TV Worth Blogging
by David Thiel, Program Director for WILL-TV
An insider's view of public television programming and the issues that help determine what and how you watch
Word Up!
When I was growing up, Saturday mornings were magic time. For a few hours each week, all three commercial networks desperately competed for my attention with a phantasmagoria of animated and live-action adventures: superheroes, dinosaurs, ghost-hunting kids and globe-trotting musicians. It was kid nirvana, even though many of the offerings weren't really all that good.
As I got older, the children's shows I came to appreciate the most were the ones that worked on multiple levels. Rocky and Bullwinkle was the classic example: kids could laugh at the moose's thickheadedness, but you had to be a little older to realize that "the Ruby Yacht of Omar Khayyam" was a truly horrible pun.
Which brings me to a recent favorite: PBS' WordGirl, airing Fridays at 6:00 am and 4:00 pm on WILL-TV. It's the story of "mild-mannered fifth grader" Becky Botsford, who is secretly an alien superhero from the planet Lexicon. Blessed with super strength, the power of flight and an astounding vocabulary, she faces an array of absurd villains with the aid of her monkey Bob, aka Captain Huggy Face.
The ostensible purpose of WordGirl is to introduce young viewers to new words such as "deceive" and "coincidence." Each story focuses on two vocabulary-builders, each of which is used repeatedly and in a variety of circumstances. Not even the dastardly deeds of the Butcher--whose powers over deli meats are matched only by his ability to butcher the English language--can stop Becky from taking a moment to politely explain that "exaggerate" means "to make something seem bigger, better, more important than it really is."
WordGirl's educational mission is solid, but that's not all it has to offer; it's also laugh-out-loud funny. Becky's adventures are laced with self-aware humor that plays with the conventions of superhero stories and even the show's own internal logic. When Chuck the Evil Sandwich-Making Guy goes on a robbery spree, his victims are confused: why isn't he committing sandwich-based crimes? Frustrated, Chuck attempts to knock over a grocery store, but is disappointed when he goes to jail over sixteen dollars' worth of bread.
My favorite example of this is when Dr. Two-Brains--a villainous scientist whose grafted-on mouse brain compels him to steal cheese--begins to grab gold instead. WordGirl learns that he is experimenting with a ray that transforms gold into cheese. Unfortunately, it only succeeds in making potato salad, so Dr. Two-Brains builds a second machine that turns potato salad into cheese. While his henchmen suggest that it might be a good idea to let them have some of the gold before it becomes potato salad--after all, the rent on their lair is due--Becky calls the whole plot into question. Why not steal potato salad instead of gold? Why not use the gold to buy potato salad? Neither of the doctor's brains has a satisfactory answer.
And did I tell you that WordGirl has a monkey sidekick? Named Captain Huggy Face? Hmm...I guess I did, but did I mention that he concludes each episode with a special dance?
Words are cool. Monkeys are funny. And crime doesn't pay, when you "Word Up!" with WordGirl!
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