ETC: Avatar - The Last Airbender

We don't watch a whole lot of TV. Mostly that's because we've gotten ourselves into a situation where it's very difficult to watch it. We used to have cable, but we didn't watch much TV, even then. So I built an antenna which enabled us to get local TV and we canceled our cable. Now we have fewer channels and there's less on so we watch even less TV. Now that we watch even less TV, it seems like it would be silly to get cable again. We'd just be paying more for more TV to watch more TV and it's hard to feel like a good parent making that decision, so we're stuck.
We do watch movies though. Every Friday and Saturday night we sit down and watch a movie for somewhere between half and hour and an hour. This usually lets us split a normal movie between both nights. It's a family thing, it's fun. It is sometimes hard to find movies that are good for an age range of four to ten. You don't want to freak out the little ones, but you don't want to bore the big ones. That's why when my brother gave the kids Avatar - The Last Airbender for Christmas a few years ago, we were skeptical. I mean really, how could my childless younger brother possibly have the inside scoop on something that would be appropriate for my kids? And something I'd never heard of? Impossible! But he was right. His youth and complete refusal to grow up when I was off pretending to be an adult in college had kept him clued in to this incredible TV show that blew right by me.
The series follows Aang, the last of a tribe of people who can manipulate air at their will to fight. On top of that, he's also the reincarnated Avatar, a sort of supreme being who can control all of the elements, air, water, fire and earth, and is supposed to keep balance and peace between the tribes that have the ability to control each. It sounds a little weird, and in some ways it is, but it's brilliant. It's engaging to everyone from my youngest all the way up to me. It has action and comedy that everyone can cheer and laugh with. It has a few scenes that are so well written, so emotional, that I was literally crying. In short, it's always appropriate and simply brilliant.
There are 61 episodes between the three sets, Air, Water and Fire. Each episode is just over 20 minutes long and we generally watched two a night, four a weekend. Even with quite a few other movies to choose, we've watched it all the way through twice in the last few years. Often when there's a movie on for the kids I'm sitting off to the side reading a book either because I've seen the movie already or because I'm just not interested in it. When Avatar is on, I'm right there in the middle of the couch with kids piled all around me, as engaged in the show as they are. A big thanks to my brother, I owe you one.