Like, my parents are like so stupid!

As Disney Channel shows are created and dropped, one line of commonality can be found from all of the newer shows (newer meaning not from the 90s): the kids are faultless and the parents are fumbling fools. Without a doubt in every new and upcoming Disney show, the parents are portrayed as stupid, lacking common sense and forever avoiding responsibility. For example in Good Luck, Charlie, the father is often avoiding saying anything that would upset his wife, instead of having a real, human conversation with her. The mother is stuck in her teenage state of mind and is often acting more childish than her children. Since when is it ok for the rocks of the family to be portrayed as dead weight?

Several bloggers have sounded off on this very topic. Here are two bloggers who tear apart Disney's horrible writing:

http://cheboricuas.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-stupid-parents-on-kids-tv-shows.html

http://herlifeinspired.com/2013/05/03/disney-channel-programming-for-kids/

Here's a quote from the second blog:

So much of our world has changed in the past ten years alone.  Yet Disney continues to promote shows built around formulaic characters that reinforce negative cultural and gender stereotypes.  There’s the doofus dad (Good Luck Charlie, A.N.T. Farm); the scheming brother (Good Luck Charlie, Jessie, Wizards of Waverly Place); the not too bright best friend (Wizards of Waverly Place, Austin & Ally).  But the worse show on the channel by far is Jessie.  A show about self-absorbed absentee parents that have left a flighty, inexperienced nanny and lazy butler to care for their culturally diverse adopted brood that represents as many stereotypes as it does ethnicities.

 This is the family on the show, Good Luck Charlie.


Finally, SNL got something right!
This clip is from a few years ago, but one of the best lines is "Parents' Permission NOT needed!" It perfectly portrays a central theme among disney shows--parents are a bother and often in the way of their kids' lives and fun.

http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/videos/disney-acting-school-skit/
If SNL can get something right, maybe disney should give it a try.