Over the past six years, I’ve watched the Nick Jr channel decline rapidly. I think back to when my paroled mental patient was 2 and all the great shows that used to be on, no advertising, no bs.
Now… it’s a disaster. Not only are there ads, for their new shows the sequence goes like this (I’ll use Paw Patrol as the example)
-Paw Patrol opening sequence (credits/song)
– 3 full minutes of ads.
– Part 1 of Paw Patrol show actually begins.
– Once part 1 has ended, there is now a solid FIVE minutes of advertising (I have timed it, since my fast forward button that jumps 30 seconds forward needs to be pressed 10 times).
– Part 2 of Paw Patrol starts.
– Part 2 Paw Patrol ends.
– More ads until the end the next show/cycle starts.
And it’s not like we’re talking innocent ads here. Covergirl makeup has absolutely NO place on a preschool channel. When my daughter asked me the other day if she could have that special hair straightener, I about lost my mind. So basically, if I want them to watch any of the newer shows, I have to be sitting there monitoring every minute of it and have my hand ready at the fast forward button.
Back in the day . . . there were awesome things on Nick Jr such as Moose & Z, Little Bear, Oswald. Shows that were fun, and filled with kindness, mellow and yet happy at the same time. While a couple of their news shows are good, this advertising stuff is sending me off the edge. We do like Paw Patrol for the mechanics and Wallyzakam for the reading. Don’t even get me started on that piece of crap called Nick Mom at Night or whatever it’s called. Oh lord!
Back to how awful Nick Jr is now. I recently discovered they launched an app called Noggin. The only appalling thing about this app is that it’s a subscription so it’s $5.99 a month. Initially outraged, I begrudgingly began the free trial because I wanted to see if we’d get any use out of it. Low and behold, there are all our old favorite shows on it – all of Oswald (the 3-year-old escaped mental patient’s favorite), Little Bear, Jack’s Big Music Show. I’ve not been feeling well and as it got worse over the weekend, I took myself off to the Minute Clinic in CVS to see a doctor. Brought the iPad and my phone (Noggin also installed there) since I had to lug the kids with me. During my almost 2hr wait, thanks to wifi everywhere, I was able to stream Noggin on both devices (still on one subscription). Here’s where the sun shone brightly. My 6-year old was scrolling through it and found Jack’s Big Music show. It’s always been my favorite of my kids’ shows, and I was so sad when it disappeared after two seasons. It’s been so long that she didn’t remember it at first. I reminded my girl how we used to watch it together, just me and her, and we’d sing and dance along to the music (great music, btw). That show also is the one that introduced us to Laurie Berkner to which my kids have spent many hours dancing the evening away to.
I confess, I bounced around the waiting room with the kids to the music (I love Dr. Strings) and loved being able to listen to Jack’s Big Music Show again. You can’t even get it on DVD so this is wonderful. The kids made a fort out of the couch cushions last night and I heard the girl tucked away in there watching Jack again. It made me happy.
The Ragged Mommy 