So the newfound appreciation for one Backyardigans song in particular that has taken over a corner of TikTok makes me extremely happy and renewed my belief that Gen Z is the best generation. Two favorites were the Motown-themed “News Flash” with a song about corn that I still hear whenever someone mentions the vegetable, and “Catch That Butterfly” which was basically a Rodgers-and-Hammerstein-themed operetta. We looked forward to new episodes about the hijinks of Pablo, Tyrone, Uniqua, Tasha, and Austin, because each episode had a different musical theme, with original songs. For our family, that show was The Backyardigans my now-teenager voraciously watched episodes of the show that ran on Nickelodeon from 2004 to 2013 (we watched the DVDs), and would actually get up and dance when the music started. Anyone who knows what “Baby Shark” is will know exactly the kind of hellscape I’m talking about.īut once in a while, a kids’ show comes into your family’s life and you miss it when your kid ages out of it - like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood or Sesame Street. When you are a parent, you quickly learn that your kids will inevitably get into shows or videos or learn songs that slowly chip away at your sanity because you will hear them over and over and over.