If you ask me, shows for kids need to be less preachy with the moral stuff, and MORE preachy with the basic life messages. I don’t need a show teaching my kids not to steal, or how to share their toys. I’m a parent; it’s a basic part of the package to teach them how to be good people.
No, what I would’ve appreciated as a child was a kids’ show telling me how to do my tax returns, because I got to eighteen and had no clue how to handle any of that stuff.
Or get this: a show that teaches auto repair and ute maintenance! They could have a segment right at the end where the cutesy character explains how to add coolant to your engine, or explain the under tray tool boxes for utes.
The only time I’ve ever seen anything like this has been Pretty Car Dealer Sailor Hoon. They had a segment after every episode called Sailor Hoon Says, where the main character herself would do a voiceover explaining about caring for your vehicle, after she gave her usual disclaimer that all the street racing and hoon driving was done by trained professionals and the children shouldn’t try it at home. After that, she talked about all sorts: why you should listen to your car, why it needs gas (petrol), why regular services were necessary… no mention of ute toolboxes, but she was a car dealer, not a tradesperson. No one in the show had a ute canopy because no one drove utes. That would just be silly in an intense street race, because it would slow you down and ute additions (canopies, toolboxes etc.) are really expensive. You don’t want to go out with a bunch of hoons and risk them getting damaged.
I still remember those lessons, though, because they were different to all the boring moral stuff I already knew. All I’m asking for is a show that tells you why, for tradies in Melbourne, ute toolboxes are the best thing since sliced bread, and how to fix them. It would be niche, sure, but not everything has to be calibrated for every single child.
-Matt B.