Wednesday, October 29, 2008

So I sat in the after school pick-up line longer than usual

I'm sitting in the carpool line eating Hot Tamales (my favorite candy if you are looking to buy me a treat) & rockin' out to a new Wiggles DVD when it occurs to me that I have just signed myself up for three or four more years of the Wiggles. Introducing C to the Wiggles was not one of my more brilliant mommy moment.

Anyway, this new one has the replacement yellow Wiggle on it.  He is Sam Wiggle and I was very nervous about him.  Not that I have any great love for the former yellow Wiggle, Greg, I just have bad feelings from the 2002 Blue's Clues host switch from Steve to Joe.  I now have trust issues with children's programing.  Blue's Clues was never the same for me after Steve left.  You could watch Steve and know that he was fully aware of the absurdity of his job.  He seemed quirky and like he would be funny in a very adult way outside of his job.  Like Bob Saget during his Full House years.  Joe, however, creeped me out.  He was too sincere.  It is not normal to be that earnest while pretending to talk to an audience of toddlers and a blue dog about shapes and colors in front of a green screen.  Steve always had that look in his eye that said "I know this is a crappy gig, but I'm raking it in once we syndicate."  Joe just seemed mildly retarded by comparison.

So I was all prepared to hate Sam Wiggle.  But, I don't.  His voice doesn't sound like he is imitating Greg, which is good because that never works, even toddlers know the difference. Also he he younger than the others. Unless you are Mister Rogers or Captain Kangaroo you should not be a children's entertainer once you hit social security.  Curmudgeon does not make for warm & cuddly viewing.   

The youth of Sam Wiggle did give me something new to worry about.  Will they be replacing each Wiggle one by one as needed?  Sure they did an okay job replacing Greg, but there are 3 more Wiggles to go.  They may not get it right each time.  I'll have to go through this again when Murray gets arthritis & can't fake play his guitar anymore.  And what about when Anthony tops 450 and develops diabetes because he loves to eat.  Then there is Jeff, who is always falling asleep, that dude is going to be the next to go for sure.  Falling asleep frequently and without warning is a symptom of some pretty scary shit.  Will my suffering never end (this is my blog and it is supposed to be self-referential, so, yes, my suffering is the main point here)?

Maybe I should try to switch C to The Backyardigans.  Animated just seems safer for me.

1 comment:

  1. My kids LOVE the Backyardigans. Since I couldn't stand the Wiggles when my brother's son was into them, I didn't open that can of worms with my kids. Penny picked up the Backyardigans all on her own before we cancelled the cable and we ended up buying her a CD so she could continue to sing along with her favorite masters of imagination.

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