Categories
Product Reviews

Why ‘Shimmer and Shine’ just kind of sucks now

shimmer and shine zeta

A while back, we wrote a review of a Nick Jr. cartoon called Shimmer and Shine. The article was titled “Why ‘Shimmer and Shine’ is not the worst kids TV show ever” – and we meant every single word of it.

But my oh my, how things have changed.

While every episode of Season 1 featured the easy-to-get-behind message that you shouldn’t be afraid to make mistakes, Season 2 is a whole different story…

The show is still about a lucky/ridiculously spoiled little girl who somehow gets to cash in three wishes per day from a pair of adorable genies. But instead of being endearingly bumbling, Amelia-Bedelia-like characters who screw up every request, the genies now grant wishes with ease. Instead of overcoming adversity posed by everyday activities like making cupcakes, they now go on epic adventures in a magical genie land where they are constantly being thwarted by a meddling evil sorceress. In other words, Shimmer and Shine has become indistinguishable from any other “good guy vs. bad guy” structured show.

Besides the fact that Season 2 is worse than Season 1 in general, we have two major issues with the show’s new format:

1. The positive message is gone

Throughout Season 1, the genies could never get a wish right. But instead of getting bummed about mistakes, they celebrated them as a chance to try again. They even sang an annoyingly catchy song about it. Every. Single. Episode. And even though listening to the same song over and over and over felt repetitive to us, we thought it was great that the show was encouraging kids to persevere when they encountered difficulties of their own.

Plus, research shows that kids benefit from repetition. One study examined children’s responses to watching the same show episode aired multiple days in a row. Not only did the kids not get sick of viewing the same thing over and over, but their ability to understand the show’s content actually improved with repeated exposure.

But now, no more mistakes, no more lessons, and no more “Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh yeah, oopsie, save the day.”

2. The boys are gone too

A big reason we started watching Shimmer and Shine in the first place is that our son loved it just as much as his big sister. He liked all the characters, but his favorite was Leah’s best friend, Zak – a laid-back, fun-loving little boy who was a major character in every episode.

Our son was such a big fan that when his birthday rolled around we wanted to buy him a present featuring his favorite character. But no such luck. Although there’s lots of Shimmer and Shine paraphernalia available, absolutely none of it features any of the boy characters.

So we guess it should be no surprise that they’ve been slowly phasing the boys out in Season 2. Although Zak now has his own boy genie, the two rarely make an appearance.

Because of these aforementioned unfortunate facts, we hereby retract our previous positive review of this show.

Shimmer and Shine may, in fact, be the worst kids TV show ever!

8 replies on “Why ‘Shimmer and Shine’ just kind of sucks now”

ItWhat is my favorite but not anymore you’re right it kind of sucks now but I love it so much but now the snow season five I just miss season one and season two and others but not season four and season three and upcoming season five is canceled because of that and now someone trying to but I still love them

ItWhat is my favorite but not anymore you’re right it kind of sucks now but I love it so much but now the snow season five I just miss season one and season

I loved shimmer and shine when it was 2D. Zeta is kind of cheesy in my opinion and even that annoying mistake song was enough
To keep me happy. I got a mixture of sad and angry when that old
Version of shimmer and shine was gone. Instead of good guy vs bad guy.

Oh no! The television is not “teaching” my children for me.. The horror! Grow up people.
The show is a simply feel good series. I see complaints that the “fixing mistakes” aspect has changed. This is true but it has not disappeared but simply changed forms. Characters still must solve issues, it is okay if those problems are not self imposed.
The “villain” complaint is ridiculous. If you know anything about writing then it becomes clear that there is a cycle that involves an antagonist. Zeta and Nazboo must serve as villains but they are soft villains and provide a light humor to the series. The girls still maintain a friendship and teach forgiveness. Regardless not that much thought should be put into a fictional cartoon. Yes Zach is not very intelligent and does disappear from the series but later returns with redeeming qualities. Teach your children in real life, stop with the reliance. If your child recieves adequate interaction and educational opportunities in real life them a simple, colorful & fun show is not problematic. Television is not your baby sitting educator. This show is a story not a lecture. Throw away all fantasy literature etc from your home if you ever read since we have issues with imagination. I appreciate the lack of political involvement in this series. Other popular television series are far more damaging. Bluey features disrespectful children with ineffective parenting. The father much like in Shark dog has a female dominated scene with “stupid” male characters. Said shows have inappropriate role reversals and are offensive. Worry about your children being brainwashed and unable to think critically then hyperfixating on a fictional television series aimed only at entertaining.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *