Show Me Show Me

Show Me Show Me is a television show on CBeebies presented by Chris Jarvis (Step Inside) and Pui Fan Lee (Teletubbies). Aimed at pre-school children the shows teach and show children and read stories about their toys. It began in 2009.

Characters

The show features five toys: Mo Mo, Tom, Stuffy, Miss Mouse, and Teddington, each of which appear in their own song as well as in a story book adventure.

Stuffy – A felt cube with orange hair and a pocket at the back

Mo Mo Ἃ – A girl robot with poseable head and arms

Miss Mouse – A knitted mouse with a red dotted head band

Tom – A boy rag doll with brown hair

Teddington - A teddy bear with a green waistcoat and black bow-tie

Some episodes have an animated section featuring a cartoon called Uki about an eponymous little yellow character who conveys emotions through laughter and smiles.^[1]

Other episodes feature Penelope the inquisitive blue koala as the animated section.^[2]

Format

The show takes place on the top floor of a tower and each episode begins by climbing the ten-storey tower block lift where a child's voice counts from one to ten. On reaching ten we enter Chris and Pui's play room where a magical world of fun and games is explored.^[3]

Each show centres on two items that form the title of the episode (for example "Granddads and Glasses"), each of which is introduced by a child requesting "Show me show me granddads". Chris and Pui then explore the items via videos, songs and activities, as well as a piece in which children talk about their experiences with that item.

Shows often feature one of the characters' songs, or a story read by one of the presenters about the exploits of the toys.

Most episodes contain a sequence of a shop. If Chris runs it, Pui comes as different nursery rhyme characters such as the Grand Old Duke of York, Little Bo Peep, Incy Wincy Spider, Little Miss Muffet, Old MacDonald, Granny Humpty and Twinkle the star. If Pui runs it, Chris enters as one of Humpty Dumpty, the Hey Diddle cow, Jack from "Jack and Jill", Pat the Baker, or Wee Willie Winkie.

The format of the show is similar to that of Play School – the BBC programme from the '60s and '80s.

Episodes

Series one had 40 episodes beginning with "Faces and Flowers" on 6 July 2009.^[4] Series two again had 40 episodes beginning with "Flying and Monkeys" on 6 September 2010.^[5] Series three had 25 episodes and began with "Surprises and Peacocks" on 6 June 2011.^[6]

Episodes from all three series have been repeated frequently, and have also been shown on both BBC One and BBC Two.

Reception

The show has been generally well received with it receiving 3 to 4 stars from reviewers on the CBeebies website.

Controversy

On 7 September 2016, cast member Chris Jarvis was alleged to have used profanity during a song about kites, sparking outrage among parents and resulting in the CBeebies Facebook page releasing a statement saying "it’s clear that Chris says the word kite".^[7][8]

Despite the episode being aired numerous times before (2013), the woman in question stated in regards to the interview with her by The Sun: "It's made me sound a bit prudy square! And some people commenting are misunderstanding my feelings, I'm not mad, I think it's bloody hilarious!!! But the reporter asked me questions like 'how would you feel if your child repeated it' and I said well yea it would be horrendous! Lol I can't exactly say it would be awesome"

References

External links

• Show Me Show Me – BBC