Friday, November 17, 2006

I love you, Australia.

(Yes, I've taken medication and am running off at the keyboard. But I've been meaning to mention this for a while now.)

Not only do I love you for your cookies and your kangaroo skin rugs (I so want one) and your wonderful slang and your insane biochemists (long story) and your cooking blogs, I now love you for your children's television.

Specifically, The Upside Down Show. (Video available at link.)

Premise of show: Two guys go to new places and explore new things, while playing with a 'pretend remote control' the child watching has control of. The pretend remote will suddenly turn them upside down (hence the show title), sideways, or other outragousness. Among other things there's an Irish Dancing Button - something weird in every show. They pretend to not know anything (so as the kids can figure things out with them) but do it in a way that's not annoying, or stupid, just funny.

It's like Monty Python's Flying Circus for children.

This may sound like major enthusiasm for a kid's show, but let me tell you, I've been watching eight hours of kid's educational programming a day, and 99% of it is dreck, from an adult point of view. This show and Jack's Big Music Show are the only two I can stand to watch on a personal level. Not to mention, there's no gender stereotyping (big annoyance of mine), they don't talk down to the kids or treat them like idiots, and don't belabor points until you want to bitch-slap them. (One show toots a horn every time they use a big word. How fucking irritating.)

So, anyway, once a day while I watch this show, I think "I love Australia" and now all you folks Down Under know why you get a sudden glow of satisfaction once a day. Pass the cookies.

4 comments:

Amy Lane said...

I've actually grown to like the Wiggles...there's something nice about grown men who like to sing to children. NO, not creepy. Just nice.

Anonymous said...

None of my business really, but isn't eight hours a day a lot of TV for you to be watching?

Julie said...

If she just sat and watched, yes, I'd worry and start rationing the TV time. But she crawls around and plays and chases the cat and watches me knit while the TV runs educational stuff in the background, so I don't worry so much.

Personally, I only watch about an hour of TV a day. While the baby's shows run, I generally knit and read.

Bells said...

Speaking on behalf of all Australians, Australia loves you too Julie. Oh and the Baby. :-)

BTW, I've never heard of this show. But then I don't have a baby!

Crikey. G'day. Bugger me.

Sorry. Just had slip those words in.