Soaking up the stoopid like a SpongeBob
Published 12:01 am Monday, September 12, 2011
Barnacles! A study of 60 4-year-old children randomly assigned to watch “SpongeBob SquarePants,” or “Caillou,” a slower-paced PBS cartoon, or draw a picture and then given a mental function test, found that those children who watched just nine minutes of “SpongeBob” did worse than the other two groups on the test.
Fans of the Nickelodeon cartoon said they believed the test was rigged because it didn’t ask important U.S. history questions like, “Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?”
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It’s raining “Men”: Among the crop of new shows on network TV schedules is the retooled “Two and a Half Men,” with Ashton Kutcher joining the cast following the departure of tiger-blood pitchman Charlie Sheen.
Not surprisingly, adults who watched the CBS sit-com, regardless of whether it was before or after Sheen’s departure, had even lower test scores than 4-year-olds who had watched “SpongeBob.”
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Don’t know much about history: On this day in 2010, pop singer and Madonna-patent holder Lady Gaga swept the MTV Video Music Awards with eight wins, accepting the awards while wearing a dress made of meat.
Conservators with Oh, Boy! Oberto preserved the dress prior to its donation to the Smithsonian.
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