The Backyardigans

The Backyardigans

I'm starting off with this one because it was just on, and it's pretty popular. Backyardigans stars five friends who all live in adjoining backyards, visiting all sorts of places using their imaginations to act out their play-time filled with singing and dancing. Usually their adventures split the gang into the antagonists/protagonists, and at the end of their play they convene for snacks at one of their homes.

The stories are fun and original, as well as some being based on existing stories, such as Journey to the Centre of the Earth. They also heavily reference things most adults would get, for example in the episode "Cops and Robots" Tyrone and Uniqua are cops chasing these bad robots, Pablonator and T-900, a clear nod at The Terminator.  The songs are top notch, and catchy, unlike most shows where you wonder if they made up the words as they went along. The episode usually follows a genre of music throughout, and not necessarily related to the locale. The dancing is oddly fluid, that's because it's made from live actors later ported to the animation studio. Thankfully the Backyardigans are not one-dimensional, the characters are full and rounded, with distinct personalities that are still subtle enough that you don't think they just wrote archetypes on a whiteboard and attached them to their characters. ...Although I've noticed Pablo does coincidentally sometimes end up playing the bad guy. ...A lot. He also rubs his flippers together when he laughs sometimes. ...I'm sure it's nothing. He's a real nice guy.

 While it doesn't teach kids to count or talk, or whatever, it teaches something far more important, how to be socially productive. Nobody cares how far your kid can count if he sucks at playing and hanging out with. This is why I gave it big-ups on the education score. Also while this show does break the fourth-wall, it doesn't treat the audience(children) like idiots.You know what I'm talking about.

    
Entertaining 10     Networks: Treehouse, Nickelodeon
Educating 7           Ages: 2-10
Enraging 0            Rating: 4.5 Stars, deal with it

Conclusion: A light, fun, and visually appealing story-oriented show that teaches interpersonal skills and doesn't insult the intelligence of your child with forced close-ended questions.

Links

Here's some websites full of Backyardigans stuff: The Backyardigans Fansite