@Barney One of my oldest son's first words, 'Da bah'... translation- Barney, of course! He would get sooo excited seeing Barney come on tv, but when the kid next door had a birthday party and that huge purple dinosaur came to life, THAT was terrifying!!! lol
@jml326 As much as I loathe that big, dumb dinosaur (see how I didn't name him to avoid hurting our own purple version), his annoyance is nothing compared to Caillou. He definitely deserves to be known as Fucking Caillou.
@Baybay11 Ha. One of my favorite things that ever happened at work was when our highest elected official started singing "I'm a map, I'm a map, I'm a map, I'm a map" when we walked into his office with some important maps. (I do GIS; mappy stuff.)
@Barney Figures. You've got that ripoff of the Knick-Knack-Paddy-Whack song in your lil' brain. OOOOOOOOOHHHHH! Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?
@Baybay11 The fact that you have any shred of a feeling other than hatred for the horrible bullshit that is Dora completely invalidates your equally dumb thoughts on spongebob.
@Collin1000 This is the song that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue singing it forever just because...
This is the song that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue singing it forever just because...
@dashcloud When you're a young one there are lots of things that never seem to end. Enforced nap times. The years between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The last month of school before summer vacation. The various annoying kids songs that you sang until your parents' eyes were bloodshot, and their brains were leaking out their ears.
Endless things are common until you get older and start getting stack overflows ;)
Dinosaur Barney stole the knick-knack-paddywhack song. That was annoying. But other than its being purple that thieving reptile bears no resemblance to our Barney.
Sid and Marty Krofft made the worst, most hideous, annoying, stupid, vapid kids shows ever, but they weren't aimed at really little kids
@duodec Are you talking about H.R. Pufnstuf? Or Sigmund and the Sea Monsters? You are nuts! Those shows were a lot more entertaining than any of the costumed-crap kid shows of today!
@duodec Noisy semi-psychedelic caca? Wow! LOL!!!! Where the fuck did that come from? Anything from Sid and Marty Krofft was and still is a whole lot better than the all of costume crap we see today! What the fuck is yo gabba gabba? Please name something from current television that is better.
@boc as far as very young or young kid shows, I couldn't name a good one. I don't have kids and so don't have to watch tinky-winky spongebob caca. Dora was reportedly ok (we had a rescue dog named Swiper so I watched a couple episodes to get the backstory). I'm told by a coworker with young girls that the current My Little Pony is actually quite good. The one episode I saw was silly but had nice production values and was not mentally depressing like HR Pufnstuf and its ilk
It's apparent you are an ardent fan-person of S&MK and I (and my brother and sister back then) were most assuredly not. For us it meant time to change the channel to try and find something less insipid, like maybe the Watergate hearings that were wiping a lot of the Saturday morning kids shows off the air. Same as S&MK shows which were shoved into timeslots where better cartoons were shown before.
These guys, bar none (in my experience at least), have always been the most annoying and, frankly, creepy as fuck. I'm not sure what it is, but I could never stand their show whether as a kid or an adult.
And for the record, I think Teletubbies get a bad rap. Given the target audience, they (and the whole show) make a lot of sense and I find them likable. I'm serious. I love them all the more because some folks think they have an LGBTQ agenda.
And, yes, Elmo's annoying, but he's okay, because he's got the awesomeness of the Street around him.
I don't think Barney's that bad. There's some good to be said of Dora too.
@joelmw I'm with you! I'm a single adult who watched the Teletubbies (drug-free) and will forever love the episode where they walked around a wall for 10 minutes.
@joelmw They felt like real kids, not adults in costume, and that's rare. Tinky Winky was my least favorite because I was convinced that he was one of those kids with allergies, who's always mucus-y and noisily mouth-breathing, but I always felt guilty about it. That's how real they felt to me.
Thanks to the Barney etiquette episode they made us watch in 5th grade and the big stuffed Barney my grandparents gave me when I was too old for such a gift (my 4-years-younger cousin loved hers), I have Barney issues. Our @Barney is the only reason I don't twitch anymore at the mention of the name. @Barney and that purple love... slowly healing my broken soul.
@joelmw Romper stomper bomper boo, tell me tell me tell me, do, magic mirror tell me today, have all my friends had fun at play? Our Romper Room teacher was Miss Fran. I really liked her.
Anyone here love Icky Twerp? A live local studio kids show interspersed w Warner Bros cartoons. My first Roadrunner viewing!
My brothers and I loved Icky Twerp so much that we went next door to watch everyday w best friends. My parents got so embarassed they finally got our first TV.
I never watched Barney when I was young, but I'm a big fan of @Barney, so… no. Know nothing of Dora except that she has taught a coworker's kid to refer to everything larger than her as a mountain, which is damn hilarious, so… no. Teletubbies & Elmo, agree 100% w/ @joelmw, so… no. Just googled Boohbah and my cursory 5-second response is that it looks amazing, so… no. Blue's Clues, on the other hand, fallaciously taught me that mail is something to look forward to. Fast-forward, and mail is actually just a big pile of corporations to whom you owe money, so… yes. Fuck you Blue's Clues. "Here's the mail / it never fails / to chomp away at your checking account like Pac-Man.
In my television career I've been paid to sit through a lot of terrible children's television, but by far the worst was The Doodlebops. Here's an episode I grabbed at random.
I didn't actually watch to see what it was, I started recoiling in my chair once I heard the theme. They also made animated episodes which might've been even worse. I hated whenever CBS rotated them back into their schedule. The only marginally redeeming quality of the show is it turns out the actress who plays Deedee Doodle is kinda hot, not that you can really tell that in her costume and makeup.
@f00l It's a Small World, forever and forever, a hundred years It's a Small World's things. Me and It's a Small World runnin' around and It's a Small World time. All day long forever. All, a hundred days It's a Small World forever a hundred times. Over and over It's a Small World adventures dot com W W W dot It's a Small World dot com W W W It's a Small World adventures all hundred years. Every minute It's a Small World dot com W W W hundred times It's a Small World dot com.
@f00l A paralyzed man was trapped on It's a Small World for over 30 minutes when it broke down once. He sued, but the $8,000 he was awarded doesn't seem like nearly enough.
@earlyre In a vacuum, "boohbah" would indeed be most annoying. But to really qualify, one has to be subjected to said annoyance. Since it even repelled my kids when they were toddlers, it never got the opportunity to annoy me, unlike some of the others on the list that my kids insisted upon
My runner-up show would have to be Busytown Mysteries. It's not The Busy World of Richard Scarry but a different show in the same setting. I felt like I got actively dumber as I watched the show, and it raises all sorts of questions, like, "why do these children have cars? Why are the police having children solve their mysteries? Why do the children do a better job than the police?" I broke out my laptop and signed in here just to find this article I read once, which highlights so many of the things that I hated about the show in amusing fashion. It's well worth the read.
Wee babby shows usually fall into two categories: gentle and relaxed, or intensely insistent. Things like Caillou, Barney, Kip, or Teletubbies avoid loud or obnoxious sounds and are very easily ignored if you don't like them (and sometimes make for nice BG noise when doing chores or summin'). Things like Dora or Boohbah use voice actors with assertive voices to keep a kids attention, and even as adults it's pretty hard to tune out.
@brumagem Mostly agree. This is why I think people who said Caillou are off the mark. Barney was easily ignored when they were talking, but some of the songs were pretty irritating.
Daniel Tiger! I think they purposefully designed this show to have an annoying song get stuck in your head. Supposedly to help the kid remember the lesson.
"If you have to go potty stop and go right away. Flush and wash and be on your way!"
Daniel tiger will sing that song to himself 20 times during the show and teach it to all the other kids too! Aaaahhhh
When I found out the Elmo was a large black man, I was surprised. I mentioned it to my daughters friend, who works for Sesame Workshop. She said, he is scary in real life. I don't like him.
@wankeye My husband used to say he could not be held responsible for his actions if he ever ran in to them in public. He still despises them to this day.
@wankeye "The Wiggles" is one of the few that I actually reminisce about fondly now that my kids are older. I thought their music was pleasant and catchy without being ear-wormy.
Then again, I sort of like "The Cockroaches", the "legitimate band" that original Wiggles Anthony and Jeff were members of in the pre-Wiggles career. Okay.. the Cockraches' music hasn't really aged well:
There also play out for adults, but they do NOT change their performance AT ALL. If you ever want to see drunk college kids singing and dancing to such notable hits as "Fanny Pack", go see them.
They have been on tour with Frank Turner, who basically said that you can't watch there guys and not have fun.
Do any parents not let their kids watch this stuff at all, on the grounds that having it on makes you want to kill yourself? I was subjected once to what I think is called Disney Playhouse, and I don't know how people stand it. I can't imagine it helps kids in any way, either.
This poll is awesome...damnit @Barney, where was this when you were goat?
Also damn you @jaremelz for this being now instead of then.
@TaRDy
@TaRDy Yep, it's all @jaremelz's fault. Stupid goat.
@cengland0 I think I'm going to be sick.
@Barney
Hmpf. I don't think I'm annoying.
@Barney Neither do we, my friend. At least those of us that count.
@joelmw Aww, thank you!
@Barney You are not annoying. How could anyone who loves purple be annoying? Seriously.
@heartny I LOVE purple.
@Barney One of my oldest son's first words, 'Da bah'... translation- Barney, of course! He would get sooo excited seeing Barney come on tv, but when the kid next door had a birthday party and that huge purple dinosaur came to life, THAT was terrifying!!! lol
@Barney Had to love the Flyers practice jerseys tonight!
@cinoclav Wow, I want one of them! And the jerseys are nice, too. (How'd I do @OldCatLady?)
Fucking Caillou
@jml326 this is the one. My immediate reaction to this question.
When a friend tells me they are having a kid I tell them
1) enjoy every moment
2) don't let them watch Caillou
Barney and Teletubbies and Elmo are annoying and make kids ask for toys at the store.
Fucking Caillou teaches them whining is how you get what you want in life.
@jml326 The fact this isn't an option makes me doubt if the poll designers have any children under 10 yo
@jml326 I blame @jaremelz for this not being an option. Caillou is definitely the correct answer
@jml326 absolutely 100% yes.
@jml326 As much as I loathe that big, dumb dinosaur (see how I didn't name him to avoid hurting our own purple version), his annoyance is nothing compared to Caillou. He definitely deserves to be known as Fucking Caillou.
@Einherjar13
@jaremelz haha that is perfect. Well played
At least Barney was educational! Spongebob... that's the worst cartoon for kids... that's what's wrong with a lot of them today!
@Baybay11 By the way... Dora rocks! But that damn map does get really annoying lol!
@Baybay11 SpongeBob was/is so stupid it's funny. Barney is just plain LAME.
@boc La la la la la la. I can't hear you!
@boc Spongebob is a smart ass, and you hear so many smart ass toddlers now, I wanna smack their parents
@Baybay11 Ha. One of my favorite things that ever happened at work was when our highest elected official started singing "I'm a map, I'm a map, I'm a map, I'm a map" when we walked into his office with some important maps. (I do GIS; mappy stuff.)
@Barney Figures. You've got that ripoff of the Knick-Knack-Paddy-Whack song in your lil' brain.
OOOOOOOOOHHHHH! Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?
@Baybay11 Actually he's more of a dumbass. Nothing terribly "smart" about SpongeBob.
@Baybay11 The fact that you have any shred of a feeling other than hatred for the horrible bullshit that is Dora completely invalidates your equally dumb thoughts on spongebob.
The ear-worm of all earworms.
Runner up:
@Collin1000
This is the song that never ends,
yes it goes on and on my friend.
Some people started singing it,
not knowing what it was,
and they'll continue singing it
forever just because...
This is the song that never ends,
yes it goes on and on my friend.
Some people started singing it,
not knowing what it was,
and they'll continue singing it
forever just because...
@Collin1000 - Do you expect me to play those after that intro? Haha. I didn't just fall off the turnip truck.
@Collin1000 I had forgotten about Gullah Gullah Island... yes, that one is definitely annoying!
@Collin1000 We loved Out of the Box when my kids were young! Gullah Gullah Island -- no.
@duodec They were just trying to teach kids about the danger of recursion with inadequate ending conditions!
@dashcloud When you're a young one there are lots of things that never seem to end. Enforced nap times. The years between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The last month of school before summer vacation. The various annoying kids songs that you sang until your parents' eyes were bloodshot, and their brains were leaking out their ears.
Endless things are common until you get older and start getting stack overflows ;)
Dinosaur Barney stole the knick-knack-paddywhack song. That was annoying. But other than its being purple that thieving reptile bears no resemblance to our Barney.
Sid and Marty Krofft made the worst, most hideous, annoying, stupid, vapid kids shows ever, but they weren't aimed at really little kids
@duodec Are you talking about H.R. Pufnstuf? Or Sigmund and the Sea Monsters? You are nuts! Those shows were a lot more entertaining than any of the costumed-crap kid shows of today!
@boc noisy semi-psychedelic caca. And talk about crap costumes? Sheesh! They made Plan 9 from Outer Space look like state of the art SFX.
@duodec I love purple.
@duodec Noisy semi-psychedelic caca? Wow! LOL!!!! Where the fuck did that come from? Anything from Sid and Marty Krofft was and still is a whole lot better than the all of costume crap we see today! What the fuck is yo gabba gabba? Please name something from current television that is better.
@boc as far as very young or young kid shows, I couldn't name a good one. I don't have kids and so don't have to watch tinky-winky spongebob caca. Dora was reportedly ok (we had a rescue dog named Swiper so I watched a couple episodes to get the backstory). I'm told by a coworker with young girls that the current My Little Pony is actually quite good. The one episode I saw was silly but had nice production values and was not mentally depressing like HR Pufnstuf and its ilk
It's apparent you are an ardent fan-person of S&MK and I (and my brother and sister back then) were most assuredly not. For us it meant time to change the channel to try and find something less insipid, like maybe the Watergate hearings that were wiping a lot of the Saturday morning kids shows off the air. Same as S&MK shows which were shoved into timeslots where better cartoons were shown before.
These guys, bar none (in my experience at least), have always been the most annoying and, frankly, creepy as fuck. I'm not sure what it is, but I could never stand their show whether as a kid or an adult.
@joelmw
Wow you just sent me back to preschool.
@joelmw Grandfather Clock gave me nightmares.
@f00l I'm kinda sorry I made anyone think of them.
@joelmw And does anyone else fear that Newter and the Captain might be the same person?
@joelmw Blasphemy. Captain Kangaroo rocks!
@DrWorm
This'd be my guess:
And for the record, I think Teletubbies get a bad rap. Given the target audience, they (and the whole show) make a lot of sense and I find them likable. I'm serious. I love them all the more because some folks think they have an LGBTQ agenda.
And, yes, Elmo's annoying, but he's okay, because he's got the awesomeness of the Street around him.
I don't think Barney's that bad. There's some good to be said of Dora too.
@joelmw Admittedly, I never watched Barney.
@joelmw I'm with you! I'm a single adult who watched the Teletubbies (drug-free) and will forever love the episode where they walked around a wall for 10 minutes.
@mossygreen They just seem so damned sincere and curious and affectionate. I'm man enough to say that that stuff appeals to me.
@joelmw They felt like real kids, not adults in costume, and that's rare. Tinky Winky was my least favorite because I was convinced that he was one of those kids with allergies, who's always mucus-y and noisily mouth-breathing, but I always felt guilty about it. That's how real they felt to me.
@joelmw
Anyone who likes the Street hasn't seen it in the last five years.
They cram two minutes of education into every 60 minute show.
Just lots of bad puns, sarcasm and irony aimed at parents.
Sarah Jessica Parker looking for Big? Turns out it's Big Bird. What's the terminal learning objective there?
30 Rock, Mad Men, True Blood, all get the same treatment.
They got lazy somewhere around 2005.
@saodell I admit, it's been a while. Sad if true.
Thanks to the Barney etiquette episode they made us watch in 5th grade and the big stuffed Barney my grandparents gave me when I was too old for such a gift (my 4-years-younger cousin loved hers), I have Barney issues. Our @Barney is the only reason I don't twitch anymore at the mention of the name. @Barney and that purple love... slowly healing my broken soul.
@christinewas I'm proud to have had no part in that particular trauma. No offense, @Barney. You're better than the dinosaur.
Not the best quality video here, but this is my all-time favorite moment with that other Barney.
@joelmw Oh, no! More nightmares!
@christinewas Looking at the early voting, I think I lot of people may have also have been traumatized by dinosaur Barney. Sorry.
And I'm not totally opposed to Romper Room, but this guy was fascist bullshit.
@joelmw How do you feel about the Mickey Mouse Club?
@joelmw Romper stomper bomper boo, tell me tell me tell me, do, magic mirror tell me today, have all my friends had fun at play? Our Romper Room teacher was Miss Fran. I really liked her.
@heartny Meh.
@heartny My MOM was on the Mickey Mouse Club, the original one, once, that's OLD lol
@Baybay11 Maybe, but the original Mickey Mouse Club didn't suck.
Anyone here love Icky Twerp? A live local studio kids show interspersed w Warner Bros cartoons. My first Roadrunner viewing!
My brothers and I loved Icky Twerp so much that we went next door to watch everyday w best friends. My parents got so embarassed they finally got our first TV.
I never watched Barney when I was young, but I'm a big fan of @Barney, so… no.
Know nothing of Dora except that she has taught a coworker's kid to refer to everything larger than her as a mountain, which is damn hilarious, so… no.
Teletubbies & Elmo, agree 100% w/ @joelmw, so… no.
Just googled Boohbah and my cursory 5-second response is that it looks amazing, so… no.
Blue's Clues, on the other hand, fallaciously taught me that mail is something to look forward to. Fast-forward, and mail is actually just a big pile of corporations to whom you owe money, so… yes. Fuck you Blue's Clues. "Here's the mail / it never fails / to chomp away at your checking account like Pac-Man.
@brhfl lol Excellant points!
@brhfl Aww...
@brhfl Excellent reasoning.
Most annoying show... hands down...
Motherfucking Caliou!
Whiny bitch.
Why was there not an "All of the Above" option? Because I choose all of the above.
Chu Chu TV.
Worst. Earworms. Ever.
Oddly captivating for pre toddlers though.
In my television career I've been paid to sit through a lot of terrible children's television, but by far the worst was The Doodlebops. Here's an episode I grabbed at random.
I didn't actually watch to see what it was, I started recoiling in my chair once I heard the theme. They also made animated episodes which might've been even worse. I hated whenever CBS rotated them back into their schedule. The only marginally redeeming quality of the show is it turns out the actress who plays Deedee Doodle is kinda hot, not that you can really tell that in her costume and makeup.
@jqubed
The producers putting her in that outfit and making her sing that song should put them in Leavenworth as lifers.
@jqubed Another one I'd forgotten about. Good God it was bad!
Calliou is the worst.
Not a TV show, but perhaps proof that parents are DNA programmed to love their children.
I mean, it's a very small world, isn't it? (Just added that to start the earworm.)
13 minutes of your life, folks. 13 minutes of this song. A lifetime of this song.
@f00l It's a Small World, forever and forever, a hundred years It's a Small World's things. Me and It's a Small World runnin' around and It's a Small World time. All day long forever. All, a hundred days It's a Small World forever a hundred times. Over and over It's a Small World adventures dot com W W W dot It's a Small World dot com W W W It's a Small World adventures all hundred years. Every minute It's a Small World dot com W W W hundred times It's a Small World dot com.
@f00l A paralyzed man was trapped on It's a Small World for over 30 minutes when it broke down once. He sued, but the $8,000 he was awarded doesn't seem like nearly enough.
@f00l Disney sure took the Tunnel of Love in a different direction.
I'm guessing most people haven't seen boohbah, cuz it should be the hands down winner....
@earlyre
Uh....that's frightening.
@earlyre Sweet baby Jesus that's the worst shit ever.
@earlyre Now that you bring it up, yeah, I think it was watched once in this house. Never again. You can't even explain it to someone.
@earlyre Timothy Leary couldn't explain this. It's a bad trip.
@earlyre this is why kids do drugs
@earlyre In a vacuum, "boohbah" would indeed be most annoying. But to really qualify, one has to be subjected to said annoyance. Since it even repelled my kids when they were toddlers, it never got the opportunity to annoy me, unlike some of the others on the list that my kids insisted upon
My runner-up show would have to be Busytown Mysteries. It's not The Busy World of Richard Scarry but a different show in the same setting. I felt like I got actively dumber as I watched the show, and it raises all sorts of questions, like, "why do these children have cars? Why are the police having children solve their mysteries? Why do the children do a better job than the police?" I broke out my laptop and signed in here just to find this article I read once, which highlights so many of the things that I hated about the show in amusing fashion. It's well worth the read.
Wee babby shows usually fall into two categories: gentle and relaxed, or intensely insistent. Things like Caillou, Barney, Kip, or Teletubbies avoid loud or obnoxious sounds and are very easily ignored if you don't like them (and sometimes make for nice BG noise when doing chores or summin'). Things like Dora or Boohbah use voice actors with assertive voices to keep a kids attention, and even as adults it's pretty hard to tune out.
@brumagem Mostly agree. This is why I think people who said Caillou are off the mark. Barney was easily ignored when they were talking, but some of the songs were pretty irritating.
Daniel Tiger! I think they purposefully designed this show to have an annoying song get stuck in your head. Supposedly to help the kid remember the lesson.
"If you have to go potty stop and go right away. Flush and wash and be on your way!"
Daniel tiger will sing that song to himself 20 times during the show and teach it to all the other kids too! Aaaahhhh
Pip the Piper has to be the worst show ever.
Anyone remember The Big Blue Couch? It had a few annoying bits but I miss it now.
@kiya46107 10 Second Tidy, followed by contortionism? No, don't remember it.
(dammit, how do you embed videos?)
[youtube]WqK44kgbWr0[\youtube]
@G1 You just post a link. No formatting or code required.
@kiya46107
Also you're combining two shows. Big Blue House and the Big Comfy Couch.
And both of these are super annoying.
@Collin1000 We loved Best in the Big Blue House here. Man, I had forgotten that one.
When I found out the Elmo was a large black man, I was surprised. I mentioned it to my daughters friend, who works for Sesame Workshop. She said, he is scary in real life. I don't like him.
Seems her instinct was right!
Elmo is OK. The guy behind him isn't.
The fuckin' Wiggles, obviously.
@wankeye My husband used to say he could not be held responsible for his actions if he ever ran in to them in public. He still despises them to this day.
@wankeye "The Wiggles" is one of the few that I actually reminisce about fondly now that my kids are older. I thought their music was pleasant and catchy without being ear-wormy.
Then again, I sort of like "The Cockroaches", the "legitimate band" that original Wiggles Anthony and Jeff were members of in the pre-Wiggles career. Okay.. the Cockraches' music hasn't really aged well:
@DrWorm There's a children's band named Koo Koo Kanga Roo. Just Google the ol' YouTube, or sumptin.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=koo+koo+kanga+roo
There also play out for adults, but they do NOT change their performance AT ALL. If you ever want to see drunk college kids singing and dancing to such notable hits as "Fanny Pack", go see them.
They have been on tour with Frank Turner, who basically said that you can't watch there guys and not have fun.
Who gives a shit. Kids like them. Go get a hobby.
Yo Gabba Gabba is a weird one for me.
@mahoneyli What could possibly be weird about this????
Fox News
Do any parents not let their kids watch this stuff at all, on the grounds that having it on makes you want to kill yourself? I was subjected once to what I think is called Disney Playhouse, and I don't know how people stand it. I can't imagine it helps kids in any way, either.
@darksaber99999 I vetoed Barney. We watched Sesame Street together- that was kind of fun. Trash Gordon was my favorite.
I am surprised nobody has mentioned the outrage regarding the recent Bob the Builder "re-imaging"