The summer TV drought is almost over. Need proof? Next week, Nick Jr.’s Emmy award-winning animated preschool series, Wow! Wow! Wubzy! returns with an entire week of brand-new eps (airing at 8:00 a.m. ET/PT).
What’s up for Wubzy, Widget, and Walden this season? Well, there’s a new girl in town – Daizy, who insists on dressing Wubzy’s transformer toy robot in a fancy tux and sitting him down at her tea party. Uh-oh. Sounds ilke trouble. Also on the Wuzzleburg horizon: voice-overs by figure-skating champ Michelle Kwan and Extreme Makeover’s Ty Pennington.
If your kiddos can’t wait till Monday to get their fix, help them click on Nickjr.com. You can catch a two-minute sneak peek of Wow! Wow!’s season premiere and play a new interactive game of kickity-kick ball. Hippity-hopscotch soon to follow.
If it weren’t for the Olympics, I’d be watching a grown man eat bugs and build fires tonight. Normally, my tweens, my husband and I watch whichever wilderness survivor show is on the Discovery Channel on Friday nights. Sometimes, it’s the calm Canadian Les Stroud, who seems to struggle against sinking into a deep depression out in the wild on “Survivorman.” Other Fridays, it’s the ex-Special Forces survivalist Bear Grylls, who jumps from “helis” and corners porcupines for dinner on “Man vs. Nature.” All that’s in it for me is the chance that Bear might strip down to his skivvies.
But the Olympics will change all that. For the next 17 nights, I’ve got something to watch with my tweens that we all enjoy. My 9-year-old wants to watch the swimming. My 11-year-old is looking forward to the “field part of track and field.” My husband, the marathon runner, just wants to see the very best athletes in the world run. And I want to see soccer, tennis, swimming and gymnastics.
No doubt we’ll watch each other’s favorites, though my husband will be alone in the marathon viewing. I’d rather watch Bear Grylls eat bugs than follow a marathon. At least there’s some excitement there. Yet, thanks to the Olympics, there’s something for all of us, bringing our family together. I can’t say that about most TV shows aimed at tweens.
My boys have no interest in the Disney channel shows created for their age group, and my husband won’t watch “American Idol” with us. Rather, he mumbles something about preferring to watch people chase porcupines and leaves the room. We used to watch baseball together until one kid became a Yankees fan and the other a Mets fan. We don’t tune in anymore if for no other reason than to prevent a Subway Series brawl in our living room. And my younger tween is more likely to sit down and watch a Grand Slam tennis match with me, while everyone else feigns interest.
Tonight, though, we’ll tune in together to watch the Olympics’ opening ceremonies. On Saturday night, we’ll sample some beach volleyball before we watch swimming and running. As the Olympic games continue, my sons will keep a running tally of the medals the United States wins, and I’ll keep my eye out for soccer and tennis on TV. And then, when it’s all over, we’ll go back to watching grown men eat bugs and wish there was more on TV for my tweens and me to enjoy together. – Posted by Jen Singer
If your kids are the kind who can tell from six feet away if their sib has more mac and cheese than they do, they’re gonna dig Phineas and Ferb this Friday. The Disney Channel will present modified segments of the Emmy-nominated animated comedy from 8:00-10:00 pm, ET/PT, inviting viewers to find the differences in each. Once your offspring find at least eight changes, they can then go to DisneyChannel.com. The correct answers will unlock a brand new Phineas and Ferb ep (hilariously entitled “Put that Putter Away?” and “Does This Duckbill Make Me Look Fat?”) in streaming broadband video…a whole two days before its TV premiere. For a seven-year-old, you know, that’s like an eternity.
Check out www.disneychannel.com/spotthedif for game instructions and hints. Oh! And check out our Q&A below with Phineas and Ferb’s creators-co-exec-producers-all-around nice guys, Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh. Yes, they really are that funny in real life.
Nickelodeon’s newest live-action series, True Jackson VP, sounds like a show your tween/teen will watch. and you’ll actually be cool with that.
Claiming to be indebted to both Big and The Devil Wears Prada, the show centers on 15-year-old True Jackson (Keke Palmer of that Starbucks flick, Akeelah and the Bee), a no-nonsense, fashion-forward teenager. When she’s selling sandwiches outside the offices of a major fashion label one day, the head of the company’s so intrigued by her “young yet marketable” fashion sense that he makes her VP of his youth apparel line faster than you can say Lauren Conrad. Needless to say, True learns to navigate nasty office politics with the help of her best high school buds, Lulu and Ryan.
Ten bucks says Lulu is kooky but insightful, and Ryan harbors a crush on True (which will be teased throughout the first twenty eps and play a part in the season finale.) But we’ll still tune in. We love that True will learn “corporate life has the same highs and lows of high school, complete with cliques, mean girls and crushes.” Because it so does.
We do hope the show’s writers go out of their way to avoid dialogue which too cutely incorporates the lead character’s name. Someone saying, “True dat!” every time a meanie gets their comeuppance would just be too obvious.
Look for True Jackson, VP to join the TEENick line-up this fall, along with iCarly.
The Dark Knight’s a little too angsty (not to mention violent) for comic-loving kids. So what’s an underage Batfan to do? Cartoon Network’s hoping they’ll tune in Friday nights this fall (parents in tow) for the new animated series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold. According to the sci-fi folks at io9 reporting from Comic-Con this weekend, it’s “the goofiest, most kid-friendly Batman since the 1970s.”
Don’t expect the usual small screen setup. This Batman is sans Alfred. He’s Commissioner Gordon-less. And he’s not even in Gotham. The show stays true to the old “Brave and the Bold” comics, in which Batman’s constantly switching up locations and sharing quips with new hero sidekicks. (Look for Green Arrow, Aquaman and Blue Beetle to make appearances.)
We’re not saying this looks like a show which will teach your kids how to play the piano or get them all hyped up about algebra, but kicky, action-packed fun? We’re guessing yes.
Studio DC: Almost Live sounds like it could be coverage of the upcoming presidential election, yes? But good news: The stars of this new half-hour Disney Channel sketch comedy special are our beloved Muppets of yesteryear, not politicians. (Trust us, Muppets are way cuter close up. )
Premiering Aug. 3, Studio DC will be hosted by real-life Moppets Dylan and Cole Sprouse of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. But don’t let that keep you from watching. Here’s what you do you have to look forward to:
Billy Ray Cyrus introducing Whatshername, that wallflower daughter of his, to the Electric Mayhem Band
Kermit the Frog singing “Bop to the Top” with Ashley Tisdale
And…Miss Piggy not only casting herself as the “Jonas sister,” but then actually performing with the Jonas Brothers
Call us conspiracy theorists, but it sounds like Disney, which purchased all the Muppets (except for the Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock characters) back in 2004, is trying to re-introduce them to kids and tweens of today. And why not? No matter what generation you were born into (X, Millenium, Digital, I’m forgetting a few), a meeping Beaker is still downright adorable.
Aw, that’s not really fair of us. To not mention Sesame Street in the headline, that is.
Truth be told, we love Sesame Street. Love that it’ll be entering its 39th season on August 11. Love that the powers-that-be are revamping the website to include 3,000 videos…which you can search by muppet. Oh, and loooove that Feist is as an upcoming guest. It makes up for the fact that her songs get way too much air time.
What can we say? That whole oxytocin thing kicks in every time we hear Sesame Street’s theme song.
If you grew up in the 70’s, you’re probably wiping away tears of nostalgia about right now. (For the uninitiated: Rita Moreno? Screaming her lungs out? To announce the beginning of The Electric Company?)
And now PBS is rolling out a new version of the kooky, slap-sticky, endearing watchable show which also attempted to help kids read. Over the weekend, critics attending the Television Critics Association Press Tour were given a bit of info about what the new Electric Company will look like.
Apparently, it will still be geared towards 6-9-year-olds, but will focus more on building vocabulary. That’s in response to recent research which shows more than half the nation’s kids are at risk of falling behind in reading. (Insert your own joke here about “No Child Left Behind.” We’re too discouraged to make one.)
The show’s slated to air in January 2009. For more info, check out this New York Times article. Although it dates back to May, it’s got the most show specifics we’ve found so far. Surprise bonus: it also boasts the absolute best first sentence of any newspaper article we’ve seen in months.
Today’s not only Bastille Day. It’s also the start of a much-anticipated week for fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender. We’ve got the details after the jump.
We think The N (the network which bills itself as “totally for and about teens”) is on to something. Tonight kicks off two premieres which showcase The N’s take on the reality genre — what they call “reality with morality.”
Queen Bees, “the ultimate mean girl makeover reality series,” airs at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT, with a simulcast premiere on Nick at Nite. To say you won’t be able to look away is sort of an understatement. Seven self-centered, narcissistic girls (think Paris Hilton meets Cruella DeVille) think they’re competing to be the biggest diva in the house, but soon learn their friends and family just can’t take their nastiness anymore. They’ll face challenges as well as counseling sessions with resident psychologist and life coach Dr. Michelle Callahan. a regular guest on The Tyra Banks Show. (Read our Q&A with Dr. Michelle below.) The girl who changes the most will walk away with $25,000. (And self-awareness — priceless!)
Immediately after Queen Bees (at 11:00 pm ET/PT) is The N’s Student Body. Scroll below for our mash note about that show, too. –SB
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If your kids are the kind who can tell from six feet away if their sib has more mac and cheese than they do, they’re gonna dig Phineas and Ferb this Friday. The Disney Channel will present modified segments of the Emmy-nominated animated comedy from 8:00-10:00 pm, ET/PT, inviting viewers to find the differences in each. Once your offspring find at least eight changes, they can then go to 
Today’s not only Bastille Day. It’s also the start of a much-anticipated week for fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender. We’ve got the details after the jump.
