The Case of the Missing Wholesome Programs
by Maura FlynnWhile the Left may choose to lump those who take issue with Hollywood’s insidious political messages into one conveniently broad, loud, and demanding category, anyone who reads Big Hollywood should realize instantly that such thinking is simplistic and even foolish. (Yes, Hollywood, we are legion, but we are not collectively twisted up by the same demon — no wonder you’re confused).
As Roald Dahl famously put it, “We have so much to do, and so little time. Strike that, reverse it.” Indeed, the genuine problems with programming are probably simpler to address than we make them out to be, and we do in fact have time to think about, discuss, and execute a more perfect product.
But while we’re at it, I believe it’s crucial to address some ridiculous claims shouted from our own ranks. For starters, the chief complaint I hear from the social cons is an absolute mystery to me: the blanket declaration that television needs more “wholesome” programming.
Let’s turn to the cable guide for clues…
For the youngsters, we now have Animal Planet, Discovery Kids, Disney Kids, PBS Kids, Nickelodeon, Noggin, the Science Channel, etc.
Clearly children’s television has evolved since the “good ol’ days.” Remember when there was nothing for children on television during the week except “Sesame Street,” “The Electric Company,” and (the always slightly disturbing) “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood?” When those ended, you could look forward to the Gobi Desert of soap operas, game shows, and reruns of “Love, American Style.”
For tweens or teens and older viewers, the cable gods bring us, for instance, The Discovery Channel, the Food Network, the History Channel, the Science Channel, Disney proper (post noon — Phineas and Ferb is brilliant, and certainly entertaining for children and the quirky older set alike)…I could go on, but I’ve named twelve networks. Not programs, mind you, but entire networks suitable for family viewing!
Okay, not every program on each of these channels is to everyone’s taste. Personally, I would not allow my toddler to watch Barney under any circumstances. I would chop off my own finger first. Nor would I have allowed my six- or seven-year-old to watch “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,” though some conservatives suggested that this is the proper demographic for that program (huge cringe factor for me…the child’s taste buds aren’t even formed yet!).
Some of you seem to be under the impression that I am not a discerning parent because I permitted my six-year-old to watch “Holy Grail” in the second grade — for the record, she watched it once, pausing the VCR of her own volition to transcribe all the best bits. Plenty of old, classic movies contain racy bits or innuendo–yet you could comfortably watch them with your children because they didn’t understand the parts they weren’t supposed to get. It’s that simple.
And certainly a lot of it went over her head. I stand by that decision. Further, you can feel free to mock the earnest debate I had with my husband about whether our pre-school daughter should be allowed to watch “Sesame Street” (he was convinced that Mr. Hooper’s store was some sort of socialist co-op as he claims he never witnessed any money changing hands). To each his own. Yay, marketplace! (She did, in fact, watch “Sesame Street” — but that debate itself was a luxury, given the myriad options for children’s television in this era).
The bottom line is that if you are looking for “wholesome” family programming and not finding it, you just aren’t looking very hard. Have you seen “Mythbusters,” “How It’s Made,” “Good Eats,” “Unwrapped”…or the constant cable loop featuring fantastic miniseries like “Planet Earth” and “Meerkat Manor?”
By screaming for programming that already exists in spades, we only give credence to the media’s cartoonish portrayal of the “right wing” as deeply out of touch and a little bit crazy.
As they say on “Blues Clues,” when one is frustrated: “Stop. Breathe. And think…”
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45 Comments
Then again, my cousin’s preteen daughter watches “Sex and The City” and while I wonder at my cousin’s sanity in letting her watch that, I also wonder at the sanity of putting it on TBS at 7pm….
We don’t have cable.
There is a proliferation of ALL kinds of programming now, but when you weigh the good against the not-so-good, or outright despicable, there is still far less “wholesomeness”. Not only that, but the level of depravity in the latter category is at an all-time fever pitch.
Used to be that “All in the Family” was about the edgiest and most irreverent thing out there. Now we have “Gossip Girl”, et. al.
Your point is well-taken but truly, the only politics in this town is the politics of money. Liberals tend to create entertainment that is sexy, outrageous, offensive, and titillating to the average person…that is to say, they give normal people what they crave, something abnormal. Unfortunately we have just about gotten to the bottom of the outrageous and irreverent barrel…witness the SNL skit suggesting incest in the Palin family. That could only be funny to a Palin-hater. (I think there may be a little in-breeding amongst the SNL team of writers, as the material seems to be somewhat predictable and rehashed).
OTOH, “Fireproof” doesn’t interest me at all. God bless Kirk Cameron, but I just have no interest in him or his marriage, on-screen or otherwise.
Maura,
Pick up a book. Be creative and make something yourself. Why television in the first place?
Thanks, but no thanks,
Srgnt P.
We do not have cable, but the digital box has provided us with a few more choices for the kids. Qubo, which is great. There is also a channel that shows nothing but old classic shows like Bewitched and Star Trek. My argument is with prime time television. When I was little we watched TV together as a family. Kate and Allie (sp), Family Ties, Growing Pains, Who’s the Boss. My bedtime was at 8pm for a while but these shows were my favorites. (Please, let’s not argue if they were good or not. I was eight years old) My point is, there is nothing on prime time between 7 and 8pm that my kids can watch. Dancing with the Stars maybe. But even Pushing Daisies had a sexual reference that made me cringe a little. (I don’t think my 8 yr old got it though.)And now they’ve canceled that. So if you don’t have cable, all you really have is constant cartoons, old reruns, (which aren’t bad, really) or lots of reality television. No escapism for this generation. Just the real world with lots of backstabbing mean people doing god knows what to win lots of Money! Cameras showing cops arresting people, wife swapping, and game shows with other ways to get money or be an American Idol. At least we have a DVD player.
Network TV is a dismal place. Next time you accidentally tune into a terrible sitcom, reality show or cop-lawyer-doctor-crime drama keep watching until you get to a commercial. That’s the problem. The advertisers of stupid products seek out the programs the stupid will watch.
Disney Channel is not allowed in my house for the kids. If the shows are garbage, then the commercials are. I agree with the premise that there are many “wholesome” channel choices. My kids love the Food Network and Discovery Channel, and that is pretty much all they watch, other than Spongebob (or old looney tunes cartoons).
I do have a beef with the History Channel. It seems nowadays that it is much more focused on science than history, eg, global warming, life’s origins.
Thanks Maura, I agree. There’s a lot of whining out there and, while it would be nice to have better programing on network, I am very grateful that there are so many choices on basic cable. As the mother of a preschooler, I really like Playhouse Disney. The shows are fun, educational, and have a nice (non-frantic) pace. They also have another great characteristic–NO commercials! (Yes, you can make all the arguments about Disney being a giant advertisement with its characters and everything, but that’s old. Everyone markets characters, even Sesame Street.) I don’t have to battle the constant “I wants” during a morning program and I appreciate that.
My husband and I can also watch a lot in the evening that is great if we like. One of the favorites at this house (with lots of males) would be Dirty Jobs on Discovery. Very funny and lots of “eeeews!” for those who like them.
Perhaps it’s the definition of “wholesome” that needs to be changed? Just because a show or movie doesn’t have gratuitous sex or violence doesn’t make it instantly okay.
Take the movie “Happy Feet” for example. Aimed squarely at kids it’s “wholesome” entertainment that goes out of its way to bash religion.
Take Disney’s “Kim Possible”, a show where the women are the wise, strong and brave characters and the men and boys are uniformly idiots, fools or evil. I wouldn’t have my son watching it any more than I’ve have my daughter watching something where women are stereotyped as empty headed hausfraus.
So, as always, it’s up to the parents to monitor their kid’s entertainment intake the same way they monitor what they eat. Unfortunately for conservatives, there are more poisonous than nutritious shows to choose from.
Disney Channel is not allowed in my house for the kids.
I guess it depends on the age of your kids. I wouldn’t allow a nanosecond of tweener crap into our house, but the morning shows for younger kids are excellent, with NO COMMERCIALS during the shows. (DVR them for zero exposure even between shows.)
Mine are 2-4 right now, and there are no better shows on TV than Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, Wonder Pets (Nickelodeon) and our personal favorite — which we highly recommend — The Imagination Movers, on Disney.
Imagination Movers has a classic vibe in the sense there’s (so far) no attempt to drift political. Their Wikipedia entry suggests these guys might even be conservatives. The music is excellent, too.
Shows we ban outright? Anything in which our kids’ language skills are jacked with heavy doses of Spanglish, which is about 80% of stuff out there on every channel. (100% on PBS.) Speaking of which, shouldn’t Spanish TV be cramming English down kids’ throats, not the other way around??
Lets consider ABC’s latest display of “family” programing. This program is called “The secret life of THE American teenager”. I keep wondering, it’s not about “AN American teenager” but about THE American teenager. Are they trying to tell us that most teenage American girls are getting pregnant now?
As we have all noticed much of what people see on television these days is accepted as truth. For example, how many people actually thought Sarah Palin actually said “you can see Russia from my house”.
Using that same line of thought, there are likely to be millions who believe that this program is an example of the life of THE average American teenage girl.
Not what I would consider “wholesome” television.
Actually, we bypassed the whole American kids entertaniment scene, and just let our daughter watch lots of Japanese Animation when she was in the tween stage.
While Anime has a reputation for being oversexed and violent, there are in fact quite a few shows that were of very good quality, both in terms of story and in terms of presenting positive characters. Less cynicism, much more imagination and originality. Plus, we were careful to screen what she watched, and filter out what was excessive in terms of sex and violence.
If you’re looking for something that is better than the current repetitive crap you see on American TV, especially for your 7-11 year old, I’d suggest it as an alternative.
You can start with the Studio Ghibli films that Disney distributes here:
Spirited Away (which won an Academy Award)
Howl’s Moving Castle
Kiki’s Delivery Service
My Neighbor Totoro.
and a few others.
Just a suggestion.
Nickelodeon is a great network. Avatar, Fairly Odd Parents, Sponge Bob…good shows with only the occasional joke that you hope will go over their heads. I’m not a big Disney fan for my 8 year-old, but it’s better than some of the alternatives. She loves Mythbusters as well as a few other shows scattered over cable. There’s a lot out there if you keep an eye on it (plus more good movies than ever).
Just a note on Disney – on playhouse Disney (in the AM) there are no commercials. I watch it every morning with my 20 mo old (more so on the weekends when I’m not at work). She loves Mickey Mouse, Tigger and Pooh, Little Einsteins. They help (I said help, its still my job) to teach her to count, learn colors, etc. Little Einsteins is brilliant to get her introduced to classical music.
Even Disney’s cartoons are good. I’m 30. I love Phinneas and Ferb, used to always watch KP.. Ok, I’m a disneyphile, but there are much worse things for my daugher to watch.
What I find disturbing about the Disney shows for tweens is that many of the teenage roles are played by women in their early 20s. Ashley Tisdale was 22 playing a 16-year old on the Suite Life, and the daughter on Life With Derek is also 22. There are some not-so-subtle differences between those ages. Even the girls playing roughly the right age are tarted up and dress more provocatively than anyone in real life.
Is it eye candy for the dads forced to watch with their kids? How wrong is that?
Disney lost me and my family when they decided to, ‘change with the times’.
Anyone remember the classic cartoons, the documentaries, the great movies that the name Disney used to stand for and bring to mind?
Call me old fashioned, but if they brought all that back on a channel labeled, ‘Disney Classic’, I’d subscribe in a heartbeat.
On the Disney live-action shows now, even when the starring character is close to that ‘mid-teen’ age she’s supposed to be in the show, it’s almost a given nowadays that — if the star is also doing songs in connection with the role — within the next 3-4 years she’s going to slut it up, in the tradition of Brittany and Lindsey (based on her “mistakenly provocative” photo shoot last year that “somehow” was leaked to the public, is there any doubt Ms. Cyrus will be in full Spears/Lohan mode by 2011 at the latest?).
The cartoons are better, even though Disney tends towards PC characterizations than Nickelodeon. Cartoon Network manages the worst of both worlds for kids — PC storylines mixed in with gross-out piss/fart/poop gags that, if they are funny, are only for shock value on first-time viewing. A daytime/early evening lineup of forgettable dreck followed by the late-night stonerthon that is “Adult Swim” (though at least in that time period, kids aren’t supposed to be up watching).
Why not cancel cable outright and subscribe to Netflix (or similar)? With a minimum subscription of around $9/mo, you can have a rotating stock of “programming” you pick as appropriate for your family. For a few bucks more a money, you can have 2+ DVDs out at a time. There are all kinds of TV shows on DVD.
Call me old and gray, but I don’t think I’ve seen any kid’s program that could beat Captain Kangaroo.
One of the things that program schedulers don’t seem to factor into their decisions (and I think Hollywood and NY just don’t get) is the effect of living in the Central Time Zone on how the primetime schedule plays in your day to day life.
For those on the coasts, ask yourselves a question. When do you put the kids to bed? 9-10 pm? For you, prime time has just started at 8 pm, and you are in the “family hour” till 9 pm. A show that is violent or overly sexual in the third hour of primetime can be avoided easily because your kids are in bed. For us in the Central Time Zone, primetime starts at 7 pm, so a show in the third hour is still on when our kids would be up and awake. Likely its on when the family has returned from Soccer practice or Scouts and want to turn on the TV for a bit to unwind before bed.
For you, this show will come on after your kids go to bed, for us, its on before they go to bed.
The point, is that the schedule plays differently in Chicago or Omaha than it does in NY or LA. A lot of people in the middle of the country get labeled as “out of touch” or “religious nuts” simply because they are tired of playing TV cop. The people in the middle of the country do this more, have it impact on their lives more, and so get more angry about it.
The author’s first point, that there is a lot of good TV out in the cable channels is valid, but only for people that have full cable access.
If you can’t afford it, your kid is stuck with network TV and the “rape of the week” on Law and Order SVU. Consider last night’s CBS lineup: At 7pm, we saw a naval officer disemboweled on NCIS. At 8 pm, we saw a gruesome slaughter on “Without a Trace”. So parents in the middle of the country got to play TV cop all night long.
If you live in the CST, you get to go through this EVERY bleeping night. Which makes for a lot of people who are well primed for some politician to use TV to score easy points.
Want the complaints to stop? Pretend you live in Chicago instead of NY or LA. Think about how much you and your spouse would enjoy a nice evening of playing “TV Cop” instead of relaxing with a little TV. Then fix the schedule.
You are so right.
On Discovery alone, my 7 year old is interested in Myth Busters, Storm Chasers, How It’s Made, Survivorman, Man vs Wild, Time Warp and Dirty Jobs. The only thing he’s not allowed to watch there is Destroyed in Seconds, which has some pretty gruesome stuff.
If parents are at all involved in setting viewing parameters, there’s a world of kid-friendly programming.
The only thing I worry about is the commercials.
IT IS NOT JUST THE PROGRAMS…
Interesting. We turned off our cable for financial reasons – 900 channels of crap programing and music channels that never played good music (really, what is the difference between Hip-Hop, Soul, R&B and why does it have to be on every channel not listed as “Classical”?)
We had “The Bundle” but my kids are little and we never used the digital phone because our Cells are much more convenient. We only have the cable modem which is networked throughout our house and we use Magic-Jack as a phone (12x cheaper).
I do miss the History Channel, Disney(s), Learning Chanel, Fox News, but we can get most of that programing right off their respective websites, including our local news.
ONE MORE THING
I didn’t only find the programs offensive to my intelligence and morals, but the COMMERCIALS were also demeaning to Husbands, Fathers and men in general.
My 2 year old son watches Batman..everything Batman. Cartoons, movies, ..(I edit the scenes) Lego Wii Batman…
Son: “Daaeee?”
Dad: “Yes Son”
Son: “Bahhmann”
Dad: Smiling with head nods: “High Five”….(High Five each other) “Yess…Bahhhmannn it is”
Bahhhman time.
My kids LOVED junk yard wars. And we learned a lot of Science painlessly. I don’t think they are making any new episodes, however.
To help avoid commericals, buy a DVR. If you don’t need/subscribe to HighDef, buy a used ReplayTV from ebay. A unit with a lifetime subscription means a one-time expense (no DVR rental). You can skip 30 second commercials with one button press, or all of the commercials between show segments with another button. Not watching time-shifted programming, where you can skip commercials, puts far too many ads in front of kids.
Excellent article.…[W]hen one is frustrated: “Stop. Breathe. And think.Excellent advice. Disney channel is not good for kids, in my opinion, since the cartoons usually have abnormal characters. Fantasia seems to be very well liked by children at young at 3.
Thank you, Maura, for responding to my feedback in your last post. I was the one (or first one, anyway) to point out the content in that Monty Python film and question your judgment. I think your response here is lacking for a number of reasons.
People are wishing for cleaner entertainment and you point out dozens of channels where people can watch educational documentaries, tv shows about children and science-minded reality shows.
Your big blind spot here is that you are assuming all the cultural conservatives want is clean entertainment for their kids. I can tell you, my parents are retirement age and they wish they could find some cleaner entertainment for themselves beyond reruns of sitcoms from the 1970s and early 1980s. They also wish they could go to movies without waiting for the inevitable “F-word” in almost anything that isn’t made by Pixar!
I second the DVR (we love our TiVo). Not only great for time shifting, but also great for PEVR (Pause, Empathize, Validate, Resume – anyone remember that commercial?) or for the little emergencies that kids have: “Daddy! I had an accident!” “But they’re on a potentially game winning drive!” Just pause, deal with it, and resume.
CST – even the stuff that comes on at 7 is not suitable for kids. We love Chuck, but we wait until the kids are in bed (all under 5). We’d watch even less without the TiVo. You can probably pick one up cheaply on Ebay/Craigslist. The Series 2 TiVo’s even support the new converter boxes.
[...] by ShadowWing Tronix Maura Flynn, one of the Big Hollywood contributors, recent examined “the case of the missing wholesome programs” and reminds us that there are still some. The same goes for comics and video games. But I [...]
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