The Backyardigans: Children's Television on Nick Jr

The Backyardigans is a half hour show that can be seen on Nickelodeon during their Nick Jr. schedule. The show features five animated characters, a hippo names Tasha, a penguin named Pablo, a moose named Tyrone, and two other unidentified animals named Austin and Uniqua. Although there is speculation as to what the characters may be, nobody from the show will specify. Their point being, the characters are diverse just like in the real world and it does not matter what they are, but who they are.

The children appear to live in separate houses where the backyard is communal and very large. It is here that they go on many different adventures. Their adventures have included traveling to the heart of the jungle, racing around the world, surfing, being ghosts, and too many more to name. 

The premise, of course, is the use of imagination. The theme song has a line, which states, "We've got the whole wide world in our yard to explore." The show does not show them using their imaginations to create such things, like we may expect to see them in a cardboard box pretending it is a racecar. They are actually transported to the different settings. At the start of each show, they discuss where they will be going and then name off different aspects of the location and they magically sprout up in the backyard.

Each show is filled with music, and each episode has it's own musical theme. One day they might set their adventure to jazz music and the next to polka, or hip-hop. This helps to teach children the appreciation of music. It also makes the show much more interesting.