When NBC shifted gears with their Saturday morning lineup, from Discovery Kids (now The Hub) to Qubo, in 2006, they acquired the Christian-themed video series, VeggieTales, which was, sadly, placed near the bottom of the lineup. Still, the series hung on for four seasons before being cashiered out in 2010.
VeggieTales began as a direct-to-video (DTV) series in 1993, and the popularity of the CGI toons led NBC suits to believe that this was a marketable entity for their struggling Saturday block. Well, it would've, if the network left it alone. Reportedly, references to God were deleted from network broadcasts, which raised the ire of the busybodies of the Parents Television Council. While the PTC understands that NBC and its censors want to remain neutral regarding religion, they felt offended, as did the creators of VeggieTales, by the editing, which they obviously felt was unnecessary. Currently, Trinity Broadcasting holds the cable rights to the series.
While I have not seen any of the cartoons, nor the feature film spinoffs, I do recognize the value of these cartoons for the target audience. You can imagine that the VeggieTales have been used in Sunday Schools across the country, too.
Let's check out a sample episode, "Lyle, the Kindly Viking":
Rating: A.
2 comments:
One great thing about the VeggieTales is that they contain humor aimed at both children and adults, much like the classic Looney Tunes. So you can watch them with your kids and actually enjoy them.
Agreed. I personally think NBC screwed up by putting the show on at noon (ET), when an earlier slot would've sufficed.
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