Week 3: TV Today and Talking Dogs

Biah S -

Hello everyone, and welcome to week 3!

This week I’ve been researching current children’s media with prosocial themes, looking into both what’s been put out in recent years and what’s most viewed among young audiences. One thing I quickly noticed was the frequency of prosocial messaging in television as opposed to digital games. TV shows and films tend to have significantly more instances of prosociality than video games. This is likely due to the fact that the format of most television programs allows them to more easily focus on an overarching moral lesson or theme. Digital games face the task of balancing both story and gameplay, which is often based in violence or competition. For this reason, I mostly looked at children’s TV for this phase of my research. 

If you ever decide to research modern children’s media, you’ll see one name mentioned over and over again: Bluey. If you’re unfamiliar, Bluey is a children’s show that follows the daily lives of a family of anthropomorphic dogs. This includes the titular character Bluey, her sister Bingo, and their parents Bandit and Chili. Bluey has been an incredible success and received high praise from critics and viewers alike, even being among the most streamed television shows of 2024. A major factor that seems to set it apart is its appeal to both adults and children. Unlike many other programs targeted towards kids, a common consensus on Bluey seems to be that parents enjoy watching it as well. This not only contributes to the show’s commercial success, but the co-viewing this leads to can enhance the beneficial effects of watching these kinds of programs and build connections between parents and children. 

Another aspect of Bluey that I found noteworthy is how it depicts its family unit. It is common for parents in children’s programming to be portrayed as clueless, with humor often being at their expense. Bluey subverts this by depicting an idealized version of the contemporary nuclear family. Both parents are involved and included in their children’s play, and they are shown to have a healthy and loving marriage. Although Bluey is likely the best example of this at the moment, I believe this is indicative of the direction children’s media is heading in as a whole. Positive and healthy depictions of family relationships seem to be becoming a higher priority in recent times, especially with the rise of gentle parenting. Another example I was able to find was The Fairly OddParents: A New Wish, a continuation of the classic cartoon from the 2000’s that was released last year. A change from the original that most viewers approved of was the relationship between Cosmo and Wanda. Multiple reviews lauded the fact that the show allowed them to behave affectionately towards each other rather than falling into the trope of a humorous failed marriage that the original show used in its later seasons. Although they maintain the often ridiculous demeanors of their original characterizations, they can now serve as a representation of a functioning and thriving partnership.

That was a lot of talk about TV, but this kind of information will hopefully allow me to better understand what’s being taught to children in media these days and what’s most appealing to them. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you’ll tune in for more next week! 

Nesi, J. (2023, August 28). Should Your Kid Watch Bluey?. Techno Sapiens. https://technosapiens.substack.com/p/should-your-kid-watch-bluey

Riley, N. S. (2016, June 14). How Disney Teaches Contempt for Dads. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2016/06/14/how-disney-teaches-contempt-for-dads/

Shanfield, E. (2025, January 27). 2024’s Most Streamed Series Revealed: ‘Bluey,’ ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ ‘Family Guy’ and More. Variety. https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/most-streamed-shows-2024-bluey-greys-anatomy-1236287267/

Work, A. (2017). The Value of Parental Co-Viewing on Children and Families. Cinesthesia, 6(1), 1-5.

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Comments:

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    Abijah Semwaga
    Wow! The research here integrates the educational values that newer shows have chosen to make. Do you think this shift came about because of the change in societal norms, even to the design elements of these newer shows?
    February 26, 2025 at 7:01 pm - Reply
    Anushka R.
    In your opinion, could the depiction of such good/healthy family dynamics in more modern shows like Bluey lead to children becoming more self-conscious that their family isn't that healthy? Additionally, as more family relationships are shown to be positive, will there be less of a market for shows that have unhealthy families?
    March 1, 2025 at 6:20 pm - Reply
    rudra edupuganti
    I found your research really fascinating, and I was interested in the correlation between co-viewing and parent-child relationship. I would love to see the study or background information used to make the correlation. Overall, you researched it extensively and well.
    March 2, 2025 at 4:02 pm - Reply
    biah_s
    Hi Abijah! I do think a change in societal norms and values contributed to this shift. In recent years, a big focus has been put on mental health and inclusion, and this is reflected in the media that's put out. Thus, more content depicting different family configurations and concentrating on healthy ways of navigating familial relationships become mainstream. I think this more so influences the subject matter of these kinds of media, but things like character design will also definitely be impacted and move towards showing more diversity.
    March 2, 2025 at 4:33 pm - Reply
    biah_s
    Hi Anushka! I think that's definitely a possibility, as I've seen accounts of parents stating that children have asked them why they couldn't do the things Bluey's parents could. This, of course, has an effect on parents as well, since they can be made to feel that they have to be perfect and exercise patience all the time. As for your second question, I think it depends greatly on how exactly they choose to depict the families, but there is a certain trope of family members/spouses mistreating each other constantly that I feel audiences are tiring of.
    March 2, 2025 at 5:17 pm - Reply
    biah_s
    Hi Rudra! I've cited the paper I read on co-viewing under the main blog post if you want to check that out. Overall, it can help strengthen the relationship between parents and children by being a point of connection that is more likely to result in meaningful discussions than things like asking yes or no questions or how someone's day went. It also allows parents to filter the content that's being exposed to their children and help them to better process it by either reinforcing or rejecting different ideas.
    March 2, 2025 at 5:30 pm - Reply
    Asher
    Great article! I find the shift in family dynamics in kid's shows very interesting. I would like to know how these representations compare to older depictions of family relationships in children's shows, and if you think these depictions might help the new generations to raise better families in the future?
    March 2, 2025 at 9:50 pm - Reply
    biah_s
    Hi Asher! Many children's programs in the past and even today use bad relationships between family members as a point of humor, often depicting parents, especially fathers, as incompetent or foolish. While this hasn't exactly gone away over the years, as parenting styles and societal values have evolved, so have portrayals of families in media. I think these depictions have the potential to help instill certain values and morals in children, so it is possible they will contribute to raising (hopefully) happier families in the future.
    March 4, 2025 at 2:33 pm - Reply

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