Thanks for joining us on our journey into the madness of parenting in the screen time era. Here’s our top 5 list of the best of the best we’ve reviewed over the past 8 years! Deborah: 5. Bolt 4. Ted-Ed 3. Mitchells vs. The Machines 2. Kid Cosmic 1. Art for Kids Hub Katie 5. Shaun the Sheep 4. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power 3. Dora and the Lost City of Gold 2. Curses 1. Puffin Rock Honorable Mentions: Jingle Jangle Klaus Paddington 2 Zombies Cosmic Kids Yoga Teen Beach Movie Numberblocks Appl...
May 21, 2025•28 min
Pixar tries once again to make Katie feel her feelings, but this time in the form of an 8-episode series instead of a movie. Previous episodes we mention: Monsters at Work Win or Lose made us think of these movies and shows for grown ups: Lost Moneyball English Teacher This diabetes commercial We cast our gritty Curses! reboot with: Keenan Thompson as Frank the Umpire Natasha Rothwell as Vanessa Jon Cho or Nick Offerman as Coach Dan Jeff Hiller or Jack McBrayer as the Janitor Contact us and subs...
Apr 09, 2025•24 min
Freed from the shackles of preschool programming, we test out the freedom of watching a show made for grown-ups with our kids: The Traitors. Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.com Connect with us on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com...
Mar 05, 2025•33 min
Sure, people who have time to watch grown-up movies may be debating the relative merits of The Brutalist and A Complete Unknown, but we know the real fight is between Inside Out 2 and The Wild Robot. Listen to our takes on the family films in contention for this year’s Academy Awards. Previous Episodes We Mention Inside Out 2 The Wild Robot Flow Pinocchio Wicked Wonka What our kids are watching or what we’re watching with them: The Mole Traitors What we’re watching during grown-up screen time: T...
Feb 26, 2025•16 min
Who says family screen time is incompatible with relaxation? We review the Latvian sleeper hit Flow . Things we mentioned in this episode: Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flyn Previous episodes we mention: White Fang Spaceballs Flow made us think of these movies and shows for grown ups: The Last of Us Waterworld Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentimetoo.com Connect with us on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter or by email at myscreentimetoo@gmail.com...
Feb 19, 2025•24 min
Not only are our kids bringing tech home from the classroom, they’re using more and more tech during their school days. In this week’s Screen Time in the News episode, we discuss a Wall Street Journal article that questions whether in-class tech time is time well spent. We also catch up on what our kids are watching, what we’re watching with them, and what we’re watching during our precious kid-free screen time. Deborah can’t wait for a breather from all the televised sports, and Katie figures a...
Feb 12, 2025•16 min
We review the big screen adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s comic supacop, Dog Man. We cover the complicated logistics of breaking up with your boyfriend when his head has been replaced by a dog’s; the tightrope-walking required to adapt a beloved book series for the screen; and whether Dog Man’s origin story is actually far more gruesome and disturbing than we thought. Previous episodes we mention: Bad Guys: Haunted Heist Dog Man made us think of these shows and books for grown ups: Nightbitch Fun Home...
Feb 05, 2025•25 min
Tis the season for new toys! We discuss a New York Times story about Ms. Rachel’s new line of toys and the role licensed merchandise has played in our lives and our kids’ lives. Plus, we catch up on what we’re watching with our kids and what we have our eyes on for grown-up screen time. Things We Mention in this Episode: Ms. Rachel, YouTube Star, Is Creating a Holiday Toy Frenzy by Sapna Maheshwari published by The New York Times on November 29, 2024 Dirt-cheap toys imported into U.S. can be dan...
Dec 25, 2024•20 min
Join us for our review of what is certainly the brownest Christmas movie of the season, An Almost Christmas Story. Did this twenty-minute special fulfill our desire for short family programming to get us in the holiday spirit? Listen to find out! Previous episodes we mention: Peter Pan and Wendy The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Pinocchio An Almost Christmas Story made us think of these movies and shows for grown ups: The Martian Book Lovers We cast our gritty reboot with these actors: Paula Pound...
Dec 18, 2024•32 min
We scoured the internet for a rundown of this year’s kids and family Christmas movies and found…not a whole lot. In this Screen Time in the News episode, we discuss the lack of new kids’ holiday content this year and why the cheesy holiday romance seems to have replaced the heartwarming family Christmas tale. Things we mention in this episode: The 13 Best Christmas Movies of All Time and Where to Watch Them from InStyle The 16 Best New Christmas Movies of the 2024 Holiday Season from Good Housek...
Dec 11, 2024•21 min
Wicked made a splash this Thanksgiving season, but is it a good movie to see with kids? We weigh in on all the high points of Wicked discourse: whether Ariana Grande will ever step out of her Glinda performance; whether this movie is too long for a Part I; and whether singing in the movie theater is ever okay. But most importantly, we discuss how we approached seeing Wicked as parents. Things we mentioned in this episode: Is Ariana Grande Going to Be Stuck Like This Forever? by Fran Hoepfner in ...
Dec 04, 2024•35 min
We used to fret over our kids’ time spent in front of a screen. Now they’re a little bit older, and we get to worry over their time spent in front of multiple screens. We had so much fun discussing an article from Wired about second screening, third screening, and even fourth screening. Are we, as grown ups, surrounding ourselves with more than one screen at a time? How do we feel about our kids doing the same? This week’s Screen Time in the News article is “Forget Screen Time. We Need to Talk A...
Nov 27, 2024•20 min
We welcome the holiday season with a review of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. This small story makes for a big contrast with the bright, toy-filled Christmas stories we’ve gotten used to of late, and we discuss what resonated with us and what they should have done differently to bring this tale from our childhoods to life. Previous episodes we mention: Wild Robot Klaus Let’s Go Luna The Best Christmas Pageant Ever made us think of these movies and shows for grown ups: Synecdoche, New York GCB ...
Nov 20, 2024•29 min
Our Screen Time in the News article this week broke the news that Netflix is axing almost all of its interactive content, so we spend some time pondering why the technology never took off the way we thought it might. Deborah wonders whether it can be compared to an ill-advised Cheerios flavor, and Katie uses the phrase “petit filet ice cream” for the first time in her life. We catch up on what we’re watching with our kids and what we’re watching during our kid-free screen time and discuss where ...
Nov 13, 2024•23 min
Find out whether this tearjerker has enough substance for grown-ups and enough laughs for kids in our review of The Wild Robot. Previous episodes we mention: Kung Fu Panda 4 Wish Despicable Me 4 Article in The Cut by Kathryn Jezer-Morton titled “Who is all that obsessively detailed college-dorm decorating really for?” The Wild Robot made us think of these movies and shows for grown ups: The Last of Us Castaway Saint Vincent First Wives Club We cast our gritty reboot with these actors: Sad Ben Af...
Nov 06, 2024•28 min
We discuss the lawsuit against TikTok and the internal documents exposed by Kentucky Public Radio about the video platform’s addictiveness to vulnerable teens. Previous Episodes We Mention: Curses ! What our kids are watching or what we’re watching with them: Georgie and Mandie’s first marriage Wild Robot Curses! Camp Cretaceous What we’re watching during grown-up screen time: Only Murders in the Building Slow Horses Agatha All Along Contact us and subscribe to our newsletter at www.myscreentime...
Oct 30, 2024•21 min
Can Apple TV+ break this year’s curse on fresh Halloween content for families? Listen to our review of Curses! to find out. Things we mentioned in this episode: Previous episodes we mention: We discussed a Good Housekeeping article about the benefits of exposing kids to scary content in our Haunted Mansion episode last year Spooky Buddies Bad Guys Haunted Heist Curses made us think of these movies and shows (although whether any of them are really for grown ups is up for debate): Indiana Jones N...
Oct 23, 2024•23 min
We discuss The Guardian’s review of Ashley Spencer’s new book Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel’s Tween Empire and lament being too old to experience the channel’s heyday as tweens but too young to witness it with our own kids. Things We Mention in this Episode Previous Episodes We Mention: Julie and the Phantoms This week’s article: ‘It caught everyone by surprise’: inside the rise and fall of the Disney Channel from September 26, 2024 by Adrian Horton for The...
Oct 16, 2024•16 min
We celebrate our 200th episode with a look at where the show has been and where it’s headed. We ring in spooky season 2024 with a quick review of the Netflix special The Bad Guys Haunted Heist. Previous episodes we mention: Spooky Buddies Phantom Pups Interested in some faves from Halloween past? Check out this rundown . The Bad Guys Haunted Heist made us think of these movies and shows for grown ups: Good Girls Ocean’s Eleven Hustle We cast our gritty The Bad Guys Haunted Heist reboot with: Vin...
Oct 09, 2024•23 min•Ep. 200
In our last episode before our fall break, we review Apple TV’s Yo Gabba Gabbaland, a reboot of a 2000s show beloved by hipster parents everywhere. We bemoan being too old to recognize any of the impressive musical guests, and we discuss whether the “variety show” label is a positive or negative for modern preschool programming. We will be back with new episodes in October starting with a celebration of our 200th episode! Until then, find almost 200 archived episodes on our website myscreentimet...
Aug 21, 2024•29 min
Peter Thiel and the San Diego Zoo gorillas help guide our conversation about our families’ back-to-school screen time policies. Previous Episodes We Mention: Are Dumb Phones a Smart Choice for Kids? Gorillas at San Diego's zoo are getting too much screen time Tech billionaire Peter Thiel says he only allows his children 1.5 hours of screen time a week The Contrarian by Max Chafkin Peter Thiel’s War on Gawker: A Timeline Zoos’ New Dilemma: Gorillas and Screen Time We mistakenly refer to Claudia K...
Aug 14, 2024•22 min
We have a great time reviewing Apple TV’s nerdy time-traveling adventure series Time Bandits, which manages to make ancient history look realistic while still being fun. Previous episodes we mention: Pretzel and the Puppies Harriet the Spy Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock The Snoopy Show Jane Ghostwriter Better Nate Than Ever As of our taping, the original Time Bandits movie was available to steam on Max . Time Bandits made us think of these movies and shows for grown ups: Quantum Leap Goonies Doc...
Aug 07, 2024•28 min
The box office numbers are in, and parents’ taking their kids to see movies like Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 are saving an otherwise disappointing season in Hollywood. We pat ourselves on the back for rescuing the entertainment industry and discuss what such a multiplex-heavy summer means for movies in general and our families specifically. As usual, we take time to catch up on what we’re watching with our kids and during grown up screen time. Kids’ Movies Are Saving the Summer Box Office b...
Jul 31, 2024•18 min•Ep. 196
We review the latest installment in Disney’s juggernaut tween Descendants franchise: The Rise of Red. Can Aurodon survive the replacement of its core cast? Does the soundtrack live up to previous installments? Most importantly, how happy are we to see Brandy as Cinderella again? Spoiler alert: very happy. Previous episodes we mention: Teen Beach Movie Zombies Zombies 2 Zombies 3 Sneakerella Check out Katie’s magnum opus on Cinderella adaptations featuring the Brandy version from the 90s. Katie w...
Jul 24, 2024•26 min•Ep. 195
We talk about the trend of people dumping their smartphones for so-called dumb phones and whether this could be a smart strategy for our kids. We reminisce about our favorite flip phones and catch up on what we’re watching with our kids and what’s on our grown-up screen time watch lists. Previous episodes we mention: Despicable Me 4 Americans are ditching smartphones for 'dumb' devices that only call and text to avoid 'zombie mode' by Rob Waugh, June 30, 2024, in The Daily Mail Vice’s roundup of...
Jul 17, 2024•21 min•Ep. 194
We review the most anticipated release of the summer: Despicable Me 4! Did we need a sixth movie about Gru and his little yellow henchmen? Maybe not, but we did appreciate the opportunity to re-familiarize ourselves with the works of Culture Club and Franz Kafka. Things we mentioned in this episode: The classic of high school English classes: Kafka’s The Metamorphosis Previous episodes we mention: Kung Fu Panda 4 Inside Out 2 IF Garfield Despicable Me 4 made us think of these movies and shows fo...
Jul 10, 2024•26 min•Ep. 193
We discuss two short articles about screen time: one from Time that says it’s totally fine to talk about screen time using the language of diet culture as long as we don’t count minutes like we count calories and one from the Wall Street Journal that refutes our closely held beliefs about the harm caused by screens before bed. We also catch up on what we’re watching with our kids and what’s on our grown up watch lists. Previous Episodes We Mention: Screens and Diet Culture Stop Counting Screen T...
Jun 26, 2024•26 min•Ep. 192
In our review of Inside Out 2, we pick our faves from Riley’s new emotions and get into the puberty of it all by comparing Inside Out 2 to another similarly themed Pixar title, Turning Red. Previous episodes we mention: Turning Red Elemental Lightyear Soul This series of puberty books by Robie H. Harris : It’s So Amazing It’s Not the Stork It’s Perfectly Normal The Screenwriting Life Podcast Inside Out 2 made us think of these movies and shows for grown ups: Annie Hall You’re the Worst Wilfred W...
Jun 19, 2024•23 min
We discuss summer movies--the films we want to watch with our kids and a few we’re planning to watch for date night. We cover our hopes for all the new installments of our favorite franchises including Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4, Descendants Rise of Red, Twisters, and even Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Plus, Katie taunts Deborah about the impending release of Ryan’s World the Movie: Titan Universe Adventure. Things we mention in this episode: 23 Summer Movies to Watch , Vanity Fair Summer Movie Gu...
Jun 12, 2024•25 min
In our review of The Garfield Movie, Deborah mourns the absence of the fundamental pathos of the Garfield comic strip in this zany animated take on everyone’s favorite lazy tabby. Katie betrays her co-viewing values and dares to suggest this would make a good solo watch for kids. We talk product placement and adapting dated but beloved material for a modern audience. Previous episodes we mention: Kung Fu Panda 4 The Super Mario Bros Movie Garfield made us think of these movies and shows for grow...
Jun 05, 2024•29 min
