Strollerderby : boobah

No Gabba Gabba!

Adrienne Martini — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:30:00 GMT

Few kids' TV shows creep me out as much as Yo Gabba Gabba does. Give me the penile Boobahs or the Teletubbies' sun baby any day -- both are less disturbing than DJ Lance and his freaky little toys. Heck, I'd even spend 15 minutes alone with a clown before I'd subject myself to Yo Gabba Gabba.

Which seems to put me in the minority in Strollerderbyland. It also strips me of any shreds of hipster cred I might have had. I'm OK with this. Anything that puts me in the camp that Neal Pollack isn't in is a good thing.

The New York Times' Rob Walker took on the YGG phenomenon in his Consumed column in the Sunday magazine. Walker's piece is sharply written, as usual. I thought it might help me put my finger on exactly what it is about the show that trips my cognitive dissonance into puree mode. I know it has something to do with the idea of "cross-platform marketing," "high-end toys" and "equal parts Jimmie Walker and Bootsy Collins."

I can't seem to get the argument pinned down, however. When I start to come up with a thesis for why this show is just so flippin' wrong, the images of Elijah Wood doing the "Puppet Master" dance chase any coherent thoughts plumb out of my head.

Which it just did again. I need to go sit in the corner and shudder for the rest of the morning.

Then Things Got Weird

Adrienne Martini — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:30:00 GMT

A good friend of mine is married to a guy from Sweden. After a few rounds of aquavit, we got to talking about TV shows we watched as kids. Sid and Marty Krofft came up, of course, as did Alphabet Soup and Romper Room. Then Ola, the Swede, mentioned something about a show with a big pancake.

"A big pancake?" one of us asked, assuming that something had gotten lost in translation.

"Yes," Ola said, "a big pancake. It would come alive and become a magical world with creatures that crawled around on it. There was also a sick little boy whose blanket was the pancake. And a magician."

Which just goes to show you. TV for kids is always trippier than adults can imagine. As evidence, I merely point to Yo Gabba, Gabba, Boobah and all of these shows that the Times (U.K.) rounded up from around the world.

The Future of Children's Television Depends on What British Programmers Are Smoking

Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 18:01:00 GMT

Okay British children's television programmers, it's time to come clean. Just what kind of drugs are you people on? Don't try to tell me that y'all were sober when you created Teletubbies. I ain't buying it.

My suspicions were all but confirmed when Boobah hit the airwaves. How many kilos of Columbian bam bam resulted in the greenlighting of a bunch of candy-colored, space-dwelling, uncircumsized penises teaching our kids to "exercise."

But now, I offer further proof that the Beeb is selling "Tina" along with Walker's Crisps and Bendicks Bittermints at the commissary: The Hoobs. I mean, come on. Just. Just stop. Honestly.

On a related note, a panel on the future of children's television programming was recently held in New York. Blogger Fuse #8 checked it out and posted an excellent analysis of the goings-on. In a nutshell: blame that asshole Barney for everything.