Few shows, especially in recent years, have enchanted both children and parents alike in the way that “Bluey” has. The Australian kids’ series premiered in 2018, following the day-to-day adventures of a family of Australian cattle dogs. Across three seasons and over 150 episodes, main character Bluey’s childhood is fueled by her parents’ encouragement of imaginative play and curiosity, with many of the series’s life lessons resonating with modern family dynamics.
Although it may seem like “Bluey” is one of a kind in the history of children’s entertainment, there have been plenty of shows aimed at kids that offer a similar portrayal of positive parenting styles. What all of these shows have in common is their ability not just to connect with young kids, but also to connect with parents and guardians about what a healthy childhood looks like. From classic kids’ shows that today’s parents may have been raised on to more obscure series that have struggled to reach the mainstream in the streaming era, these are the shows you should be showing your kid if they’re not already hooked on episodes of “Bluey.”
Tim Rex in Space
On the surface, “Tim Rex in Space” seems a bit too similar to “Bluey,” but its tone evokes more of those forgotten ’80s cartoons that are still worth watching today. The series follows a family of anthropomorphic Tyrannosaurus rexes living in a town made up of asteroids, mainly focusing on the titular middle child, Tim (Cassian Swan-McKee), and his siblings Tommy (Ace Gill) and Tia (Hope Delaney).
Though its focus lies less on Tim’s relationship with his parents and more on the connection he shares with his siblings and fellow dinosaur friends, “Tim Rex in Space” mimics a lot of the heartfelt storytelling that has come to define cartoons like “Bluey.” The show also includes a lot more music than “Bluey,” fitting nicely into the legacy of fellow music-centric Nick Jr. shows like “Bubble Guppies” and “Shimmer and Shine.”
Where it might lose parents is in the show’s intergalactic aesthetic, incorporating sci-fi elements that differ from the more grounded elements of “Bluey.” However, that might be the perfect cocktail for parents who want their kids to love sci-fi as much as they do. Either way, “Tim Rex in Space” offers a lot to love for parents who want a similar positive experience for their kids as “Bluey” provides.
Chip and Potato
Of course, “Bluey” is not the first, nor will it be the last, animated kids’ series to feature a talking dog as its main protagonist. However, “Chip and Potato” premiered the same year as “Bluey,” so it’s only unfortunate that the former show didn’t also blow up in the mainstream. Available on Netflix, “Chip and Potato” follows a kindergarten-aged pug named Chip (Abigail Journey Oliver) and her best friend Potato, a real mouse disguised as a toy and voiced by “My Little Pony” voice actor Andrea Libman.
As with many of the best TV shows starring dogs, “Chip and Potato” is as cute as it is charming for both kids and parents alike. Chip’s adventures are, like in “Bluey,” incredibly realistic and relatable for kids her age. She navigates spending time with relatives, learning how to swim, and being apart from her friends, among other day-to-day difficulties that kids tend to encounter.
One of the many reasons parents love “Chip and Potato” is that its tone is far more earnest than many other kids’ shows these days. It’s a quality the show obviously shares with “Bluey,” in addition to its female canine lead and emphasis on childlike imagination.
Hilda
In contrast to a show like “Bluey,” “Hilda” takes inspiration from Luke Pearson’s series of graphic novels that were first published in the early 2010s. The Netflix series adaptation, which premiered in 2018, faithfully adapts Pearson’s story about a young girl (Bella Ramsey) who moves with her mother (Daisy Haggard) and pet deerfox to a new town after their old house is destroyed by a giant. Combining the world of fantasy with a down-to-earth story about a kid navigating big changes in life, “Hilda” makes for one of the most surprisingly realistic shows that also happens to involve mythical creatures and monsters.
While most animated sitcoms on Netflix tend to skew towards adult audiences, “Hilda” manages to appeal to all age groups with its deeply relatable story. Namely, older lovers of the fantasy genre will gravitate towards its fascinating world-building, which includes laying the foundation for kids to have a positive view of real-world staples like libraries, schools, and parental discipline.
“Hilda” is a more realistic depiction of young kids and their lives than the relentless optimism you’ll get from a show like “Bluey,” with a serialized story that’ll keep viewers hooked from episode to episode. Though it might be grander in scale than your typical episode of “Bluey,” it captures the wild, imaginative spirit that the latter show promotes.
The Ghost and Molly McGee
Though it’s maybe too recent to be named one of the best animated Disney shows of all time, “The Ghost and Molly McGee” certainly has what it takes to join the company’s esteemed cartoon legacy. With only two seasons released between 2021 and 2024, “The Ghost and Molly McGee” follows a 13-year-old girl, voiced by Ashly Burch, whose move to a new house finds her confronting the presence of a curmudgeon ghost, Scratch, voiced by Dana Snyder.
Although Molly and Scratch appear to be opposites, their burgeoning friendship throughout the show becomes its most heartwarming element, as the duo helps each other navigate their adventures, both supernatural and non-supernatural. “The Ghost and Molly McGee” presents an idyllic version of the world where people learn from their mistakes, accept each other for who they are, and embrace who they are inside. Like “Bluey,” it is exactly the type of show parents should be showing their kids.
That being said, some young viewers might be turned off by the horror-adjacent aspects of the show, given that it deals with the paranormal. However, the characters’ goodness makes up for the spookier vibe it has compared to the Australian animated series. Sadly, the show’s second season was also its last, despite boasting incredible guest stars like Greta Gerwig, Kelsey Grammer, and Alanna Ubach.
Puffin Rock
Most American audiences may have never seen “Puffin Rock,” which debuted in Ireland. As a result, they might be missing out on some of the healthiest children’s entertainment out there. Having made it to international screens Oona (Kate McCafferty), who navigates the world with an optimism and good spirit that’s refreshing, but maybe not as much if you’re already an ardent lover of “Bluey.”
With Chris O’Dowd narrating it, keeping older fans of his work in “The IT Crowd” and “Bridesmaids” hooked, “Puffin Rock” spends each episodic segment on a different experience in which Oona has to learn about responsibility, humility, and kindness. Oftentimes, this is in congruence with Oona’s status as an older sister to Baba (Sally McDaid), a baby puffin whose curiosity and naïveté often cause problems for Oona.
Across three seasons and a feature film, “Puffin Rock” proves that the best kids’ cartoons also don’t have to trade stylistic, attractive visuals for quality writing. The show is smart and sweet, feeling like the best children’s book come to life with its vibrant, crayon-like animation. Even the animation in “Bluey” can at times feel a bit stale compared to visual wonders like this.
Max & Ruby
Nick Jr.
Parents might have fond memories of watching “Max & Ruby” when they were kids, given that it frequently aired on Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. throughout the 2000s and 2010s before ending in 2020. However, those memories might be more based on the chaos that Max (Billy Rosemberg, Tyler Stevenson, and Gavin MacIver-Wright) induced in Ruby’s (Samantha Morton, Rebecca Peters, and Lana Carillo) life from episode to episode. From making a worm cake with Ruby’s gardening tools to bringing his action figures to their grandmother’s birthday party, the show seems like a far cry from the loving sisterly relationship between Bluey and Bingo.
However, the thing you might forget about “Max & Ruby” is that, compared to most of the best Nickelodeon shows of all time, there’s a real heart and soul at the core of this incredibly entertaining cartoon. Though Max is often a pain in Ruby’s behind, their love for each other as siblings feels true to real-life brother-sister relationships.
Like “Bluey,” “Max & Ruby” is at its best when it turns those often-frustrating family dynamics into a heartfelt lesson about kindness and treating others with respect. Whether it’s a show you grew up on or one that came after your time watching countless hours of TV as a kid, “Max & Ruby” holds up as one of the more positive shows you can let your kids binge.
Spidey and His Amazing Friends
Disney Jr.
Depending on who you ask, you can never be too young to get hooked on TV shows based on Marvel superheroes. “Spidey and His Amazing Friends,” despite its obvious ties to the Marvel Comics franchise, is not like other superhero shows. Catered especially to preschool-aged viewers, the series reframes the “Spider-Man” oeuvre for a younger crowd, with a primary focus on little kid versions of Peter Parker (Benjamin Valic, Alkaio Thiele, and Nick A. Fisher), Gwen Stacy (Lily Sanfelippo and Audrey Bennett), and Miles Morales (Jakari Fraser and Carter Young).
Sure, purists about comic book lore might wince at how the show reinterprets characters like Hulk (Armen Taylor), Iron Man (John Stamos), and Black Cat (Jaiden Klein), among others. However, “Spidey and His Amazing Friends” ultimately prioritizes its young audience members with healthy stories about teamwork, friendship, and, of course, the value of being responsible with power. The fact that it stays as committed as it is to covering the wide scope of the Marvel universe may just make this a show even comic book-obsessed parents can’t stop watching.
It obviously has some stark differences from a show like “Bluey,” such as trading 2D animation for 3D visuals, centering more on action than dialogue, and having clear inspiration fromves that superhero stories are sometimes the best parables for teaching kids lessons they’d otherwise never learn from watching episodes about schoolwork, playground etiquette, and birthday parties
Frog and Toad
Though the original book series might be relics of a time long past, it’s heartwarming to know that some people out there are dedicated to bringing it to a new audience. Apple TV premiered its “Frog and Toad” animated series in 2023, starring Nat Faxon and Kevin Michael Richardson as the titular amphibian best friends. With two seasons and a Christmas special released thus far, the show does an excellent job of capturing the cozy, wholesome vibe of the children’s books.
As one of Apple TV’s many shows without a single bad season, “Frog and Toad” proves that the streaming service isn’t just good for wholesome sitcoms and sci-fi dramas. “Frog and Toad” innovates the children’s TV formula with a show that’s far quieter and slower than things they might be used to. Like a lot of episodes of “Bluey” that de-emphasize snappy dialogue, punchy visuals, and fast pacing, “Frog and Toad” feels like a slow walk through the park rather than eye-grabbing entertainment.
Parents will, of course, love being reminded of these simplistic stories about friendship and personality differences. However, kids may also be charmed by the way “Frog and Toad” frames a healthy, platonic friendship between two male characters, just like “Bluey” portrays healthy family dynamics among the Heeler family.
Blue’s Clues
It seems pretty obvious to put a show like “Blue’s Clues” on this list, given that it might be the only (partially) animated series other than “Bluey” to center on a blue-colored puppy character. However, “Blue’s Clues” has evolved way beyond its original run to become one of Nickelodeon’s biggest franchises with spin-offs and revivals. For the sake of drawing comparisons to “Bluey,” however, we’ll mainly focus on the original incarnation of “Blue’s Clues,” which premiered in 1996.
Originally hosted by the now-iconic Steve Burns, “Blue’s Clues” would guide viewers through clues left around Steve’s home by the ever-enigmatic Blue. Not only is the world of the show incredibly rich, but it was also instrumental in teaching an entire generation of kids lessons about interacting with their surroundings, drawing conclusions from context clues, and remaining curious about the world around them.
If you feel that an episode of “Bluey” could be an emotional rollercoaster with real lessons for humans of any age, wait until you rewatch some “Blue’s Clues.” Nothing will remind you of dealing with heartbreak and grief quite like the experience of saying goodbye to Steve as he departed the show to go to college. To this day, no episode of “Bluey” could bring us to tears as that episode did.
Sesame Street
When discussing children’s shows that have taught generations important lessons, one must mention “Sesame Street.” Since it started airing in 1969, “Sesame Street” has remained an American cultural touchstone, expanding beyond its longtime PBS home through distribution deals with HBO and, most recently, Netflix. Whether it’s the iconography of characters like Elmo (puppeteered by Kevin Clash and Ryan Dillon primarily), Big Bird (primarily Caroll Spinney and Matt Vogel), or Cookie Monster (primarily Frank Oz and David Rudman), every kid has some sort of connection to the show, given its resonance in the zeitgeist.
Compared to modern-day kids’ hits like “Bluey,” “Sesame Street” was a trailblazer in fusing genuinely entertaining TV with education and life lessons. From teaching kids the alphabet to helping them cope with the death of loved ones, “Sesame Street” has inspired countless media in the children’s entertainment space, as well as satirical send-ups like “Avenue Q” or “Greg the Bunny.”
Even though it’s not animated, unlike most of the other shows on this list, “Sesame Street” is probably the best example of where shows like “Bluey” get their inspiration. It can be hard, especially in this era of endlessly available content, to make sure that your kids are consuming the right media at the right ages. “Sesame Street” has spent nearly 60 years offering an oasis to parents, so it’s no wonder it’s remained on the air this entire time. Just as kids these days need “Bluey,” we’ve all needed “Sesame Street” at one point or another.
