Non-Interactivity: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"We've got to tell the bird to put the egg down! Say, 'Put it down!' Again! Now [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|flap your wings]] while you do it! Flap your wings and yell! '''Don't question it, just do it!'''"''|'''[[Dora the Explorer (Animation)|Maraka]]''', ''[[Saturday Night Live (TV)|Saturday Night Live]]'', "TV Funhouse"}}

[[Oh, Hi There.|Hi, Fellow Troper]]! Do you want to hear about the [[Non -Interactivity]] trope?

Writing preschool television is tricky -- thetricky—the youngsters have a limited understanding of the world, and a limited attention span. Non Interactivity solves the problem thusly: since your audience is under the age of five, let's make them think they're playing a game! Isn't that great?

Shows with Non-Interactivity have [[No Fourth Wall]].

* After averting it for nearly ten seasons (although it did have [[And Knowing Is Half the Battle|Barney Says]]), ''[[Barney and Friends (TV)|Barney and Friends]]'' did this when the show switched sets.

* And aside from the occasional Fourth Wall break, ''[[Sesame Street (TV)|Sesame Street]]'' avoided this as well for the most part. Then along came "Elmo's World".

* ''[[Drake and Josh (TV)|Drake and Josh]]'' both try to talk to the five year-olds watching the show. In a truly hilarious bit Drake is warmly received by his audience and given a plate of cookies through the fourth wall, while [[Butt Monkey|Josh]] is both insulted and spit upon.

* [[Subverted Trope]] in ''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]'' , which had a fairly dark take on this in the "Smile Time" episode. Puppet demons hosted their own show and used it to steal the souls of little kids. In [[The Teaser]], a kid was watching the show and as the mom walked out of the room the lead puppet watched her walk away and then talked straight to the kid. This looks like normal [[Non Interactivity]] until {{spoiler|that particular kid, and no one else so far, loses his soul.}}

* Shane and David do this during the beginning of ''[[The Umbilical Brothers|The Upside Down Show]]''.

* An early (and iconic in Britain) example comes from ''Listen With Mother'', [[The BBC (Creator)|The BBC]]'s radio programme for children in [[The Fifties]]: "Are you sitting comfortably?" ''(Pause)'' "Then I'll begin."

* Played with in [http://ozyandmillie.org/?p=419 this] ''[[Ozy and Millie (Webcomic)|Ozy and Millie]]'' strip.

* Parodied in the ''[[Homestar Runner (Web Animation)|Homestar Runner]]'' Strong Bad Email "[http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail110.html for kids]". Strong Bad demonstrates how bad of a kids' show host he would be by hosting a show like this, and then going into a rage at how ridiculously down-talking the show is.

* ''[[Wonder Pets (Animation)|Wonder Pets]]'' normally avoids this pretty studiously, but did do it once in a [[Something Completely Different]] style story.

* ''[[Dora the Explorer (Animation)|Dora the Explorer]]'' (to the point where the show is supposedly set inside a computer game with an onscreen mouse pointer) and sister show, ''[[Go, Diego, Go (Animation)|Go Diego Go!]]!''

** When Swiper comes around, remember to shout "[[Swiper, No Swiping]]" along with Dora until he goes away.

** It does this in the [[PSPlayStation 2]] games based on the franchise too, despite the interactive media.

** Parodied in a ''[[Saturday Night Live (TV)|Saturday Night Live]]'' Dora spoof called "[https://web.archive.org/web/20121223200824/http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/tv-funhouse-maraka/84996/ Maraka]", in which the title character asks about the meaning of life, the nature of free will, and the Robert Blake murder trial while acting as though the viewers are giving a specific answer. Maraka also becomes aggravated when the "audience" does not pretend to toboggan down a mountain.

* A mainstay of ''[[Ni Hao, Kai -Lan (Animation)|Ni Hao Kai Lan]]'', especially when the episode gets to the point of resolving the [[Character Development]] issue of the day.

* French animated TV series ''[[Didou]]'' (known as Louie in the UK and Australia) plays this trope straight.

* The ''[[Where's Wally (Literature)?|Wally/Waldo]]'' TV series does this somewhat during breaks, showing a static picture and encouraging the viewer to locate Wally/Waldo before time runs out.

* The trope appears in the ''[[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (Animation)|Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends]]'' episode "One False Movie" in the Dora [[Captain Ersatz]] "Explorin' With Lauren".

* Played with very briefly in ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]'' episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns?":

{{quote| '''Dr. Hibbert:''' "We can't figure out who did it... can YOU?" ''*Points at the screen*''<br />

''(beat)'' <br />

''*[[Fourth Wall Psych|PoV changes, revealing Hibbert pointing at Chief Wiggum]]*''<br />

** This was connected to a contest the show was running in which viewers could figure out the assailant to win a prize.

* Used in ''[[Stanley (Animation)|Stanley]]'', mainly by the goldfish Dennis to quiz the viewers.

** Similarly, the Fish character on the PBSKids series ''[[The Cat in Thethe Hat Knows Aa Lot About That (Animation)!|The Cat in The Hat Knows A Lot About That]]'' does this in short segments called "Fish Facts." Played for humor, because the answer to the question is always demonstrated in the background by the actual animal while Fish is asking the question. "You're right! Next time, I'll stump you for sure."

* A mainstay of the recent Playhouse Disney programs ''My Friends Tigger & Pooh'' and ''[[Special Agent Oso (Animation)|Special Agent Oso]]''

** This actually originated, at least for Pooh, from "Welcome To Pooh Corner", where the characters ask a question, then it shows clips of children answering, or in the [[Nightmare Fuel]] episode [[Too Smart for Strangers]], what to do near a stranger. ''[[Bear in The Big Blue House|Bear in the Big Blue House]]'' used this method as well.

* The [[Ur Example]], ''[[Winky Dink (Animation)|Winky Dink]]'' [[The Merch|marketed a plastic overlay and crayons]], which were to be used to draw props on-screen (for instance, a ladder to help the title character out of a pit.) A number of children simply drew on the screen.

* Parodied on one of the [[Show Within a Show]] programs that Meatwad watches on ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Animation)|Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]''. Puppets sing and flail about, occasionally directly addressing the in-universe audience in a demonic tone. None of the characters seem to notice this at all.

{{quote| ''This is your left! Left! Left!<br />

This is your left! Left! Left!<br />

This is your left! Left! Left!<br />

* The [[Disney Junior]] show ''[[Little Einsteins (Animation)|Little Einsteins]]'' stars four child prodigies who, by the age of six, have mastered various musical instruments and forms of interpretive dance, but are still worse at problem-solving than your four-year-old is, and constantly needs their help. Er... [[Idiot Ball|sometimes]], anyway. Can be [[Fridge Brilliance]], since prodigies or not they're still just children.

* Parodied on ''[[Phineas and Ferb (Animation)|Phineas and Ferb]]'', with "Ducky Momo" [[Show Within a Show]] which is a strange hybrid of ''[[Hello Kitty]]'' and ''Dora''. Here's a sample of what an episode entailed;

{{quote| '''Narrator''': Ducky Momo needs to get to the other side of the Bumbleberry river. Can you help him find the bridge?<br />

'''Kid 1''': Its right there! Behind you!<br />

'''Kid 2''': To your left! Your ''other'' left. <br />

'''Kid 3''': No! No, not that way....that's a ''candy wrapper''.<br />

'''Kid 1''': ''Now'' where is he going?<br />

[[Category:ChildrensChildren's Show Tropes]]

[[Category:Self -Demonstrating Article]]

[[Category:Non Interactivity{{PAGENAME}}]]