Let’s talk Daniel Tiger.
If you’re not familiar with the eponymous feline, then feel free to skip this one because I have a lot of questions.
If I could teach a college course on Daniel Tiger, I would. I consider myself and Husband to be experts in this field and I will arm wrestle anyone who says otherwise. I know that Mom Tiger is voiced by Heather Bambrick, who is a fine singer and who also voices Koki on Wild Kratts. I have more to say about her accent, but this is not the time.

There have been many Daniel Tigers, and the present one is the main voice on PJ Masks. Jake Beale is the original Daniel Tiger and I think he aged out of the role. There have been at least 3 since Jake retired. Ain’t puberty rough as a cob?
How do I know all this? Because my child awakens at 4:30am, chipper as a parakeet and I have seen each Daniel Tiger episode 143 TIMES!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve figured out that I can actually go back to sleep for a bit before I am hit with a rolling zebra or by a toy lawnmower, but before that, I would watch the show and simultaneously IMDB the cast. I was longing for new episodes because the old ones were thread-bare. Those were dark days.

Let’s get to the nitty gritty because I am sick and have just taken some cough meds and I have to go to bed. Boychild LOVES Daniel Tiger, and I do too. It’s got great lessons and sweet characters and they just do an exemplary job with the whole show. But! I have questions:
1. Why doesn’t Daniel Tiger and his father wear pants? His mother wears pants. Baby Margaret wears a dress. Is this a gender construct? It’s weird, this not wearing pants thing. I mean, most male mammals have external genitalia, so shouldn’t THEY be the ones wearing pants? The Tiger boys gonna Pooh-Bear it for the rest of their lives? Okay, but it doesn’t make sense.

2. Trolley takes everyone in the neighborhood wherever they want to go. That’s fine and everything, but what if two people need to go to different places at the same time? What if O the Owl needs to have his appendix out, but Trolley is out taking Baker Aker to Teacher Harriet’s house? What then? Also, in one of the specials, Trolley takes Daniel and his family out of the land of make-believe to see Grandpere. Did everyone in the neighborhood just have to freakin’ walk?

3. There are not many people in the neighborhood and there are no extras in this show. No non-character people populate the land of make-believe. Where is everyone? Poor Prince Tuesday has to take every job available. He’s a waiter, a baby-sitter, a stock-boy a baseball-player, etc. Also, where is the high-school and where are the other high-schoolers??!!?

4. The Tiger family eats a forest-load of fruit and veggies. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen them eat meat. I wish they’d eat a deer or a peasant. Or an errant British colonizer.

*5. If you imagine in the land of make-believe, wouldn’t you just end up in reality?

6. The land of make-believe is a monarchy. I find it hard to believe that Daniel Tiger could say “no” to Prince Wednesday without being whipped or imprisoned.

7. Is Trolley their God? Trolley is omniscient. It knows where people want to go and can maybe read their minds?  The Tiger family has replicas of Trolley and pajamas with Trolley on them, just like one would with an idol of some sort. So, is Trolley their God?

8. The curtains in the Tiger household have a tiger print. This is like humans having human skin curtains. This is weird.

*9. If everyone has a Trolley stop at their house, then why do they need signs with a picture of that person’s house? Wouldn’t you be able to see the house and know that it’s their house? Do you need a picture of the house outside the house?

*these questions were contributed by my fellow morning compatriot, Husband.

I’m sure we will have many more questions about this wonderful show. If you have answers,  I would love to hear from you!