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Brian Lehrer: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. The beloved children's show Bluey. Have you heard of it? The show follows the adventures of a blue heeler puppy named Bluey who lives with her mom, dad, and sister. Well, Bluey recently had a special episode that threw some fans for a loop. Parents and other fans of Bluey, if you know you know as the saying goes. Now, if you have kids who are fans, there's probably no way you haven't seen this episode yet. Heads up everyone else if you haven't, spoiler alerts are incoming.

In the episode called The Sign, the Heeler family has decided to move away from their home in Brisbane, Australia to a new unnamed city where dad got a better-paying job. Bluey is distraught. She seeks comfort from her teacher, Calypso, and tries to stop the house from being sold by removing the for sale sign in the front yard. Okay, here's the spoiler. I'm going to give you three seconds to turn your radios off, you don't want to hear it. 3, 2, 1. It's the ending that upset so many people at the last minute. The family, the dad decides to forego the new job, the better-paying job that he told Bluey would give her a better life and stay.

Did you watch it? Did you think it sent a positive message to your children or that they have too much power to tell the parents, "I don't want to," and the parents listen? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692 Bluey watchers. First of all, you can call and say why you love Bluey. I know this is one of those kids shows that even some adults without kids have taken to watching. That's how beloved and multi-generational appeal it has.

Vulture writes, "This is electrifying ecstatic news for Bluey about that plot development. It is also a bizarre choice for a children's show that has until this point prioritized empathy and acceptance toward normal life events that caused real anxiety and turmoil for young kids." Whoa, to that dang on the Bluey episode that burn. Listeners, we will invite you now for the last 10 minutes of the show to talk about the controversial episode and whether you thought it missed the mark or held some important life lessons. Did you have to interpret it for your own little kids? 212-433-WNYC Bluey watchers, 212-433-9692. Rina in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Rina.

Rina: Hi, Brian. I'm a living grandparent of twin girls. Bluey has been such an important program. It's a little less now that they're a little older, but it's like kids can do so many things that are acceptable, and be silly and make a mess, but it's okay. The parents are just so accepting. This last one, we all watched. The parents we've watched that last episode. It's about moving, but it's also about making decisions between the husband and the wife. It's very clear to other couple that it's like, okay, the father has a better job and we are moving for a so-called better life.

For us, my husband and I, when we were living in Manhattan, and we needed to move, do we move to the suburbs or do we stay in the city where we are in New York, where we feel that that is more important than being so-called away from so-called trouble?

Brian Lehrer: Rina, thank you very much and for posing it that way. Pat in Harlem a parent. Pat, did you watch the episode?

Pat: I did. Similar to that caller, I had a similar reaction. My daughter was just like, "Yay, they're not moving." I think it is common for many parents the decision they have to make. We're wondering how long we should stay because we love our child's school and we'd love for her to graduate from there. She's just in the first grade. As New York becomes more unaffordable, we're probably going to have to end up moving soon. It's a year-by-year decision for us.

Brian Lehrer: Did you process that ending with your own child or children?

Pat: I was crying, but she did not cry. She was looking at me like, "Why are you crying?" There are lots of other things that happen like the sister was pregnant, and then there are lots of things that happened in there. It felt like they were tying up all the loose ends, and that this was the final episode, who was also crying for that reason.

Brian Lehrer: Pat, thank you very much. Kate, in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Kate.

Kate: Hi, how are you?

Brian Lehrer: Good. You had a big family party to watch?

Kate: Can you hear me?

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Can you hear me?

Kate: Yes, yes, yes. No. My kids talked about the 28-minute Bluey for a month. [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: Right. I didn't mention that part. Most of the episodes were very short eight minutes, nine minutes, and this was the big finale like 28 or something minute.

Kate: 28 minutes. Yes.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Final episode. Big deal for that show.

Kate: Absolutely. I hope it's not the final. Absolutely. My son was quite upset that they didn't end up moving. My daughter was very relieved. We talked about that, but then we did a deeper analysis as a family because there is an episode-- Three episodes before where the dad is quietly upset about something. They are on vacation, and you never understand what he's thinking about or what he's upset about. The mom just tries to keep snapping him out of that. Then we've all decided that he was thinking about taking this new job.

There always seems like, through lines or deeper ways of understanding when you watch each episode, like 30 times, like my [unintelligible 00:06:47] There's always something to pick apart which is one of the many reasons that my family absolutely loves it. When they turn on anything else, I'm like, "Can we just watch Bluey?"

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Here's a story from a listener who texted this actually happened to their family. A listener writes, "My father was offered a major promotion that involved to move when I was a child. We had a family meeting about it, and we children did not want to leave our friends and local family. My father turned down the promotion. At 40, I still question whether that was in everyone's best interest." That's interesting.

To your ik, what about this text? A listener writes, "Did Bluey's dad really decide not to move? He only took away the sign." That's true. That's how it ends. He takes away the for sale sign from the house. Listener says, "That doesn't mean they won't sell." Did you see that ambiguity in the ending?

Kate: Well, that's what I was going to say because they go back into the house, but I don't know. Maybe there's another twist to it, and it wouldn't be shocking in this show if there was.

Brian Lehrer: Kate, thank you. Thank you very much. Nadia in Northern New Jersey, you're on WNYC. Hi, Nadia.

Nadia: Yes. Hi. Sorry. I need to park somewhere. I loved how they spoke about topics that might be a little bit too grown up for kids, but I think topics like these need to be discussed with kids because they might face things like what moving and a parent getting a new job, and how change is a good thing to happen too and not a bad thing. Not everything in life will be peaceful and a straight line that things will happen. I love that they touched on a subject like that because Bluey is very happy-go-lucky.

It sends a positive message to kids, but I think topics that [unintelligible 00:08:53] discuss for parents was very much a good thing in the episode. I am also a children's book author so I touch on that subject. My third book that I'm working on is about discussing the topic of let's say, a parent losing their job. A lot of kids are having that happen to them that their parents are losing their jobs. That of itself is a change. I'm really glad the producers and writers of Bluey are touching on subjects that can--

Brian Lehrer: Are challenging.

Nadia: --be part of conversation.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Nadia, I have to leave it there because we're out of time. We are out of time for the Brian Lehrer Show for this week. Produced by Mary Croke, Lisa Allison, Amina Srna, Carl Boisrond, and Esperanza Rosenbaum. Zach Gottehrer-Cohen edits our national politics podcast. Have a great weekend, everyone, and stay tuned for All Of It.

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