PBS Kids (2023-present)

PBS Kids
This channel isn't "doink" anymore.
Genre: Edutainment Country: United States Release Date: July 11, 1994 (as PTV) September 6, 1999 (as PBS Kids)

PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The target audience is children between the ages of 2 and 8. PBS Kids brand programming is aired daily on most local PBS stations during a daytime block, typically scheduled in the morning hours, in addition to a separate 24/7 channel (sometimes called PBS Kids Channel or PBS Kids 24/7). Both the block and 24/7 service are broadcast over the air, via cable and satellite providers and on streaming platforms. Select programming is also available internationally. It was great until 2018 and was decent until early 2023.

Why It's Doinked Off Nowadays

1. One of the main bad qualities is the logo change and rebrand, which received backlash from many fans of PBS Kids.
   • On top of that, while it's not all that bad, it looks sorta bland and average at best, despite being made by Lippincott of all companies. It's still a circle with the words "PBS KIDS" on it, but they removed Dash and the thinking bubbles in the logo, and the circle's now blue. But hey, at least they used the font of the original logo from 1999.
   • Compared to the previous brandings, the 2022 rebrand feels very lazy, uninteresting, and just plain simple at best.
2. Another reason is that a lot of their best shows like Thomas & Friends, Bob the Builder, Between the Lions, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, WordGirl, Martha Speaks, Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman, Ready Jet Go!, Maya & Miguel, Dragon Tales, The Electric Company (the 2009 reboot), Clifford the Big Red Dog (the original one from 2000), Clifford's Puppy Days, WordWorld, Dinosaur Train and many others have been either screwed over or unnecessarily cancelled and replaced with these boring, cringeworthy, and lifeless cartoons that feel absolutely nothing like actual PBS Kids shows. Most of their new shows nowadays focus only on protecting the environment, learning about cultures, or learning to be a good person.
3. Even shows that originally focused on one topic, like Cyberchase with math, focused now on protecting the environment, and on Season 10, eating healthy.
4. With the instant lack of variety and removal of some classic shows after 2022, it caused many older viewers to feel that PBS had lost its touch.
5. Shows like Let's Go Luna!, Splash and Bubbles and Ready Jet Go! have either gotten bad finales or have ended on cliffhangers, which are not very good ways to end a show.
6. They don't bother to promote new episodes and movies/specials of their less-popular shows often resulting in their unfair cancelations and/or removals.
7. The "Family Night" block (introduced in April 2017) isn't really as memorable as it was.
8. Just like modern Nickelodeon, the channel nowadays tries so hard to be hip, modern, cool and relevant with the kids and mostly comes off as cringe-worthy, especially during 2023.
9. The network, especially compared to other preschool networks such as Nick Jr., Disney Junior, and other preschool networks/blocks, is abysmal. Disney Junior has Bluey (although they do not own the rights), Mickey Mouse Funhouse, Pupstruction, SuperKitties, Firebuds, Spidey and his Amazing Friends, and Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures. Nick Jr. has Blaze and the Monster Machines, PAW Patrol, The Tiny Chef Show, Bossy Bear, Rubble & Crew and Peppa Pig. In fact, even the Cartoonito block had some memorable shows such as Lucas the Spider, Care Bears: Unlock the Magic, Batwheels, and Mecha Builders. PBS Kids does not have ANY memorable shows currently airing new episodes, making it more bland than ever.
10. In addition, they also aired a lot of bad/mediocre (or at least annoying) shows, such as Barney & Friends, the first two seasons of Caillou, season 9 onwards of Cyberchase, Pinkalicious & Peterrific, Clifford The Big Red Dog (2019), Splash and Bubbles, Donkey Hodie, and The third and (currently) final season of Odd Squad (although the show's returning for a fourth season set in the UK), Super Why's Comic Book Adventures, etc.
11. The PBS Kids block feeds got cut short as they are no longer available on the afternoons and after school hours all because of their focus to streaming and the 24-hour network, marking an end of an era. The change might’ve also been made to compete with the Nick Jr. block.

Redeeming Qualities

1. PBS Kids is still more committed to making new original cartoons than most major for-profit American entertainment companies these days.
2. There are some good/decent shows such as Sesame Street, Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum, Elinor Wonders Why, Hero Elementary, Let's Go Luna, Curious George, Wild Kratts, Rosie's Rules, Work It Out Wombats!, Molly of Denali, the first two seasons of Odd Squad, Nature Cat, Arthur and the first eight seasons of Cyberchase.
3. The channel was way better before 2018 and decent until early 2023.
4. The new logo, while very mediocre, isn't really THAT bad compared to other oversimplified logos at the time.
5. They aired some great movies like the three Nature Cat specials (Ocean Commotion, The Return of Bad Dog Bart, A Nature Carol), Dinosaur Train: Adventure Island, Ready Jet Go!: Space Camp, and Rocket Saves the Day.
6. Thankfully, they've permanently removed Caillou in early 2021 and are currently no longer airing any reruns, mostly due to the rights expiring and heavy controversy.
   • However, he's still available on Prime Video with a PBS Kids subscription for some weird reason...
7. A few ended shows such as Super Why!, SciGirls, Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, WordGirl and Peg + Cat are still airing locally on several stations such as WXEL, WFYI and KLCS, or occasionally on the PBS Kids Channel.

Reception

TBA

Videos

TBA

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