Go, Diego! Go!

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.

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.

A show that teaches toddlers about animals while being fun is a real gem, and we still use it years after it ended. My only issue with it is the use of "magic", taken from the Dora show. I would much rather see technology as a solution provider instead.

While Dora is around 4 years old, she covers the basics of find. Now, as children graduate from the memorizing and finding stage, they can go on to learn all about different animals. My daughter is still dedicated to Dora, but now talks all about the animals she sees on Go, Diego, Go! A step up in learning, definitely worth watching with your child. The songs are more catchy, almost more along the lines of noticeable dance music such as Click The Camera's theme song and Rescue Pack, sometimes I have to resist the urge to dance with my child. While some may dub Go, Diego, Go as a boy-oriented show, one can not forget Diego's sister, Alicia, who also helps out at the animal sanctuary, making the show not only for boys - but also in a sense for siblings.

"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.