Bluey is rubbish.

[IAmTheFloorCleaner]

There, I said it.

I have a small DC who is obsessed with it so I’ve seen/overheard lots of episodes. I don’t get why other adults are obsessed with it? Bluey is kind of a cow. I get that she is meant to have ADHD but she is often not kind to Bingo or her Dad. Bingo often has to give in to other people’s wants even though she is 4, she is forever having to be reasonable and understanding, especially towards Bluey. And my DC has said one or two things that have not been the best behaviour and when questioned has said they’ve learnt it off Bluey. Yes, there are some sweet moments for adults, but other than that it’s a blah programme. There are morals in lots of other kids programmes today so I don’t buy that, and some of the 80s/90s kids programmes are much funnier, so I don’t think it’s that. Is it simply all the adult asides that people love?

The other day I saw someone recommend watching Bluey and emulating the father to a new dad, saying that is how you learn to be a parent. What the hell? Is Bluey’s dad really the gold standard of parenting now?

To me, Bluey isn’t that much above that devil, Peppa Pig. I don’t get why people are so crazy about it?

I'm with you OP - in particular I really dislike the comparison of only children Vs siblings (e.g. Juno) - it's been rough at times watching it with an only child and seeing them sad!
I also think so much of it plays up to what will make adults in the audience laugh, at the expense of keeping things aspirational for children watching.

I don’t get why the books Benjamin Bunny is the stronger of the two and Peter is more of a worrier, but in the stupid tv series they switched it up! And they made Peter’s sisters idiots and reduced one to a toddler.

Poor Benjamin, he was robbed.

Bluey is actually the best of kids programmes in recent years and one I can genuinely enjoy with my LO 😂
but nothing beats trap door, danger mouse and count Duckula hahaha

To be fair ☝️ Judo and Muffin are equally awful in their own ways, one an only and one with a sibling, and on the flip side, Chloe and Rusty are equally lovely in their own ways, again one an only and one with siblings!
Isn’t Judo’s main issue her unbearable mother? 😂

We love bluey in this household. I think it covers a real good mix of observational comedy funny for both children and adults and doesn't hide away from hard hitting topics like Infertility, aging grandparents and competitive parenting.

Liberty and Everest are also in paw patrol and some newer ones too, Roxy, coral and I can’t remember the rest 🙃

My criticism of Peppa is that the show itself isn't very nice rather than Peppa herself. When they go on a trip to the museum, one of the kids is really excited and telling them some interesting facts and the narrator says he's 'a bit of a clever clogs' in a sneery way which was the final straw for me!

Bing is a mega bellend, though, and everyone I have spoken to agrees.

Trapdoor was amazing and I used to LOVE Funnybones. They have some fuzzy recordings on YouTube, I want to show them to DC, thy were so good!

Bluey doesn’t have ADHD !
shes always playing nicely with her sister or cousins or parents -no attention deficit that I’ve ever seen.
I think it’s an absolutely lovely programme.

And the panda from Bing who is suddenly in his pants for no reason and no one ever seems to say ‘Err, Panda, we’re in a supermarket and you need to put your trousers back on’

More than that - they put it in the intro to every episode., Get to the park, take your pants off for no reason

I didn’t realise it was there too! I get kids take their trousers off but there are limits!!

I think Wendy is a good example of how parents do things differently but can still be 'right'. She does prioritise appearances, but cuts off all her own hair when she realises it's impinging on Juno's fun, and she puts her strong core to excellent use when Bandit's being a rag doll and won't take the kids for ice cream. And she's a good friend to Chilli when she needs a break.

The episode where Judo and Bluey are mean to Bingo is a bit of a parenting fail IMO - my kids dote on the youngest, but they still want a bit of time to hang out on their own without a sibling in tow sometimes, so I make sure they get it (using bribery usually - I'm way more Bandit than Chilli).

I didn't see that as a only child Vs siblings thing so much as showcasing peer pressure and not handling situations very well when you're still learning.

(Not that we've been on a years-long Bluey kick or anything - is it too late to make this sound a lot less overthunk?!😬🤣)

To be fair when you adult role models, Flop and Amma, are permanently naked it must be a bit confusing.

In real life Flop would not be in the park. He would be on a register.

Yes!! Although I do know a kid like that and it's hard to be that firm because it is really funny and often results in a Benny Hill style chase with other parents trying to help, but also not really wanting to catch a semi-naked toddler! 🤣🤣

I think you need to turn Bluey off for a bit.

😂

Also, why are all the ‘adults’ so tiny? They wouldn’t be able to handle a bust up between Bing and his best mate.

Nooo! I love Bluey. But I have too many questions about ‘The Sign’. What happened to dad’s new job and the house they were moving into. You can’t pull out on moving day!

And why aren't the cats anthropomorphised? They are much smaller than the rabbits and still get pet status.

Yes danger mouse, Trap Door, Duck tales, also Super Ted! (I was in love with him ) and can anything be more exciting than the intro to Thundercats? Pigeon Street was cool and does anyone remember ‘Bertha’? Loved that, it was clay mation same as Trap Door and I think made by the same people.

I both love and dislike Bluey. Love it for all the excellence and there’s a lot that’s funny and relatable, also moments where it catches you in the feels 😁 dislike it for all the reasons listed here basically. Teaching kids soft swearing with the (mostly Bandit) exclaiming ‘biscuits’ all the time isn’t great either.

Tears have spiked many times though and sometimes at odd bits. I loved the Bingo party where the granny just wanted to help but wasn’t ‘needed’ but actually Bingo needed her to watch her do her handstand, was so sweet 🥹 Also Camping, gets me every time and makes me think of friends gone by.
Love Sleepytime and also the episode where it rains and there’s no dialogue, just orchestral, lovely.

Same

Don't they have jobs? Housework?! Want to have adult conversations sometimes? Or just to sit on the sofa and scroll in peace every now and again???

But they do allude to that. There are lots of times when Bandit doesn’t feel like parenting - there are scenes he just wants to lie down and scroll on his phone, or watch sports on TV or whatever. They both have jobs. They talk to each other in micro-conversations that get interrupted that is familiar to parents. The communicate with looks, with handholds. (There’s a moment when they look at each other that alludes to the fact that Bluey is a rainbow baby.) I love that there are some weighty topics on the fringes of the episodes (like Chill’s sister’s infertility.) But the episodes are mostly focused on playtime, or when the kids have to fit in around adult stuff.

But I mostly like how slow the episodes are, that there’s so much music in them, that they can be beautiful to watch. I can’t stand the quick fire computer generated animation in other cartoons.

I find the soft swearing “Biscuits!” really helpful! Kids pick up so much worse at school, it handy to redirect them to “Biscuits!” 😂

I'll concede that perhaps I've not watched it closely enough to pick up on all those nuances!

Saw the Bluey stage show last year and Bandit trying to relax and scroll his phone was a main theme