Ship of Fools: CBeebies

Thread: CBeebies Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

I have been spending time looking over the Dafling's shoulder at preschool programming. What are highlights and lowlights at least from an adult point of view?

Sarah and Duck is my favourite. It's still fun for adults even if you've seen it three or four times before.
The Adventures of Abney and Teal is fun too.
We like Octonauts.
Old Jack's Boat has Bernard Cribbins and therefore cannot be all bad.
Bing is about as tolerable as the 'small person learns a moral' gets.
Nina and the Neurons is ok for a pre-school science program.

Tree Fu Tom sadly does tend towards let's learn a moral. It is, however, better than Mike the Knight, (I like to think that history shows that the Royal family were overthrown and beheaded when the villagers lost patience with Prince Mike one last time).

Obviously I am not the target audience, who laps Mike the Knight up.

Posted by ArachnidinElmet (# 17346) on :

I'm not well informed about the output of CBeebies, but Godson No.1 is a massive fan of Octonauts and has the toy figures. I was impressed with the Amazon River special edition where they met capybara and a hungry python. Godson No.1 has also picked up the characters names in Welsh as Octonauts is also broadcast on S4C.

Posted by moonfruit (# 15818) on :

When with my nephews, I rather like Octonauts too. Although it's not on Cbeebies, I'm quite partial to Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom, if only for the absurdity of pet ladybirds, who actually bark and growl like dogs. Abadas is also fairly fun.

In the Night Garden, on the other hand, makes me feel like I need to take some kind of hallucinogenic substance to have a hope of understanding what on earth's going on...

Posted by ThunderBunk (# 15579) on :

I love the post-hallucinogenic nature of In the night garden.

My favourite, though, has long been Third and Bird. Is that still there? It's a year or so since I watched it with my younger niece...

Posted by guinness girl (# 4391) on :

Agreed that Sarah and Duck is wonderful viewing, for children and adults alike [Smile]

news of a new episode causes all three of us to rush to the TV to watch it together! Abney and Teal is also a delight.

I have a soft spot for DipDap - the simple animation and genuine wit is a winning combination.

I have a deep and visceral loathing, however, for Waybuloo. Horrid saccharine new agey paganism, with really annoying voices! I never let Half-Pint watch it, it drives me up the wall.

Posted by Jemima the 9th (# 15106) on :

Ooooh! Cheebies! (ducks & runs from Guinness girl [Razz]

)

I love cbeebies. Rumours that I had a 3rd child just to revisit its delights are overstated. Honest.

We have a huge soft spot for In the Night Garden. It's gentle, and weird, and I like that. I also love the bedtime story, and they have some really great actors reading them. No3 likes Bing, which I find a bit "HERE IS A MORAL, CHILDREN" but makes up for it by having Mark Rylance do one of the voices.

One thing I loved from when Nos 1&2 were small was the Koala Brothers. That was lovely.

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jemima the 9th:
No3 likes Bing, which I find a bit "HERE IS A MORAL, CHILDREN" but makes up for it by having Mark Rylance do one of the voices.

I like to imagine an unseen episode in which Flop goes 'Bing, could you just for once when I tell you not to do something or you'll be sad not do it?' or otherwise shows that he's human (or animated woolly rabbit as the case may be).

There are worse 'here is a moral children' programs. I think it's because Bing's quite unapologetic about being about a small child learning morals. It doesn't have to spend creative energy pretending to be about having adventures.

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

quote:
Originally posted by guinness girl:
Agreed that Sarah and Duck is wonderful viewing, for children and adults alike

There's the dream episode with the strawberry souffle. If this was any other program it would be quite obvious this was the dream episode, but as it's Sarah and Duck if you miss the moment she falls asleep you wouldn't know.

Posted by Jemima the 9th (# 15106) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Dafyd:
There are worse 'here is a moral children' programs. I think it's because Bing's quite unapologetic about being about a small child learning morals. It doesn't have to spend creative energy pretending to be about having adventures.

Heavens yes. I'm entirely with you on Mike the Knight, for starters. And Bing is short, which is often good, and whimsical, and a bit silly. Which is also nice. We saw a couple today, in one Bing was very excited to be going paddling, but (horror!) there was no water in the paddling pool. This was ok, though, because they could have their picnic in it! I thought that was rather lovely.

I've seen rather too much of it now, but I also have a great soft spot for Charlie & Lola. The language makes me giggle. For a while, MrJt9 actually had his pc rigged up so that every time it shut down, it played a bit of C&L. "Hello chicken, Hello giraffe. Ooh look, I think they're friends. Bye Lola" Something like that. cbeebies can rather take over your life...

[quotefail fixed. Hopefully. Second time around.]

[ 05. April 2015, 21:21: Message edited by: Jemima the 9th ]

Posted by Jemima the 9th (# 15106) on :

And (tangentially, as it's not cbeebies per se) whatever moralising goes on on cbeebies programmes, at least it's not Thomas The Tank Engine. "Know your place in the social order, or else" said the Fat Controller.

I quite liked TTTE, especially the earlier ones, from a watching trains do silly things point of view, but oh goodness me the moralising.....

Posted by Dal Segno (# 14673) on :

The early episodes of Chuggington were excellent. For a computer geek there is even the relatively well-thought out ideas about what it would mean to have sentient machines (e.g., the young chuggers have to learn how to use bits of equipment in the same way that young humans have to learn).

The later Chuggington has too many silly new characters as if it is easier to introduce a new character than come up with a new story involving the old characters.

Posted by nobody but me (# 18084) on :

Charlie and Lola. Has the great benefit if being written/drawn by the formidable Lauren child whose books we adore. Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton Trent etc. Old Octonauts better than later. Waybulooo and similar make my eyes bleed and my ears cry. Do look into CBBC as we'll as there are some brilliant shows that are enjoyable for adults as well including Absolute Genius and Dragons Riders of Berk. Arthur is a particular favourite that I am surprised more people are not raving about. It has introduced my child to Neil Gaiman, kinetic art, beat poetry, opera among many other things. Brilliant stuff.

Posted by Jemima the 9th (# 15106) on :

I forgot Buzz and Tell. How could I forget Buzz and Tell? It's definitely aimed as much for the adults as the children, and has had MrJt9 & I helpless with laughter on many occasions.

Posted by Wet Kipper (# 1654) on :

Buzz & Tell and Sarah & Duck are favourites of mine too. Am also happy to watch Night Garden with the youngest (20m), sometimes just to spite eldest (5y + bit) because she's had her choice for most of the rest of the time.
I caught myself watching Chuggington all the way to the end this morning, even though everyone else had left the room.
I get annoyed at Grandpa in my Pocket and Waybaloo, and am also frustrated at Mike the Knight's inability to do anything right the first time round.

Another thing that bugs me, but which I don't think the kids have noticed, is when they use the same links between the programmes on different days.

Posted by Teufelchen (# 10158) on :

I have seen so much of this channel while caring for the Kinderlein on and off over the past couple of years. My thoughts:

Favourites:
*Melody - classical music, varied animation, charismatic lead actors, no explainy men.
*Bing - as noted above. Although I do wonder where all the 'adults' of Bing's own species are. The buildings are all built for creatures twice as tall as anyone we see - Amma has to use stepladders and other aids to use her own high shelves.
*Rastamouse - Entertaining crime procedural, plenty of fun puns and stuff for the adults, strong message of reparative justice, and despite the title, a very Christian environment
*Buzz & Tell
*Katie Morag - Adorable light drama set in the Western Isles
*Small Potatoes

Also good:
*Abney and Teal
*Sarah and Duck (quack!)
*Night Garden
*Postman Pat (especially the first revival, less so 'Special Delivery Service')
*Balamory
* Q Pootle 5

Annoying:
*Baby Jake - mind-numbingly facile, hideous animation
*Chuggington - I think 'toyetic' is the word: the rails look like a Tomy toy train set.
*Tweenies - Never mind the drug-like qualities of Night Garden, Tweenies looks like it was made by people who washed down speed with Irn Bru and Red Bull.
*Me Too! - Like Balamory, but with a childminder instead of a schoolteacher, and a sprawling northern city instead of the Isle of Mull. And very uncharismatic characters, who seem to be terrible at their jobs.
*Third & Bird - Bafflingly American, with some staggeringly broken moral messages
*Mike the Knight - Do we really believe a royal prince earned his knighthood?
*Grandpa in my Pocket - Just drivel. Abject drivel that makes me want to run away.

And lastly: If I never see or hear Justin Fletcher again it will be too soon. The man is in everything, like a kiddie version of Bandersnatch Cummerbund. We are not 'all friends', Justin, or your creepy alter-egos and terrible drag acts, not at all.

t

[ 06. April 2015, 22:12: Message edited by: Teufelchen ]

Posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider (# 76) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jemima the 9th:
And (tangentially, as it's not cbeebies per se) whatever moralising goes on on cbeebies programmes, at least it's not Thomas The Tank Engine. "Know your place in the social order, or else" said the Fat Controller.

I quite liked TTTE, especially the earlier ones, from a watching trains do silly things point of view, but oh goodness me the moralising.....

Oh yes. When Thomas (or possibly Percy) is scabbing in one episode, he whines to the FC about how the other engines are telling him he has black wheels. In my dream version, Gordon then says "yes, you have, you class traitor. But I bet you'll accept the increased coal ration and shorter hours everyone else is winning your behalf, won't you, you lackey?"

Posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider (# 76) on :

And if I never see Waybuloo again it'll be too soon. Its one redeeming feature is winding up the sort of over-excitable Charismatics who believe that Yoga or anything even vaguely like it is instant possession by the Prince of Darkness himself.

[ 07. April 2015, 09:24: Message edited by: Karl: Liberal Backslider ]

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

quote:
Originally posted by nobody but me:
Charlie and Lola. Has the great benefit if being written/drawn by the formidable Lauren child whose books we adore.

Yes: Charlie and Lola is good, even when it goes into learning the moral territory. The theme music seems to fit the program as well, which doesn't always happen.

Posted by Ferijen (# 4719) on :

I can't believe no one has mentioned Andy's Dinosaur Adventures yet.

I mean, the genius who thought 'I know, we'll take the famous Walking with Dinosaurs footage and make it into a children's programme' deserves a medal.

even if the male/female character stereotyping grates...

Posted by Jane R (# 331) on :

Oh, I hated Waybuloo! Fortunately Daughter grew out of it very quickly. She's been too old for CBeebies for a while, but she used to like Third and Bird, Charlie and Lola, Chuggington and Brum.

I knew I'd been watching Brum too much when I started making up stories about the human characters. Speculating about Mr Posh's complicated love life (at least 3 different actresses played Mrs Posh, but Mr Posh was always the same man). Counting the balloons in the 'Chasing Balloons' episode and realising that they used at least 3 different bunches of balloons in filming. Trying to work out whether the Policeman was really a policeman or just a traffic warden (because he only ever seemed to direct traffic). And wondering why the criminals in Bigtown always stole such trivial things; presumably their career plan involved being caught by Brum and sent to prison, because they couldn't have lived on their ill-gotten gains.

Posted by busyknitter (# 2501) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Teufelchen:

And lastly: If I never see or hear Justin Fletcher again it will be too soon. The man is in everything, like a kiddie version of Bandersnatch Cummerbund. We are not 'all friends', Justin, or your creepy alter-egos and terrible drag acts, not at all.

t

But we in the knitting family love Justin! He's almost a hero to families where there are children with special needs. Something Special really is a joy for us to watch. And Gigglebiz is like a manic cross between a seventies comedy variety show and panto.

I've watched a heck of a lot of young children's telly over the past twenty years and the current CBeebies offering is as good as its ever been. In addition to Justin Fletcher's shows, our particular favorites are Abney and Teal, Rastamouse, My Story, Katie Morag, Zingzillas, Peter Rabbit and Octonauts.

The youngest knitter (13 years old but intellectually right in the CBeebies demographic) also seems to like Mike the Knight (bleugh), Tree Fu Tom (meh) and Grandpa in My Pocket (which I quite like).

And if you have to get up really, really early you might be rewarded with an episode of classic Pingu.

Posted by Jane R (# 331) on :

Zingzillas! How could I have forgotten that! I loved the opera episode.

Posted by Teufelchen (# 10158) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jane R:
Zingzillas! How could I have forgotten that! I loved the opera episode.

How many other music shows have had guest slots from both Evelyn Glennie and The Darkness?

t

Posted by Jemima the 9th (# 15106) on :

I must have missed that one! I do love the Darkness - I wonder if I can track it down.

I do like Zingzillas. And I'd forgotten about Postman Pat - I love the oldest ones. None of this Special Delivery Service nonsense. The best PP episodes are the ones in which some weather happens (fog, snow, wind), there is mild peril, and then everything is ok again. I love them.

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