| Childrens' TV: Report Card |
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Childrens' TV: Report Card
> School-Age
> Back at the Barnyard
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Back at the Barnyard
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| NAME: | Back at the Barnyard
| | NETWORK: | Nickelodeon | | GENRE: | Animated sitcom
| | SHOW DESCRIPTION: | Back at the Barnyard revolves around Otis and his barnyard friends. Otis wants to goof around but has to be responsible and protect the inhabitants of the farm including Pip the mouse, Pig, Peck the rooster, Freddy the ferret, Abby and Bessy the cows and Duke the dog.
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Appearance/Body Types | How characters are portrayed in terms of their bodies—weight, hair, breasts, muscles, etc. Is there a broad range of sizes or are all characters featured in similar, stereotypical ways? | |
Interpersonal/Emotional Style | How characters are portrayed in terms of their communication styles and interactions with other characters. Do they display characteristics such as assertiveness, confidence, sensitivity, kindness, adventurousness, etc.? | |
Leadership & Independence | How characters are portrayed as leaders or followers. Do they act independently, initiate conversations and actions, show respect for others, etc.? | |
Activities | How characters are portrayed in terms of their activities and physicality. Are characters portrayed doing only stereotypical activities (girls cheerleading and boys playing sports, for example) or are there a broad range of activities for each? | |
Self Image/Self Worth | How characters are portrayed in terms of valuing themselves. Are characters too focused on, or worried about, their appearance? Are characters overly concerned with attracting potential romantic partners or behaving differently when they're around? | |
Skills & Intelligence | How characters are portrayed in terms of their intelligence and abilities. Do they show aptitude with science, technology or math as well as art, dance or music? | |
TRUECHILD SAYS: Back at the Barnyard is actually quite a funny and engaging show. It is less harmful than some of the other shows in this age group in terms of the body image stereotypes and other narrow portrayals of characters. However, the cast is overly-dominated by male characters and does not offer kids a really positive female character. Bessie and Abby are both pretty smart and feisty but, as is often the case with smart female characters, they come across as shrill and mean. Bessie is actually very funny but only adults will appreciate her brand of humor as the sarcasm comes across as obnoxious to kids.
This show has the potential for lots of improvement if we can see some more females taking the lead and letting Otis take the back seat for a while.
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