GIVE ME ONE MINUTE TO PROVE WHY EVEN BABIES SHOULD WATCH TV
When my daughter, Kristin, was very young, one of the first (and then only) things we let her watch on TV was PBS’s Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, because it was so positive, safe, and lovingly interactive. A generation later, Kristin is married, and she and her husband, Roland Ochoa, have a baby girl of their own, named Reina. Without any input or advice from me, when Kristin set out to choose Reina’s first regular viewing TV experience, she selected Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, the new animated reincarnation of Fred Rogers’ characters and vision. And after just a few days, Reina became so enamored of Daniel that Kristin and Roland recorded her watching the opening of his show. Reina is only six months old here, but watch as she watches, as the theme song plays – and wait for the moment when Daniel Tiger emerges from the trolley, gets his close-up, and addresses the viewer directly. Is there such a thing as Tigermania? And is there any way this type of TV interaction, even at this young age, can be anything but good? New episodes of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood roll out on PBS Feb. 15-18. – David Bianculli