Welcome to the Family TV Roundup, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

'Sid the Science Kid,' the PBS Kids show produced by the Jim Henson Company, will be celebrating the upcoming Earth Day with not one, but four new episodes with themes related to the environment. Running April 18–21 (check local listings for times), the CGI-animated episodes will focus on questions such as what happens to dirty water when it goes down the drain, how pollution affects the air we breathe, what recycling means and how animal habitats can be found almost anywhere.

Welcome to the Family TV Roundup, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

Disney Channel continues to work on filling the gaps being left by 'Hannah Montana,' 'Wizards of Waverly Place' and perhaps 'The Suite Life on Deck.' Though it has many shows already in production, such as 'ANT Farm' and the new Debby Ryan series 'Jessie,' the cable outlet is always looking for new material.

The newest is simply known as 'Ditz,' an as-yet-unpublished comic book character created by veteran writer/artist Neal Adams, Disney Channel recently acquired the rights to develop 'Ditz' into a new live-action series.

Welcome to the Family TV Roundup, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

This week we'll start off with a fun giveaway: 'iCarly' and 'Big Time Rush,' two of Nickelodeon's most popular live-action programs, are coming out on DVD in the next few weeks. TV Squad is giving three lucky readers a chance to win one copy each of 'Big Time Rush: Season 1 Volume 1' (out March 29) and 'iCarly: Season 2 Volume 3' (out April 5).

All you need to do to enter is leave a comment with your favorite moment from either show. Check out the official rules at the bottom of the post, and read on for the rest of this week's Family TV Roundup.

Welcome to the Family TV Roundup, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

Both Nickelodeon and Disney have presented their 2011-12 upfronts to the press and advertisers. As usual, both have lineups featuring new series and made-for-TV movies that will appeal to all ages. Here's a quick breakdown of what to look forward to.

Welcome to the Family TV Roundup, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

Even though its only been around for about a month, Disney Junior is already priming its lineup for when it takes over SoapNet in 2012 as a full-time young child network. In addition to the programs already seen on Disney Channel from 4AM until 2PM, Disney is acquiring two more from the United Kingdom entertainment company Chorion.

Welcome to the Family TV Roundup, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows that your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

Not many folks are very familiar with the name Dwayne McDuffie, but you might know his television work. Especially if you were a regular viewer of shows like 'Justice League Unlimited' and 'Ben 10: Alien Force.' On Tuesday, one day after his birthday, McDuffie died at the age of 49 due to complications from emergency heart surgery.

In this week's column, we take a brief look at McDuffie's impact on animated television.

Today marks a landmark change in preschool programming at Disney Channel. Playhouse Disney, which was rolled out in 1997, is no more. In its place is a newly-formatted block of programming called Disney Junior.

What's the difference? In addition to some new programming, which we'll detail after the jump, Disney Junior will be shifting their focus from just the preschooler audience to a group of children ranging in ages from 2 to 7.

Or in simpler terms, getting into direct competition with the highly successful Nick Jr. programming schedule on Nickelodeon, which features such stalwarts as 'Dora the Explorer,' 'The Backyardigans' and 'The Fresh Beat Band.'

Welcome to the Family TV Round-Up, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows that your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

Last week we spoke about Valentine's Day-themed family programming that would be appearing up to and including the actual holiday. This week, we can add one more program to the list of those who will be offering up love-themed shows.

On Monday, starting at 9AM, PBS Kids Sprout's 'Sunny Side Up Show' will be highlighting the holiday with an appearance by everyone's favorite purple dinosaur, Barney.

Welcome to the Family TV Round-Up, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows that your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

Being February, it's time for the networks and cable outlets to pull out the Valentine's Day episodes. As usual, there are some classic returns as well new episodes of your kids' favorite series. Here's a quick breakdown of what's being offered for family viewing.

Welcome to the Family TV Round-Up, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows that your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

We start this week with some year-end ratings news from the Disney family of cable channels. According to a recent press release, the company reported that ABC Family, Disney Channel and DisneyXD had the most watched years across many of their age brackets.

For ABC Family, rankings were up for women and adults 18-49. Last year also marked the highest fourth quarter and December ratings in the network's history thanks to the annual '25 Days of Christmas' and original movies like 'Christmas Cupid.'

Welcome to the Family TV Round-Up, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows that your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

With Thanksgiving out of the way, thoughts turn to Christmas and the multitude of special family programming that the networks will pull out over the next 35 days. Fact is, the period between the two holidays probably offers the most family-oriented programming for the entire year. Here's a breakdown of what some of the networks are offering.

For over four decades the furry, blue monster known as Grover has been the workhorse on 'Sesame Street.' He's served that annoying, football-shaped headed, blue-haired customer who never seems happy, he's run back an forth screaming "Near!" and "Far!" dozens of times,and he's crashed into hundreds of walls and garbage cans in his role as Super Grover.

Now, all this hard work is paying off.

Cynopsis Media is reporting that Grover is getting his own series aimed at the preschool set. Titled 'Super Grover 2.0,' the six-minute-long show will focus on age-appropriate subjects in science and technology, including mathematics. Grover will encourage viewers to follow in his scientific experiments and teach them the abilities to observe and ask questions about the world around them.

I have a 19 month-old son named Keane Black who has recently graduated from a boob-obsessed pink blob into a happy-go-lucky toddler. (Little does he know that, if he follows his father's path, he's only a few decades away from regressing back into a boob-obsessed pink blob, except this time with back hair).

The transition has been great for me because it means that my son and I are now actually able to do things together: we play ball, we color, and we watch TV.

Babies are greedy in the sense that my son seems to have no interest in watching PTI (regardless of how many times I explain to him the myriad delights of LeBatard). Thus, when we watch together, we're stuck watching his shows, specifically his all-time favorite, The Backyardigans.

While I've grown to enjoy the show, it's occurred to me there are several ways that it can be made a more effective educational device..