Muppet BabiesI've always loved cartoons. Still do in fact. But as a kid growing up in the '80s, there was nothing, absolutely nothing better than grabbing a big ol' bowl of Cap'n Crunch cereal, drowning it in milk and plopping yourself in front of the big color TV bright and early each and every Saturday morning.

Man I must've been glued to that thing from like 7 or 8 in the morning till they stopped around 11 or 11:30 in those days. Smurfs. Gilligan's Planet. Galaxy High. Dragon's Lair. Gummy Bears ("... bouncing here and there and everrrrrywhere..."). He-Man. Super-Friends. Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. The Laff-O-Lympics. The Snorks. Alf. Muppet Babies. Dungeons & Dragons. Shirt Tales. Mr. T. Alvin and the Chipmunks. Man, the list just goes on and on. And while most of them were horrendous, I loved 'em all. And if I didn't, I somehow still managed to sit through them. It was just a nice break from reality to watch animated characters in crazy fantasy settings. And maybe the fact they were on once a week in one big block, just made it easier to digest.

These days I still watch a lot of cartoons, unfortunately, they're aimed at my 2 and 4-year-old's intelligence. Sure there are a ton of cookie cutter type shows right along the lines of the Smurfs and such that just teach very basic lessons while telling ridicuolously absurb and boring stories. But I've noticed a lot of shows that really do tap into a more intelligent/creative bent for kids. Nick Jr. and Noggin both have some great shows that I even find myself getting sucked into at times (...if, uh, my kids are watching. Yeah, that's what I meant.). Shows like Pinky Dinky Doo are just really clever and play up the fact that the main character has a huuuge imagination and loves to come up with crazy fun over-the-top stories.

Then there's the Wonder Pets. One of the creepiest/bizarre shows I ever saw. The animation is a weird combination of photos cut up and animated mixed with traditional animation. But it's the story of three "super" pets that go around to save other animals in the world. There's great music along the way and it has a real Broadway for Kids type of feel to it. Even something like Dora and Diego are interesting because they also teach a ton about rare animals, but also how to use/read a map, follow directions and solve problems. And Dora's got a monkey who wears red boots. You just cannot beat a monkey (literally and figuratively). Shows like that which tell an entertaining story around a good message (or teaching about new things/creatures) seem to be so much more effective then other cookie cutter type cartoons that tell boring, crazy stories and shoehorn in a "morale" at the very end just so they can label themselves as "educational."

I just can't wait till a few years from now my kids are old enough to watch some of the shows I used to watch (what, you don't think I have the DVD box sets for "Dungeons & Dragons" and "He-Man"?) and see if they love 'em, hate 'em or are bored to tears.

While I don't have a smurfy smurf of a coupon (yes, you can punch me now), I do have a rare and tropical coupon for the NickJr Shop website:

15% off online orders over $50 at the Nick.com Shop
Use this link to activate the coupon. If necessary, use promotion code NCK1550.
Valid through: December 31, 2007
Cannot be combined with other coupons. In-stock merchandise only. Not valid on gift cards and gift certificates. Discount does not apply to taxes, shipping and handling charges, gift-wrapping or similar charges.