It's My Screen Time Too

We get back into the baby game thanks to a listener’s suggestion that we check out Ms. Rachel’s Songs for Littles YouTube channel. How does this educational baby content stack up against the ones we’ve covered in the past (like Cosmic Kids Yoga or our old nemesis, Blippi) or the ones that were popular when our kids were younger (like Cocomelon)? And do we detect shades of the idealism embodied by Danny Joe’s Treehouse (check out our interview with Danny LaBrecque way back in episode 91)? In Screen Time in the News, we discuss an article about the perils of YouTube for its young reality stars.

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In our latest episode, we review the big screen adaptation of the stage musical based on Roald Dahl’s Matilda. In Screen Time in the News, we discuss a Michigan State University study of teen self esteem in rural communities with limited internet access and tightly controlled screen time. We also catch one another up on two Asian imports we stumbled upon via Netflix: Gudetama and Brown and Friends.

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We’ve got so much to cover after our holiday break. We catch up on what we watched with our families (Strange World, Avatar The Way of Water, National Treasure: Edge of History, and Trivia Quest). We’re pretty nervous to watch Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, so we have friend of the pod Amy Padden on to discuss how to introduce scary content to our kids before we jump into our main review. Our gritty recastings include Awkwafina, Aubrey Plaza, and Jennifer Coolidge, and we somehow manage to compare this dark, twisty take on Pinocchio to Dirty Dancing. Happy New Year!

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It’s a super-sized episode to get you through the holiday season! In our main segment, we review Disenchanted, the long awaited sequel to the 2007 musical Enchanted. Was this story of after “happily ever after” worth the wait? In Screen Time in the News, we discuss a roundtable conversation between directors of some of the year’s best and most anticipated animated films like Pinocchio, Strange World, Turning Red, and My Father’s Dragon. We wonder whether the complex stories they’d like to tell are a good fit for their audience and whether it’s fair to expect kids and families to always be ready to tackle weighty topics. In a bonus interview, Katie talks to her favorite boomers (her parents) about A Christmas Story Christmas, and in her gritty reimagining Deborah casts Katie’s nightmare - a mumblecore princess movie.

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The holidays have brought us tremendous screen time riches, so we’re sharing quick reviews of four new holiday releases: A Christmas Story Christmas; The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special; The Santa Clauses; and Spirited. As a bonus, Katie gives a mini-review of the latest Disney animated release: Strange World. In Screen Time in the News, we chat about the Canadian Pediatric Society’s decision to ditch strict time-based recommendations for toddler screen time.

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For the second episode in a row, we review content inspired by a children’s book from the 1940s. Come to hear us talk about how beautiful Netflix’s My Father’s Dragon is; stay to hear Deborah dunk on the Despicable Me franchise and Katie wonder what the appropriate term is for a group of tigers. We take issue with extreme poverty as a plot device in children’s programming and delve once more into the “animation for adults” vs “animation for kids” debate. In Screen Time in the News, we wonder what it means that Disney’s latest live action remake - Hercules - is being made to appeal to TikTok users.

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We tie ourselves in knots trying to find good things to say about the bland Pretzel and the Puppies on Apple TV+. Gritty reboot casting throws a bone to Conan O’Brien and the cast of the dear, departed Togetherness. In Screen Time in the News, we wonder whether the inclusion of ads will make us want to banish streaming services to the doghouse.

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It’s been awhile since we reviewed a total stinker, so we were probably overdue for a show like Netflix’s Phantom Pups. The latest entry in the Air Bud franchise inspires us to mention 1995’s Casper a whopping 3 times, question Netflix’s PR machine, and wonder why this couldn’t have been just a scary movie about the perils of DIY home renovation. In Screen Time in the News, we discuss the lack of family friendly live action movies being released in theaters and streaming’s efforts to fill the gaps.

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Like every mom of our generation, we were super excited for the return of the Sanderson sisters in Hocus Pocus 2. They’re back, looking as good as ever, but does the new movie live up to the 1993 original? In Screen Time in the News, we discuss Romper essay that argues for the upsides to eating in front of the TV.

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In our review of Secret Headquarters on Paramount+, find out whether Katie’s superhero fatigue extends beyond the MCU to Owen Wilson’s new family flick. We lament the underuse of Michael Pena and finally reintroduce John Cho into our imaginary reboot casting. In Screen Time in the News, we address the disappearance of animated titles from HBOMax. RIP Esme and Roy.

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