Teletubbies

When this show came on the scene in Britain in the mid 1990's critics were concerned about the show's target audience since its aimed for children two and under. Eventually PBS picked it up for the American audience and it's been with us ever since.

The show specializes in simple stories, poetry, visuals, dance, and the observation of children in the real world (via the pinwheel shaped windmill transmitting those pictures of children to the Teletubbies on their stomachs).

While the Teletubbies are the equalvent of a one year old (the way they speak is a classic example of it), they seem to have their favorite things. Tinky Winky has his red bag (some think he is Gay icon because of this but its up for debate), Dispy likes his black and white hat, Laa-Laa has her Orange ball that look like a balloon, and Poe has her blue scooter. They each have a special song is they go around their play area called Teletubby Land, but they all love spreading love to each other with their "Big Hugs."

The show also makes use of repetition frequently. Usually when the Teletubbies beg to see, hear, or act something out again, whatever it is. This gives the children to soak something in better the second time it's played out. In the recent shows produced the show begins with a segment called "Teletubbies Everywhere" were the use of a video wall is used and video tricks are used such as duplicated Laa Laa's or whatever.

The Voice Trumpets (which look like Periscopes or upside Golf clubs) seem the govern the Teletubbies. They tell its time for the show, and when to say goodbye. They also sing simple song, and tell simple poems. They can pop up anywhere in Teletubby Land even inside the house they live in.

Teletubbies has proven to be a hit worldwide, and regardless whether or not this should ever gone on the air in the first place or if children's TV is being dumbed down. It could be worse, their is that six foot purple thing. Makes you think twice about bashing the Teletubbies.

I watch this show every day with my two year old sister and she loves this. It may seem inane to all of us mainly because we don't fit in the demographics for this show. They don't speak well but neither do the toddlers. They are on the same level as the toddlers. It's only meant for small children. It bothers me to see people trash this show. I guess some people just can't take children's shows with a simple grain of salt and just keep their annoying comments to themselves.

This is simply the WEIRDEST kiddie show I have ever seen...just looky at all those phone-poles that pop up from everywhere. Reminds me of my old humidifier that sat on my dresser when I was a toddler. It looked just like a little UFO in the dark and it scared the living daylights out of me even at such a young age. The same thing goes for "Noo-Noo", that bizarre-looking vacuum-cleaner with wriggling light-up eyes and a long sucking trunk. That thing would frighten the poor little tots half to death!

The aliens themselves are curiously portrayed as parentless kitten-faced infants with hare lips and monkey ears that bodily fell from the outer space and forever lost in a rustic paradise with all the hopping bunnies and plastic flowers. They squeak, wriggle, and hug each other for all eternity to come...they certainly act like they don't have any brains in their skulls. And the baby sun...such BRIGHT blue eyes...would giggle and look around as if it doesn't have anything better to do. The big pink pinwheel spins, sprinkling shiny pink stars to stupefy the pot-bellied creatures into delirious submission.

The worse thing of all is how the clippings of tykes doing everyday stuff are forever repeated in the aliens' fat tummies as if the watchers don't know any better...whether they just got off their mother's breasts or not.

I must first state that I agree that this show is a bit over hated. There are some redeeming qualities, such as the landscape, which I think is very pretty and charming. Those surroundings look a bit like a golf course but with the addition of cute fluffy bunnies. I also don't have any problem with their speech pattern, they're meant to resemble toddlers after all. The segments shown on the Teletubbies' stomachs are also very interesting. With that said, I myself don't particularly care for it although I do think that it gets a little too much hate. My main problem is that it is extremely repetitive. For example, after you see the videos on the Teletubbies's belly screens they play the same video again. In fact, pretty much everything is repeated ad nauseum. My other problem with Teletubbies is that in their grassy mound of a house (apparently called the "tubbytronic superdome" or something) they have a pet: a very creepy vacuum-type thing called Nunu. This thing communicates solely with uncanny sucking sounds, has bloodshot eyes, and appears out of nowhere. I found it very creepy when I first saw this as a kid and still find that thing creepy as an adult. To compare, Maleficiant scared me when I was little but I outgrew that, while Nunu gives me the creeps to this day. In conclusion, not as bad as they say but I would have preferred if everything wasn't replayed "again" and if it were just the Teletubbies without their scary pet.

Some of the reviewers here seem to expect something like Game of Thrones in a children's show, ie something that entertains adults. You have to realise that the audience of this show is infants and toddlers from 6 months to about 4 years. So even five year olds are going to prefer shows more targeted at them.

I feel sympathy for children whose parents expect everything to be educational. Teletubbies is not really supposed to be educational. It is entertainment for littlies, and in that regard it serves its purpose well. The British seem to be very good at shows for young children that are for entertainment purposes only, Americans don't seem to get it.