In The Night Garden
September 10, 2007 1:02 PM   Subscribe

In The Night Garden [Danger - lots of Flash and YouTube] is your new favourite TV show (if you're under 4). Meet Igglepiggle, Makka Pakka, Upsy Daisy, The Pontipines, The Tombliboos, The Haahoos, The Ninky Nonk and The Pinky Ponk. Brought to you by the creators (previously) of the Teletubbies. Wikipedia link for the confused. Oh, and the great Sir Derek Jacobi narrates.

posted by le morte de bea arthur (19 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Heh, I was thinking about posting something on this just the other day, after spending an hour in front of the TV with the kids.

My son is just 5, and (though he's outside the age range) really loves it. I think he likes 'explaining' to his 3-year-old sister what's going on. I find it a LOT less annoying than the Teletubbies, though they were around a long time before I had kids, so it may be that my addled Dad Brain is seeing the world in a different way now.

It is bizarre in the extreme to hear Derek Jacobi narrating all that doggerel about Makka Pakka, etc.
posted by athenian at 1:27 PM on September 10, 2007


My 15 month old daughter loves this show.
posted by lloyder at 2:01 PM on September 10, 2007


Interesting that they're coming out with more programs aimed for this age group, considering the recent reports that putting infants in front of the TV may be a really bad idea.

I'll be the one saying "I told you so" when the lawsuits start in a few years.
posted by Kadin2048 at 2:19 PM on September 10, 2007


It's a cute show, and very similar to Teletubbies.
posted by chuckdarwin at 2:28 PM on September 10, 2007


I'll be the one saying "I told you so" when the lawsuits start in a few years.

You know, I have had this pet theory about television (especially the sort with LOTS of commercial breaks) and ADHD for some time. No one was more surprised than I to find out that it might be true.
posted by chuckdarwin at 2:30 PM on September 10, 2007


I've just become addicted to Yo Gabba Gabba! and now I have something else to look forward to loving. I can't find it on my Tivo, though. Is it on in the US?
posted by pomegranate at 2:59 PM on September 10, 2007


One experience parenting throught the Teletubbies and the Wiggles and all the rest was enough (now we're on to pop music and Tamagotchis, thank Gawd). Enuf I say!
posted by fourcheesemac at 3:12 PM on September 10, 2007


I'll be the one saying "I told you so" when the lawsuits start in a few years.

Well, Arik Sigman (former kids' TV shrink, of course), might say all TV is bad, but I don't really buy it. Of course, if used excessively there's a danger, but what about the enormous benefit of being able to make children sit quietly for 15 minutes while a parent does something they need to do? Or the value of watching something together and then talking about it, or basing games around it?

I reckon that TV, like all media really, gives back in relation to what you put in. It is easy to be a lazy TV viewer, and for TV to be negative, but it is not inevitable.
posted by howfar at 3:19 PM on September 10, 2007 [1 favorite]


I find it very sweet that the blue one (IgglePiggle) starts and ends the episode asleep in his boat. There's a touch of childlike innocence there (what *do* little kids dream about?) that I thought was absent from Teletubbies, etc.
posted by athenian at 3:32 PM on September 10, 2007


...recent reports that putting infants in front of the TV may be a really bad idea.

Give Babies and Parents a Break -- "Despite doomsayers, a few minutes of toddler-themed television now and then can't hurt."
posted by ericb at 3:35 PM on September 10, 2007


I prefer the Night Kitchen.
posted by progosk at 3:44 PM on September 10, 2007


(those other than British thirtysomethings can skip this comment)

Wikipedia (yeah, I know) suggests that the ITNG theme is the same as the main melody of Trumpton, but this is the theme from In the Night Garden, while this is the music I remember from Trumpton. They sounds pretty different to me. Am I missing something?

ps. Aah, Trumpton.
posted by athenian at 3:45 PM on September 10, 2007


May I utterly OT this post to say that "le morte de bea arthur" is officially my favorite mefi username -
posted by jalexei at 4:24 PM on September 10, 2007


Give Babies and Parents a Break -- "Despite doomsayers, a few minutes of toddler-themed television now and then can't hurt."
posted by ericb at 6:35 PM on September 10


According to a study published in the Journal of Pediatrics, for 8-16 month olds, an hour of TV spent watching baby specific video translated into six to eight fewer words in their vocabularies as compared with other children their age.

That said, I applaud this program's use of an airship. Not enough dirigibles and zeppelins on TV, I say. Though, that Upsy Daisy looks like she could haunt Chucky's nightmares.
posted by Pastabagel at 5:38 PM on September 10, 2007


Interesting that they're coming out with more programs aimed for this age group, considering the recent reports that putting infants in front of the TV may be a really bad idea.

An entire 24/7 channel.
posted by swell at 5:58 PM on September 10, 2007


Aha! Makka Pakka! When I was in the UK last month, I kept seeing these ads for one of the kiddie channels. It depicted a grandma and her little grandson watching TV (seemingly for hours).

They'd take turns saying "MAKKA PAKKA" to each other, and I just assumed that they'd both hit the cooking sherry.
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 6:51 PM on September 10, 2007


Okay, anyone sitting 8-16 month olds in front of a TV for even an hour is either abusive, negligent or a miracle worker, because no way would my kids sit still like that when they first started crawling. Once they were mobile, they were off! Besides, watching them was way more interesting than any of the kiddie TV shows anyway.

I remember at one point actually liking the Barney songs. Later, I wondered where the giant asteroid was when you needed it. Now I am just glad I don't have to sit through this latest toddler offering. I hear the accolades, but the names alone are so cutesy I couldn't make myself click on the links.
posted by misha at 7:02 PM on September 10, 2007


The late night equivalent of teletubbies: Nazitübbies
- press the afsnit1 and afsnit2 links to view.

These are from the national danish channel Danmarks Radio
posted by FidelDonson at 12:59 AM on September 11, 2007


Is Jerry Falwell going to pronounce one of them "gay"?


Oh, no wait - he's dead. Long live In the Night Garden!
posted by WaterSprite at 10:01 AM on September 11, 2007


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