Edutainment Show

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
"Well, Itchy & Scratchy are gone, but here's a cartoon that tries to make learning fun! ...Sorry about this kids, but stay tuned; we've got some real good toy commercials coming right up, I swear".
—Krusty the Clown, The Simpsons

As the trope's title implies, the Edutainment Show combines educational content with entertainment. As such, most shows in this genre are aimed at children; of course, some more mature fare may fit this definition, such as MythBusters. Cooking Shows, Science Shows, Nature Shows, and other TV Documentary formats (especially Docu Drama programs) may also count, if they are entertaining enough. Additionally, the definition has become somewhat blurred - these days networks often pass children's programs in particular as "edutainment," when their only actual educational content is pro-social themes, such as "work together as a team", ""Reading Is Cool" Aesop" or "be a good friend to others."

Many Edutainment Shows appear on PBS, the most famous example being Sesame Street. Nickelodeon also has had quite a few in their "Nick Jr." block, such as Blues Clues and Dora the Explorer, as do specialized fact-oriented cable networks as The Learning Channel, Noggin, the many Discovery channels, the History Channel, and Animal Planet.

In the United States, since 1990, networks are required to have three hours of educational material a week; the tag "E/I" (for "Educational/Informative") was created to denote such shows (though in the case of stations carrying Saved by the Bell, the rules are susceptible to Loophole Abuse if An Aesop is fit into the show in just the right way, and they can count as E/I). Now you know what the And Knowing Is Half the Battle is referring to.

For the Video Game counterpart see Edutainment Game.

Examples of Edutainment Show include:

Anime and Manga

  • As you might expect from the title, Cells at Work! teaches viewers/readers which cells the human body has and what the jobs of these cells are.
  • GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class has definite elements of this; there are whole episodes spent on explaining various graphic techniques.
  • Axis Powers Hetalia teaches history and a little bit about culture between (often with) all the Ho Yay and gags. (Although the manga's depiction of Korea has sparked controversy in South Korea.)

Comic Books

Live-Action TV

Puppet Shows

  • Baby Einstein

Radio

Western Animation

  • 3-2-1 Penguins!
  • Adventures from the Book of Virtues
  • Amazing Animals
  • Angelina Ballerina
  • Arguably, Animaniacs, which featured many educational songs and skits as well as famous historical figures and cultural icons of past eras, all for the Warners to gleefully abuse.
  • Arthur - This program also Lampshades this trope with an in-universe example. Buster claims that a program that he's making is going to be "edutainment." The characters respond to this with an "ew." The chapter-book adaptation of that episode goes even further, with Brain stating that edutainment is supposed to be a blend of education and entertainment, but often ends up being the worst of both.

UNSORTED

Statler: Say, Waldorf, do you think this show counts as edutainment?
Waldorf: Don't see why not. After all, it encourages people to quit watching and read books!
Together: Doh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!

Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Edutainment_Show?oldid=2052184"