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| The Berenstain Bears and Too Much TV | |
| Season 1, Episode 5a | |
| Series: The Berenstain Bears (2002) | |
 | |
| Air date | October 30, 2002 (Treehouse TV) January 20, 2003 (PBS) |
| Written by | Laura Kosterski |
| Directed by | Scott Glynn & Gary Hurst |
| Preceded by The Berenstain Bears and the Sitter |
Followed by The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat |
“When the TV is on all day without rest, Mama knows it's too much and Mama knows best.”
—Mama Bear
The Berenstain Bears and Too Much TV is the first segment of the fifth episode in season 1 of The Berenstain Bears. It first aired on Treehouse TV on October 30, 2002, and later on PBS on January 20, 2003. It is based on the book of the same name.
Summary[]
Mama takes note of how Brother and Sister had been spending their week watching TV programs rather than doing other things. Soon after, the cubs get into an argument over what program to watch, prompting Mama to take the TV remote from them and bans both the cubs and Papa from watching TV for a week. During the ban, Brother and Sister find other things that interest them while Papa tries his best not to tune into the hockey playoffs taking place that same week.
Plot[]
In the front yard, Mama is tending to her garden while Papa is hammering nails into the front steps. Mama tells him that the brake on Brother's bicycle needs fixing, but Papa reminds her that he fixed it last week. Inside the treehouse, Brother and Sister were watching cartoons and Mama enters. She persuades her cubs to play outside as it's sunny, prompting Brother to close the curtains due to the sun's glare. The cubs then tell Mama they don't want to play outside since it was Saturday and that their favorite shows were on. Mama reminds Sister of her library books (which are due next week), which she responds "Okay", then resumes laughing with Brother.
Later that afternoon, Brother and Sister are watching a detective drama when Mama calls them into the kitchen for lunch. She goes into the living room to tell them their lunch is on the table, and as a commercial comes on, Brother and Sister watch as a bear comes out of a bush with thorns stuck to his fur. Mama then takes them to the kitchen after telling the cubs that the commercial they saw will be back on. Later, the cubs eat their lunches in front of the TV. In the kitchen, Papa joins Mama for lunch and she explains to him that all the cubs do is sit around and watch TV all day. While conversing with Papa, Mama overhears the cubs arguing over what program to watch, with Brother wanting to watch bear wrestling and Sister wanting to watch Little Treehouse on the Prairie.
Fed up with the cubs' TV habit, Mama takes the remote from them, turns the TV off, and bans the cubs from watching TV for a week. The cubs then appeal their ban to Papa, but he declines and tells the cubs that they have been watching too much TV lately. Just as he gets ready to watch the hockey playoffs, Mama takes the remote from him, stating that he too is banned from watching TV. Later, Brother and Sister sit out on the front steps thinking about all of the shows they are missing. Suddenly, they overhear Papa in his workshop watching the hockey playoffs and go take a peek. Mama hears Papa watching the playoffs and looks inside. Despite being caught in the act, Papa tells Mama that he's re-staining the TV, and Mama adds that he could do it while the TV is off. She then asks him to set an example for the cubs, to which he agrees.
Later, while it rains outside, the cubs are bored and coax Mama into ending their TV ban early, but Mama objects. Brother then opens the TV magazine and tells Sister about the film Honey, I Shrunk the Cubs, which was airing on TV that night. Sister asks Mama if she and Brother could watch it, but Mama refuses, as the only way to break the TV-watching habit is to keep the TV off. She then gets the cubs a book called The Bear Country Book of Birds, stating that it can teach them a lot about birds, with Brother adding that he could learn from watching the nature show on BBS. Mama says he can, but during the next week. When Mama asks for an answer for her crossword puzzle, Brother replies with; "Box." Shortly after, he comes up with an idea to get around Mama's TV ban and Sister tags with him.
Sometime later, Brother and Sister return to the living room with a box made to look like a TV. They amuse Mama and Papa as Brother acts like both a meteorologist and a news anchorman with Sister pretending to change the channels with a cardboard remote. With Papa's permission, Brother and Sister use the boxes in Papa's workshop to build themselves a space shuttle, they ride their bikes, go bird-watching, and spend a night in bed reading books. In Papa's workshop, he builds the cubs a birdhouse and they watch as a bluejay flies near it. Mama observes the cubs and Brother tells her that he saw up to 41 species of birds. Sister then gets the TV cardboard box and places it in front of the birdhouse and pretends to call it "Bird TV."
That night on the front lawn, the Bear family sat underneath the stars while Sister points out the constellations. While they look at the Big Dipper, a meteorite passes by. Their time outside comes to an end with Mama telling the cubs it's time for them to get ready for bed. Brother realizes that the TV ban ends the following day, and he, Sister, and Papa are all excited, but Mama isn't. The cubs wish Mama a good night as they go inside the treehouse with Papa behind them. The next morning, Brother and Sister watch The Nutty Bear Show as Mama and Papa enter the living room. While watching TV, Brother notices a scarlet tanager perched on their couch and goes to show Mama and Papa what it looks like. He, Sister, and Papa all run outside to see the scarlet tanager while Mama turns the TV off.
Differences From the Book[]
- In the book, it starts off with Brother and Sister Bear coming home from school and Papa Bear coming home from work. However, the episode opens with the cubs watching Saturday morning cartoons.
- In the book, Brother and Sister race into the living room to watch TV after dinner, but Mama stops them and forbids both them and Papa from watching TV for a week. In the episode, Brother and Sister are fighting over which program to watch (Brother wanting to watch bear wrestling while Sister wants to watch Little Treehouse on the Prairie), resulting in Mama taking the remote away from them and turning the TV off. She then bans both the cubs and Papa from watching TV for a week.
- It would have also made it look like Mama Bear could have also punished the cubs for fighting on whose turn is it.
- In the book, at the end of the Bears' TV-free week, Mama reveals that it's not TV she's against, but the habit of sitting in front of it day and night nonstop. She does not say this in the episode. On that note, in the book, even though Papa was the one watching TV for most of the day, he is looking out the window and the cubs are doing their activities. In the episode, Brother and Sister are watching Saturday morning cartoons but Brother spots the Scarlet Tanager on the living room window and everyone goes to see it.
- In the book, when Mama tells the cubs they won't be allowed to watch TV, Papa cuts in telling the cubs that Mama's right. In the episode, just after Mama banned them from watching TV, Sister appeals to Papa about the TV ban, with Papa telling her that Mama's right. In both instances, Papa got ready to watch TV until Mama reminded him that he, just like the cubs, is banned from watching TV for a week.
- In the book, Papa was shown to be more addicted to the TV and using the opportunity to watch programs while he, Mama, and the cubs were at the shopping mall, and late one night while Mama and the cubs were in bed. In the episode, Papa isn't as addicted to TV when Mama asks him to set an example for the cubs.
Characters[]
References[]
- "Little Treehouse on the Prairie" is a very strong reference to Little House on the Prairie, the book and later TV show.
- The scene where Brother tells Mama that he can also watch a nature show on BBS is a reference to the Public Broadcasting Service (A.K.A. PBS), which is a station the show was airing at the time.
- On that note, PBS does have a nature show that still airs called Nature.
- As Brother Bear reads the TV guide, he says that "Honey, I Shrunk the Cubs" is playing on TV that night. The movie name is a reference to the 1989 film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
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