Well, technically it’s not new. Neither is it my favorite “real” show. But it is new to us, and it is my new favorite kid’s show: Johnny and the Sprites on Playhouse Disney. Since it only comes on on Saturday and Sunday mornings, we never see it. But we’ve Tivo-ed a few episodes and we’ve all fallen in love!
I fell in love with John Tartaglia when I first heard of him in Avenue Q, a grossly inappropriate, but hilarious Broadway show. It’s different from your average Broadway hit(although it did win a Tony) because they use puppets in it. Most of the characters are played by puppets, but you see the puppeteer as well. It’s kind of a spoof of Sesame Street but not AT ALL acceptable for little ears. But the music is great! And it will make you laugh out loud over and over, if you aren’t too offended by bad language. (We’re actually going to see it at the end of the month at the Fox!! YAY!!!)
Anyway, “Johnny and the Sprites” is a great show for the kiddos because the set is colorful and the puppets are adorable. It’s great for parents like me because each show is like a mini-musical…a really good one! And they teach great lessons on the show. I’ve yet to see a show that made me go “What??? Ok kids, we don’t do things like that” (like when we watch whiny-heiny Caillou or cross Sir Toppam Hatt on Thomas the Tank Engine).
I can only hold out hope that they’ll start doing a “Johnny and the Sprites LIVE” show before my kids get too old to want to go! 🙂 For now I’ll just have to settle for the new CD coming out on March 18th!!
Oh yeah, we love it. Back when it was just a mini-thing between regular programs, the kids would go NUTS to catch it. Our other fave is Yo Gabba Gabba. It’s probably the weirdest thing ever, but it’s kinda’ addictive after a song or two. The other thing (still in mini-form but I wish they’d make it a real show) is Choo-Choo Soul. Fabulous! Sweet Pea TOTALLY dances just like Genevieve. I’m so proud of her hoochy moves.