by Karl J. Paloucek
The folks at Nickelodeon are once again stepping up their creative edge, introducing new and arguably more hip programming for preschoolers. Just announced this morning, summer 2009 will see the premiere of a new music-based series for the pre-K set. In production right now, The JumpArounds is being billed as “an energetic, vibrant new music series … packed with hip, catchy songs, dynamic choreography and clever storylines.”
At the center of the series are four friends and bandmates who attend music school. Through their musical experiences, preschoolers will acquaint themselves with basic musical concepts like rhythm, melody, tempo and … well, what they’re calling “performance styles.” (We hope this doesn’t essentially boil down to generalized music categorization, but if so, oh well — it is the iTunes generation.)
More than just about music, The JumpArounds aims to help kids solve everyday challenges, teaching them the importance of friendship, working together and respecting differences.
Oh, and in case you’re not sure of the legitimate “street cred” of the series, check out the roughly 6-year-old breakdancer in one of the two preview clips. (Though on a personal note, I’m not sure how important it is for kids’ shows to be “hip” …) Anyway, here are the links, if you care to check out the new “videos” made for the series:
“Go Go A Go Go”:
For PC:
http://www.criticalmention.com/vg/nickelodeon/Jumparounds_GoGoAGoGo.wmv
For Mac:
http://www.criticalmention.com/vg/nickelodeon/Jumparounds_GoGoAGoGo.mov
“Great Day”:
For PC:
http://www.criticalmention.com/vg/nickelodeon/TheJumpArounds.wmv
For Mac:
http://www.criticalmention.com/vg/nickelodeon/TheJumpArounds.mov
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Photo:
Credit: Randee St. Nicholas/Nickelodeon
Hmmmmmm…
Someone commented above requesting more shows like Jack’s Big Music Show (which is great) and Lazy Town. Wow. Lazy Town is disgusting. The puppets are a frightningly strange representation of live people, and “Stephanie” is an unrealistic expectation of what little girls :should” look like. Check out the Lazy Town website. They are talking about making a film based on the show and there is a very sexualized photo of this girl. Her body is most certainly not that of an eleven year old anymore but they dress her in clothes that would fit a toddler! yikes! I guess it will be a great movie for the young dads! Gross! The Jumparounds, or Fresh Beat Band as they are now known are real people with real talent. Lazy Town is a freak show.
I was looking for a date when a Freshbeats DVD might be available and stumbled upon this site. I have a three year old son who LOVES the Freshbeat band. I agree the show, for adults, has terrible acting and dancing. I support the show because of the messages it sends about friendship and working together and I think there is value in the fact that the kids don’t dance and sing perfectly. My son rarely watches TV, but the only station that is allowed on our TV when he is awake is NOGGIN. I am not happy about the transition to NICK JR. because I fear they will change the tone of the shows in the future.
I do feel that Lazy Town has a far worse message with Robbie Rotten than the Freshbeat Band. I also feel that if you are apposed to a show simply change the channel or pop in a dvd. As far as entertaining your children when you are cooking, try setting them up at the table with books, coloring, playdough, or pots and pans to mock what you are doing. I have done this since my son was tiny and he loves to be in the kitchen while I am cooking. This is not a judgement to those of you who are sitting your kids in front of the TV, just a suggestion.
The thing that struck me most when I was reading the comments was how nasty and angry people were about a show. As an elementary school teacher I am sure I could pick the “complainers” kids out of the crowd. Think about what is really important and don’t spend so much time and energy worrying about a show. Spend more time thinking about engaging your kids in meaningful activities and conversations.
The Jump Arounds changed their name to The Fresh Beat Band! I like the Junior Fresh Beats, which are so cute and younger than the Jump Arounds! The Backyardigans are different musical styles more than hip hop and pop so the fresh beats holds hip hop and pop forever! I like the keyboard like Shout plus-minus I like some guitar! Who plays keytar in The Fresh Beat Band? Nobody knows! Smarter than this preschool story, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallow A Fly and some people play keytar in the funkiest show in Nick Jr., Yo Gabba Gabba!. The wonder pets aren’t related to the fresh beats, do you guess what type of music it’s has?
My 3yr old son is not watching tv all day but when he happens to see the Jump Arounds he loves these songs and stops whatever he is doing to dance to the song when it comes on tv. It is very cute to watch. I don’t see the problem with this.
I AGREE WITH THE MAJORITY. I BELIEVE THAT NOGGIN IS SLOWLY TRANSFORMING INTO WHAT DISNEY AND NICK IS, OR HAVE BECOME. THE JUMPAROUNDS, OR WHAT EVER NAME THEY CHOOSE NEXT, DOES NOT FIT INTO THE PRESCHOOL ON TV CATEGORY. I WILL NOT TUNE INTO THE CHANNEL WHEN THEY BEGIN. HOWEVER, I WILL CONTINUE TO PURCHASE WHAT I WANT MY CHILD TO VIEW
with regards to davids comment about dj lance rock resembling david ruffin, i lauhed so hard. i actually thought he resembled leon from the five heartbeats. my sentiments exactly about lazytown, which i loath! why promote a show for toddlers with the title lazy? the characters are downright silly and annoying. as an african american mom of two toddler boys i am not too keen on yo gabba gabba portraying a black man with orange tights, stepping and fetching, grinning and cheesing in 2009. sorry, it is quite offensive. the fresh beat band seems harmless, and i agree that it should be geared towards teens not tots. i love the backyatdigans and jacks big music show.
Ok. First I AM a parent and yes I do understand that you can’t ALWAYS be with your child. I was only directing my comment to the many parents that said the tv was on ALL day! And besides if you don’t like what is on TURN the channel! Or put in a dvd of something that you feel is appropriate. All shows no matter how much they claim to be educational often times don’t teach children. TV is entertainment for kids just as it is for adults. The actual teaching should come from parents and if by some chance your child learns a number or a rhyme from whatever show then count that as a bonus! Don’t rely on television for the education of our children…..that very well could be the problem with today’s society now! Children have no imagination because they are always set in front of a tv or given a video game of some sort. Fry your children’s brains if you so choose with many hours of television a day. I choose to allow a few choice shows and to actually teach my children to use their minds and enjoy playing outside instead!
TO7998 WE AS PARENTS WHICH U OBVIOUSLY ARE NOT OR U WOULD KNOW THIS DONT LET THE TV BABYSIT AND TEACH. THERE ARE TIMES WE CANT ALWAYS BE WITH THEM LIKE WHEN COOKING OR THINGS AND THEY GET TV TIME AND IT SHOULD BE FUN LEARNING TV TIME NOT THAT CRAP WE ARE ALL SO TALKING ABOUT I KNOW IM NOT ALONE ON THIS GET RID OF THE JUMP AROUNDS/FRESHBEAT PRETENDERS
I AGREE WITH THE ONES ABOVE THIS SHOW IS NOT FOR PRESCHOOL KIDS 2 TO 5 YR OLDS. MY SON IS TERRIFIED OF THEM WHEN HE SEES THEM HE CRIES AND COVERS HIS EARS TO ME THAT SAYS ALOT HE JUST RESENTLY GOT TUBES AND LOVES EVERYTHING HE CAN NOW EXPERIENCE HEARING BUT THE JUMP AROUND/FRESH BEAT WHATEVER THEY ARE CALLED .I HATE TO HAVE TO BAN NOGGIN IN MY HOUSE HE LOVES ALL THE OTHER SHOWS AND REALLY LOVES THE LAURIE BERKNER BAND MUSIC.AND YES THESE SMALL CHILDREN NEED TO LEARN TO SHARE,COUNT AND READ NOT JUMP AROUND LIPSINGING IN SKIRTS WITH GUYS OLDER THAN THEM I REALLY HATE THEM CAN U TELL GLA D I CAN LET SOMEONE KNOW AND I HOPE EVERYONE ELSE WILL DO THE SAME AND GET THEM OFF OUR NOGGIN FOR GOOD.PLEZ LISTEN TO THE COMMENTS AND GIVE THE CHILDREN WHAT THEY NEED THEY WERE GONE INT THE 1ST PLACE AS THE JUMPAROUNDS FOR A REASON RIGHT?????
First of all to all you ignorant parents who leave a tv on 24hours a day and who think that the shows are responsible for teaching your children manners and numbers and letters and all the basics: THAT IS YOUR JOB! Not the job of a tv show! How about you spend sometime with your children doing things instead of tuning them out and letting the shows on noggin and nick jr babysit them! And you call yourself parents! LOL! The Fresh Beat Band is cute and entertaining: FOR CHILDREN!
I read all these posts and can’t help but laugh. I personally don’t think shows like high school musical, hannah Montana, and the jonas brothers are appropriate for kids because they’re all those perfect attractive kids and I think it gives our kids bad self images if they aren’t perfect. I saw more barely dressed five and six year olds for Halloween this year claiming to be hannah Montana. I feel like the Disney channel is trying to target younger kids with more mature content. Now it seems like nick has decided to jump on the bandwagon. Shows that come on nick like drake and josh or whatever they’re showing now aren’t that big of a deal because they come on later. But the “fresh beat band” showing on nogin I think is inappropriate. My little boy is very young so he doesn’t have any preferences to that yet (besides to gabba gabba) but I don’t think he should be watching that kind of stuff as a todler.
From a musical standpoint, yes, they’re trying to teach kids melodies and harmonies and rhythm and so on but really, I am a very accomplished musician and my sons dad works for his dad as a sound engineer with his own recording studio and we never watched the fresh beat band. The kind of musical abilities some of you say the show is trying to teach really can’t be taught. Enhanced at an older age, yes, but if you can’t naturally sing harmonies or keep a beat, you can’t be taught to. I understand the bad dancing because they are trying to simplify it for kids but the editing could be better. The girl in blue is obviously not playing the drums and why does the white boy rap and play on the turntables? It’s like nick flipped the stereotype too dramatically. And I agree with an earlier post. He must have been someone importants son because he has no talent. Or he could have been chosen for his image but it’s not likely that my two year old niece is going to have posters of him all over her room and talk about how she’s going to be “mrs shout” or twist or whoever he is. And on noggin that is the audience that is targeted.
Why are the Jump Arounds now called The Fresh Beat Band? My 3yr old and 2yr old love them. They love to sing and dance around. Yeah they are a little cheesy but kids like them.
For those parents that are complaining about the educational value. If you really cared about your kids education you wouldn’t let them watch TV in the first place so get off you soap box!!!!