Family TV shows that don't suck - Suggestions?

Nick started airing The Legend of Korra back in April. I was thinking of posting about it about month ago but I forgot. This is the sequel to to Avatar: The Last Airbender. The show takes place 80 years after The Last Airbender which let the writer Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko set the story in a steam punk era.

I've been watching the show ever week with the spawns and I'm digging it just as much as they are. So if any of you dads have kids ages 9 - 14, you should sit down and watch the show with kids.

Any other suggestions?

This is a great show with a strong female lead. My 15yo daughter is watching along with my boys.

S.

I really liked Avatar (22 year old male speaking here). It was an excellently done children's show that was very entertaining to watch. I've been looking forward to the sequel but had guarded expectations. It's good to hear that the quality has still held up. I'll probably grab this once the DVDs are out, I really hate watching shows on a week by week basis.

Walking Dead is good wholesome family entertainment. Plus, it teaches your kids important stuff like what to do to your little brother if he gets bit

My boys are enjoying the new My Little Pony. I have to admit some of it is funny as hell.

S.

STar Trek is on Netflix, and Hulu+ has Lost in Space. Those are all good choices, IMO.

I wish more shows were like the I Dream of Jeannie and all the old-school stuff, rather than being so nasty and raunchy crap that seems like every show needs to include these days.

You should watch Fairly OddParents which is pretty great as is Butch Hartman's other show, Danny Phantom. Both are on Netflix.

Probably harder to find but some of the older family channel stuff isn't bad. Lizzie McGuire, while aimed at females, is enjoyable for all genders/age groups. Even Stevens is also pretty great. I volunteer with kids and so I've had to watch some of the more recent family channel stuff and I have to say, either these style of shows aren't as good as I remember or the quality of child actors has dramatically decreased. All the girl from iCarly can do is yell and Selena Gomez's Wizard's of Waverly Place is simply painful to watch.

That’s an easy one for me. My 3 year old can watch just about every kiddie show on Netfilx. But there is only one that I like so much I have even watched it by myself a few times:

Phineas and Ferb. It is funny as heck, has many geeky references, good music… it just pushes all the right buttons for me. My son enjoys it but he prefers several shows over this one. I think he is a bit too young but he gets a kick of just watching me laugh out loud.

Fraggle Rock
The Moomins
The Mysterious Cities of Gold
Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea
Ulysses 31

I haven't seen the last one but it's from the same people that made Spartakus and that cartoon absolutely blew my mind when I was a kid. Trouble will be finding them in English. They were released on DVD in France ages ago, so I don't think English set is coming. You can find it on torrent but the quality isn't great. Then again Cities of Gold and Ulysses 31 got an English release fairly recently so who knows. Fraggles you probably know already. I wasn't a huge fan of the Moomins when I was a kid finding it a bit slow, but lots of people loved them. I guess the easy-going, whimsical fantasy world is the part of the charm. Make no mistake though there are moments that can be terrifying or sad for younger kids.

Recently I watched Czech animated film Kooky (could be bought for peanuts along with a bunch of adventure games on Humble Indie Bundle) and I can recommend it whole-heartedly. The dubbing seemed a bit weird at first and I was close to switching it off, but I persevered and damn did it pay off? Someone posted the link to Mad God stop motion film on Kickstarter. It looks a bit like that but is aimed at kids.

A quick google search shows me that the last air bender is a dirty nasty show

I can't wait for vintage batman to come available. The 90s batman cartoon is really good as well. There is always robotech. What about 80s sitcoms like the Cosby's? I gotta imagine most of the humor holds up, even if the fashions will be horrendous.

Westerns can be your friend. The Magnificent Seven show was excellent, as was Brisco County Junior. Typical of Westerns, there is a fair amount of gunplay and sexual innuendo but it is all very chaste. Brisco in particular is funny, witty, and pretty novel in concept. Heck, all the Sam Raimi shows from that era (Hercules and Xena, to a lesser extent the jack of all trades one) were at least enjoyable.

I have spawn incoming, I'm gonna do my best to program them like I was. None of this BS crap on tv these days, it will be Ateam, misfits of science, manimal, Tales of a Golden Monkey, and knight rider 24/7

What about Invader Zim? It's pretty grim and pessimistic but that is what makes it good and it will help make your kids fun to hang out

Father of 6 year old daughter here.

Ruby Gloom (streaming on netflix) is pretty funny. Well written. I have to say that I really enjoyed watching the My Little Pony series too. Surprised me.

When I daughter was younger. I loved when she watched Kipper. Very sedate in a good way. Seems like Netflix doesn't have as much as it used to. Phineas and Ferb in heavy rotation but thats already been mentioned.

Gravity Falls

Like Phineas & Ferb which was mentioned earlier, this is a smart show that somehow feels out of place on the Disney channel. My wife and I enjoy it as much as our kids do.

jason10mm wrote: I have spawn incoming, I'm gonna do my best to program them like I was. None of this BS crap on tv these days, it will be Ateam, misfits of science, manimal, Tales of a Golden Monkey, and knight rider 24/7

Tales of the Golden Monkey! Holy Fish, did I LOVE that show as a kid. However, I tried to watch it on Netflix not too long ago. Painfully bad...painfully.

Ochobee wrote: Gravity Falls

Like Phineas & Ferb which was mentioned earlier, this is a smart show that somehow feels out of place on the Disney channel. My wife and I enjoy it as much as our kids do.

Yesss, this is an excellent show that I was pimping over in the cartoons thread. It's like an animated X-Files for kids, complete with conspiracy theories and secret codes.

The reason Disney cartoons have gotten better recently is because Cartoon Network pushed away a lot of good talent because of their dumb CN Real idea. Alex Hirsch included - he used to write for CN's Flapjack.

Some of the good ones have already been mentioned: Avatar, Phineas and Ferb, My Little Pony. I'll throw Adventure Time into the mix as well, although some might find it too edgy for kids.

As the father of a six-year-old girl, I am disappointed that a lot of the favorite shows I had when I was a kid are pretty sexist in hindsight. Ducktales, The Real Ghostbusters, TMNT - all shows that follow the formula of: Four guys go have adventures, the token girl stays at home to watch the fort.