Last week, I discussed Barney-bashing and why it was so prevalent. In a nutshell, people just found Barney cheesy and annoying in his positivity, which made it all the more popular to mock, destroy, and in some cases, cross legal boundaries. But has this behavior extended to other popular pre-k kids shows?
Yes. Yes, they have. They always have.
But, to what extent? Did the folks who played the Teletubbies get cursed out while in costume on a parade float? Did the creators of Caillou get sent death threats? Do the Cocomelon animators need to smoke LOTS of weed to cope with all the bullying? I wanted to look at whether or not the cast and crew of other mega-popular shows for little kids got the same level of hate that Barney got.
**I won’t be counting hate mail/DMs/forum posts directed at a show. Every form of media ever gets hate mail. Also, I’m not going to count special event/birthday entertainers in costume getting physically attacked. While it happens often, I’m focusing on people who worked on the actual shows.**
Sesame Street
Hated because? Despite being on the air for over 50 years, Sesame Street has had a pretty vocal group of haters from the beginning. Mostly, these individuals voiced problems with the “woke” nature of the show and progressive topics covered, like tolerance and acceptance of other races and orientations. Other people have a violent hatred towards Elmo specifically, saying he is an annoying, hyperactive little fucker with an equally annoying merch monolith.
Did the cast/crew receive death threats? As far as I’m aware, no.
Was anyone in the cast/crew harassed for being in the show? Not that I was able to find.
Was anyone in the cast/crew physically attacked? Yes, Elmo got “strangled” on live TV. By Larry David. Who doesn’t regret what he did.
Actually, the Elmo puppeteer’s arm got squeezed in a weird way. He didn’t sustain any injuries, but still, there’s an arm in there, man.
Caillou
Hated because? Caillou hatred could practically be its own media genre. In their attempt to write Caillou as a regular kid, creators Christine L’Heureux and Hélène Desputeaux accidentally did too well. Caillou’s frequent whining and tantrums were already annoying as fuck. But, the fact that Caillou was almost never punished for misbehaving didn’t help matters. This led Caillou anti-fans to create their own episodes dedicated to the bratty 4-year-old being grounded until the heat death of the universe, or meeting some kind of violent end.
Death threats? None that were reported.
Was anyone in the cast/crew harassed for being in the show? Not that I was able to verify.
Was anyone attacked? No, thankfully.
Teletubbies
Hated because? Teletubbies was geared towards VERY small children. Like, ages 1-3. The Teletubbies themselves seemed to be babies, too; toddling around, babbling, and playing with whatever they can get their hands on. The whole show was sweet and colorful…which inevitably led to people hating it for being annoying, schmaltzy, and not actually teaching kids anything. Much like Barney, the Teletubbies were put into games and videos where they were hunted or tortured.
Did the cast/crew receive death threats? Not that I was able to find.
Was anyone in the cast/crew harassed for being in the show? Bullied? Not sure. Sexually harassed? Yes. Laa-Laa’s actress, Nikky Smedley, revealed in an interview that she received letters from a stalker, detailing how much he wanted to fuck her in the Laa-Laa suit. Apparently, that was just a thing guys would send the production company; explicit letters and emails about how “hot” the Teletubbies were.
Was anyone attacked? Not that I could find.
Peppa Pig
Hated because? Older folks hate the show for Peppa’s sassiness rudeness. While sometimes Peppa’s blunt statements can be funny, parents don’t feel the piglet is a good role model. She is bossy to her friends, mean to her little brother for no reason, frequently makes fun of her dad’s weight, and no one bothers to discipline or correct her.
Violent videos about Peppa Pig were popping up so frequently that it made news headlines. Since the videos contained Peppa Pig and her family in the thumbnails, kids would innocently click and watch, unaware that they were about to see Peppa getting stabbed to death or getting her neck chewed off by a zombie.
Did the cast/crew receive death threats? Cardi B once tweeted that Peppa Pig should “count her fuckin days” after Cardi’s daughter jumped in a mud puddle with Ugg boots on, imitating what she saw on the show. But, this doesn’t really count since Cardi wasn’t threatening Peppa’s voice actress. I just thought it was funny.
Was anyone in the cast/crew harassed for being in the show? Not that I could find.
Was anyone attacked? None that I could find.
Dora the Explorer
Hated because? Aside from the repetitive songs, one of the biggest reasons people couldn’t stand Dora was the patronizing tone of the show. While little kids need more guidance to solve visual problems, they aren’t complete idiots. At the bare minimum, they understand patterns. But, the show’s writers seemed to not realize that. Dora, Boots, and friends would talk slowly and repeat themselves ad nauseam, as though they were talking to someone who didn’t understand English or know how patterns work.
Did the cast/crew receive death threats? Not that I could find.
Was anyone in the cast/crew harassed for being in the show? Not that I could find.
Was anyone attacked? Still couldn’t find anything.
PAW Patrol
Hated because? There are accusations of this show being “copaganda,” but that’s a bit of a stretch considering the cop puppy, Chase, doesn’t actually act like a cop. You could literally replace Chase in a plot with any of the other dogs, and nothing would change. Other critics say the show seems to be more focused on selling toys than teaching kids anything. (Like basically every cartoon in the 80s and 90s, but I digress.) The most prevalent reason for PAW Patrol hate is, once more, that people find it annoying, from the theme song to the repetitive plotlines to the leads and their indistinguishably similar personalities.
Did the cast/crew receive death threats? Not that I was able to find.
Was anyone in the cast/crew harassed for being in the show? I don’t think so, at least not for the regular PAW Patrol show.
Was anyone attacked? None that I was able to find.
Cocomelon
Hated because? It’s annoying. More specifically, it’s downright chaotic in its presentation. The videos are a constant barrage of dancing, singing, and giggling with scene changes every 1–2 seconds, which some parents and child psychiatrists feel are deliberately designed to overstimulate kids. But above all else, parents hate the songs. Despite the songs all being about shapes, colors, numbers, or animals, they all seem to have the same few melodies.
Did the cast/crew receive death threats? Not that I could find.
Was anyone in the cast/crew harassed for being in the show? Not that I could find.
Was anyone attacked? None that I could find.
Many shows for preschoolers are passionately disliked and have inspired anti-fan content. But, it seems that no pre-k show has gotten more vocal hatred than Barney did. Even Caillou (who’s the most insufferable, IMO) didn’t experience such a level of unabashed scorn and loathing. It’s likely that there were more incidents of harassment or assaults, but they just weren’t being reported. After all, the whole Laa-Laa stalking thing didn’t come to light until well after the actress’ NDA expired.
While every generation is going to find newer kids’ shows annoying, it seems like millennial and gen-Z parents are more accepting of the shows their kids like, quietly enduring for the sake of their kids without creating secret hate societies.
What is quite clear, though, is that pre-k shows will always make someone angry enough to cause other people harm.
Interesting Times with CaptainHoneydew 
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