Kids’ shows can be fun for adults too

On Monday nights there is a TV show with a visually provoking narrative, hysterically funny plot… On Monday nights there is a TV show with a visually provoking narrative, hysterically funny plot and occasional cross-dressing airs. Neil Patrick Harris has even starred in it.

You probably missed it. Why? Because it’s Adventure Time, a show on non-[adult swim] Cartoon Network. While the show itself aims towards children, the episode starring NPH titled “Fionna and Cake” was a gender-bending episode with a twist ending that could only be fully understood by older audiences.

While this is common in a lot of programming for children — perhaps to appease the parents forced to sit and watch with their kids — some shows take it to the extreme, or are unexpectedly entertaining even without it.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

This is not your 1980s “My Little Pony.” The characters have been revamped into relatable, cute and symbolic characters. The premise is that in Equestria, ponies are the dominant race and can be divided into three different types: unicorn, pegasus and land ponies. The other beings in the land are all mythological creatures, usually dragons and animals inspired by Greek myth. It follows Twilight Sparkle and her friends, who all represent one of the elements of harmony, in Ponyville as they learn important lessons about friendship.

With a smooth, anime-influenced animation style, and a hilarious — and moral — plot, it’s hard not to like.

The genius of “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” has spawned a somewhat unconventional audience in addition to its intended demographic of young girls. They’re called “bronies,” or teenage and adult male viewers, and their fandom for MLP:FiM is unmatched. As a result, the Internet is rife with amazing fan-art, alt-art and innovative projects that are pony-inspired.

To see my favorite, search YouTube for “MLP: Fighting is Magic.”

Yo Gabba Gabba!

If you like music, you probably don’t watch MTV to hear it. You probably don’t watch Nick Jr. to hear it, either.  What a shame, considering that the live-action show “Yo Gabba Gabba!” on Nickelodeon’s preschool program line-up features some of the best alternative bands of today’s music scene.

The Killers, Taking Back Sunday, The Roots and Weezer are some of the bands you can expect to hear in the upcoming season.

The lead singer of the Aquabats created the show, and it has a retro-digital-awesomeness feel. Like most shows aimed at preschoolers, “Yo Gabba Gabba!” doesn’t really have much of a plot, just recurring characters. These characters are trippy alien-toy-type things and DJ Lance Rock. It’s basically just a lot of bright colors and cool tunes. And who can say they don’t like those?

Adventure Time

In the Land of Ooo lives Jake the Dog and Finn the Human. It is colorful and cute, which is precisely how the show’s writers get away with some of the sex/dating jokes, as well as some slightly dark and disturbing plot undertones.

Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward said that Ooo is post-apocalyptic, evident in some of the episodes when the “Mushroom Wars” are referenced, or even by the fact that Finn is the last human.

Yes, this show features a kingdom of candy ruled by a princess made of bubble gum, but she’s also a badass and does science. Marceline the Vampire Queen is described as a “sexy vampire lady.” Finn scolds Jake the Dog for being “pervy” for looking through a peephole at a sleeping Princess Bubblegum — try explaining that to your younger sibling.

So give programs that aren’t directed at your age group a chance. Get your bros and tune in to cartoons. And in the end, I promise you’ll enjoy yourself more than you thought you would. ’Cause man, friendship really is magic.