By Yesterday I had one of my most eventful days of summer camp ever. One of our students fractured a bone and I spent a good portion of the day at the hospital. We went to a children’s hospital which is much better than a normal hospital. There were stickers all over the walls and televisions everywhere. I watched a lot of children’s programming and here are some thoughts about what I watched.
Phineas & Ferb
Before yesterday I had no idea what Phineas and Ferb even were; I didn’t even know that they were people. I only caught a couple minutes of the episode and I was thoroughly confused. Phineas and Ferb were attempting to construct the world’s largest tower and a platypus was captured by someone who looked like a mad scientist. Like I said, I have no idea what was going on and I didn’t see the end of the episode. I only hope that Phineas and Ferb’s plan to reach the heavens failed because the platypus and mad scientist confused their language.
The Suite Life: On Deck
After watching an episode of The Suite Life: On Deck, I tweeted this.
Zack and Cody were far more adorable and much less annoying in “Big Daddy”.
Not only was the show terribly unfunny, it also reinforced some bad behavior. The main characters were all lying about something in order to impress others. In the end, all the lies came out but there weren’t any real consequences for their actions. They were more upset that they were caught in their lies than in the lies themselves. Zack and Cody are far inferior to Zack and Slater. In every episode of Saved By the Bell, Zack and his friends all learned a valuable lesson that helped them finish high school and spend one year at college together.
iCarly
I actually found myself slightly amused by iCarly but my palette was still a little sour from The Suite Life. The episode of iCarly was about first kisses and the stigma of not yet having one. This episode hit a little close to home since I didn’t have my first kiss until I was 22 (for some reason the girls weren’t dying to kiss me over a game of “Star Trek: The Customizable Card Game”). Most of the episode worked at eliminating the stigma of not yet having a first kiss. Unfortunately, the episode ended with a climatic first kiss between two characters. The whole episode downplayed the importance of a first kiss but then elevated it at the end. That’s probably more analysis than iCarly warrants but at least it made me chuckle while The Suite Life made me groan.
It was a rough day having to take a student to the hospital because of a broken bone. Thankfully God is good. His hand was clearly on the situation and I know God will heal the student completely. I just pray that God will heal the damage that The Suite Life caused me.
What current children’s shows do you sometimes watch?
The Christian Nerd 
I like Phineas & Ferb alot. it is a pretty cool show. Perry the Platypus is a undercover secret agent, and his sworn enemy Dr. Doofenshmirtz is always thinking of ways to bring the tri-county area to its knees. All this during summer vacation, while everyday Phineas and his step brother Ferb go on wild and crazy adventures that their parents know nothing about, despite their sister Kandace is always trying to get them caught. it is a surprisingly amusing show.
Wired magazine did an article on the show, which taught me about the show: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/11/mf_phineasandferb/
I had only seen the merchandise at Disneyland, and thought nothing of it. I Tivoed an episode and found it very entertaining. Bottom line, it’s great to see a show that is popular showcasing a couple of kids building and doing things as opposed to lying and first kisses.
Hannah Montana… Not gonna lie.
I love icarly I think shows on Nick are way better then on Disney channel.
With my limited sampling, I think I agree with you, Joel.
My sister does not let my 2-4 year old nieces watch Zack & Cody for the reasons you mentioned. She is careful that any television they watch does not promote poor behavior, and there is a lot of children TV shows that to.
Phineas & Ferb is actually one of the more tolerable programs that is endlessly streaming into my home of 3 children. I have to say though that the first kiss episode of iCarly gave me a great chance to talk with my girls about dating and kisses. I’m thankful for these surprise opportunities for open conversation about things I know my kids are thinking about. In the end we can’t hide our kids from every evil but we can take advantage to discuss the things that come up in these shows to give our kids a well-rounded view of life with a Christian worldview to boot! I have to say I totally agree with you on Suite Life, it’s totally intolerable, even the sound of their voices annoys me!
Superior thinking demonstrtaed above. Thanks!
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