Night of nostalgia back in the world of the little people

 WE had some small visitors to the house recently – children, not mice – and, in an effort to calm the atmosphere so that some sleep might descend on them the right side of midnight, we tuned into those channels that are usually off-limits.

Well, not those channels – but the children’s ones. It’s been almost a decade since our world was last ruled by them . . . and boy how things have changed.

RTÉ recognised this too by repackaging its own entertainment for younger viewers into RTE Jr, although this might have more to do with being able to sell advertising on RTÉ2 again, having been forced to leave kids’ TV ad-free up to now.

Back in the good old days, there was an hour of children’s television if you were lucky, with perhaps the Brady Bunch to enjoy. And that was cutting edge because a generation earlier had to make do with Daithi Locha and Drawing with Blaithín.

We had Sesame Street of course, where the moral message mixed with the fun – a formula taken to a higher and infinitely more annoying level with Barney and his perfect ethnic mix of little friends.

But now – to misquote Bruce Springsteen – there are 57 children’s channels and, while they frequently have nothing on, there is a more subtle educational side to all this; it’s not the mindless noise you might think at first glance.

Take Dora the Explorer – and there are many who wish you would – who is bilingual and gives you a blast of Spanish to go with your traditional English.

One might argue that the Teletubbies were dreamt up under the influence of drugs, but they also induce a trance-like state in the under-twos – which sort of justified the abuse of illegal substances, if that’s how this all came to fruition.

But there is an educational dimension here too, and the greatest compliment you can pay to children’s television is that it stimulates and entertains all at the same time. Which is certainly the case with a programme called Little Einsteins on Disney Junior, and – as the title might suggest – this brings subliminal education to a higher level.

Because this isn’t just a cartoon; it was also designed to teach the kids a little bit of culture, hence the backdrop of famous art work with classical music, with a composer of the day.

The show is also designed to encourage viewer interaction – they pat their knees to make the Little Einsteins’ submarine go faster or they have to gesture or sing along to help the characters succeed on their quest.

Despite the usage of Einstein’s name, there is no discussion of anything physics-related in the series – although one could argue that good kids’ TV actually is rocket science.

They say it’s harder to write a successful children’s book than one aimed at adults because children won’t persevere just because they feel they have to – and the same holds true for television.

If it doesn’t hold their attention, they’ve switched the channels, because while the only alternative for those of us from the ’70s was to watch what was on or turn it off, Sky has enough kids’ TV to see you through to parenthood.

And while those channels are as under-used in our house now as a calculator was at the Department of Finance, it was with a touch of nostalgia and a desire for peace that we surfed down an old familiar road once again.

We enjoyed catching up with the Rugrats after a gap of a decade, and SpongeBob SquarePants proved for the zillionth time that he’s actually aimed at an older audience while masquerading as a children’s programme.

Which sort of brings us to where we normally find ourselves when there aren’t three and four year olds visiting – series that might look like cartoons at first glance and then reveal adult themes that would give your granny a heart attack.

Okay, so everyone knows what The Simpsons are all about and that’s one show that can be enjoyed by children of all ages – even the grown-up ones – but do not mistake Family Guy or American Dad or The Cleveland Show for mere animated dramas. Because that would be your first mistake.

To these guys, a minute without sexual references is a minute wasted, so the only way to stop your teenagers from watching it is to sit down beside them and try to watch it with them.

So it was nice to look at animated television of the more innocent kind once again – if only for one evening. Although it does make you wonder why you’re paying for television channels you watch one night a year.

Still, there wasn’t much on the regular channels and even if there was you wouldn’t have been able to hear them through the din.

In any event, normal service will be resumed next week.