A show geared more toward girls over the age of seven, “Brandy and Mr. Whiskers” glorifies malls, shopping, and the importance of bailing your friends out of trouble.
An episode I caught the other day depicted Brandy teaching Mr. Whiskers how to shop. Looking for the best deal, she showed him how to haggle and deal, sweet talk the owner into a lower price, or sometimes to wear the shopkeepers down with fast talk and demands. By the end of the day, Mr. Whiskers was a shopping professional. The only trouble is, he was shopping to hide the fact that he was deeply depressed, and his purchases were only solving the problem momentarily. As soon as he stopped, the depression would return, and he ran out of money.
While Brandy is congratulating herself on cheering up her friend, Mr. Whiskers gets himself into trouble. Getting his hands on a credit card, he manages to buy out most of the mall, with tube tops in every color (what does a male rabbit need with a tube top?) and every trinket, gadget and gizmo ever invented. But then his credit is used up, and time comes to make the first payment. He never stopped to think about the terms of his credit card, and with an outrageously high interest rate and payments due immediately, he’s in enough hot water to make bunny stew.
Brandy steps in and takes back his purchases, then talks to their friends the shop owners. In a touching display of friendship, many of the shops close down and give their proceeds to Mr. Whiskers so he can pay his debt.
This show is very funny. The characters throw out one-liners that are just hysterical, but are of the sort that the parents get and the children don’t. Definitely a show for older children, as I mentioned, it’s sort of an animated junior high soap opera, punctuated with jokes and fashion. Educational? Not in the slightest.
You will want to watch this show for yourself and determine if Mr. Whiskers is just a bit too coarse for your children. Mine won’t be watching it quite this young, but as they get older, I’m more than willing to reevaluate.
Tristi’s Score: 0 for Education, 8 for Entertainment, and the Parent Annoyance Factor is 2.
