Disney

Jessie is essentially a platform for Disney to showcase its Next Big Thing, that thing being series star Debby Ryan – who just so happens to be an adorable and highly marketable pop singer. The titular character is a young woman from Texas moving to New York City and working as the nanny for the children of two self-obsessed, obnoxiously vain parents. Her charges include the couple’s one biological and three adopted children as well as an enormous lizard named Mr. Kipling.

The hilarity includes a much-too-young child relentlessly hitting on his nanny, a complete lack of parental involvement, and a butler who openly disdains the children left in his care. Oh, and fat jokes. Lots and lots of fat jokes at the butler’s expense.

The acting in Jessie is so poor that my dear mother thought it was intentional as part of the gag. If only that were the case. But sadly, it’s just bad acting.

Series creator Pamela Eells O’Connell previously worked on Charles In Charge, a show about a young man acting as a nanny, and The Nanny, whose title says it all. I guess it should be no surprise that she ran out of anything remotely like a fresh idea on the nanny premise by her third go-around. Maybe her next show could be about a robot nanny from outer space. Or maybe a regular nanny hired by a family of ghosts?

The absolute worst thing about Jessie – worse than the acting, the plot, the production values, and the occasional age-inappropriate content – is the fact that my kids love it. Mine, and four million others. The show premiered to a respectable 4.6 million viewers and appears, after 8 episodes, to have reached a plateau at about 4 million. From an adult’s perspective, this show is utterly unwatchable. But it’s not for us; it’s for the kids. And the kids – poor, uncultured souls that they are – just love it. So it looks like Jessie might be around for a while.

There have been some excellent Super Hero animated features lately. DC has upped its game with a series of Direct-to-DVD adaptations of historic comic book storylines. Great stuff for a comic book fan, but the PG-13 rating is unsuitable for the little ones.

Now Disney, which recently acquired Marvel Comics, has launched a series called Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes on Disney XD. The show avoids over-the-top violence and has no questionable language, but also features story lines that will not cause an adult brain to shut down in protest.

The series was heavily advertised and ramped up with a series of unusual but effective teaser episodes. Prior to the prime time launch of the show, a set of about a dozen eight-minute vignettes was released to whet the appetite. The short programs were well designed in that they were not essential to understanding and enjoying the main show, but were more than useless filler. Each told a short piece of back story building up to the events that will undoubtedly draw Earth’s greatest heroes together as the story unfolds in the coming weeks.

In early episodes, at least, the show succeeds in balancing accessible story telling with fan service. Both are vital components of a successful long term adaptation of a comic book property. Comic book fans want to see winks, cameos, and allusions. Everybody else wants to see a show that stands on its own without cumbersome continuity and excessive back story. Kids want lots of action and a story they can comprehend. Adults want enough substance to keep them interested.

Early indications are that Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is a winner on all counts.

1. Disney

I’ve grown up watching Disney movies and was excited when I realized that there was going to be a Disney Channel on cable. I’m too old for the target market of the channel now but find myself still watching the shows they have.

Some notable shows that seem to be on the must-watch list of their target market include:

a. Hannah Montana

Starring Miley Cyrus and her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, Hannah Montana features Miley, a regular teen who leads a double life as a singer and celebrity, Hannah Montana. Only her family and best friends know about her secret life.

b. JONAS

JONAS stars pop band, The Jonas Brothers, as Kevin, Joe and Nick Lukas. Like Hannah Montana, they try to lead a normal life by attending high school while trying to balance being in a band.

c. Wizards Of Waverly Place

Wizards of Waverly Place stars Selena Gomez, as Alex, who comes from a wizarding family. She uses her magic powers most of the time to make things easier for her and to get out of trouble, but this backfires most of the times. Good thing her older brother is always there to rescue her.

2. Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon shows used to cater to a really young target audience. But they’ve since refocused their image to include the pre-teen crowd. Can they compete against Disney?

a. iCarly

iCarly stars Miranda Cosgrove as Carly who has created her own web show with her two best friends, Sam and Freddie. What started out as an innocent way to broadcast the funny videos they had on hand, iCarly evolved into a weekly webshow that has become the most popular webshow among her peers.

b. True Jackson, VP

True Jackson is the adventures of True Jackson, the youngest VP of the youth apparel division of the fashion house, MadStyle. True Jackson also happens to be a teenager.

So which channel do you think is better? Disney? Or Nick?

The half hour television show heavily focuses on problem solving. At the start of each episode, before Mickey and his friends start to work out the problem presented in each show, they have to go to the Mousekedoer to get their Mouseketools.  They include a variety of miscellaneous things they will need in order to find a solution to the problem — whether it be helping Goofy with his magic show, saving BooBoo Chicken from the Giant of the beanstalk, or waking up an enchanted sleeping Minnie.

There are anywhere between three and seven tools that are loaded onto “Toodles,” a quirky little mouse ears robot that follows the gang around to be called when they need one of the tools. The characters also address the concept of cause and effect. One of the characters will suggest a tool, like a stick of glue to bathe a puppy, and Toodles will show the gang what would have happened if they would have used the glue instead of the soap. There is always a mystery Mouseketool, so if none of the featured “tools” are any help, then it is time for the gang to call for the mystery one with a lot of fireworks and fanfare.

Along with the problem solving of matching what Mouseketool item is needed to fix which situation, the show also addresses shapes, colors, counting, patterns, and size comparisons. I think it’s great to have shows that kids find entertaining and also teach them something as well. I give this show two thumbs up.