Tot TV Watch

Mostly Ghostly: Who Let the Ghosts Out? is making its television premiere tomorrow night on the Disney Channel at 9pm Eastern time. It is kind of odd that it is premiering now, as it just came out on DVD on September 30, 2008. It is, however, the right time of year for it to be on television and if you fall in love with it you do not have to wait for it to come out on DVD. Also, it fits as a Disney Channel movie premiere quite well because a lot of the actors are in Disney Channel shows. The cast includes Madison Pettis (from Cory in the House), Luke Benward (Minutemen), Brian Stepanek (The Suite Life of Zach & Cody, David DeLuise (Wizards of Waverly Place), Kim Rhodes (The Suite Life of Zach & Cody) and Sabrina Bryan (The Cheetah Girls).

The movie is based on the Mostly Ghostly books written by R. L. Stine. I am not too sure what this movie is all about, but the preview commercials do make it seem interesting and for once I actually set up to record the Disney Channel premiere. It appears to be about a high school boy discovering ghosts under his bed. Considering at least the books were written by an author I remember enjoying when I was in grade school, I think this movie has potential to be an enjoyable one.

This movie is part of the Disney Channel’s month long Wiztober event. Try out

Tomorrow morning on Playhouse Disney a bunch of new episodes of the short Happy Monster Band are premiering between episodes of the normal Playhouse Disney shows. The special line up is being called Around the World in a Day with Happy Monster Band. This means the different new episodes are based in different locations around the world including Japan, Hong Kong in London. A few of the regular show episodes also fit in the theme of around the world, but most do not. Many are at least music themed. See complete line up for the event below.

6am Eastern/5am Central - The Doodlebops’s “Around the World” episode
6:25am Eastern/5:25am Central - Happy Monster Band’s “Here in Australia” episode
6:30am Eastern/5:30am Central - Bunnytown’s “G’Day Bunnies” episode
6:55am Eastern/5:55am Central - Happy Monster Band’s “The Monster Tangle” (Argentina) episode
7am Eastern/6am Central - The Wiggles’s “Musical Bonanza” episode
7:25am Eastern/6:25am Central - Happy Monster Band’s “In India” episode
7:30am Eastern/6:30am Central - Johnny & the Sprites’s “Basil’s Band/The Sprites’ Rule” episode
7:55am Eastern/6:55am Central - Happy Monster Band’s “A Wonderful Time in France” episode
8am Eastern/7am Central - Little Einsteins’s “Music Monsters” episode
8:25am Eastern/7:25am Central - Happy Monster Band’s “Konichiwa!” (Japan) episode
8:30am Eastern/7:30am Central - My Friends Tigger & Pooh’s “Symphony for Rabbit/Tigger goes Snowflakey” episode
8:55am Eastern/7:55am Central - Happy Monster Band’s “London Town” episode
9am Eastern/8am Central - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s “Mickey’s Silly Problem” episode
9:25am Eastern/8:25am Central - Happy Monster Band’s “Seista Seista” (Spain) episode
9:30am Eastern/8:30am Central - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s “Mickey’s Big Band Concert” episode
9:55am Eastern/8:55am Central - Happy Monster Band’s “Yin & Yang” (Hong Kong) episode
10am Eastern/9am Central - Imagination Movers’s “Hiccups” episode
10:25am Eastern/9:25am Central - Happy Monster Band’s “Here in Australia” episode
10:30am Eastern/9:30am Central - Handy Mandy’s “Musica/Ice Cream Team” episode
10:55am Eastern/9:55am Central - Happy Monster Band’s “The Monster Tangle” (Argentina) episode
11am Eastern/10am Central - Higglytown Heroes’s “Saturday Night Higgly/Monster Sandwiches” episode
11:25am Eastern/10:25am Central - Happy Monster Band’s “In India” episode
11:30am Eastern/10:30am Central - Charlie and Lola’s “Music/My Town” episode
11:55am Eastern/10:55am Central - Happy Monster Band’s “A Wonderful Time in France” episode

Welcome to this week’s edition of Beyond Watching the Show, where I give some ideas of activities for kids that enjoy a particular show that go beyond just watching the show. If you have more ideas of activities for this show please comment and share your ideas. Also, please comment here if you have a request of a show to feature in an upcoming edition of Beyond Watching the Show.

This week’s edition is about some Halloween party planning ideas I found on the Playhouse Disney website. I thought about waiting until closer to Halloween to do this edition of Beyond Watching the Show, but I decided it was better to share now and give you time to do the prep work if you want to do one of these themed parties.

Little Einsteins Halloween Party - One of the party planning ideas Playhouse Disney’s website has is a Little Einsteins themed Halloween Party. It includes themed colorful invitations and envelopes that you can print out. It also has several Halloween themed recipe ideas. For the more crafty aspects there is decoration, costume, games, activities, and party favor ideas.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Halloween Party: For those more into Mickey there is similar ideas on the site for a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Halloween Party. It includes invitations and party favor bags you can print out. It also has some more Halloween themed recipes, which can fit in just as well with a the Little Einsteins Halloween Party. It also has some great Mickey themed Halloween crafts to print and make to decorate for the party. Lastly there are games and activities ideas for during the party.

I know I reviewed a Backyardigans DVD just a few weeks ago, but I finally got the Halloween one I have been wanting to review for October and it does not make much sense waiting to review it later instead of now before I end up forgetting and Halloween pases. The Backyardigans: It’s Great to be a Ghost has four episodes of the show and a few special features.

The first two episodes are pretty obviously Halloween themed. The first is “It’s Great to Be a Ghost!” and it teaches about not being afraid, in particular relating to ghosts. It is kind of a fun episode with the Backyardigans pretending to be ghosts and trying to scare the others, however, it is one of the worst episodes of the show in my opinion. The second episodes is called “Monster Detectives” and is about trying to get a ball back from the soccer monster (Pablo) and ending up becoming soccer monsters themselves. This episode is one of the good ones.

The other two are not really Halloween themed, but I kind think the whole Backyardigans thing about the characters dressing up and pretending to be different things is always Halloweenish. The other two episodes are “The Key of the Nile” and “Pirate Treasure.”

Because this Nick Jr. DVD actually stays on theme for once, this DVD actually gets my vote as being a great DVD. Plus, I think The Backyardigans is a great show for preschoolers. The special features, though, are not that good. First there is the Meet the Backyardigans, which is just short clip of the characters coming on the screen and words about them below, unfortunately most viewers of this show cannot read and it does not real it aloud. Then there is How to Become a Backyardigan, which gives ideas on how to be things such as a musician, ghost, queen, pirate, cowboy. This one is actually okay. The last is “A Pirate Says Arr” Music video, which is okay, but it would be nice if they put the lyrics on the screen.

Check out the other TV on DVD reviews I have blogged about here.

Here is this week’s edition of new releases of DVDs that feature kids shows. Some are previously seen episodes from television while others are straight to DVD episodes or movies based on kids TV shows.

The Backyardigans: Escape from Fairytale Village - This probably has 4 episodes of The Backyardigans. The main episode is about Tyrone thinking the others invited him over to eat him as lunch and not to have lunch with them.

A Charlie Brown Christmas - This is the classic Charlie Brown Christmas special that is bound to be shown at least a few times on television closer to Christmas, but with this release you can now enjoy it whenever you want.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving - This is another classic Charlie Brown holiday special.

Dora the Explorer: Dora Celebrates Three Kings Day! - This is a special Christmas Dora the Explorer. It sounds like it also at least hints at the Christian aspects of the holiday a little more than most Christmas cartoon specials, which may be a good or bad thing depending on your point of view.

Max and Ruby: A Very Merry Christmas Collection - I am not too sure what is on this 2 DVD collection, but it is surely quite a few episodes with a run time of almost 200 minutes.

Pirates: Season One 4-DVD Pack - This contains 40 episodes of the Pirates show.

The Smurfs: Season One, Volume Two - This is the continuation of the Smurfs 1st season, which has already been partially released in Volume one. This one has at least 10 episodes and is a 2 disc set.

Speed Racer: The Complete Classic Series Collection - This is a collection of the complete classic Speed Racer series. It looks like it has a special Mach 5 car shaped box.

Speed Racer: The Next Generation - The Fast Track - This is a DVD release of part of the new Speed Racer series.

The Wiggles: Sing a Song of Wiggles! - This is a Wiggles release that I assume is made up of some favorite Wiggle songs as sing a long versions.

Wonder Pets!: Save the Nutcracker - I think this has 4 episodes of the Wonder Pets! The main episode is about saving the Nutcracker and is a good one for the Christmas season.

You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown - This is a seasonal Charlie Brown just in time for the upcoming Presidential elections.

Welcome to this week’s edition’s list of kid’s television shows that have new episodes airing this week. I try to make this as complete as possible, but I may sometimes miss something. Please comment and let me know if I forgot to include something that has a new episode airing this week. All times are listed as Mountain Standard Time as given by TV Guide for my local DirectTV listings, but may vary depending on your location, especially when the shows are on local stations like PBS.

Monday, October 6

8am on Nickelodeon - Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: This new episode is called “Kai-lan’s Carnival.”

8:30am on PBS - Arthur: This new episode is called “Is that Kosher?/Never, Never, Never.”

11:30m on PBS - WordWorld: This new episode is called “A Kooky Spooky Halloween/Sheep’s Halloween Costume.”

12pm on PBS Between the Lions: This new episode is called “Are You a Snail?/Wonderful Women.”

5pm on PBS - Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman: This new episode is called “Mission Impossible.”

Tuesday, October 7

8am on Nickelodeon - Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: This new episode is called “Roller Rinto.”

5pm on PBS - Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman: This new episode is called “How Not to Impress a Poodle’s Mother.”

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Elmo’s Magic Cookbook is a fun DVD for young kids, especially if you already know they like Elmo. It is basically a Elmo cooking show, but with some added fantasy and some great special guests. The show is about Elmo, Telly, and two kids finding a magic cookbook. With the cookbook and the help of a faerie they try out a variety of recipes. This includes some healthy cooking and also a variety of foods, so it can be a great way to get kids interested in eating healthy snacks and try new foods. It also teaches about safety in the kitchen

One segment includes Emeril helping Elmo and the kids cook pizzas. This includes having them Bam ingredients onto the pizza. Kind of a cute segment and the kids tend to like Emeril in this segment.

One of the more funny parts of this show is about Telly making homemade ice cream, which starts at the beginning of the episode and continues through the end with him making multiple screen appearances stirring the ice cream. The best part is when he decides to do it by jumping on a pogo stick.

Overall this is a fun Elmo movie, however, as a DVD release it is kind of disappointing that it has no special features. I still think it is worthwhile and will attribute the fact it is lacking special features to it being a pretty old DVD release.

Check out the other TV on DVD reviews I have blogged about here.

Disney Channel always seems to have some kind of special thing for October that includes showing Halloweenish movies. This year October is being called Wiztober and includes some special new episodes of the Wizards of Waverly Place along with the normal almost nightly Halloween movies. The Wizards of Waverly Place part includes a Saving WizTech special on October 26. Below is a list of the Movie line up for Wiztober. The movies include the Halloweentown series, the two Twitches movies, and two of the Harry Potter movies. Also, there is like a week in October that has like all the sing along version of the musical Disney Channel Original Movies including High School Musical, Cheetah Girls, and Camp Rock. Perhaps this is part of the lead up and promotion for High School Musical: The Senior Year coming to theaters in October.

October 1 - Halloweentown
October 2 - Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge
October 3 - Halloweentown High
October 4 - Return to Halloweentown
October 5 - Twitches
October 6 - Twitches Too
October 7 - Haunted Mansion
October 8 - Muppet’s Wizard of Oz
October 9 - Now You See It
October 10 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
October 11 - Mostly Ghostly: Who Let the Ghosts Out?
October 12 - Casper Meets Wendy
October 13 - Monsters, Inc
October 14 - Mom’s Got a Date with a Vampire
October 15 - Aladdin
October 16 - Mostly Ghostly: Who Let the Ghosts Out?
October 17 - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
October 18 - Minutemen
October 19 - The Cheetah Girls 2 Sing Along Version
October 20 - The Cheetah Girls One World Sing Along Version
October 21 - Camp Rock Rock Along Version
October 22 - High School Musical Sing Along Version
October 23 - High School Musical 2 Sing Along Version
October 24 - Haunted Mansion
October 25 - Halloweentown
October 26 - Wizards of Waverly Place: Saving WizTech
October 26 - Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge
October 27 - Halloweentown High
October 28 - Return to Halloweentown
October 29 - Twitches
October 30 - Twitches Too
October 31 - Mostly Ghostly: Who Let the Ghosts Out?

Here is this week’s edition of new releases of DVDs that feature kids shows. Some are previously seen episodes from television while others are straight to DVD episodes or movies based on kids TV shows.

Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Snow Princess - This DVD contains the new movie-length Dora the Explorer adventure called Dora Saves the Snow Princess. It is currently only being released on DVD, but I would not be surprised if if ends up being shown on Nickelodeon closer to Christmas. Or maybe even near Halloween, as the plot is about Dora helping a princess from a mean witch.

Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Out-Of-This-World Adventures - This DVD contains the new Dora Saves the Princess along with Dora Saves the Mermaid and Dora’s World Adventure. It is a good deal for the 3 DVDs if you do not have the other two, although none have all that great of special features.

Mighty Machines: Power Pack - This is Season 1 for Mighty Machines.

Sesame Street: Abby in Wonderland - This is a Sesame Street parody of Alice in Wonderland.

Thomas & Friends Bundle - This is a special bundle only being sold together on Amazon, although I believe these are all general release Thomas & Friends DVDs. The DVDs it includes are Thomas & the Jet Engine, Hooray for Thomas, Races, Rescues & Runaways, Cranky Bugs, Make Someone Happy, and Percy Saves the Day & Other Adventures. Seems like a great deal priced at only around $30 currently for this 6 DVD set even if they do not have special features, which the Thomas & Friends DVDs I have seen lack.

Welcome to this week’s edition’s list of kid’s television shows that have new episodes airing this week. I try to make this as complete as possible, but I may sometimes miss something. Please comment and let me know if I forgot to include something that has a new episode airing this week. All times are listed as Mountain Standard Time as given by TV Guide for my local DirectTV listings, but may vary depending on your location, especially when the shows are on local stations like PBS.

Monday, September 29

12pm on PBS Between the Lions: This new episode is called “Stop That Pickle/Chicks and Salsa.”

Tuesday, September 30

9am on PBS - Sesame Street: This new episode is called “Number 6 Games.”

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Nickelodeon will go off the air tomorrow, September 27, 2008, for 3 hours in honor of Worldwide Day of Play. This is being done in an effort to encourage kids to get off the couch and play instead of spending those three hours watching television. It may not work out to well with other stations still have stuff to watch and is totally the opposite of one of the regular networks (ABC, maybe?) stay at home week. However, I think it will work out great if parents decide to unplug all televisions (and computers!) for the day. Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play has some resources of how to plan the day and ideas of ways to play. There is also a message board to share ideas and get more ideas from others.

The Backyardigans is a Nick Jr. show about anthropomorphic animals having imaginative adventures in their backyards. This DVD has four imaginative adventures with the gang and is fun for those that like this show, however lacks any great special features to make it worth buying.

The first episode is called “Match on Mt. Olympus.” This episode premiered on the DVD, however, it has since been shown on Nickelodeon and no longer makes the DVD so worth owning when you can instead just wait for the episode to replay, which is highly likely. It is still a fun episode about them pretending to teach basketball to the Greek Gods (also played by Backyardigan characters).

The second episode is called “The Great Dolphin Race” and is an interesting episode about racing dolphins to earn the underdog dolphin a chance to stay in the stables and prove himself as a capable racing dolphin.

The third episode is called “Ranch Hands from Outer Space.” In this episode two of the Backyardigans pretend to be aliens and work on an earth farm to get some pancakes to fuel their spaceship.

The fourth episode is called “Caveman’s Best Friend.” This is a caveman themed episode about them caring for a dinosaur. Normally I would say this is historically inaccurate and totally inappropriate to show them caring for dinosaurs as cavemen, but then again they are animals and not humans and while the animals the Backyardigans are may not have been around at the same time as dinosaurs it does not quite give as bad an impression as showing humans being around when dinosaurs were. Anyways the whole show is fiction basically, so I guess it can slide.

The Special Features include a really short Yo Gabba Gabba Sneak Peak that I have seen on other Nick Jr. DVDs before, “Chichen-Itza Fizza” Music Video, and “Amazing Inventors” Music Video. The music videos are okay, but I wish they were sing alongs and were actually from the episodes on this DVD.

Overall this is another poorly put together DVD from Nick Jr., however, the show is still a great one. Thus this is worth renting if you do Netflix or borrow from a library, but not really worth buying.

Check out the other TV on DVD reviews I have blogged about here.

Here is this week’s edition of new releases of DVDs that feature kids shows. Some are previously seen episodes from television while others are straight to DVD episodes or movies based on kids TV shows.

Caillou: Caillou’s Winter Wonders - This DVD contains four episodes of Caillou. The episodes are winter related including one about different winter holidays.

Dinosaur King: The Adventure Begins - This contains around 5 episodes of the well-animated dinosaur show called Dinosaur King.

High School Musical 2 Deluxe Dance Edition - This release of High School Musical 2, a Disney Channel Original Movie, contains extra special features. This includes dance alongs to get you off the couch and dance with along to the movie’s songs. It also has a sneak peek at the upcoming High School Musical 3: The Senior Year, which is coming to theaters next month.

iCarly: Season 1, Vol. 1 - This DVD release contains 2 DVDs with over 300 minutes of the show, so probably around 12 episodes.

Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies: It’s Movie Time - I have no idea what this release contains, as the info does not even have how long it is.

Peanuts Holiday Collection - This set of 3 DVD contains three holiday Peanuts Specials. They include It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Schoolhouse Rock: The Election Collection - This short DVD contains election related Schoolhouse Rock songs just in time for the upcoming Presidential elections.

Scooby Doo: Original Mysteries & What’s New 10 - This is another release that is pretty vague on what is actually on it. My guess is it is a combination of old and newer Scooby Doo episodes.

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! A Tale of Tails - This DVD contains 8 episodes of Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!

Welcome to this week’s edition’s list of kid’s television shows that have new episodes airing this week. I try to make this as complete as possible, but I may sometimes miss something. Please comment and let me know if I forgot to include something that has a new episode airing this week. All times are listed as Mountain Standard Time as given by TV Guide for my local DirectTV listings, but may vary depending on your location, especially when the shows are on local stations like PBS.

Monday, September 22

7:30am on PBS - Sid the Science Kid: This new episode is called “The Itchy Tag.” In this episode Sid learns about textures after wondering why his shirt tag bothers him.

8:30am on Nickelodeon - Yo Gabba Gabba!: This new episode is called “Birthday” and starts the second season of the show.

9am on PBS - Sesame Street: This new episode is called “Telly the Tiebreaker.”

10:30am on PBS - Barney & Friend: This new episode is called “To Catch a Theif: A Mystery Adventure.”

12:30pm on PBS Between the Lions: This new episode is called “Mole and the Baby Bird/Owen and Mzee.”

2pm on Nickelodeon - Back at the Barnyard: This new episode is called “Otis vs. Bigfoot/Otis’ 11.”

5pm on Nickelodeon - My Family’s Got GUTS

Tuesday, September 23

7:30am on PBS - Sid the Science Kid: This new episode is called “What’s That Smell?”

8:30am on Nickelodeon - Yo Gabba Gabba!: This new episode is called “Games.”

10:30am on PBS - Barney & Friend: This new episode is called “The Magic Lamp: A Travel Adventure.”

2pm on Nickelodeon - Back at the Barnyard: This new episode is called “School of Otis/Pecky Suave.”

5pm on Nickelodeon - My Family’s Got GUTS

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This show does not premiere on the Disney Channel until this Friday, but I found that you can download the pilot episode for free in iTunes. The Suite Life on Deck brings back some of the characters from The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. Of course, the two main characters Zack and Cody, the twins, are part of the cast. Mr. Moseby and London Tipton are also on the S.S. Tipton. Zack and Cody’s mom appears in this first episode, but it is apparent she will only make occasional appearances on the show.

The show is about Zack, Cody, and London going to school on the S.S. Tipton with the school being called Seven Seas High. Zack and Cody meet new recurring characters, who are their roommates, as they now do not room together, but rather are across the hall from each other. The one character is Woody Fink, who is a slob and extreme of gross boyness and is Cody’s roommate. The other is Bailey Pickett, who starts out as Zack’s roommate, but by the end of the episode becomes London’s roommate when she is outed as a girl.

I am a fan of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and The Suite Life on Deck lives up to my expectations from the series. It is entertaining with plenty of funny incidents. At least in this first episode there is not much of the twins causing mischief as in the original series, but it still works out and I am sure there will be more to come. London’s role is interesting with her continuing to try to avoid school and doing any work, which includes her escaping the ship at the end of the first episode.

Overall this is a great show, especially for fans of the original. It may not exactly be an educational show, but it is a pretty harmless entertaining show that the whole family can enjoy watching together.