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ajcwizkid
Reviews
Today's Special (1981)
One of the best hidden gems from the 80s!
The fact that such an obsure show from the 1980s was very much a hidden gem in the landscape of awesome hits like "Fraggle Rock" and "Transformers" was very, very special. I didn't watch this show growing up, but now that I'm growing up with it, "Today's Special" to me was more than just a public access TVO show - but really a SHOW - one with (mostly) likeable characters, funny scenes, and quality acting. Even though it might have been cheesy sometimes, (okay: maybe quite a bit), this show proved that public access TV didn't have to be cheap at all. I bet the reason why so many people remembered this show was just how well-done it was (there were so many great moments) and how much dancing was apart of it. The people who played Jeff and Jodie were both very talented actors - and so were the puppetieers who played Muffy and Sam. Sure, other 80s and 90s shows had music and puppets and "wacky adverntures" on them before, but what made this show so special was just the fact that it was different. All of the characters - human and puppet - looked different. No other kids' show at the time was set in a department store!?! It had a really wacko premise - but, to me - never got really too wacky. Even though a mannaquin somehow magically popped to life, there was enough nicely composed music (listen, almost all 80s music was awesome and of course had plently of synithzers), talented dancing, and other wacky stuff going on to keep it somewhat down. They even had an opera singer, a robot puppet, some fella who likes vaccum cleaners, a circus, an opera and so much more on the show! Even a marching band came to the store one time! I really hope people never forget how awesome the 80s were - this show summarizes all of that into a time capsule - that still holds pretty well to this day. Is it dated? Yes. Is it cheesy? Sometimes. But is it still a well-done public access show? Absoluetly! Someday, I hope that you or you're kids will like it just as well as I did. No wonder why it was called "Today's Special" - this show truely was special. :)
Caillou (1997)
Don't Judge This Show By It's Kid-Firendy Cover.
Canadian series-Caillou follows the adventures of a 3-4 year old (gray shirt series) boy who throws temper tantrums, whines A LOT, has a lack of manners , never gets "Time-Outs", and is just bad in general. His parents are just plain bad too. In one episode, Caillou's father leaves a baby on a changing table unattended and Caillou pinches her WITHOUT punishment. In another episode, Caillou is not happy with his babysitter and gets upset with her. Also in one episode, Caillou swears, which was banned.
There is nothing to say about the newer series (yellow shirt series) except that is bad too. This version of the show tries to take a newer approach to try and teach kids things like friendship without 3 year old's Caillou's naughty behaviour. However it secretly teaches kids about discrimination of race (In one episode, Safety-Patrol Caillou blows a whistle at black kid during daycare.) and politically correct "world-views". and more stuff kids shouldn't be learning at 2 to 4 years old.
I am GLAD that this show was canceled in 2010, but it STILL airs in reruns on PBS and other international channels. Parents PLEASE turn off this this show when it comes on and BLOCK IT WITH PARENTAL CONTROLS!
-Ajc Wizkid - Rating 1/10