No one can accuse Dade Hayes of being a slacker. The dad of two young kids and the assistant managing editor of Variety, he’s also just penned a compulsively readable book, Anytime Playdate: Inside the Preschool Entertainment Boom, or How Television Became My Baby’s Best Friend. Some of our fave parts: Learning that Dora (yes, that Dora) was first an Irish redhead named Nina, and a raccoon before that. Why you’ll never see a “Baby Goodall” on the shelf next to all those Baby Einsteins. And the revelation of just how insidious TV merchandising is.

Check out our interview with Dade after the jump. You’ll finally understand why kids adore Barney, even though he makes your skin crawl.

What came as the biggest surprise to you while you were researching preschool TV for the book?

At the risk of sounding Pollyanna-ish, I’d say the level of research and development which goes into each children’s show. I came into this with a sneaking suspicion — common to many parents, I think — that a lot of stuff is just tossed out there. We remember, from when we were growing up, watching a lot of animated shows without any educational value. And then there was that dubious “TV show-toy-tie-in” period in the eighties – He-Man, Carebears. But the bar has been raised high. We have Blue’s Clues, Dora, Little Einsteins – these shows have shown what’s possible in terms of teaching kids, and that has had a snowball effect. I write about Ni Hao, Kai-Lan in my book. That took four years of development before getting on the air. Granted, there were animation issues… but they were trying to get it right.

What’s the best advice you can give parents about TV watching in their own homes?

Media literacy. Not only learning to be discerning about what you watch on television, but inculcating a sense of discernment in your child. TV shouldn’t just be “on” or “off.” There are ways to find quality programming. The boom in content can be a little overwhelming, but the good news about technology is that it gives you ways to find good shows. I have playlists on my iPod and I DVR great shows for my daughter. I don’t want to excuse the industry as a whole, but parents shouldn’t fear TV.

How or what do your kids watch in your house?

We try – “try” being the operate word – to limit TV for Margot [who is five] to one hour a day. In the summertime, it tends to be a little less because there’s so much to do..She really likes SuperWhy and Pinky Dinky Doo. I get a little put off by Pinky… but the show’s not for me. And she’ll settle into an episode of Little Bill and Barney.

Ugh.

Barney is the most misunderstood children’s program ever aired. When I started writing the book, I thought it would be like shooting fish in a barrel. You can find a million ways to pick it apart, the cloying theme song, the merchandise…But it was created by two very eminent psychologists at Yale, Jerome and Dorothy Singer. It may not have the classy patina of say, Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, but it is doing the same work in allowing children to connect to their emotions and talking to them on the same level… I’ve not become a champion of Barney, but many parents do have a compelling need to match up their kids’ needs to their own. You know, putting the Sex Pistols onesie on their baby. It’s so dicey. I fell into that trap [of wanting my kids to like the shows I like] too. I’m certainly not wagging my finger at anyone. But you think them rejecting Sesame Street was bad? Just wait until they’re teenagers.

At the end of book, you wonder how you’ll manage TV-viewing differently with your newborn son than you did with Margot. What have you done differently with Finley?

We don’t sit him down individually and show him the TV. It’s pretty problematic, what you hear about under-2s and TV. And Finley gets plenty of spillover potential. We were just a little too [eager] to show the TV to Margot. There was this sense it was going to be good, and we kind of worked it into the routine. Sesame Street’s not Cops. But we’ve taken a different approach with him. We hold firm to no TV and it’s working out fine.

Filed under Show and Tell

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