CGI TV series and feature film by 2012.
The network has high hopes for the cartoon series. They have invested a lot of time and money into winning over young teens and this could be just the thing to win back their old core audience: young kids and heavy stoners.
For the rest of the month, TV is all Halloween, all the time
I visited the pumpkin patch last weekend and totally massacred a 30 lb. pumpkin and feasted on its flesh, so I am officially in the Halloween spirit. Luckily, there's a crapload of TV to help sustain my ghoulish mood. TV Tango has compiled a pretty comprehensive list of Halloween-themed programming starting today and going through the rest of the month.
Some of the highlights include a Moonlight marathon starting today on SyFy, as part of their "31 Days of Halloween" programming. On Sunday, The Simpsons is airing their 20th "Treehouse of Horror" episode, while Monday has a some good kids' fare, with Halloween-themed America's Funniest Home Videos on ABC Family, and Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie on Disney.
Continue reading For the rest of the month, TV is all Halloween, all the time
Television is destroying your family, science marches on
I knew there was a good reason that I didn't like studying science in school. That and because a drooling, one-armed monkey could grasp scientific concepts better than I ever could. A new study that will be published in the new issue of Child Development suggests that simply leaving a television on when no one is watching it can significantly affect the relationship between a parent and their child. It can also affect the child's social interactions and even the way they communicate.
Well, duh.
Eat a mushroom for the fallen Mario
The late Capt. Lou Albano wore many hats in his career (some wrestlers wear hats). But in my nostalgia filled mind, none of those hats were greater than the red service cap with the giant "M" on it.
The famed wrestler played both the live action and animated version of video game hero Mario on the top rated syndicated kids' show The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, along with actor Danny Wells as Luigi who Jeffersons fans will recognize as Charlie the bartender. Mario Bros. is a show I vividly remember from my childhood because my parents never bought me a Nintendo and that just drove me to want and watch anything and everything with the Mario Bros. on it.
Here's my all-time favorite episode because it combined the two things I worshiped as an organized religion: Nintendo and Ghostbusters.
The famed wrestler played both the live action and animated version of video game hero Mario on the top rated syndicated kids' show The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, along with actor Danny Wells as Luigi who Jeffersons fans will recognize as Charlie the bartender. Mario Bros. is a show I vividly remember from my childhood because my parents never bought me a Nintendo and that just drove me to want and watch anything and everything with the Mario Bros. on it.
Here's my all-time favorite episode because it combined the two things I worshiped as an organized religion: Nintendo and Ghostbusters.
Yo Gabba Gabba! returns to amuse, confuse, terrify kids
Disclaimer: Children should not take Acid. In fact, no one should sample LSD, but children should really stay away.That said, speaking theoretically, if kids did drop a soaked sugar cube or six, they would see visions potentially less bizarre than what they take in during an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba(!). The Nick, Jr. and Noggin show is back this week with new episodes for fascinated children and really high adults.
A lot of kids love it. It's colorful, kinetic, and everybody involved keeps a smile on their face -- even the bizarre anthropomorphized, toys-turned-life size characters -- Muno (red cyclops), Foofa (pinkish bow thing), Brobee (the green monster with no elbows) ), Toodee (the blue cat) and Plex (the yellow, 50s-ish robot).
Continue reading Yo Gabba Gabba! returns to amuse, confuse, terrify kids
Original anime TV series Astro Boy evolves into movie, game
Before Speed Racer offered an anime slant to Saturday morning cartoons in the 1970s, and before G-Force or Voltron made kids rush home from school in the 1980s, there was Astro Boy.Widely considered the original manga comic, Astro Boy was conceived and written by the recognized pioneer of the genre, Osamu Tezuka in 1952.
From the franchise's diminutive launch pad, the endless chain TV anime franchises took flight. Without Tezuka's creation, there's no Lupin III, no Golgo 13, no Ghost in the Machine, no Cowboy Bebop, etc. The strange thing is, some of those TV shows from different eras pack more U.S. pop culture recognition than the franchise that set the table.
Continue reading Original anime TV series Astro Boy evolves into movie, game
Jane After Dark: Peanuts 1970's Collection, Vol. 1
Like most people in the known universe, I grew up with Charlie Brown. In addition to watching all the TV specials, my family amassed a fairly large collection of the paperback Peanuts books and even a few nice hardcovers. Family friendly graphic novels, you might call them.So I was pretty excited to learn that Warner Home Video was releasing a lot of the TV specials, both individually and in collections. On Oct. 20, the Peanuts 1970's Collection, Vol. 1 will hit store and cyber shelves in a 2-disc set. A nice publicist sent me an advance copy, so I'm happy to devote this week's Jane After Dark to this lovely set.
I'm always harping on all the sex and violence on TV right now -- often in shows that bill themselves as family friendly -- so it's really nice to have something you can watch with your kids that you know won't contain anything offensive or off-color. Not only that, the stories usually have a moral lesson, but they don't whack you over the head with it. It's more subtle, wrapped up in the humor and innocence of the stories and characters.
Continue reading Jane After Dark: Peanuts 1970's Collection, Vol. 1
Now Sesame Street takes on the iPod
Sesame Street did a Mad Men spoof recently, and now they're spoofing another contemporary pop culture icon: the iPod.
In this clip, the Muppets are seen wearing headphones and dancing in silhouette a la various commercials for Apple's iPod. Steve Jobs called and is going to sue PBS. Just kidding!
[via Mashable]
In this clip, the Muppets are seen wearing headphones and dancing in silhouette a la various commercials for Apple's iPod. Steve Jobs called and is going to sue PBS. Just kidding!
[via Mashable]
Sesame Street has sad men, happy men, and Mad Men
I'm not surprised that there's no smoking or drinking in this Sesame Street parody of AMC's Mad Men, but I still think it could be a little sharper. And why are all of the characters wearing hats?
Jeez, here I am being hard on a kids' show. The line at the end about sycophants is funny and something for us adults.
Jeez, here I am being hard on a kids' show. The line at the end about sycophants is funny and something for us adults.
Nickelodeon returning to its game show greatness with Brainsurge
The first network for kids has had some cult classics on their hands. Recently, however, they really haven't released anything remotely memorable, even in the minds of our easily amused, sugared-up youngins. That's because they have really strayed from the genre that made them so great: game shows. Strayed really isn't a strong enough word. Replace strayed with "shunned with the fervor of an Amish elder who spots a member of his ordnung waiting in line for the new Palm Pre."
Thankfully, the network has learned from their mistakes and re-animated the ghosts of their most classic game shows with Brainsurge.
Continue reading Nickelodeon returning to its game show greatness with Brainsurge
Ro-kay, rets Scooby-Doo ourselves!
First we had Mad Men Yourself, where you can make 1960s-ish, retro-looking avatars for yourself, and now comes Scooby-Doo Yourself. It's a promotion for the new prequel movie Scooby-Doo: The Mystery Begins, which premieres this Sunday on Cartoon Network.Unlike the Mad Men version, where you could just create your own from a series of options on the screen, you have to upload a good picture of yourself and it will make you into a Scooby-Doo character.
On a side note, is that supposed to be Fred in the pic??
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