[NoNameHaveI]

I am going to use a term that is hard to measure: authenticity. A lot of TV programming today, not just for kids, but in general, seems to just pander to the audience rather than tell it as it is, with genuine struggle and strife. There are exceptions (The Bear, most notably). But a lot of it just seems like pablum and slop generated to attract eyeballs rather than to tell a story. Kids sense, and dislike, condescension.

[prewett]

Old skool "Sesame Street" was engineered to attract eyeballs, too. They had kids watch an episode and if their attention wandered, they changed the episode. It wasn't pablum, though, so I don't think one implies the other.