Liking TV shows children like

I was just watching my three-year old watching Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. She was sitting on a table, smiling. Smiling, that is, until Dad Tiger tells Daniel that it’s time for bed. Then she frowned for a moment. The smile came back pretty quick, but even in the morning, it’s clear that the idea of going to bed is like a trip to the dentist. Something that’s a good idea, but doesn’t sound like a good idea.

I’m really glad that public TV has a place for Fred Rogers more than a decade after he died. Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood is not really retread of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, even though it shares some structural similarities. It really is a fairly typical young child’s show teaching life lessons with a host character who talks to the viewer. What it shares with Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, something that really makes it uncommon among children’s shows, is that it shows interactions between children and grown-ups. It’s not unique in this way; both Sesame Street and Arthur share this characteristic.

The reason it isn’t really a retread of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood is that these interactions are between on-screen characters. There really was no children’s cast on Mister Roger’s Neighborhood. Mister Rogers spoke directly to each child watching the show. This individual connection in a mass medium was his seemingly magical humanity. It's why people who grew up with the show still love Mr. Rogers. It’s different from these other shows, where there’s minimal engagement directly with the viewer.

But watching my daughter watch the show, she’s engaged. She talks to the characters, sings along, dances when they dance, and talks about the lessons for hours and days after.

Different is just different, and worth exploring celebrating. Just like Mister Rogers always said.