[David Bernstein, June 19, 2009 at 11:36am] Trackbacks
If You Don't Want An Annoying But Extremely Catchy

theme song going through your head all day, don't watch the Pajanimals with your kids.

Sid the warmonger (mail) (www):
This looks like a job for a Higglytown Hero.
6.19.2009 12:17pm
Laura(southernxyl) (mail) (www):
My kid is grown. In her day it was Sheri Lewis (toward the end of her long career) and Lambchop, and the song that never ends.

This is the song that never ends
Yes it goes on and on my friends
Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was,
And they'll continue singing it forever, just because
It is the song that never ends...

I don't remember watching Sheri myself as a kid, but I suppose I did. One remembers things differently when exposed to them repeatedly as an adult. For instance, my daughter was 4 when "Beauty and the Beast" came out. We bought the video and she watched it over and over for a while. I can sing the "little town, it's a quiet village" thing but I don't think she remembers it well enough.

So your kids will get over pajanimals much more thoroughly than you will. ha ha.
6.19.2009 12:32pm
Laura(southernxyl) (mail) (www):
If I found anything about this blog obnoxious I would quit visiting it.

There are thousands of blogs out there, something for everyone.
6.19.2009 1:05pm
Kirk:
David,

Would the "don't-watch" advice apply to just about any children's video? :-)

KWC, no I don't find it annoying (and it's not true, anyway). You, on the other hand, are a different matter...
6.19.2009 1:19pm
DJ (mail):
Could be worse. Say, Clifford the Big Red Dog.
6.19.2009 1:23pm
George Smith:
Well, It's a Small World.
6.19.2009 2:36pm
Dave N (mail):
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?
6.19.2009 5:41pm
neurodoc:
An Annoying But Extremely Catchy theme song going through your head all day...
I think that would qualify as an "ear worm," something that Oliver Sacks has written about, as has a neurophysiologist type from Montreal in a new book.
6.19.2009 11:02pm
Indy:
Kids programming is just incredibly repetitively musical. I don't know if it's increased in any meaningful way - Sesame Street always had the same songs - and maybe Barney was the tipping point. But today, if you just had the audio on, Sprout turns into a juvenile top-40 station, playing the same songs over and over, many times a day, every single day. But the kids love that. Curse you, special agent OSO!
6.20.2009 8:02am
Laura(southernxyl) (mail) (www):
"Kids programming is just incredibly repetitively musical." Kids like repetition. Look at the repetition within stories like "The Three Little Pigs" - the same conversation between wolf and pig, over and over. Or "The Billy Goats Gruff". There's a reason why kids' stories with repetition like that have been around for centuries.

I think they like the feeling of control when they know what's going to happen next. It's the same thing that causes kids a little bit older to enjoy books like the "Goosebumps" series - they're scary, but the kid is in control and can reread, skip around, or put the book down if it gets to be too much. It's a way of easing into the reality of being stuck in the real world we all inhabit, where all kind of things happen that we can neither anticipate nor control.

Anyway.
6.20.2009 8:22am
KWC (mail):
Ha ha. Thank you for deleting my comment, Bernstein. Erasing the statement doesn't make the statement any less true, though. Sorry. :-(
6.22.2009 1:32pm

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