The entertainment for children portion of the entertainment industry is one of its largest parts. Entertainment for children is also one of the most competitive parts of the entertainment industry for entertainers and writers to break into.
Most people think that entertaining kids is a piece of the proverbial cake, but don't be fooled.
Kids are probably the toughest critics on the planet. If it's supposed to be funny but isn't, kids do not laugh politely. A nice round of applause isn't going to happen if the kids don't like what they are seeing or hearing or both.
Then there are all of those parents and educators out there that think that the kids should be learning something while they are being entertained. There are even several names that are used to describe educational entertainment; enter-educate, edutainment or infotainment.
Entertainment for children has changed over the years. Children's entertainment has grown and matured right along with the rest of the entertainment industry. In the early days of television, entertainment for children was mostly left up to local television stations. That's no longer true.
Most major networks dedicate Saturday morning to children's programming, and there are entire networks that are dedicated to nothing BUT children's programming.
In my opinion, children's entertainment and programming for children on television has improved in many ways but it has also gotten worse in other ways. "Dora the Explorer" is teaching the preschool set to speak Spanish — that never crossed Howdy Doody's mind — but children's programming is now totally commercialized. Products that are related to excellent children's programming are shamelessly promoted at the same time.
Some things never change, of course. Slapstick has always been a staple of children's programming. Slapstick makes kids laugh — every single time!
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