s/o Family-friendly television shows?

[MelanieM]

What are your favourite family-friendly television programs? What shows do you watch that you feel has a positive message for kids, or at least, isn't instilling a negative message? What do you enjoy watching together as a family -- fun for kids and parents?

 

Some shows that we all enjoy:

 

Backyardigans

Phineas and Ferb

WordGirl

Sid the Science Kid

George Shrinks

Fetch with Ruff Ruffman

Imagination Movers

Magic School Bus

Wipeout

Mythbusters

Iron Chef

Restaurant Makeover

 

Any other recommendations?

Edited July 14, 2010 by MelanieM

[Lizzie in Ma]

A lot of this isn't even on, we get it off Netflix on demand

Primeval

BBC Robin Hood

Sanctuary

Leverage

Iron Chef

Angel (skipping certain storylines and seasons) great fodder for discussion here

Merlin

Stargate SG1 (discovered our first Ancients rotation, lots of mythology fun)

Stargate Atlantis

(the new one is awful and not family friendly at all)

American Idol

America's Funniest Videos

Extreme Makeover, The Home Edition

Deadliest Catch

Mythbusters

Man Vs. Wild

[gingersmom]

My children are addicted to the Food Network. Any cooking show....Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Diners Drive Ins and Dives, Food Network Challenges, Next Food Network Star.

 

My daughter (13) also loves Top Chef.

 

Our next favorite shows are anything to do with house hunting and real estate. House Hunters is a hands down favorite in my house.

[LibraryLover]

I don't know TV shows very well, (don't have cable) but we like PBS specials such as Nova, Gates' Searching For Lincoln, Miss Marple, Cooking With Ming. My 16 yr old is a big fan of Lydia's Kitchen. We watch various history programs and documentaries through Netflix, and we get Mythbusters etc from the library. I did discover The Office about a year ago and have caught up via library and online. I find Modern Family fun when I remember to catch up. "Why is our baby dressed like the hamburgler?" I also enjoy the little boy from Columbia, and the little boy who is a bit of a nerd. I used to enjoy Malcolm in The Middle in reruns.

 

My kids like movies, and their Netflix list que is absolutey fine with me. I don't see anything objectionable, and the older kids are very protective of their little sister; her fears, her sensibilities, so they help guide her as well. I had never heard of the Zak /Cody show people were talking about in the other thread, although I asked my kids and they had, but said they don't watch it or like it. I asked where they had seen it and they said, "In hotels, on vacation". So, on my watch. ;)

Edited July 14, 2010 by LibraryLover

[LauraGB]

In addition to many already mentioned, The Cosby show is another favorite here. We watch a lot MythBusters and other Discovery Channel shows (via Netflix) around here, too, but there is a fair bit benign swearing (but my kids are old enough, and they've heard all those words from Yours Truly at one time or another). Oh, and Alton Brown.

[Britomart]

Our kids are younger, so there aren't a lot we like to watch together, but the few I can think of are:

 

-Dirty Jobs <-- always fun, and the message you take away is that there lots of interesting things to do and see out there in the wide world. Oh, and that work is good!

-Wipeout <--- not particularly edifying, but certainly funny!

 

There are also a couple of movies we all enjoy, like George of the Jungle (embrace the cheesiness!) and Enchanted.

[Joker]

Through Netflix my girls have been loving The Cosby Show, Little House on the Prairie, Punky Brewster and Leave it to Beaver. They're also quite sad that they only have one more BBC Robin Hood episode left.

[MyLittleWonders]

As a family we love:

Phineas & Ferb

Iron Chef (much prefer Japan over American)

House Hunters

Cosby Show

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (ds#1 loves this show - he saw an episode where a baseball team came to town and it had him hooked)

Dirty Jobs

Man vs. Wild (is this the one with Bear Grills - or however his name is spelled? we like his show)

I Love Lucy (ds#1 really only likes the ones with a lot of physical comedy, but if I'm watching, they will usually all sit and watch with me)

 

We also tend to like most all nature shows from PBS and cable, plus typically whatever is on the Science channel.

[MelanieM]

Some great suggestions here, thanks!!

 

We will have to check out BBC Robin Hood. I think my kids would love that, and it will tie into our history for this upcoming year.

 

I hadn't even thought of the old shows like I Love Lucy and The Cosby Show. Both are old favourites of mine; I'll have to check my library for DVDs.

 

My daughter in particular loves anything slapstick, so Wipeout is a favourite around here. It's our new Tuesday evening viewing activity... we all sit around shouting "OH! OUCH!" for an hour. Hee hee.

 

I really wish our cable company allowed you to pick individual channels outside of a basic package. I'd ditch most everything network and only keep the speciality channels like Food Network, HGTV, Discover, National Geographic, etc.

[Belacqua]

We like The Amazing Race. It usually focuses on the travel and the games rather than on drama (though there have been a few This Is How Not to Treat Your Partner moments).

 

When the kid was younger, we even did a geography unit in the form of a pretend Amazing Race; I gave written instructions with clues about where to "travel" and he had to choose between two tasks that represented that region, such as cooking a Greek recipe vs. demonstrating Pythagoras's Theorem using square tiles. I'm pretty sure I learned as much geography as he did.

[bairnmama]

We like most of those mentioned, too. Here are some others:

 

Andy Griffith

Jane & the Dragon

Dog Whisperer

Upside Down Show (I don't know if this is still on Noggin since we haven't had cable is over a year, but it was GREAT!)

Super Friends

MacGyver

[kym]

We rent from Netflix and also watch the instant views and we're loving some of the old series shows. We just finished "Flipper" and now we're making our way through the first season of "Gilligan's Island".

[Farrar]

The BBC just makes more whole family friendly shows. Robin Hood, Merlin and Doctor Who.

 

We've found there are some reality shows that work for the whole family.

 

Also, Phineus and Ferb. The grown-ups like it as much as the kids. But if I have to watch another episode of Ben 10 or Cyberchase... well, I try to just leave the room.

[NanceXToo]

My 9 y/o and I like to watch stuff like "Life," "Planet Earth," "Man Vs. Wild," "America, The Story of Us," "How The Earth Was Made," and things of that nature together.

 

Of course, she also likes stuff like iCarly and Hannah Montanna and such things that I have zero interest in watching.

 

My son is only four so I try to keep him to preschool friendly shows for the most part, though he's welcome to watch the nature type shows with us, too, and sometimes he ends up with things like "Sponge Bob" or "Phineas and Ferb" just because his older siblings are watching it.