Thought this might be fun. This was a HOT TOPIC on our family text thread this morning with my kids and their significant others weighing in.
I know plenty of you sat through a lot of Barney, Arthur, Zoom and other PBS television especially with our kids in their 20/30’s.
In your household, which deserved a better or lesser rating? What shows deserve “God Level”? (Lol - we didn’t make the chart, my son just found it)
I told my kids that Barney deserved a higher level - one of the top two. It drove me crazy but my older two COVETED that show!
Arthur is their GOAT. None of my kids liked Mr Rogers - the puppets creeped them out. Sesame Street is just a whole other level of good in our house.
My D absolutely loved Sesame Street, especially Elmo’s World. Also a fan of Barney, Dora, and the Wiggles.
HATED Cailou.
Mostly though she preferred books over TV so I don’t know a lot of the shows on this list.
Oh and my kids would also put in extra credit points for Dragon Tales and Zoom.
Lol, my kids all chimed in that they disliked Caillou!
Another one D’s BF said is missing - Lamp Chop.
Wait, how could Liberty’s Kids be on the lowest tier? Maybe because it’s not for little kids? We started watching it as a family when our kids were in middle school and it’s terrific!! It launched several American history vacations and helped the kids in APUSH. In fact, D21 is taking colonial history in college and she still organizes events in her head based on Liberty’s Kids.
“Looking at life through my own eyes…”
I don’t even know that show! Maybe it was after my kids PBS time…my youngest is 24…
So this is what my kids (now 20 and 23) grew up on because we don’t have cable/satellite tv.
Their top tier:
Wild Kratts
Word Girl
Clifford
Cyberchase
Middle tier:
Curious George
Dragon Tales
Fetch
Martha Speaks
I liked Sagwa but they barely remember it. Zoom, Arthur, Zoboomafoo, and Between the Lions were also watched and enjoyed here.
It was a big deal when they added extra channels and there were PBS Kids on at night and they got to stay up to watch Cyberchase at 9pm.
Either something’s up with the chart, or my family😄. Next to Liberty’s Kids (which is the clear winner because we all love it and would still watch it today), our favorite PBS show would be Jakers! The adventures of Piggly Winks, which is also on the lowest tier. Hilarious show about kids running amuck on an Irish farm in the 1950’s, complete with Irish accents and Wiley the sheep voiced by Mel Brooks.
I do have one kid whose favorite was Clifford, which earned a B+ from the rest of us because we do love dogs. That’s on the second tier.
I think Liberty’s Kids was only on air from 2002-2004. We got DVD’s from the library, but you can get it on Amazon Prime Video now.
My kids loved Barney. My middle son requested the purple dinosaur on his birthday cake, three years in a row. Of course, when he got older he put a sign on his bedroom door that said, “Barney is Satan.”
Totally with you on this. It was so good that I bought the full DVD set. Both daughters have a strong command of Revolutionary War history, which I credit to this show.
One that I do not see on the list (unless I missed it) was “Adventures from the Book of Virtues”. Our kids learned a lot from the presentation of classic fables and myths.
Ooh, Sagwa is a good one. Set in Imperialist China with Siamese cats who do calligraphy with their tails. This is one of the shows I heard rather than saw because they watched it on long car trips, but it sounded fun and wise.
One of my favorite parts of parenting was getting to watch and read stuff that’s “for” kids but really great for all (and so much more fun and positive than a lot of adult fare—dark and violent).
I haven’t seen all those shows, but I have to say I agree with the tiers of the ones with which I am familiar.
Highlights: God Tier is batting 5/6 for me. I like Thomas The Train, but not that much. Top Tier seems a good fit for Wild Kratts, Word Girl and Daniel Tiger.
I have to disagree with Caillou being in the Low Tier. It should go in whatever is two tiers below the Low Tier.
My kids loved Reading Rainbow. Was Bill NYE the Science Guy also on PBS? That was another favorite here.
My kids loved Dragon Tales (D) and Thomas (S) both hated the Wiggles (and of course they came to visit their day care), Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers. D liked Clifford, Arthur and Sagwa too. (Neither were a fan or Barney). S didn’t like anything other than Thomas that was animated and preferred the Thomas stories that were not animated but didn’t really care much for TV.
We didn’t have live TV when our son was growing up, but he watched every Arthur and Thomas the Tank Engine video available from our library and loved them. So did I. (Also enjoyed hundreds of Sponge Bob videos.)
I wrote this a few years ago - might have even posted it here on another thread - Mr. Rogers Neighborhood for the “God Tier” at our house…this was what I wrote:
I always thought Mr. Rogers was a bit odd. Then I became a parent and watched my own child fall deep under his spell. She would listen intently as he explained or described or sang - and I found myself falling in love with him! Now I’ve read his books, I’ve watched the vintage video of him in 1969 testifying to the senate committee for PBS funding (long before I became a parent), and I watch documentary films about him. I realize now what it was I found “odd” about him. In a tough world he was a gentle and kind soul…something I wasn’t used to. We could sure use a Mr. Rogers these days.
Edited to add Reading Rainbow on the God Tier as well - we both loved that series.
Magic School Bus, Arthur and Clifford were the favorites in our house.
Magic School Bus, Reading Rainbow, and Bill Nye the Science Guy for sure but where the heck is my personal favorite, Wishbone?
