Rollie Pollie Ollie... is the rest of Playhouse Disney like this?

[HBTiggerFan]

I had on the Disney Channel this morning and Rollie Pollie Ollie came on. I felt like I lost 20 IQ points in 5 minutes. It was HORRIBLE!

Is all of Playhouse Disney this awful and IQ burning or just this show?

Now before anyone bashes me for this post and it being a kids show, let me say that I enjoy the ocassional Seseme Street still, and I love other cartoons. This is just IQ burning.

[justagrrl]

Pretty much. I guess Stanley has a little bit of a learning factor.

Rollie Pollie Ollie usually has some sort of moral lesson... or maybe I'm just hoping that it does considering how much my kids used to watch it.

Bear in the Big Blue House had a potty episode that I encouraged my son to watch - but he was less then interested in potty training at the time. My friend's kid used to freak out when Bear came on because he could smell him (he does a routine at the beginning of every show where he smells the watcher and says something like: I smell cookies. Have you been eating cookies?

Sesame Street is just special. There is, in my opinion, nothing else like it. I especially love the celebrity guest stars they have on - like when they have a rock band on and sing a sesame version of their song. Such as Shiny Happy Monsters holding hands when R.E.M. came on.

[HBTiggerFan]

Thanks justagrrl!

I really feel like I need to read something by Einstein to regain those IQ points.

I've seen bits of Bear, and the bits I saw were cute, but they were no Seseme Street.

Now thats a DVD set I would buy. Seseme Street on DVD. OH! And Mr. Rogers, Captain Kangaroo and the Electric Company.

[stan4d_steph]

I think Bear and the Big Blue House is good, from what I've seen. I like the Muppets in it and it teaches lessons. Stanley seems to be pretty good. I like that it teaches kids about different kinds of animals. I haven't seen anything else on Playhouse Disney. They're definitely much more educational than the typical cartoon.

Not everything can be Sesame Street. I'm glad there are educational alternatives available. I don't find them as bad as the Teletubbies or that new show with the blobs for bad kid's entertainment.

[Mommy2NicknMax]

My kids do like the shows on Playhouse Disney. My oldest son is a bit scared of some of the characters on Sesame Street so we don't get to watch that much. I think each of the shows teachs a "little" something but it's not as complete as Sesame Street is (if that makes sense). Although I really don't look to TV to "teach" my kids much anyway.

[Matterhorn Fan]

Originally posted by stan4d_steph
Not everything can be Sesame Street. I'm glad there are educational alternatives available.

True, not everything can be Sesame Street, but Read Between the Lions is darn close, if not better.

[disneydreams]

like others said, Bear in the Big Blue House and Stanley seem to be the ones that are most educational...but I can't stand that it's...the...great big book of everything with everything inside!

Out of the Box-arts and crafts...
erg I couldn't stand Rolie Polie Olie or PB&J otters

"Gee Whirlickers!" !

Every morning, before I go to school, I watch either Stanley or the KTVU channel 2 news.

can't stand ANY shows on Nick Jr.

love Sesame Street

[adriennek]

We don't watch much Playhouse Disney these days. Our TV time seems to be focuses on PBS Kids. There is one, maybe two shows that annoy me sometimes, but they're all pretty "good" IMO. ITA about Between the Lions. Sesame Street is awesome, and God Bless Mr. Rogers. Even 20 year old episodes still "work"!

As for PD: A friend and I were discussing this last night...

My #1 favorite show on PD is Bear in the Big Blue House. LOVE that show! Music is great. Lessons are great. Luna is great. Characters are great. Love it! Unfortunately it's now on once a day, at 6:30 am. Fortunately, we installed our DVR (Dish's version of Tivo) last night and so we'll be taping the East Coast feed of Bear at 3:30 am, so we have them around for the kids to watch.

#2- Stanley. This is a close #2. Stanley is so sweet. Such a smart, inquisitive kid. Lots of learning in that show. And my two little boys love him and his animal and human friends.

#3- Wiggles. Wiggles are great! Great music. My kids love the music, learn the lyrics and dance along. Someone recently said that merely watching music was not learning. I heartedly disagree. It seems to be impossible for my two sons to ever just WATCH the Wiggles! They dance along and sing along. In the car three hours later, they sing the songs without the music even available for them to follow along! And with the Wiggles background in education (they were in school as early childhood education majors when they met and began writing songs,) the music has lots of educational value to it, aside from the rythmn and movement value.

The rest I could probably live without. My sons do enjoy Rollie Pollie Ollie. I could live the rest of my life without ever seeing another episode ever again, but it's not the worst thing they could watch on TV, either. I've definitely seen worse!

Adrienne

[lisap]

Yeah, I don't know what it is about Rollie Pollie Ollie, but I can't stand it. Same with PB&J Otter. Just glazed over when the kids were younger and wanted to watch it.

My kids are on to other shows now, but they still tune in when Stanley is on. The new show Jo Jo's Circus is pretty cute, too. I don't know why they don't show Madeline much anymore--we used to really like that one.

And the Wiggles are cool. I like the new shows they are running this season.

[CarolKoster]

Here's the point about Rollie Pollie Ollie that perhaps those not raised in the 1950s-1960s like my husband and I were (yes we're old! ;-) ) might not be aware of. This show is "retro" to "mid-century" pop culture, big-time. The furniture, yard toys, how they dress, how they address each other.... Ever go to the 50's Prime Time Cafe at WDW's Disney-MGM Studios theme park to eat? Rollie Pollie Ollie is the TV version of that restaurant trying to capture 50s-60s nostalgia. Granted this is not everyone's cup of tea. Google the show and I hope old articles will pop up when it first went on Disney Channel and they explained the nature of the animation and the nostalgia they were trying to recreate. When our now 8-year old son was much younger we all enjoyed Rollie Pollie Ollie very much. It's actually filled with a lot of heart.

Bear in the Big Blue House is a fabulous show. The costume of Bear has been nominated for costume daytime Emmy awards due to its intricacy. Adult eye level inside the costume is actually at the middle of Bear's neck. There is a small video monitor inside so the actor can see outside the costume and know where and how to move. One arm is only controlled by a wire and pully. The other arm is controlled by the actor inside. The actor inside's other arm is up into Bear's head controlling a sophisticated finger controlled system of buttons and controls for Bear's eyes and mouth. It's similar to the design of Big Bird on Sesame Street. The shadow puppet sequence usually twists familiar children's fairy tales and rhymes into something hilariously twisted and funny, in fact the intricacy of cutting out all those silhouettes is quite amazing. I've never had a problem or quibble with the caliber of anything on Bear in the Big Blue House. It's been nominated for other daytime Emmy awards, too. Outstanding show.

Of course not every show can be to everyone's tastes, and mileages can vary, even preferences among various children can change year to year as well as individual to individual. There's something for everyone on the various channels.

[EandCDad]

I sorta liked Rollie Pollie Ollie when the kids would watch it. Most of the appeal was how things in their "world" would relate to each other. Not the relationships between the characters but more like "how does the lawnmower work" and "what happens when the house gets sick." I hated and still hate PB&J Otter. The animation was nothing fun to watch and the stories were beyone simple and obvious.

I generally liked Bear and the Big Blue house (although it was officially designated a "baby show" in our house for several years). I found the mouse to be annoying, I'm not sure if that was the idea, but man, he took it to a new level. The shadow thing was dumb. But the music was good and Bear was very appealing.

I don't like the animation in Stanley. The Wiggles facial expressions are starting to annoy me, but the kids don't watch that show much anymore.

[Bill Catherall]

Teletubbies makes Rollie Pollie Ollie look like Master Piece Theater. When my kids were younger and into Teletubbies if I watched with them I could feel myself slipping into a coma. On the other hand, Rollie Pollie Ollie was always entertaining and I think it's fun. My kids aren't into it much any more. Probably because they're at school when it's on, but they did actually lose interest in it some time ago. They do like Stanley.

[lisap]

The bestest kid's show ever is Arthur. It never gets old, doesn't go for the crass jokes, yet is hip enough for kids to connect with. The songs are hilarious and the guest voices are spectacular.

[J2TyCo]

I am fairly new to the Mouse pad so HI

AS far as PD goes Bear is also a #1 in this house.. PD LIVE at DCA is wonderful....although it could use a bit more Bear stuff in it...and possibly change the theme every couple of months to something new.. the Tutter being scared of dancing thing is memorized by our entire family
(but then again we are AP from AZ so we are able to go frequently)...

When we first had our kids.. RPO was a big annoying thing to me.. but my son loved it .. so I watched a few of them... and they usually DO have something of value on them...

some I can recall with "lessons":

Manners... Zoey singing "Yes thank you Please

Differneces... with Wheely

Being responsible... Olie broke Billy toy...had to fess up to it

I am sure there are others.. but just letting you knw that beneath what we see as drab and dull ther is SUBSTANCE.. and like others psote the nostalgia

[AnonyMOUSE]

Maybe to Playhouse Disney's younger viewers this is good programming, but to me, this is brain-numbing television. Bring back the better of Disney's earlier children's programming, like Under the Umbrella Tree or the live-action Alice in Wonderland (I'd get a kick out of seeing those; I got one when I saw the latter in the Global Neighborhood).

[mzloolue]

Matterhorn Fan is right. Between the Lions is wonderful. I taught first grade and I am really impressed with the way they present phonics. Mr. Rodgers was great too, so calm and reassuring. Sadly, most of my first graders had not seen Sesame Street and did not even recognize the characters. It seems they were watching Nick instead.

[blusilva]

As someone who just sang the Noodle Dance song not an hour ago (to a poodle, substituting "poodle" for....ah forget it), you can guess I watched a LOT of Playhouse Disney when I was laid off a couple of years ago.

Rollie Pollie Ollie never did much for me. I loved Bear In The Big Blue House though. It was kind of subversive in some ways. Sometimes, Bear's expressions and dramatic pauses cracked me up. You could tell he was doing the whole "Can you believe what we have to put up with?" routine for the adults.

PB&J Otter was OKish, and for some reason I really liked Out Of The Box. Something about that guy Tony dancin' and singin'....he was a cutie.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, on Playhouse Disney EVER matched the brilliance of Blue's Clues. I used to watch that show and laugh and LAUGH dreaming up "adult" scenarios for Steve in his green rugby shirt. You just KNEW he was a disgruntled postal worker on his way to happening. I loved that!

And Teletubbies. My God. After Teletubbies, my head always felt light as a balloon. Sort of like a contact high.

Oh, I forgot. I don't have children. So, yeah, I was in my mid-30s, sitting around in my jammies, unemployed, watching this stuff. A fine time in my life.

[CarolKoster]

Originally posted by AnonyMOUSE
Maybe to Playhouse Disney's younger viewers this is good programming, but to me, this is brain-numbing television. Bring back the better of Disney's earlier children's programming, like Under the Umbrella Tree or the live-action Alice in Wonderland (I'd get a kick out of seeing those; I got one when I saw the latter in the Global Neighborhood).

AnonyMOUSE, regarding the long-ago Disney Channel show updating "Alice in Wonderland", I forget the precise name of the show, but I agree that was indeed a fine show. Now that Disney re-released "Alice in Wonderland" on home video and I see the Tea Party segment on the DVD, I am fondly reminded of that old show. The premise was an update of the familiar characters and story. Alice had a cat named Dinah, but she had a contemporary 9 year old (?) girl's bedroom with a floor-length mirror in it. When she had a tough time dealing with real life in some way, she'd go through the mirror to her friends in Wonderland who'd help her cope or find the answers or lie perspective she needed. Red Queen was a lovable but egotistical "Red Hot Mama" type character, White Rabbit went on roller blades where ever he went (in a hurry, you know) and Tweedledee and Tweedledum were like G-rated twins from the 'hood doing rap. They had Mad Hatter, and the Mouse at the Tea Party, and I think sometimes they had Caterpillar (a professorial-type characterization). They sang, they danced, it was contemporary and hip and truly a lot of fun. Too bad this is off-air and unavailable to see or see again. Reruns of it would not be all that dated, really. Thanks, AnonyMOUSE, for prompting the good memory of that show. :-)

[AnonyMOUSE]

The name of the series was "Adventures in Wonderland".