foul-mouthed chocolate rabbit (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
misbegotten) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
tv_talk2025-01-12 10:17 am
misbegotten) wrote in tv_talk2025-01-12 10:17 am
Entry tags:
Rec Fest: Family Viewing and Children's Shows
Welcome to the first day of Rec Fest! Today please recommend shows which could be considered family viewing (all ages) or targeted at children.
Please include in your recs the following information:
Show Title:
Audience Rating: Young Children/All Ages/Teen and Up/Mature Content
Warnings: (Could include gory content, raunchy situations, explicit sex, offensive content, etc.)
Length of Episodes: (30 minutes/1 hour/Other)
Length of Series: (Number of seasons or number of episodes)
Why you recommend it: (What draws you to it? What niche does it fill/mood is it good for?)
You can copy and paste the following code into your comment.
Feel free to include any other information you’d like, such as what year(s) the show was originally broadcast, standout cast members, or what other shows it may connect to or be like. You can also include outside links to Wikipedia, Fanlore, IMDB, your favorite review etc. which contain more show information.
If someone else has already recced a show you were planning to rec, please include your own rec as well! People have different takes on shows and it can also help people if they see a number of people find a show to be a must-watch.
If you have questions about what to post or how the Rec Fest will run, please ask them at this link, not in comments below
DuckTales (2017)
Audience Rating: All Ages
Warnings: None
Length of Episodes: 22 minutes
Length of Series: 3 seasons/69 episodes
Why you recommend it: I saw a number of episodes from the 80s version of the show because my younger sister was the target audience, so I checked out the 2017 reboot out of nostalgia and loved it. Donald Duck has always been one of my favorite Disney characters, but an entire series based solely around someone who is notoriously difficult to understand would be challenging! Both versions of the show center on Donald's young nephews and their adventures with their fabulously wealthy adventurer great uncle Scrooge McDuck, but the reboot features more of Donald and also the nephews' mother Della Duck. The show has a lot of heart and wild silliness featuring magic, moon aliens, weird inventions, and preposterous plotting from foes trying to steal Scrooge McDuck's fortune.
As an added bonus, David Tennant voices Scrooge in his natural Scottish accent!
Re: DuckTales (2017)
Skeleton Crew (2024)
Audience Rating: marketed as being for ages 9-12 but also rated PG-13 for jump scares and some dark magic and violent scenes
Warnings: None
Length of Episodes: around 30 min average
Length of Series: 1 season, 8 episodes
Why you recommend it: This is a coming-of-age tale that follows four children as they take an adventure across the galaxy. It's set in the Star Wars Universe, but no specific Star Wars knowledge is needed to enjoy. The kids encounter pirates, droids, librarians, and a mysterious stranger as they search for a way back home. The production values are good and it's such a pretty show! The final episode in season 1 airs this coming week.
Re: Skeleton Crew (2024)
I'd suggest reading Treasure Island afterwards, just to see all the references. Jude Law plays Silvo, or Long John Silver, and the Droid does the Pirate Speak to pitch perfection.
If you love Star Wars and Pirates? This is for you.
Re: Skeleton Crew (2024)
no subject
Audience Rating: Ages seven and up.
Warnings: None.
Length of Episodes: Episodes are 22 minutes long and usually contain two 11-minute stories.
Length of Series: Roughly forty episodes.
Why you recommend it: Hamster & Gretel was created by Dan Povenmire, one of the people behind Phineas and Ferb, and I recommend checking it out if you enjoyed P&F! It's a cartoon about superpowered young girl Gretel and her similarly superpowered hamster, fighting supervillains with the aid of Kevin, Gretel's longsuffering older brother. The writing is sharp and funny, and I find the characters and their relationships very endearing; I'm especially fond of Kevin and Gretel's sibling dynamic.
Dancing with the Stars (US)
Audience Rating: All Ages
Warnings: Watching it live would be advertising hell.
Length of Episodes: 1 to 2 hours
Length of Series: 33 seasons
Why you recommend it: I've watched this since S1 and while the format has changed incrementally over the years, for the most part it's been for the better. The set designers and crew, makeup and costume people, and live music performances are amazing -- their work is like seeing a Broadway show each week
Also, while this could be a plus or a minus depending on your tastes, when Disney took over ABC they began using the show for all sorts of tie-ins (and many Disney/ABC performers show up as contestants). They now have a "Disney night" each season which means performances representing various Disney movies or shows. This can be fun if you're a fan of those. The show usually has 15 second performances from the pros during a return from a commercial break, and last season this was a full out performance of Down the Witches Road from Agatha All Along. The Halloween shows are also usually very entertaining.
Speaking of the pros, there is always an opening dance number with them and usually one or more dances from them during the season. These people are among the top performers in the world in these dances and there have been amazing numbers. Here are a few examples:
Horror Night Performance
Dance in a Box
Elastic Heart (won an Emmy)
There are sometimes also guest performances by different musical artists. In short, if you like music or musical theater, this show delivers.
While I have a number of criticisms for the show, there is never a season that goes by where there isn't some amazing dance done. Here are a few favorites:
The Mask (Helio Castroneves and Julianne Hough)
Proud Mary (Jordan Fisher and Lindsay Arnold) - Ballroom expert judge Len Goodman said it was the best jive he'd ever seen on the show.
Pirates of the Carribean (Riker Lynch & Allison Holker)
Para Los Rumberos (Shawn Johnson and Derek Hough)
Free Your Mind (Mel B and Maksim Chmerkovskiy)
Santa Maria (Jojo Siwa and Jenna Johnson)
no subject
Audience Rating: 12
Warnings: none
Length of Episodes: 25-30 minutes
Length of Series: 4 seasons, 40 episodes, finished
Wikipedia: link
Why you recommend it: It's a coming-of-age comedy series about a 15-year-old (at the beginning of the series) Indian-American Tamil girl, Devi Vishwakumar, who has to deal with the sudden death of her beloved father. Despite this tragedy, the story tells about teenage trouble like falling in love with two boys, the best friend suddenly finding out that she might be a lesbian, ups and downs at school, and Devis's mother thinking about moving back to kinda. Add some problems because of the Indian-American Tamil family background, and you will know the basics of the series.
All this might sound like many other teenage drama series, but I think it is worth giving it a try (especially when watching it with your teenage daughter). The characters are great; the teenage problems are told close to RL (maybe a bite too much at once, but hey, it's a TV show). The main story is funny, with lots of more serious subplots.
And first of all: The story is told to the end. No annoying cliffhanger and no need to worry that the show might get canceled without a satisfying ending.
no subject
no subject
Audience Rating: PG13
Warnings: Grown men shedding tears of joy over pottery
Length of Episodes: 50-60 minutes
Length of Series: 6-10 eps per season. Currently airing Season 8
Why you recommend it:
The Great Pottery Throw Down is a competition show about making pottery. The show starts the season with 10 contestants and one person is eliminated every week until only a few remain. The contestants are from all walks of life, young and old, and as the show progresses you get to know the contestants through their pottery creations. Every episode has a theme - for example it might be Japanese Ceramics or Raku, or it might be Gardening or Endangered Animals. The contestants will make pottery based on the theme.
The show is hosted by a presenter and usually two judges. There's Siobhán McSweeney, who you may know from Derry Girls and other UK tv shows, who brings a lot of humour and fun to the show as the presenter. There's Richard Miller who is a potter and one of the judges. And then there is Keith Brymer Jones, the main judge and potter. Keith is so passionate about pottery that quite often the pieces people make bring him to tears.
But what is really great about this show is the passion everyone shows for creating works out of clay. Seeing someone who isn't very confident in a certain style of pottery find something new they are good at, seeing how they grow in their skills etc. Its lots of fun to see a boring lump of clay get turned into a stunning piece of pottery. Sometimes its bowls, cups, etc Sometimes its sculptures and decorative items. Other times its functional items like toilets, clocks etc. Occasionally the firing of the pottery doesn't work and the pottery breaks, or the glaze is washed out, but no one is ever really disappointed.
Occasionally there may be a tiny bit of innuendo, but otherwise its very family friendly.
no subject
Over the Garden Wall (2014)
Audience Rating: PG
Warnings: Contains scenes of supernatural monsters and peril that might be too much for young children.
Length of Episodes: 11 minutes
Length of Series: 10 episodes
Why you recommend it: This is an atmospheric, beautifully made homage to early 20th century Americana, particularly animation, folk tales, and music. It's very funny, with great voice acting (from Elijah Wood, Melanie Lynskey, Christopher Lloyd, Tim Curry, and John Cleese among others) and fantastic original songs, telling the story of two brothers who've found themselves lost in the autumn woods of The Unknown, trying to find their way home with help from a talking bluebird and their pet frog, while trying to evade capture by a mysterious dark creature known only as The Beast. The series has become annual Hallowe'en viewing for me, for its seasonal songs, gorgeous autumnal backgrounds, its equal measures of laughs and chills, and its warm approach to difficult family situations.
Here's a link to the intro: Over the Garden Wall
no subject
Audience Rating: All Ages?
Warnings: None
Length of Episodes: 20-26 minutes (constructed from two 10-13 minute episodes)
Length of Series: 4 seasons, from 2014 to 2024, plus two movies
Why you recommend it:
Wikipedia compares Odd Squad to Cyberchase and Peg + Cat, but as a GenXer, I was immediately reminded of "Mathnet" from Square One Television. That was, honestly, all I needed to get hooked when I tripped over it randomly as a mid-40s adult with no children.
The concept is that the Odd Squad is "an organization run by kids, that investigates anything strange, weird and especially odd". Their mission is to "put things right again" with the power of fundamental mathematical concepts. The humor is heavily tinged with the surreal, and meta fans will note that the Odd Squad is itself quite odd indeed.
Like "Mathnet", it's structured with police-show parallels, which isn't going to be to everyone's taste. I don't recall ever seeing any kind of jail, though; "enforcement" tends to consist of figuring out the plan or scheme and telling the perpetrator to stop or guiding them to leave.
Sean Michael Kyer is the stand-out as Oscar, and Millie Davis as Ms O is a close second.
I liked the first two seasons best, and I haven't seen the fourth; honestly, I hadn't known there was a fourth until this write-up, so I can't speak to it, but I've greatly enjoyed what I have seen.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Audience Rating: All ages
Warnings: None
Length of Episodes: 23 minutes
Length of Series: 3 Seasons (61 episodes)
Why you recommend it: This is a delightful show that really grows on you as it goes on. When I started watching it I felt it was cute but more geared for kids and it wasn't as consistently funny as I'd hoped. As time goes on though, the complications underlying their world become more obvious and I found the humor more entertaining.
In some ways one could see the show through a Star Wars lens, in the sense of restoring a defeated Republic by finding and developing the skills of the last of Alderaan as well as the Water Tribe princess. As in SW Darth Vader is key but he still has his Obi Wan.
The balance of the three travelers (and their animal companions) and their hunter and declared enemy from the Fire Nation starts to become less opposed and their family origins and problems more complicated as they come across other recurring characters and learn more about their own world. The opposition comes to a head in the final season. Mostly I just grew to be very fond of the characters (Uncle Iroh was probably my favorite) and was sorry to have no more when the show ended.