Polka Dot Door

I see a number of commentors over the year have felt the need to lambaste this perfectly innocent program. The central themes were about playing fair and making believe, and if it seems to be a simple premise, I'd like to hear where a sophisticated premise was used for a children's show that succeeded. The age group this show was created for was essentially preschool to kindergarten, and managed to coexist with the likes of Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street for decades, so it couldn't have been that gawdawful.

I seem to remember the show was a sweetly naive little half hour of kindergarten teacher types directing 'children' who were really toys how to behave together. This may regarded as insidious socialization, but it was created and ran through the very liberal 70s, so that claim is paranoid anti-government nonsense.

As for this show having no child actors, the toys made perfect surrogates, both because they were portrayed as childlike and because they reinforced the notion of abstraction necessary to allow children to see themselves in the same position. That level of abstraction was a necessary ingredient to instructing children to use their imagination.

As well, shows that primarily feature children often ran afoul of one of two problems with child stars: amateurs and professionals. The amateurs couldn't be relied upon to react properly to the puppets and toys, and the professionals come off so rehearsed and plastic as to be offensively unbelievable.

In the end, it's an argument over which philosophy for child education yields the best results. Personally, I don't think children's shows have been improved upon appreciably since the 70s, when at least diversity and imagination were openly encouraged, and the moral lessons were delivered a little more clearly without the obsequious and nauseating touchy feelie performances modern children's shows tend to use in lieu of actually explaining things to children. The assumption that children cannot or should not be told anything not relevant to playing in the schoolyard is utter nonsense.

With that in mind, I'd like to offer that The Polka Dot Door was actually a wonderful preschool children's show which hasn't been improved on by the likes of The Teletubbies.

The people who dislike the Polkaroo (and/or the show in general) haven't a clue what they are talking about. I watched this show all the time as a child, and my unbelievable memory is even today still capable of pulling up a memory of seeing the Polkaroo on stage when I was only 1 or 2 years old. I was being extremely annoying that day, wanting to be moved CONSTANTLY, either because of restlessness or because the Polkaroo was constantly escaping my limited field of vision. But I digress. Even though I am having trouble finding reruns of it on TV, and I must resort to watching YouTube clips permanently downloaded on my computer, they are enough to drown me in childhood memories and also memories of that silly Polkaroo. I am 18 going on 19 in February 2010, and also I am autistic, but this show was the GREATEST kids' show EVER MADE. LONG LIVE POLKA DOT DOOR AND THE "POLKAROO!"

Dudes, Polkaroo rocks. Who are the losers who gave it a 4? For shame! Polkaroo is a cultural icon for an entire generation of Canadians, some Americans, and even some Irish! Why, my brother once used Polkaroo as his ICQ nickname for crying out loud. Man, I can't believe that The Polkadot Door got canceled. Polkaroo, Goldilocks, Bear... Man, those were the days. The Polkadot door is what made me the man I am today. Without those cherished memories of Polkaroo's innocent, happy, naïve voice happily chanting his name, I think my scarred childhood would have been unbearable. I can honestly say without the least bit of exaggeration that THE POLKAROO SAVED MY LIFE. He is a celebrity... an icon... nay, dare I say, a NATIONAL HERO.

ALL HAIL POLKAROO! LONG LIVE POLKAROO!! In the immortal words of the master himself: "POLKAROO! POLKAROO!"

Regards, David

The show was hosted by two, dreary Ontario civil servants and a series of stuffed animals who neither moved nor spoke -- and yet played the starring roles. Much like the Ontario government.

Polka Dot Door, like other Ontario government shows such as the Math Patrol, Body Works or Sol, had that unmistakably bland 'do-as-we-say, is-good-for-you-no-questions' taint to it. But in a smiling, artless, stir-up-no-trouble-children way. The Canadian way.

The hosts never lasted long in their jobs. This timid little children's show would chew them up at an alarming rate.

Events in each episode were scheduled to the second, like the unionized ministry office TVO is. Our hosts would dutifully read children's stories at an exact time, monitored by a monolithic clock at centre stage. Each day had a different 'theme' and the hosts were forced to march in a small circle, often holding one of the stuffed animals, chanting inspirational songs about the day's theme. Like characters out of a Kafka tale, our civil servants would never leave the pink room or their slavery to the clock and woud babble incoherently about the polka dot door and the world beyond, glimpsed in short filmed sequences where the outside was shown (usually a shoe factory or a farm).

Periodically, everyone would hallucinate an apparition named 'Polkaroo.' Polkaroo would do mischieveous things like flip up Marigold's skirt, take a crap in the bookcase or hide his stash in Dumpty's pants.

Incidentally, I saw Dennis (one of the longer-running hosts) in a production of Godspell playing John the Baptist. He was pretty good.

I remember watching this show every day when I was a kid. My favorite part in every episode was the little fuzzy mouse that lived in the clock. Of course, I forget its name, but it came out whenever the hosts would tell the time on the giant clock. Polkaroo was another of my favorites. I'd get all excited when he'd stop by for a visit, but never could figure out why the male hosts always seemed to miss him. Another of my favorites was the doll named Marigold. I used to ask my mom if she could get me a Marigold doll, but we never did find one. I really hope they bring this series out on DVD someday, so my two children can share in the joy and excitement I experienced as a small child.