Go, Diego! Go!

In my Dora review, I defended Dora and said how it's supposed to be slow so the young toddler can pick up what it is, I am not defending something like count to 8 going on for 6 minutes of screen time but I can defend it for the most part. This show on the other hand, is exactly like Dora, but the messages in my opinion, are not nearly as good. They say 'You should look after animals and be kind to all' which I completely agree with, BUT, the thing is there are dangerous animals like a Grizzly Bear and a Jaguar that can RIP you up to pieces but this show portray them as friendly and helpful.

I know the message is well meaning and I do agree with the concept with it. But it's not something you should watch. Thankfully, Diego is more competent in the actual Dora show.

I hate to tear down something that tries to be positive, but this show has some serious problems. First of all, everyone has already gone over how unoriginal the show is, how it's just Dora for boys. That is no big deal, though. My issue with this program is the message it sends kids:

Baby wild animals are friendly and adorable and they NEED YOUR HELP.

We live in Alaska, where coming across bears is a very real possibility. All I can picture is Diego finding a baby bear:

DIEGO: Oh, look, a baby bear! He needs our help! BABY JAGUAR: Rowr! DIEGO: Look, here comes Mama Bear. She wants to give us a thank-you hug! You're welcome, Mama BeaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

Teach kids respect for nature and love of animals, that's great. But they need to learn that wild animals are wild and should be left alone. After one episode, we never watched this show again and never will.

Same old, same old. Dora with a boy instead of a girl. Good show because kids learn about animals, but same plot as the Dora show. Just trying to capitalize on the Dora fame. Instead of Map, there's Click the camera who takes a pic and tells you where the animal is. Instead of backpack, there's rescue-pack, which can transform into things to help Diego out. Instead of Boots, there's Baby jaguar or his sister Alicia. It's not original. There are a lot of similarities between Dora the Explorer, but of course that's where he came from, Dora. The show is good because it teaches you a lot about animals, has catchy songs, and is entertaining, but don't expect more than what Dora is because it's just like Dora with a boy for the lead character. My daughter and I like it, but you can see the resemblance with Dora when you watch it.

My 3 year old daughter never really gravitated to Dora, but they showed a Dora episode introducing Diego and she was hooked. She has learned a lot about other animals than the normal ones they teach in pre-school. She has learned about animals that my wife and I didn't even know existed. Because it is only on 2-3 times during the day, it can be on at the wrong times. Thank god for Tivo. She will watch the same one 2-3 times in a row before I have to convince her to watch another one. The secret is to record from Tivo to a DVD with a recordable DVD player. Saves a lot of money from buying the individual DVDs at $15-20 each. We all know that kids this age cycle through shows about every 2-3 months (except Clifford). That one has stood the test of time.

"Go, Diego, Go!" was obviously intended to be a show that was better-suited for boys than "Dora the Explorer." My 2-year old son tolerated Dora for about a three-week stint, then abandoned her. (Thank God. That show is insufferable.) But he is a devoted Diego fan, despite the fact that they've only had about eight different episodes to spread out over their first four weeks. He doesn't care.

Unlike Dora, who just stares into space for five minutes while you look for Strawberry Mountain like she's brain-damaged, Diego does smart, intricate things like identify animals by their individual cries and their paw prints. The other good thing is that, by focusing on South American animals, it teaches kids that there's more to nature than just cows, pigs, and chickens. It's a wonderful start to getting kids to realize that there's a bigger world out there.

My final thought? It's one of the few shows on Nick that I can actually sit through, so that's pretty good.