NEW YORK – Leading Nickelodeon’s fall lineup is a new kids show, “That’s Problematic!” The show presents and addresses a myriad of issues that were accepted uncritically by previous generations through animated segments, puppets, and musical guests, with the whole show lead by two hosts: innocent tween, Jenny Derr, and puppet bird, Sizz Hett.
Show creator L.B. Mason says, “Kids often parrot behaviour from their parents, peers or media without much thought about the origins of those behaviours. This show aims to discuss the problems with many common and everyday kid activities, like playing ‘Cowboys & Indians’ or turning a stick into a gun without a background check.”
The show’s antagonist, Kopp D. Fundy, a cantankerous puppet police dog who always wants to arrest Jenny and Sizz, acts as the comic foil. Kopp’s boss, Mr. Gains, is a condo developer who appears in many episodes and introduces problematic ideas children may have learned in school that very day. Kopp’s catchphrase is “I didn’t mean it that way!”
“I think it’s great to address these issues in a way that’s familiar to kids my age,” says Kendra Haworth who plays Jenny Derr. “We talk about body issues, bullying and telling jokes featuring bad ethnic accents.”
Mason says one of her favourite parts of the show is the celebrity guests who have agreed to appear on the show and play characters who get doused in blue slime when they say the Problematic Word of the Day.
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