More people need to watch the best children’s TV show on the planet

When my first son was 3 years old, he watched Disney’s generally accepted worst movie Airplane: Fire and Rescue about four times a week.

To be clear, this is a conservative assessment. An assessment designed to make me feel better. A rating to make you think I’m less of a horror show parent than I actually am. The real number? I do not know. I do not want to know.

Kids have terrible taste in everything. And if given the chance, they watch the same thing – over and over again – until each frame is imprinted on their hippocampus. I know. I’ve been here. I have suffered.

I am here to save you from this burden. I’m here to tell you about Bluey.

Bluey is an Australian children’s television show about a family of anthropomorphic dogs who walk, talk and act like human beings. It premiered on ABC (the Australian version of the BBC) in 2018 and has since slowly but surely taken over the planet.

Bluey is the best kids tv show I have ever watched and I am obsessed with it.

Available for viewing Disney Plus in the US, Bluey is aimed at preschoolers, but I watch it regularly with both of my kids, now 6 and 9.

I definitely haven’t regularly watched episodes by myself on my lunch break when the kids are at school.

But if I it was regularly watching episodes of Bluey at lunchtime alone when the kids were at school, I’d blame its unique comforting aesthetic. I would tell you about his commitment to quality in all its aspects. I would tell you that the series regularly brings me to tears with its close but brave insights into family life and the lessons of what it’s like to be a parent or just part of a family in the 21st century.

Surface-level explanations of the show inevitably don’t do it justice. Bluey is a show about a family doing everyday family things, but the execution is what counts. An episode about playing on a trampoline with your kids becomes a quiet reflection on how work inevitably encroaches on the joy of parenting. An episode about a baby’s first steps forces parents to face the dangers of competing with other parents. Bluey is so delicately balanced that the lessons rarely feel forced and are enriched with humor that transcends age barriers. Bluey is funny no matter how old you are and never – shh – it’s an adult joke wink-wink, but available, a democratic way that keeps everyone on board.

But some episodes reach a level you really don’t expect. One episode, titled Camping, explores the strange nostalgia of a short-lived friend on vacation. I cried until the end. Any episode where the kids dress up as “grandmas” is hysterical, and I challenge any mom to watch Sleepytime with dry eyes.

Fathers will find a role model in Bandit, perhaps the best father in television history. He’s creative, charming, and makes me challenge my own assumptions about what it means to be an effective father. The bandit is the north star and we all follow him.

After all, Bluey is the rarest of shows. It speaks directly to parents without alienating children. There are lessons to be learned, but it never patronizes or crosses the line. It is perfectly balanced and can be watched endlessly. There’s never been a kids’ show like Bluey, where nearly every episode works at the level of a high-quality Pixar short. Watch it now. You won’t regret it – in real life. Just don’t blame me if your kids start speaking with an Australian accent.