TOILET TRAINING: TV TROPES

I also found this interesting so here 'tis. 

THE DIAPER CHANGE: TV TROPES

Here's a pretty spot-on summary of the way the use of diapers by babies and the subsequent task of changing them is often handled in popular culture.

I would like to add two more:

Nobody ever shuts up the person whining about diapers by pointing out that someone had to change them.

Second, even when a newborn or infant has a dirty diaper, it still stinks, even though diapers don't begin to smell that way till the child starts eating solid foods, or so I am told.

At any rate, the examples stated below the main content in the link should invoke some feelings of nostalgia, if not also disgust and a sudden desire to cut the cord. 

GREATEST FEMININ HYGENE COMMERCIAL EVER

Or possibly the greatest commercial ever.

This is so Australian! 

FORMER PRICE IS RIGHT PRODUCER REVEALS PROTOCOL FOR WHEN EXCITED CONTESTANTS PEE THEIR PANTS

PEOPLE

 

Former Price is Right Producer Reveals Protocol for When Excited Contestants Accidentally 'Pee Their Pants'

A former 'Price is Right' producer tells PEOPLE some of the show's behind-the-scenes secrets, including how they have protocols in place in case contestants pee their pants

By Gillian Telling  Published on March 23, 2024 10:00AM EDT

 

The idea of being on national television and winning big bucks is pretty exciting, no matter who you are.

 

This is why there used to be a protocol in place, in case contestants got a little too enthusiastic when their names were called to come up and play, and they accidentally wet their pants, according to a former Price is Right producer.

 

"When I got there, they had a system in place in case someone peed their pants," former producer Mike Richards tells PEOPLE.

 

Richards, who worked behind the scenes at places like Dick Clark productions and Jeopardy!, was at Price is Right as it transitioned from the Bob Barker-hosting era to the Drew Carey-hosting era.

 

"I never saw it happen, but there were curtains and a blow dryer and [a] pair of sweats just in case, since we'd have to get on with the show," he recalls.

 

Richards has so many interesting stories from his days as a game show producer, including his short time at Jeopardy!

 

"A lot of people don't know that before each show, Alex Trebek would walk out and give a little speech, he says. "Not an interview, just a little speech. And no one helped him with that. It was never on a prompter. He just went out and did it, and we had no idea what he was going to say. And every time it sounded like he has spent months writing it. He was just so gifted."

 

Richards also worked at Let's Make A Deal when it first launched with Wayne Brady as the host.

 

"We shot that first season in Las Vegas, and it was in August," he recalls. "And the studio did not have enough air conditioning for August in Vegas. It was like 99 degrees in there, and everyone was just sweating through their clothes."

 

However, armpit stains were the least of their concerns.

 

"It was 2008. The economy was collapsing. People were sneaking in and sleeping in our bedroom sets," he says.

 

"I'll also never forget one time the audience coordinator ran up to me and said we only had 15 people in the audience for a 280-person theater. I was like, 'Oh great,'" he continues. "And then, someone else came up to me and said 'Somebody just drove a forklift through the back of the Porsche we were going to give away as the big deal of the day.' The executive producer looks at me and goes, 'I got the Porsche. You get the audience.'"

 

Richards says he ran across the street into the MGM Grand and began recruiting guests to come to the taping. "I was like, 'You'll get a prize!'" He somehow managed to fill the theater.

 

"At the end of the day, it all looks like a big polished network production, but there were times we were grappling to get it done," he says.

 

Richards recently opened up to PEOPLE about losing his job as the new host of Jeopardy!, as well as the ongoing search for a new host, which eventually went to Ken Jennings.

 

He notes that people have told him he should write a book about all the wild things he's seen working at game shows, but he's only interested in writing about working with his mentors.

 

"If I wrote a book, it would be as a fan," he explains of getting the chance to work with people like Dick Clark, Bob Barker, Monty Hall, Pat Sajak and of course, Trebek. "Unless it's about those people? I'm not interested."

RUGRATS S 1 E 4 BABY COMMERCIAL/LITTLE DUDE

Here's an episode of "Rugrats" that brings back childhood memories and contains a lot of diaper content. 

KIM'S CONVENIENCE AND ELIMINATION COMMUNICATION

With this scene, CBC once again proves its hypocrisy. They constantly talk about multiculturalism and cultural sensitivity, but here prove themselves to be the ignoramuses they are. Elimination communication has been traditionally practiced in Korea, so Mr. Kim would have known all about and been down with it. 

Probably in real life that scene would have been like:

"Afternoon, Mr. Kim. Just coming in to pot the baby."

"Go right ahead." 

SUSAN ROMAN FOR PAMPERS

Here's the accomplished actress and voice actress, whom I remember from "Care Bears", in a commercial for Pampers from 1995. 

JOHNSON'S DISPOSABLE DIAPERS COMMERCIAL 1978

Hope their diapers didn't cause cancer like their baby powder. 

MOLLY BURKE INTERVIEWS SHAYLA BROWN

  I don't know what's more remarkable: the fact she's a 19 year old blind actress whose already landed a feature film role or the fact she so casually talks about having her period. 

VINTAGE PAMPERS COMMERCIALS

Have been watching a lot of old Pampers commercials from the sixties and seventies lately, including     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH_U-xGn4xU Were they actually able to be flushed down the toilet at one time? Also, pretty progressive for the third commercial in the set to feature all guys with the Dad changing the baby. 

A COUPLE WONDERFUL DIAPER COMMERCIALS

First, we have the Huggies Grandmas ad. It's heartwarming to think of these grandmother's love and devotion to their grandkids and, in that same vein, how many diapers they've changed over the years: their kids, grandchildren and who knows who else. 

Next, the Pampers Lullaby spot. It grabs you emotionally and won't let go. I also appreciate the fact the product is not overtly advertised.

CARE BEARS HUGS AND TUGS DIAPER CLIP

Here's a cute excerpt from the classic Care Bears cartoon that helped make me interested in diapers as a child. I do, however resent the sexist implications of this clip as one of the best compliments I ever got was from a young woman who was teaching a parenting class. She told me, "You change a diaper better than any guy I've ever known.

Here 'tis.

NINA NEEDS TO GO IS AN EXAMPLE OF EVERYTHING WRONG WITH SOCIETY

1. Deal with things when they become a problem rather than try to prevent them. How about Nina goes to the bathroom before she leaves the house, or before the family starts doing whatever it's doing.

2. The parents are whipped. Rather than asking, how about insist Nina use the bathroom.

3. No matter how badly you screw up and no matter how much that screwing up is your own fault, someone will always come along and bail you out.

4. Break rules if you have to in order to get what you want or need.

5. There are no consequences. Nina never fails to make it to the bathroom, thus having an accident and being embarrassed.

6. There's no real expectation of change. You can't keep saying "Never gonna do that again" and "Now I know" and yet keep doing the same stupid thing over and over and over again.

This show is co-created with Pullups in hopes that children will emulate Nina and start wetting their pants again, causing you to give up on toilet training altogether and keep your kids in diapers forever.