Marshall, Chase, Rubble, Rocky, Zuma, Sky…..Marshall, Chase, Rubble, Rocky, Zuma, Sky….After watching hundreds of episodes of Paw Patrol, I sometimes find myself saying those names in my sleep. I’ve known about PAW Patrol since it started 8 years ago from nieces and a nephew, but I’ll admit I wasn’t really paying attention when they’d watch so I really didn’t know much about the show. Fast forward to having a toddler, and I know PAW Patrol better than I know some NFL teams which is embarrassing to even admit.
The question though, of whether it’s the BEST show on Nick Jr, is an interesting one. There are a lot of great shows for kids (and even parents to watch), but can PAW Patrol can be considered the best? Let’s take a look at some important criteria to see if it can win the coveted Best on Nick Jr. award….that I just made up.
If you’re a parent who hasn’t heard of PAW Patrol for some reason, it’s important to know what you’re getting into before you get sucked into Adventure Bay like the rest of us. You may not think your child will like the show, but 99% of children are fans of it (not an actual statistic but probably pretty close).
So, let’s focus in on some important aspects when reviewing this show from a parent’s perspective.
- Plot
The plot of this show is questionable at best. Mayor Goodway is the Mayor of Adventure Bay. I’m not sure how long her Mayoral term lasts for, but she’s been the mayor for the entire length of the show, so I guess she’s more of a benevolent dictator since there’s never been an election or anyone even campaigning against her.
Ryder has a group of dogs who basically run the services necessary for a functional town. Chase is the police pup with no other police officers ever seen on the show. Marshall is the fire pup, again with no other firefighters in town. Rubble is the construction pup, Rocky handles the waste management, Zuma takes care of the water utility service, and Sky handles the flying vehicles. Taxes in Adventure Bay should be low since tax dollars that would usually pay for these services aren’t necessary since it’s being handled by dogs. Also note, in all the million episodes I’ve watched I’ve never seen Ryder’s family, or seen him go to school so I’m not sure what his deal is.
Things usually start at light and happy in Adventure Bay with Ryder and his pups hanging out doing the usual stuff that a preteen and his pack of dogs would do. Sometimes they’ll hang out with Mayor Goodway or the other fund characters of the show, the Baker guy Mr. Porter or Captain Turbot.
Usually, the trouble starts when Mayor Humdinger comes around. Mayor Humdinger is the Mayor of the neighboring town Foggy Bottom. Why he’s always in Adventure Bay causing problems is a different question. Just imagine if the Mayor in your town was always in the neighboring town getting into shenanigans. It doesn’t seem like someone who would last too long as Mayor right? Well, like Mayor Goodway, Mayor Humdinger seems to be the supreme leader of Foggy Bottom. So, Mayor Humdinger will usually wind-up causing problems over in Adventure Bay and then instead of calling the police, the townspeople will call Ryder to have the PAW Patrol save them. Which I guess makes sense because if the characters called the police, the show would be called COPS and would be cancelled.
Sometimes, Mayor Humdinger himself will get into trouble, and the Paw Patrol will be the bigger animals and help save him too.
Then there are the random episodes where they are superheroes and have superpowers for some reason which I still don’t really understand. There are also episodes where they are hanging out with a British Captain guy and his princess dog. Not worth getting into because those episodes are kind of lame. I like when they stick with the bread and butter, Adventure Bay and Foggy Pottom.
- Will Your Children Learn Anything?
This is one of those questions that can be debated with as much intensity as how the world was started. Can your child learn something? In short yes. But if you want to know what they’re learning then the answer gets a little more difficult.
PAW Patrol can be a good introduction to how children learn about police and firefighters. Police cars and fire trucks can be scary for children but it’s important for them to learn about them and cute puppies like Chase and Marshall can help make those things less scary rather than putting on NYPD Blue or Chicago Fire and having your child learn the hard way. Besides learning about stuff like that, the rest of the learning is a little eh.
Basically, Mayor Humdinger goes around acting like a grown baby in a purple suit whining the whole episode about how he isn’t getting his way. Now Mayor Humdinger is one of my favorite characters on Nick Jr. but he’s not really teaching anything positive. And Mayor Goodway is nice and all, but she walks around with a chicken in her purse as a pet. Again, not something you want your child to aspire to have. No one wants to be living next to the person with a chicken coup in their backyard.
Does Nick Jr. try and drill into your head that your kids will learn teamwork? Yes, but you can say that about every show. You can help your child learn about what the pups are doing if they ask about the different vehicles, they’re driving but other than that, I’m not sure how many children have graduated from MIT and credited watching PAW Patrol as their inspiration.
- The Bottom Line
Is PAW Patrol the best show on Nick Jr? After deeply analyzing the evidence above, it’s great, but not the best. While it’s not the most educational show in the world, it is entertaining for children and there isn’t really violence or bad language and the pups are good characters for them to connect to. Although my son finds Mayor Humdinger entertaining.
Don’t get me wrong, after watching a few episodes, you can basically write the script for the show because it’s basically the same thing every time but hey, that’s what the audience wants. The music is kind of catchy which helps, and it’s entertaining enough to not make you want to rip your eyes out.
So yes, PAW Patrol should be in your rotation of shows, but beware, you’ll be spending plenty of $$$ on the toys that go with it. Have a nice day.
The Workin' Parent 