Passing the Torch

Hear the Beat!

When you watch these television shows on Nick Jr with your children all of the time you can’t help but get involved in them.  I have opinions on all of them and have seen every episode of Bubble Guppies, Franklin, Ni-Hoa Kai Lan, Wonder Pets, The Fresh Beat Band and a few others.  I know I’m not the only parent out there that is involved with these shows.

I love the fact that these shows teach our children lessons and educate them while having fun.  They even educate them on changes in their lives.  When Steve left Blue’s Clue’s they had a passing the torch episode.  He announced that he had to go away to school, which is very important, and handed the show to Joe.  It was all done perfectly and children everywhere were able to understand Steve wouldn’t be there anymore.

Steve & Joe

That brings me around to what bothers me.  On The Fresh Beat Band last season Reed left.  He’s the British guy who runs the music store and always wears green and white.  The person who originally played Reed, Hadley Frasier, left for Broadway to play in Les Miserables.  So, you would think that Reed would close up shop and they would introduce a new guy in his place.  Instead, boom, we have a new Reed, played by an entirely different guy.  His name is still Reed and he still wears green and white, but he isn’t the same Reed.  There is no British accent and his personality is totally different.  He acts exactly like Twist, one of the male leads.  That show did not need another Twist...   

On the left - Reed Classic; On the right - Reed 2.0

So, I was really indignant about this.  Of course he wasn’t a main character so maybe they thought they could get away with it.  It annoyed me because my child is not dumb and I doubt the rest of the children in America are either.  My daughter is 20 months and she knows that isn’t Reed.  Give our kids some credit please.

The new season of Fresh Beat Band finally premiered.  When I saw a commercial I was blown away... that’s not Marina!  Marina is the red head who wears blue and pink and is the smart one.  She was originally played by Shayna Rose.  The official word is that she left to get married and pursue future projects.  When I saw the commercial I thought, well she dressed the same but that doesn’t mean that she’s still Marina.  And then I saw the new episode.  Her name is Marina.  Are you kidding me?  She’s a lead and they dared to just change her.  The new girl doesn’t look a thing like her; her hair is Auburn instead of red and looks to be a dye job; she has a lot more body than Shayna and is obviously not her at all. 

Old Marina vs. New Marina

There are no words for how angry I am about this.  They might have been able to get by with changing Reed, but you can’t change a main character such as Marina.  I don’t understand why they couldn’t have just had her resign to go away to Julliard to continue her training and have them assign a new girl to the group.  It would have been a great opportunity to do an episode about making new friends and saying goodbye to old friends.

I’m not a television writing executive or anything like that.  Instead I’m a parent.  I know what my child likes and what I consider okay for her watch.  Normally I love Nick Jr. and I feel that they do a great job with their programming.  But as a parent I find the choices that Nick Jr. has made to be disgraceful and I am angry that they think our children are stupid enough that they can pass this off.  

So, in the words of their viewers…  Foo on you Nick Jr.

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