The episode run down for the week of the 11th is below:
Monday, May 11 (11:00 a.m.) – #202 “The Dinosaur Balloon”–Kai-lan, Rintoo and Stompy are making a special dinosaur-shaped balloon for Lulu’s hot air balloon festival. But when Kai-lan accidentally breaks her balloon, Stompy doesn’t think he needs to help put it back together, since it’s not his fault. Rintoo and the viewer need to encourage Stompy to help Kai-lan before it’s time for the balloons to sail into the sky.

Emotion/Issue: Pitching In
Chinese Target Word: Ge1 bo (arm)

Tuesday, May 12 (11:00 a.m.) – #205 “Kai-lan’s Big Play” — Kai-lan and her friends are putting on a play based on the traditional Chinese folktale about the Monkey King. Hoho loves the Monkey King, and he really wants to play the part, but he doesn’t speak up. When Rintoo gets the part of the Monkey King instead, Hoho gets so mad that he quits the play. Kai-lan and the viewers must help Hoho calm down so he can say what’s bothering him in time to do the play.

Emotion/Issue: Anger
Chinese Target Word: Tiao4 (jump)

Wednesday, May 13 (11:00 a.m.) – #203 “Playtimes at Tolee’s” — Everyone’s going over to Tolee’s boat house to play. All the friends have a great time… until Rintoo accidentally rips Tolee’s new panda painting. Rintoo apologizes, but Tolee just won’t forgive him. With a little inspiration from the Peking Mice, Kai-lan and the viewers help Tolee forgive his friend so everyone can play together again.

Emotion/Issue: Forgiveness
Chinese Target Word: Ping2 guo3 (apple)

Thursday, May 14 (11:00 a.m.) – #204 “The Moon Festival” – Kai-lan is so excited about the traditional Chinese Moon Festival. Hoho is thrilled because he’s finally old enough to stay awake with his friends so they can make lanterns, eat mooncakes, and best of all: watch the moon come out! But when the sky is so cloudy that Hoho can’t see the moon at all, he breaks into tears. Kai-lan and the viewer have to help Hoho find a way to make everything better.

Emotion/Issue: Disappointment
Chinese Target Word: Yue4 bing3 (mooncake)

Friday, May 15 (11:00 a.m.) – #206 “Kai-lan’s Big Surprise” — Kai-lan needs help to plan a very special party for Yeye to thank him for all he does. But when everything she plans goes wrong, Kai-lan gets very frustrated and starts to cry – much to the surprise of her friends! Rintoo, Tolee, and Hoho need the viewer’s help to show Kai-lan how to use laughter to feel better when she’s disappointed. Then they must get everything ready for the big party!

Emotion/Issue: Disappointment / Humor
Chinese Target Word: Wo3 ai4 (I love…)

Nickelodeon

By “it” I mean the whole situation. I don’t know why folks are getting upset about a toy. But beyond that I don’t know why Dora is growing up in the first place. the creators say they are just keeping up with the times. Um yeah. Because Dora has been around so long? It’s not like we’re talking about a 25 year old show here.

The creators also say:

“Girls really identify with Dora and we knew that girls would love to have their friend Dora grow up with them, and experience the new things that they were going through themselves.

“The brand captures girls’ existing love of Dora and marries it with the fashion doll play and online experiences older girls enjoy.”

I don’t see this. Dora is a preschool icon. Kids want to be older than they are, they don’t want to go backwards. They move on from one phase to the next. I don’t know how many would want to grow up with Dora. And even if they did, I think they’d be hesitant to mention it much less dive into the merchandise.

Olivia & her family - cr Chorion

Nick Jr. is set to bring children’s book character Olivia to animated life. The series, which has 26 episodes in its first season, is based on the Olivia series from Ian Falconer.

For those unfamiliar with the books, Olivia is a six year old who believes she can do anything and with her vivid imagination she often can. She has self confidence in spades and promotes independent thinking, ingenuity, and persistence.

She is joined by her 4 year old brother Ian (my son’s favorite character), William the baby, her parents, her dog Perry and her cat Edwin, and her friends Julian and Francine.

The premiere episode opens with a charming sequence where Edwin firmly plants himself in the middle of Olivia’s work (if you have a cat this will look familiar). Short sketches like this appear to be the way most episodes will open, as the second story had a similar intro.

Each episode has 2 stories. The first story in this episode has Olivia battling the thought that her little brother will likely be bigger than her one day. Olivia then concocts ways to keep Ian from growing.

The second episode features a snow day which results in Olivia running an imaginary hotel with Julian and Francine (and some unintended participation from Ian).

I’ll be honest and admit that I haven’t read the Falconer books so this was my first introduction to Olivia. That said the first impressions are favorable. I used the word charming earlier, and it’s a fairly apt description of the show. It is nicely animated and not overly invasive for you parents (you can live be in the same room with the show and have it not be distracting). And my kids seemed to really enjoy the screener, asking to watch it a half dozen times in the first week we had it.

If you’re a fan of the book series, drop me a line with your impressions once you’ve seen it. It will premiere at 11:30 on January 26th with new episodes all week.

In “Ladybug Festival,” Kai-lan and her friends are hiking through the woods to the big Ladybug Festival.  Tolee knows the way, but Rintoo and Hoho talk so loudly that they can’t hear Tolee tell them which path to take.  A frustrated Tolee refuses to continue hiking with his friends.  Kai-lan and the viewer must help Rintoo and Hoho listen to Tolee so they don’t miss the festival filled with ladybug bumper cars, popsicles and a special ladybug fan dance.  

The episode will air at 8 p.m.

Ad taken out by Viacom regarding Time Warner dispute

This appears to be a classic struggle between the provider, who wants more money, and the cable company, who wants to retain more money. The provider side says it will only cost subscribers pennies a month ($0.23 per subscriber per month), the cable company says that they are looking out for the best interests of their subscribers by holding costs down (it’s a 22 to 36% increase).

Typically it’s the innocent bystanders, the people who just want to watch TV, that lose out in these deals. Really though, I can’t see how a cable provider cannot have the Viacom suite in their offering because the channels are such strong brands and really represent what cable TV is from a programming standpoint.

There has been a crawl on Noggin today urging customers to contact Time Warner. The number they are providing is: 1-800-762-3786. Bright House Network customers are also effected and Bright House can be contacted at 1-866-309-3279.

UPDATE 12:28 ET: In fairness, here is the number for Viacom 212-258-6000. Also, Time Warner’s CEO has released a statement.

Time Warner Cable Loses Viacom: MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central To Go Dark

Dora Saves Three Kings Day

Dora the Explorer has a new prime time special, Dora Saves Three Kings Day. This is another Dora cross-over episode where she teams up with Diego. The episode will teach preschoolers about Three Kings Day, also known as El Dia de los Reyes Magos, which celebrates the coming of the three Magi to offer gifts to the newly born king.

In the episode, Dora, Diego and Boots are at cousin Diego’s rescue center dressed up as kings for the Three Kings Day party at Dora’s house. They’ll ride on a horse, camel and an elephant to carry the presents, treats and special Three Kings cake to the party. The trio is ready to go when Swiper accidentally scares the animals away. There can’t be a Three Kings Day party without the animals and treats! They set out on an adventure to find the elephant at the five golden rings, the camel in the hot desert and the horse who is on his way to Dora’s house. Along the way they meet Dora’s friend Najim from Egypt and Nelly from Mexico, who help find the runaway animals.

Dora Saves Three Kings Day will premiere January 6th at 8:00 p.m. on Nickelodeon. Starting today, clips and sneak previews are available on NickJr.com.

• Noggin’s Warm and Fuzzy marathons
• Sprout’s Christmas Eve Snooz-a-thon
• Sprout: Preschool Musical on a Stick
• PBS Kids: New Episodes
• Nick Jr. Frosty Friday’s
• Playhouse Disney Snow Day Saturday

If you’re interested in getting reminders for new episodes and specials, follow TV for Tots on Twitter @TVforTots

The month features the premiere of a new episode of Wow Wow Wubbzy titled A Great and Grumpy Holiday/The Super-Special Gift. In the episode Wubbzy and his friends go up to Mt. Zubba Bubba to get a Christmas tree for Wuzzleburg Square and are chased off the property by Old Man Grumpus.  Wubbzy sets out to soften Grumpus’ heart by decorating the perfect tree to surprise him. Grumpus is still as mad as a hornet until he sees Wubbzy’s present: his very own small-scale train.  The humbugger is so delighted that he brings the decorated tree down to Wuzzleburg for the big Christmas celebration.

The complete schedule follows:

December 5th

9:00 a.m. The Backyardigans “The Yeti”

9:30 a.m. Go, Diego, Go! “Diego the Hero”

10:00 a.m. The Wonder Pets! “Save the Penguin”

10:30 a.m. Dora the Explorer “South Pole”

11:00 a.m. Ni Hao, Kai-lan “The Snowiest Ride”

11:30 a.m. Max & Ruby “Max’s Mix Up/Max’s Snow Bunny/Max’s Snow Day”

12:00 pm. Dora the Explorer “Dora Saves the Snow Princess”

1:00 p.m. The Backyardigans “The Yeti”

1:30 p.m. Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! “A Great and Grumpy Holiday/The Super-Special Gift” (premiere)

December 12th

9:00 a.m. The Backyardigans “Secret of Snow”

9:30 a.m. Go, Diego, Diego! “Diego Saves Christmas

10:00 a.m. The Wonder Pets! “Save the Nutcracker”

10:30 a.m. Dora the Explorer “A Present for Santa”

11:00 a.m. Max & Ruby “Max & Ruby’s Christmas Tree/Grandma’s Present/Max & Ruby’s Snow Plow”

11:30 a.m. Yo Gabba Gabba “Christmas”

12:00 p.m. Dora the Explorer “South Pole”

12:30 p.m. Go, Diego, Diego! “Diego Saves Christmas”

1:00 p.m. The Backyardigans “Secret of Snow”

1:30 p.m. Wow Wow Wubbzy! “O Figgity-Fig Tree/Snow Day”

December 19th

9:00 a.m. The Backyardigans “The Snow Fort”

9:30 a.m. Go, Diego, Go! “Macky the Macaroni Penguin”

10:00 a.m. The Wonder Pets! “Save the Reindeer”

10:30 a.m. Dora the Explorer “South Pole”

11:00 a.m. Ni Hao, Kai-lan “The Snowiest Ride”

11:30 a.m. Yo Gabba Gabba “Christmas”

12:00 p.m. Dora the Explorer “A Present for Santa”

12:30 p.m. Go, Diego, Go! “Macky the Macaroni Penguin”

1:00 p.m. The Backyardigans “The Snow Fort”

1:30 p.m. Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! “A Great and Grumpy Holiday/The Super-Special Gift”

It’s Christmas Eve and a Mouse King emerges from a picture book and steals the Wonder Pets’ Nutcracker from the classroom. Linny the Guinea Pig, Turtle Tuck and Ming-Ming Duckling pursue the Mouse King into the book, dancing through a wintery wonderland filled with sugar plum fairies and sweet treats to the music of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker ballet. The trio persuades the Mouse King to give back the Nutcracker and be happy with what he already has in his kingdom. The Wonder Pets travel back to the classroom and on Christmas morning, they crack open their nut which magically decorates the classroom and brings the Nutcracker to life.

The show will premiere on December 8th at 8:00 p.m. Starting December 1st clips and music will be available at NickJr.com. The episode is alsoavailable on DVD.