I am thoroughly familiar with my six-year-old daughter's favorite shows on Disney Jr, Nick Jr and Sprout, and love most of them. This one, however, raises questions for my daughter and me both. Why would a child who talks like he is school-age not know how to color? Why is it an "emergency" for him to know how to color by the time his father comes home? Why haven't his PARENTS taught him how to color?? We voice similar questions with many other episodes. I think most of the things that Oso attempts to do are duties of parenthood
and are certainly more pleasant and rewarding than changing diapers, so why are the parents neglecting to perform these duties? On the other hand, I personally benefited from the episode on how to use chopsticks
which actually was a bit too advanced for the show's audience, I believe.
I think the repetition, colorful characters and catchy songs are great for its target preschool audience, but like other reviewers have said, they could have done a much better job making the show entertaining for the preschoolers' older siblings and parents. This is the standard that was set more than 40 years ago by Sesame Street.
Sometimes I chuckle at the Bond-inspired mission code names, but the humor is lost on my daughter, and I sometimes have difficulties explaining it to her—I don't want to be talking about a "golden gun" while we're watching a children's show about a teddy bear!
I am also not quite comfortable with the message the show sends to its young viewers. Oso is not very bright, clumsy, forgetful, and doesn't really help anyone. The writers carry this to an extreme. In fact, in most episodes, the child ends up showing HIM how to accomplish the task. That might be a great learning tool for the "rescuee", but why does Oso get a medal for bungling each mission? Rewarding children for trying their best rather than only for perfection is great, but is Oso really doing his best? He seems careless to me, and his efforts to learn seem half-hearted.
Over time and repetition (which we parents experience with years of all the children's' shows), I have found Oso's bungling and
well, I will say it: stupidity
so annoying, I often leave the room when Special Agent Oso is on.
I also agree with the other reviewer who commented that Paw Pilot's "floating head" is rather creepy. It doesn't bother my daughter, but it creeps me out every time I see it, for some reason.
