Netflix is Rebooting This Controversial Kids' Show

If you've ever worked a childcare position or just hung around with your own kids, you can truly appreciate the value of a memorable kids' TV show. Once your kids connect with a certain character or series, it's all downhill from there. It's lunchboxes, stuffed toys, pajamas, and anything else you can slap a logo on from then until the end of time -- or at least until they hit their next developmental stage.

Streaming services of all kinds, just like the cable networks that came before them, are building out sections to exclusively host content for children. This is a life-saver for busy parents, especially in the last few years when stay-at-home orders had them  working (and child-caring) all from home. Streaming your kiddo's favorite show means you can give them what they want to see on-demand. What a blessing.

Netflix  (NFLX) - Get Free Report counts itself among the mega-streaming sites with a section catering specifically to children. All-ages viewers can scroll through popular kids shows from generations past or brand new shows produced exclusively by and for the popular streaming service. And it may not be Disney  (DIS) - Get Free Report, but Netflix is no slouch when it comes to snagging popular kids franchises.

The old-school streaming service has spent years acquiring popular children's IPs like "The Magic School Bus", "Fairly Odd-Parents", "Goosebumps", and more. Some of the streamer's "kids' shows" have drawn praise from kids and adults alike, including animated hero's sagas like 'She-Ra' and 'The Dragon Prince'. 

Now, Netflix is looking to expand offerings for its youngest viewers by bringing back a childhood favorite from the late 90s. Adults may not understand it, but toddlers love it -- whether you like it or not, the Teletubbies are coming back to a television screen near you. 

Netflix Reboots Teletubbies with Star Tituss Burgess

In 2000, "Teletubbies", along with other popular kids' shows like "S Club 7" and "Bob the Builder", helped the British Broadcasting Corp. boost its revenue by a whopping 15% that year. "Teletubbies" alone generated more than £90M in revenue for the BBC over a period of four years, and it made a permanent mark on the all-ages sector of pop culture. 

Thanks to Netflix, these adorable little TV-bellied creatures are headed back to television to introduce toddlers to shapes, colors, sunshine, and fun. And this time, Laa-Laa, Dispy, Tinky-Winky, and Po will be joined by iconic Broadway sensation and breakout star of "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" Tituss Burgess.

Burgess will serve as the show's narrator, lending his sweet tones to the rebooted children's franchise. The show is set to premiere this November, and is well-timed to capture the attention of the young children whose parents enjoyed the original show.

The Teletubbies & Tituss Are A Progressive Match

When PBS brought the Teletubbies to the United States, the show was skyrocketed into infamy -- and not just because of its popularity among toddlers. Conservative Christian pundit Jerry Falwell infamously claimed that the purple Teletubby, Tinky-Winky, was a symbol for homosexuality.

The idea gained enough traction that the head of the show's production company Kenn Viselman even made an official statement about the claim, saying that the TV-tummied baby-like character was “not gay. He’s not straight. He’s just a character in a children’s series. I think that we should just let the Teletubbies go and play in Teletubbyland and not try to define them.”

Falwell's accusation inadvertently turned Tinky-Winky into a gay rights icon, and has since served as a conversation point about representation and how children interact with diversity. And while Viselman's point -- that the Teletubbies are just innocuous kids' show characters -- is valid, you'd be remiss to ignore Tituss' status as another colorful and wholesome gay icon.