Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Imaginative premise, but may conflict little ones.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that young kids may not understand the difference between real and imaginary in this series. Potty humor and under-the-radar sexual references ("A bust this big needs ample support," in regards to a bust statue, for instance) crop up, and the main characters often yell and shout in frustration and are prone to breaking the rules.

  • The show's primary intent is to entertain rather than educate.
  • The imaginary friends usually get along, but rebellious behavior is encouraged.
  • The characters don't shy away from breaking the rules when it suits them/their purposes, and they frequently get frustrated with each other. That said, the friends are usually there for each other when it counts.
  • Extreme anger and threats are common, but no physical fights.

What's the story?

FOSTER'S HOME FOR IMAGINARY FRIENDS is just what old Mrs. Foster has turned her mansion into. When imaginary friends are cast aside by frustrated parents, they end up in this safe-house, where they can be visited by their "creator." This is a relief to young Mac, who visits his old pal Blooregard Q. Kazoo. Bloo was sent away by Mac's mom, who thought he was too old for an imaginary friend. But to Mac's delight, he makes fast friends with the eclectic bunch of monsters at Foster's Home and an escape from his scary older brother.


Is it any good?

 

The imaginary friends are an interesting and diverse bunch of characters, but they run around in a pack and contribute very little to the plot. The premise is sweet, but the content is nothing more than rough-and-tumble boys' games. Instead of following an imaginative storyline, the main characters yell and shout in frustration, buck the rules, and wrangle the innocent and vulnerable. It's hard not to wonder whether the creator dropped out of the project altogether, leaving it in the hands of less-capable writers. This series isn't meant for younger children, since it has confusing messages. Young kids may not understand what's real and what's imaginary.


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What families can talk about

  • Families can talk about imaginary friends. Why do so many kids have them?

  • Kids: If you could create an imaginary friend, what would he/she look
    like? What kinds of things would he/she do?

  • What are the
    benefits/disadvantages of having an imaginary buddy?


This review was written by Joly Herman
Teen, 18 years old
January 3, 2011
 
BEST SHOW!!!
Just when I thought CommonSense couldn't lose any more of their "common sense", they give Foster's two stars and Fanboy & Chum Chum three. C'mon! If anything, Foster's has better role models and more imagination than any of the newer shows combined! Mac and Bloo never give up on each other, even if they have to live apart. No matter how angry or upset they get, they always end up in each others' arms. How can you not see the brilliance in this show? Everything about it is great: the plot, the characters, the lessons. Did you guys even watch the show? Some of these CommonSense reviews don't even seem well though up enough.

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Kid, 13 years old
December 12, 2010
 
A Truly Wonderful Show
This show is incredibly funny, colorful, imaginative, and adorable. Everyone in the show is a good person, and while Bloo has a tendency to be mischevious, the show is NOT encouraging it. What this show IS encouraging is being creative, imaginative, oing what's right, and just letting kids be kids. There are quite a few suggestive jokes, such as one episode being named "Neighbor Pains," but they are all incredibly subtle and will fly over most kids heads. There are also some instances and characters that could be considered scary (Wilt lost his arm by being SHOVED into a wall an having to get it amputated) but that's really all you have to worry about. The jokes are clever and hilarious, and do a good job of being funny while steering away frm potty humor and snarkiness. The art is well done, beating just about any CGI cartoon you'll see these days. I watch this show with my dad, my nine year old brother, and my three year old sister. It really has something for all age groups.

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Kid, 12 years old
August 8, 2010
 
Enjoy watching it!
Some kids of ages 6 and older will enjoy watching this!

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Teen, 14 years old
August 8, 2010
 
Enjoy watching it!
Some kids of ages 6 and older will enjoy watching this!

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Kid, 11 years old
August 8, 2010
 
Enjoy watching it!
Some kids of ages 6 and older will enjoy watching this!

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Teen, 15 years old
October 3, 2010
 
One of my top favorites
It was a fairly good show, I always got excited when it came on. There are a few fights, and the first movie was a little scary, but otherwise this show is really intertaning. All the differen't imaginary friends, and the caretakers of them all, Frankie, Madam Foster, and Mr. Herimen are just hysterical when they argue. It's always fun, they get themselves into wacky situations, and Wilt, Edwardo, Coco, they're all so friendly! Concittering it is not on, I'd suggest buying it on DVD, you won't regret it.

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Parent
October 14, 2011
 
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!
Wow! I cant belive how violent this is! N0 KIDS! How this is TV-Y7 and not TV-MA.

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
Great for both kids and adults
Mac is a good boy- bright, sensitive, and a little shy. His mother insists he's too old to have an imaginary friend. She means well, but Mac and his imaginary friend Bloo refuse to part. So Mac secretly brings Bloo to Foster's, where many other colorful imaginary friends live because their creators gave them up. The other friends are hoping to be adopted by a new kid, but Madame Foster, for whom the home is named, agrees to a deal with Mac that as long as he visits Bloo every day, Bloo will always be his and no other child will ever be able to adopt him. So now Bloo has a new home, makes new friends, gets into new mischief, and still sees his best buddy Mac every day. I love this cartoon! It's so funny, even by adult standards. I don't know why potty humor is considered a factor here, because it really isn't. There might be a total of five or six "suggestive" comments in the entire series, they are all very mild, and should go right over the heads of anyone under the age of 8 or 9 anyway. And it does handle lessons and morals like friendship, loyalty, courage, peer pressure, self esteem, and others. On TV it's rated Y7, probably because some younger kids might find some of the imaginary friends a little scary looking, particularly the "Extremesaurs", but they don't make very many appearances. But even if some of the friends are "monsters", you can't find any funnier or nicer, other than maybe in puppet form.

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
This is a wonderful show!!!!
Foster's is a wonderful show about a boy named Mac and his imaginary friend, Bloo. Bloo now lives at Foster's because Mac's mother thought that Mac was too old to have an imaginary friend. With Mrs. Foster's help, Bloo is allowed to stay at Foster's and not be adopted out as long as Mac stays loyal and visits Bloo every day. This is a wonderful cartoon. Yes, Bloo does get into quite a bit of mischief, but the mischief is NOT encouraged. The lessons my son has learned from this show (reinforcing lessons from Mom and Dad)are priceless. My son often will state "Uh-oh! Bloo's being naughty again. He shouldn't be doing that." or "Bloo's being stingy, he should share." Things to this effect where he calls Bloo on his poor behavior. At this point, if my son has recently been naughty with similar actions, all I have to say is "Reminds me of a little boy I know....". Then, he more effectively realizes that he had been acting like Bloo and corrects his behavior since he caught the naughty-factor in Bloo himself. It also shows me that the lessons we are teaching my son are not falling on deaf ears! :) Besides the social lessons, the entertainment value is great. For the naysayers on this show, please watch the shows with your children. This show is being widely misconstrued. We need to be watching these shows with our children to explain things and to help put them in the correct context.

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Teen, 14 years old
August 17, 2010
 
Great Show
This was a great show. It was very creative and funny and it was sad to see it go.

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This review was written by Joly Herman
This review was written by Joly Herman
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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