It's My Screen Time Too

We review our first ever kids’ reality competition show: Junior Baking Show on Netflix. How does it compare to the much loved grown-up version? Is even the gentlest of children’s competition shows too much for Katie’s nerves?Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

We travel to infinity and beyond in our review of Pixar’s latest blockbuster: Lightyear. Is it a valuable extension to the Toy Story brand or just another run of the mill space adventure? In Screen Time in the News, Katie apologizes to Deborah (and our listeners) for neglecting to cover every parents’ current favorite preschool show: Bluey.Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

We have a lot to say about Screen Time in the News this week. Deborah fills us in on a new Minnesota law about screen time in preschools, and Katie wonders about a once-loved Pixar executive making new (and maybe better?) movies at a different studio. We review the third installment of the Zombies franchise on Disney Plus. Our favorite cheerleader and zombie couple survived werewolves, but can they survive teenage aliens? And do we care? Find out!Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

This week, we bravely explore one of our kids’ favorite YouTube genres: Minecraft videos. From narrating gamers to intrepid hamsters, we desperately try to find something to like in the endless sea of content about everyone’s favorite block-based video game. In Screen Time In the News, we turn to an article by statistics guru Emily Oster to interpret the study behind those attention grabbing headlines about IQ and video games.Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

Katie is dragged kicking and screaming into the Marvel Cinematic Universe to review Ms. Marvel, and we feature a fascinating interview with a mom who watches everything MCU with her kids.Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

We’re excited to introduce our kids to the structure of mystery shows with Netflix’s new Creature Cases from some of the team behind Octonauts. Two animal detectives teach us things we didn’t know about the more bizarre members of the animal kingdom, and Deborah accidentally invents the best crossover ever: the crime-fighting duo of Julia Child and Jason Bourne. Genius! In Screen Time in the News, we give some recommendations to the author of a moms.com article who is afraid to branch out from her kids’ tried and true preschool favorites.Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

Can Sneakerella rescue the modern Cinderella tale in Katie’s eyes? Spoiler: put in enough good dance sequences, and she’ll love anything. In Screen Time in the News, we discuss our collective terror at the prospect of an upcoming Web3 series that aims to familiarize preschoolers with the metaverse. Our reboot castings are full of favorite pairs we’d love to see tackle a musical romance like Bowen Yang & Joel Kim Booster and Issa Rae & Kumail Nanjiani.Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

We dive into the endless pop culture references in the new Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers on Disney Plus. Is it a movie for our kids or is it really for us? Deborah gets into the for-bros-by-bros vibe, and Katie can’t get enough of Captain Putty. In Screen Time in the News, we wonder if a new study claiming video games can actually raise kids’ IQs is too good to be true.Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

Join us as we indulge our inner theater kids and tackle the important issues in Disney’s Better Nate Than Ever, like “Are rabbit’s feet still a thing?” and “How short are the layers in the classic Rachel hairstyle?” In Screen Time in the News, we talk more about what it means for animation to be made for grown ups and get into the turmoil at Netflix.Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

We're re-releasing a favorite from our archives this week. Educational TV can be a slog for kids and their grown-ups. Not so with UK export and Katie-favorite, Numberblocks. Listen as she raves about twelve, bags on three, and convinces Deborah to give nineteen a chance. In Screen Time In the News, we discuss Slate’s call for media mentors in this age of rampant online disinformation.Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

It’s time for another lightning round! We review four shows that have been lingering on our watch list and let you know whether they’re worth your time: Making Fun, Ridley Jones, The Snoopy Show, and Head of the Class. We’ve got some scathing criticism, some overly deep thoughts on the origins of children’s museums, and a spirited defense of grumpy women. In Screen Time in the News, we reflect on what was undoubtedly the most talked about moment from this year’s Oscar telecast: the assertion that animation for adults exists and should be called cinema.Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

In our first in-person recording in far too long, we excitedly welcome back our friend Leah to discuss the ABC remake of a childhood classic: The Wonder Years. The new version takes place in 1968 like the original but follows a black family in Montgomery, Alabama instead of a white family in the nameless suburbs. How does it stack up against our childhood memories of Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper? In Screen Time in the News, we discuss Nickelodeon’s upcoming projects.Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

Pixar may have burned us in the past, but we are still excited for our review of their latest - Turning Red. We get into the controversy over critiques of the film and have some truly great comparisons to movies made for grown ups (has anyone seen Nice Girls Don’t Explode?) and gritty re-castings (spoiler: we cast one of our favorites not once, but twice!). We have a brief aside about Netflix’s new show Making Fun and the potential appeal of extreme building shows for kids.Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

Big Nate by It's My Screen Time TooContact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

We jump in late to another long-running franchise and review Hotel Transylvania: Transformania. Are the classic sight gags enough to keep us interested in the antics of Drac, Mavis, and Johnny? Spoiler alert: we love Drac’s dad bod and are always on board with jello-related humor. In Screen Time in the News, we cover a variety of topics including William and Kate’s screen time policies and the fact that you don’t need to wait for black history month to enjoy Hidden Figures.Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

We cover a lot of ground in our latest episode: a Slate article about the mental gymnastics parents go through to make preschool TV interesting; Pixar’s Turning Red and whether or not there is still an artistic judgment made against movies that are released on streaming instead of in theaters; our enduring hatred of Blippi; and - in our main segment - a review of the Apple TV+ reboot of the fraggles in Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock. Deborah, our longtime fraggle fan, explores how the new version stacks up against the original, and Katie tells you what all this has in common with Grey’s Anatomy.Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

We finally review something from the How To Train Your Dragons universe! Dragons: The Nine Realms tries to live up to the franchise’s legacy, but we’re not so sure about the reckless teen protagonist and the 1300 year time jump. We speculate once again about why famous actors choose the children’s projects they do and wonder briefly what Netflix will look like without new contributions to their kids catalog from Dreamworks Animation. In Screen Time in the News, we tackle the recent New York Times Magazine profile of Ryan Kaji of Ryan’s World fame (with commentary from two of our kids).Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

Sometimes we unearth hidden gems, and sometimes we simply must review the latest splashy Disney musical. In this week’s episode, we consider Disney’s Encanto. In Screen Time in the News, we discuss the troubling idea that for animation to be deemed “good,” it has to leave the realm of kids’ entertainment and be made for grown ups.Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

We are joined once again by Julia of the Pop Culture Makes Me Jealous for a super-sized holiday episode reviewing A Christmas Story for the Nintendo generation: 8-Bit Christmas. How does this tale of 11-year-old Jake’s quest for a Nintendo Entertainment System in the 1980s measure up to Ralphie’s pursuit of the Red Ryder BB gun in 1940? Will we be trading in our leg lamps for power gloves? In Screen Time In the News, we chat about Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses and whether we really need more of the boy wizard in our lives.Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com

We tackle real prestige TV for kids in our review of Maya and the Three on Netflix. In Screen Time in the News, we discuss an Axios round- up of the latest trend of big streaming platforms making deals with YouTube kidfluencers and ponder whether it is our duty to once again dip our toes into those turbulent YouTube waters.Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.comConnect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com