Rhetoric in Contemporary Culture

HU1440: Week 6 CALLING BLUE: AND ON THAT FARM HE HAD A

CELLPHONE

Page 1

CALLING BLUE: AND ON THAT FARM HE HAD A CELLPHONE*

Virginia Heffernan

The author writes television reviews for newspapers. This one appeared in the New York Times. The

subject is the first episode of a new show entitled Blue’s Room, a spin-off of the popular children’s series

Blue’s Clues that features some of the same puppets and characters.

1. If any minority lifestyle is overrepresented in the early education of children in the United States,

it’s farm life.

2. Long since agribusiness made working family farms scarcer than hen’s teeth, little Americans still

sing and learn far too much about chickens, eggs, sheep, wool, dells, troughs, pigs and goats.

Not exactly news they can use. Better that kids of today be taught about ring tones, A.T.M.’s

cubicles, Best Buys and cup holders.

3. But then look at “Blue’s Room,” the first episode of the big new spinoff of the blockbuster “Blue’s

Clues,” fresh out on Nick Jr. There are the puppets in overalls: Blue, and her little brother

Sprinkles. And here are their tasks: shucking corn, gathering eggs, milking a cow.

4. That’s right: milking a cow. A full-dress demo has the puppets showing the audience how to

squeeze the udders to fill a tin pail. This archaism is meant to be part of a progressive, cutting-

edge educational television series. It’s shocking.

5. “Blue’s Room” is styled by the channel as “the ultimate play date” and a chance for viewers to

enter Blue’s world: a dreamy playroom with everything fun in it, including an oafish guy named

Joe (Donovan Patton, a stage actor, who also appears on “Blue’s Clues”). It must be said that

Joe’s a little bit creepy, in the way of grown men who superintend children’s shows. This effect is

not lessened by his Old McDonald uniform. On the first episode he’s mostly absent and the

puppets are left to do tasks he assigns them. When he comes home, they all celebrate their

obsolete achievements while Joe pretends to play the banjo.

6. The farm theme, blessedly, is around for only episode one. After that the puppets get all fancy

with themes that include music, art and transportation. But the ambition is not restricted to the

content of the show. Nick Jr. is also going all out to saturate children’s media with “ Blue’s Room”

HU1440: Week 6 CALLING BLUE: AND ON THAT FARM HE HAD A

CELLPHONE

Page 2

as it plans for the “ spinoff series”— in the words of the press release—“to roll out on multiple

platforms including wireless carriers, video on demand, Nick Jr. video and DVD release.”

7. Brave new world. And we’re still teaching our children about milking cows?