Julia — Sesame Street’s First Character With Autism

Posted on March 28, 2017 at 3:03 pm

Sesame Street’s television series has a new character. Her name is Julia, she loves bubbles, and she has autism.

Julia has already been a Sesame Street online character, and it is great to see her on ths whow, letting families see “the amazing in all kids” and learn how to make friends with different kinds of people.

And Sesame Street gets a visit from Sia, who shows a bit of her face for a change as she sings about songs!

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Disabilities and Different Abilities Movie Mom’s Top Picks for Families Television

MVP of the Week: Dan Stevens

Posted on March 21, 2017 at 3:55 pm

Dan Stevens has been best known as Matthew Crawley in “Downton Abbey,” but this week he seems to be everywhere, starring opposite Emma Watson as the prince and the Beast in “Beauty and the Beast,” and opposite Anne Hathaway in a very different kind of monster story, “Colossal.” Think of it as “Beauty and the Beast,” except he’s the beauty. Kind of. He also stars on television in one of the most unusual superhero stories of all time, “Legion.”

Coming up, Stevens stars in “The Ticket.”

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Actors Superhero Television

Sandie Angulo Chen: Women Writers on the TV Characters Who Inspired Them

Posted on March 20, 2017 at 10:29 pm

My friend and fellow critic Sandie Angulo Chen has a Women’s History Month column on Mom 2.0 featuring women writers describing the TV characters who inspired them, from Starbuck on “Battlestar Galactica” to the TV moms on “The Cosby Show,” “Roseanne,” “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Speechless,” and “Black-Ish,” to independent, intelligent, curious characters like Murphy Brown, Olivia Pope, and, one of my choices, Mrs. Peel, played by Diana Rigg in “The Avengers.”

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Gender and Diversity Television Understanding Media and Pop Culture
Interview: Matthew Faraci on His New Series About Faith, “Frankly Faraci”

Interview: Matthew Faraci on His New Series About Faith, “Frankly Faraci”

Posted on March 20, 2017 at 8:00 am

Copyright Matthew Faraci 2016
Copyright Matthew Faraci 2016
The first episode of Frankly Faraci is premiering March 21, 2017 on Dove Channel, Featuring The Piano Guys. In each episode, Matthew Faraci talks with someone who is doing great things in the world because of their Christian faith. Guest from the arts, sports, politics, and other disciplines talk about their faith and how it inspires their choices. The series is available on Roku, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, iOS, and Google Play.

In an interview, Matthew Faraci told me how he finds guests and makes them comfortable talking about their beliefs, and what he has learned.

Where do you find the guests for the show?

I am an avid researcher, and Dove Channel also has a very sharp team who knows how to dig. We’re looking for very specific voices—we want people who are well-known, doing amazing things in the world, and driven to do so by their faith. When we find personalities that fit these criteria, we reach out and ask for an interview.

What faiths and faith traditions do you include?

All good people who follow the Good Book.

How do you make your guests feel comfortable talking about faith?

To begin, we don’t select people who are shy about their faith. If a guest comes on Frankly Faraci, he or she is happy to discuss it. Then there’s a deeper answer. We sit down with people in environments where they are most comfortable and feel most at home, and then have a conversation almost as if the cameras aren’t there. This “magic formula” creates the right conditions for an interview that really delves into what ’s inside our guests.

Do the guests discuss their own faith journeys? For most of them, did it begin with their families when they were children or was it something they came to as adults?

The most beautiful thing—to me—is to see the wide ranges of people’s stories. Everyone has their own journey and their own story, the best part of the job is to get to ask those questions.

What Bible verses do you find most quoted by your guests as inspirational?

I most often quote a verse which sums up the show. Matthew 5:16 says “…let your light shine before men so they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” That’s the common thread, that’s what all each and every one of these people are doing. As they shine their light, our job is to shine a light on them!

In your homeschooling, how do you connect lessons of faith to opportunities to solve problems and help others for your children?

Our educational approach is to mirror as closely as we can the education that many of America’s Founders received through the Noah Plan. This Biblical-centric approach informs us that faith is not a supplement to dealing with life’s challenges but rather the very foundation. In this sense, every challenge and every opportunity can be approached through that lens.

How can parents set a good example of showing how faith connects their beliefs and their actions?

I don’t believe kids listen to what parents say as much as they watch what we do. If you want your kids to be faithful, you have to live out your faith in your own life. When they see that you are authentic and that you mean it, as Proverbs says “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.” In the 2nd episode of season one, we interviewed Bryan and Diane Schwartz who have a group called FamilyGoals.co. Their approach is amazing! They are empowering parents to win at home, and to have the kind of family they’ve always hoped for!

What have you learned from your guests?

Biggest Lesson: diversity was God’s invention, and it’s mind-blowing to see the way He uses different people to bless the world. For example, Studio C reaches families and kids through their amazingly funny, family-friendly comedy, The Piano Guys do the same but through their music, and Propaganda is reaching young people in a way that I never could. That blesses me so much.

I often sit back and pinch myself and ask, why do I get to do this show? How is it that I have the opportunity to interview these people? It is an absolute thrill to be a part of this show, and I believe that people will see my passion and excitement and getting excited right along with me. Joy is infectious, positivity is infectious!

I want people to take two things away from this show. First, for people who don’t come from a faith background, I want them to see that faithful people are cool, fun-loving, carefree, and amazing…because that is my own experience. And for people that do come from a faith background, I want them to be inspired, to understand that they can climb to new heights and there are no limits. As the Good Book says, with God, all things are possible.

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Interview Television

Musical Crossover Episodes: Supergirl and Flash (and a Glee Reunion!)

Posted on March 19, 2017 at 7:29 pm

March 20 and 21, 2017, be sure to tune in to see a two-part crossover musical treat starring Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and Flash (Grant Gustin), with a special appearance from Benoist’s “Glee” co-star Darren Criss. The cast also includes Broadway musical veterans Jesse L. Martin (original cast of “Rent”), Victor Garber (“Godspell”), and Jeremy Jordan (“Newsies”).

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Television
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