oswald

www.noggin.com

i don't know about you, but nothing cheers me up like a blue octopus with a pet weiner dog. i stumbled upon oswald a few months back while trying to find some little-person-friendly programming on noggin, nickelodeon's youngest-skewing channel.

oswald is a gentle octopus voiced by fred savage (yes, that fred savage) who lives in whimsical town called big city with his pet hot dog, weenie. now, for those of you who think i only started watching this show because it has some semblance of a weiner dog in it..... you're right. but i fell in love watching the very first episode.

oswald is sweet without being cloying (sorry, wonderpets, but you drive me crazy) and teaches without being preachy (ugh, franklin, you are whiny macwhinestein). not only is oswald cute and friendly, but he also helps model positive responses to conflict, presents teamwork and working together and demonstrates characters taking turns and being polite.

now i'm not advocating television for tiny babies, but sometimes when cole gets hit with a case of the grumples, oswald is literally the only thing that will cheer him up - and i have to admit, i love watching it, too. the clever drawings (a bakery shaped like a giant cake) and tongue-in-cheek characters (a snowman drives the town ice cream truck) make it something i actually look forward to.

added bonus: think some of the characters on oswald sound familiar? henry, a persnickety penguin who's oswald's best friend is voiced by david lander, best known as laverne & shirley's squiggy. how could you not want to watch now? oswald and weenie and squiggy, oh my!