What if your kids just don’t like Bluey?

It might sound hard to believe, but much like the division between adults who adore Game of Throne and those who don’t, some kids simply do not care about a blue heeler from Brisbane, writes Darren Levin.

Bluey is a show about a cartoon blue heeler from Brisbane.

You know it’s from Brisbane because everyone seems friendly, the weather is nice, and they have a backyard bigger than a postage stamp.

The premise of the show has been described as Seinfeld-ian, in that it’s ostensibly about nothing. The family spend the entirety of each seven-minute episode mucking around and playing games, which is not entirely unlike our family, but our games usually end with someone in the naughty corner and Barbie hair cuttings all over the floor.

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I usually watch all this unfold from a safe distance: behind a screen and on the couch.

Bluey, on the other hand, has been lauded for its portrayal of a modern dad that’s a bit more involved. Bandit is his name and he’s voiced by none other than Dave McCormack from the legendary ‘90s geek rock outfit Custard.

Bluey is the kind of fell-good show parents have been waiting for. Picture: ABC

Bandit is different from other TV dads. He’s not a bigot or a drunk and he actually takes an interest in his children’s lives. He’s not above turning himself into an oafish gorilla for the benefit of his daughters’ enjoyment, and if the internet is anything to go by he’s inspiring other dads to do the same.

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Bluey has been a runaway success for the ABC. In less than a year it’s become one of its most popular shows in ABC history — yes, even more popular than The Ferals, Police Rescue, or Vidiot — and it’s had 23 millions downloads. But up until last week our family hadn’t watched one minute of this supposedly unmissable show. It’s not that we’re actively avoiding it, we’re just more of a Netflix than an ABC Kids kind of household.

Every Australian kid loves Bluey. That is, every kid except my three. Picture: ABC

When I revealed this little known fact about my family on Twitter I was met with universal disdain.

Someone called me a “monster” and “irresponsible”, which I assume was in jest, but I also gave my daughters processed fruit straps for breakfast the other day so they did have a point.

Another assumed I was put off by the show’s “explosive popularity”. Was I really one of those lame people that lived my life in opposition to mass culture? My collection of Brazilian psychedelic rock records says otherwise. That stuff was lit in Sao Paulo in 1969.

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Aside from the personal attacks, which sadly go hand-in-hand with being a social media user, what struck me most about these comments was how quickly Bluey has been accepted into animated kids show canon. Is it really on par with SpongeBob SquarePants, My Little Pony, Thomas the Tank Engine?

Who this woman is, I really couldn’t tell you. Picture: HBO

In a sense it’s similar to another show I’ve never watched: the adult medieval cosplay fantasy Game Of Thrones.

A pretty good way to ostracise yourself from your colleagues is to actively avoid watching Foxtel’s Game Of Thrones. It makes water-cooler interactions even more awkward because these shows were literally dreamt up to be conversation starters around the office.

Do I really want my daughters to live with me in this smug, siloed-off world?

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So in order to make them feel less like cultural lepers, I decided to gather the family around the laptop (because no one has televisions anymore) to see what all the fuss was about.

“Ugh, this is a baby show,” our eldest piped up before the opening credits even rolled.

“Is this even appropriate?” one of our four-year-old twins quipped.

“I don’t want to watch this! I want to watch Netflix!” demanded the other.

And sure, in hindsight they were probably a bit too young for the graphic incest and extreme violence of Game Of Thrones. But hey, at least we’re all big fans of Bluey now.

Darren Levin is a columnist for RendezView. @darren_levin