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Home > Health > MOMania > Archives > 2008 > December > 28

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Best and Worst Pop Culture in a Mom’s World 2008

One mom’s list of the top TV shows, movies, video games and books of 2008.

By Theresa Walsh Giarrusso | Sunday, December 28, 2008, 09:19 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Tolerable” is often the highest praise parents can offer the children’s TV shows, movies, books or video games that they are forced to endure. So when parents find shows or games that the whole family can enjoy, we want to share!

Here’s my list of some of the best and worst TV shows, movies video games and books for kids in 2008. They aren’t necessarily new for this year, but they are things that my family discovered or enjoyed in the past 12 months. Please add your own favorites so other parents can have more options, especially with school out for the next week.

Best TV for elementary school students

“Phineas and Ferb” — This Disney Channel cartoon features two brothers who are always creating fantastic contraptions, a big sister who is always trying to get them in trouble and their clueless but sweet parents. Oh, and they have a pet platypus who is a secret agent at war with a mad scientist who uses every cliché in the super villains’ handbook. What’s not to love? This show is full of catchy music, wild plot lines, slapstick laughs for kids and referential humor for parents.

“Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman” - A cartoon dog hosts this PBS game show with kids competing for prizes by doing physical and intellectual tasks. My kids think this show is hilarious, and they don’t even realize they’re learning something. The tasks expose the viewers to science, history, math, literature and critical thinking skills. My kids watched all three seasons and they reference the show often. My oldest already has plans to move to Boston for the summer of 2014 when she’ll be old enough to be a contestant.

“iCarly” - Of all the shows on Disney and Nick starring tween girls, “iCarly” is the most enjoyable for our family. Carly gets into all kinds of trouble making her own webcast and has a kooky brother to boot. The romances on the show aren’t too sappy or explicit for younger kids.

Best baby/toddler TV

“Sesame Street” - When Rose was a toddler, Sesame Street was going through a dark time. The “Journey to Ernie” bits were boring and repetitive, and they showed fewer of the quirky little skits that I loved as a child. But “Sesame” is once again unpredictable and fun like I remember. My favorite new characters are Murray and his little lamb. Visits from celebrities make the show enjoyable for adults. Will Arnett recently appeared as a bumbling magician similar to his character on “Arrested Development.” The kids were laughing and so was I.

“Clifford” - My baby loves dogs, and the stories are always enjoyable and sweet.

Worst TV for kids

“Total Drama Island” -Just because it’s on Cartoon Network doesn’t mean it’s appropriate for kids! The show is actually a relatively clever parody of reality TV, but it’s full of mature themes and sexual innuendo

“Hip Hop Harry” —We happened upon this show on Discovery Kids. My son loved it, and I hated it. Picture a giant bear wearing his hat sideways doing some excruciatingly bad rapping and dance moves from “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.” The children on the show are annoying and the music is bad.

“Pokemon” (or any of the rip-offs like Naruto or Bakugan) - These shows are simply unwatchable. The stories make no sense. The animation is terrible. The voice talent is embarrassingly bad. The music is annoying. Worst of all, the whole industry is simply one big infomercial for cheap toys.

Best shows for moms

“The New Adventures of Old Christine” — If you want to make yourself feel better, just watch this show. Christine drives her child to school in her pajamas, thinks her gynecologist is hitting on her while examining her and is convinced a virus is actually hot flashes. Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character is self-deprecating and honest in a way few TV women are.

“Mad Men” - You may think this show is all about men, but this season it spent more time exploring women’s lives in the early 1960s. Housewife Betty Draper seems like she has it all - a super hot, successful husband, a beautiful house and two adorable kids. However, her husband is cheating on her and hiding chunks of his past. Other characters include a sharp secretary who can’t get rise above that role because of gender discrimination, and a pioneering, single career woman who is judged by everyone

“How I Met Your Mother” -This show is not really about being a mom, but it relaxes me for 30 minutes and reminds me of what my life was like pre-kids.

Best Movies

“Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” - I stayed behind with the baby for this one and now I’m sad I didn’t get to see it. Michael and the kids agreed it was hysterical. World-class comedians make this series funnier than most cartoons

“Kung Fu Panda” - Fun and funny, I am excited to see it on DVD again. Some of the fight scenes may be too intense for small children.

“Wall-E” -Like most Pixar films, “Wall-E” is beautiful, engaging and thoughtful. The topics are a little heavy, but my kids seemed to understand the message.

“High School Musical 3: Senior Year” - Michael and his friend took the oldest girls to see this, and Michael declared: “It wasn’t half as bad as I thought it was going to be.”

Worst Movie

“Speed Racer.” — Michael took the kids to see this one, too. Even though he loved the cartoon as a kid, he could barely sit through this version.

Video games

The Best

If you have to bring a video game system into the house, choose the Wii. It offers games you can play as a family and has some that involve exercise. Here are some we like:

Mario Kart - Besides being incredibly fun with amazing graphics and no violence, this game allows small children to compete with big kids and parents. If you’re in last place the game gives you extra bonus opportunities to catch up.

Wii Fit - My 7-year-old loves to do yoga on it, and my sister-in-law swears the hula hoop game helped trim her waist.

Wii Sports - Golf and bowling are my favorites. We feel like the president having a bowling alley in our basement.

The Worst

Gears of War 2 - Don’t let this XBox 360 game in the house. Shooting your opponent is bad enough, but do you really need to saw him in half?

Mortal Kombat VS DC Universe - My 5-year-old would love to fight as Batman or Superman, but he doesn’t need to see a Japanese warrior rip the spine out of the Flash or knock Wonder Woman’s head off.

Best children’s books

“What the World Eats,” by Faith D’Alusisio - This eye-opening book examines what 25 families from around the world eat in one week. It has a photograph of each family and the food they live on for seven days. The disparity between nations is shocking. It also features lots of charts and graphs exploring mortality, literacy and obesity rates, plus the number of McDonald’s world-wide, among other things.

Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne - If you have a reader who is trying to ramp up into chapter books, this is an excellent series to get them going. They follow the adventures of a time-traveling brother and sister. The author weaves in history, science, geography and tall tales. I get sad when my daughter jumps ahead in the book without me!

“The Ultimate Interactive Atlas of Space,” from Scholastic. — My son chooses to read this book every night. The book is a fascinating study of all things space with lots for kids to move and touch. We don’t get bored and neither does he.

Please share your list of the Best and Worst Pop Culture in a Mom’s World!

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