Sorry, Snuffleupagus
by Bret Asbury
November 18, 2009
Enough with the plaudits for Sesame Street. The best preschool programming on TV is Nick Jr.'s Yo Gabba Gabba!
If you have a young child—or even if you don't—you know that Sesame Street is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary. Weeks of gushing coverage of the preschool staple culminated last Tuesday with the airing of a much-hyped anniversary episode, featuring appearances by Cameron Diaz and Michelle Obama. But lost in the cascade of praise for the venerable show is the fact that Sesame Street, though still useful and at times charming, is no longer the most engaging television show geared toward preschoolers. That distinction now belongs to Nick Jr.'s Yo Gabba Gabba!
Currently winding down its second season, Yo Gabba Gabba! has garnered critical acclaim and quickly established itself as one of the most popular series in children's programming (according to Nielsen, the show is currently averaging more than 500,000 viewers). Like Sesame Street, Yo Gabba Gabba! employs a combination of live action and animated features to instill in preschoolers a certain set of values:brush your teeth, be kind to others, etc. But the similarities end there.
Yo Gabba Gabba! is hip, edgy, and current—it's the show for preschoolers whose parents aren't quite ready to accept that their days of going to rock and hip-hop shows are behind them. Its educational songs—compositions with titles like "It's OK; Try Again" and "No One Likes To Be Left Out"—are performed by bands like the Shins, the Ting Tings, and Ladytron. Its frequent Dancey Dance segment, which teaches preschoolers a new dance move, is hosted by guest stars like Elijah Wood, Amare Stoudemire, and Tony Hawk. So successful have creators Scott Schultz and Christian Jacobs been in establishing a cool brand that Yo Gabba Gabba! now has regular adult viewers who tune in without preschoolers. Many of them don't even have children.