Got a new cartoon premiering on qubo, which means it’ll be on Telemundo and NBC Saturday mornings, as well. Linda Ellerbe is at it again with another excellent Nick News special and Science Channel has a new series that is not only educational, it’s a blast.
First up is Shelldon, a new series, premiering today at 3:30 p.m. on qubo and running, in Spanish, on Telemundo on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. and in English at noon on NBC (NBC gave over its Saturday morning children’s block to qubo a few years ago).
Shelldon is a shell fish living in a community of shell fish that looks remarkably like a regular human suburb. He goes to school, deals with parents and bullies and folks in the community – which sounds pretty standard for most animated kid stuff. But Shelldon’s world is a lot more real than most of the other shows. The bully is a real bully. The little kid shell fish are bickering and screaming. Shelldon rides a skateboard with almost reckless abandon. In other words, the gag factor is remarkably low, and if you watch with your little ones, you might even get some excellent conversations out of the show.
Head Games, premiering Saturday at 9 p.m. on Science Channel, is one of those rare quiz shows that most of the family should be able to play along with. Seriously. The questions, while not easy, are multiple choice, so even the youngest one can guess. Plus there are several flashback rounds, with questions based on earlier questions – including at least one that can be answered if you watched the video.
Head Games is science trivia. A short video clip is shown and contestants are asked a question based on the experiment or fact that the video introduces. For example, a rattlesnake is shown two balloons, one with cold water, one with warm water and it attacks the warm water and the question the contestants are asked is basically why.
So you need some science knowledge to do well as a contestant. The other nice thing about the show is that except for the final showdown round, the contestants don’t lose any of their cash winnings for incorrect answers. Finally, it’s fast-paced and fun. Yes, because natural science does get seriously gross, there will be some gross-out stuff (the episode I saw featured a seriously yucky segment on maggots). But I think that’s part of the fun and the show is about making science fun, according to executive producer Whoopi Goldberg, who told the TV critics last summer that one of her goals with the show is to create more interest in science.
The show could do it.
Finally, on Sunday, at 8 p.m., Linda Ellerbe answers the young teen star in trouble, going to rehab trend with an excellent look at what real kids face in rehab for their addiction problems – and Ellerbe makes it very clear that alcohol is considered a drug.
This is one of those cautionary shows that are great for younger kids to watch, because they’re the ones who are right on the cusp of developing these problems and they’re still young enough to accept the warning. And Ellerbe, as she always does, cuts right to the heart of the matter and has the wisdom to let the kids tell their own stories. It’s not a horror story, but it is real.
Anne Louise Bannon
Your Family Viewer
