Not a toddler, not a parent, but still love 'Bluey'? You're not alone

PHOENIX (AP) — A small blue dog with an Australian accent has captured the hearts of people across the world.

She's the title character of “Bluey,” a kids' program consisting of seven-minute episodes that have enraptured children and adults alike. This week's release of its longest episode yet — at a whopping 28 minutes — prompted an outpouring of appreciation for the show, even from those who are neither toddler nor parent.

“Bluey” follows an Australian blue heeler who, along with her sister (a red heeler named Bingo), navigates the days between home and school. It's a favorite among children for its playful humor, but it also appeals to adults reminiscing about childhood.

“My childhood experience wasn't the greatest so I've always resonated with shows where life is good,” says Miriam Neel, who lives in Colorado. “The parents in ‘Bluey’ enable imagination and creativity and really get involved with their kids, and I wish I had those experiences.”

Neel is 32 and has chosen not to have any children of her own. She says the show has become part of her morning routine and is often a go-to choice for background noise when she is working from home.

“I'm not going to speak for the entire generation, but millennials find comfort in cartoons. It's what a lot of us grew up watching,” she said. “And if I'm going to spend time watching something I'd rather watch something that doesn't make me afraid of the world, like any of the ‘Law & Order’ shows.”

“Bluey,” which now boasts more than 150 episodes, premiered in Australia in 2018 and began streaming on Disney+ in 2020. It also has been adapted into a digital series where famous fans like Bindi Irwin and Eva Mendes read some of the popular storybooks, and a live theater show that travels around the world.

The show has also won multiple awards, including the Australian Film Institute Award for best children’s television drama every year since 2019 and an International Emmy Kids Award.

The series provides a child's perspective into morning routines, errands and chores, while also giving viewers a glimpse of what life is like for parents through mother Chilli and father Bandit.

This week's special episode, “The Sign,” explores the emotions surrounding themes that resonate with both children and adults — moving houses, marriage, infertility and relationships after divorce. In addition to these universal themes, the episode wraps up the third season with Easter eggs for dedicated fans.

Lindsey Schmidt, 40, says the show's continuity keeps her family looking forward to more.

“There are so many callbacks to previous episodes,” says Schmidt, who lives in Ohio with her husband and three children. “The shows that we watch with our kids regularly don’t reflect our lives like this show does. These anthropomorphic dogs feel just like us."

But there are mixed feelings about the ending of the episode — SPOILER — in which the Heeler family scraps their move. Some families who relocate often for work found it unrealistic. Meg Korzon, 31, is in the process of a cross-country relocation with her four children because her husband is in the military. It's her seventh move in 10 years.

“I was hoping it would be an episode that aligned itself with the realities of life, our lives, as a military family,” she says. “I was selfishly disappointed because it could have been an episode about change and growth."

But the show does not shy away from other difficult topics — and that is part of the charm for adults as well.

“As a parent you aspire to be as good of parents as Chilli and Bandit are as parents. They always have a great way of talking kids through issues,” Schmidt's 40-year-old husband John says, adding that the couple often refers back to episodes when trying to explain things to their children.

The series has touched on topics of aging, death and making friends as an adult. It also has introduced a character who uses sign language and another with ADHD.

Jacqueline Nesi, an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University, notes that “Bluey” promotes self-regulation and conflict resolution for children and engaged parenting and patience for adults.

“We see them working through some of the challenges that we, as parents, might be facing, too. And at the same time, they offer a nice model for different parenting skills — asking open-ended questions to facilitate kids’ creativity, using natural consequences when they misbehave, actively playing with them and letting them take the lead,” she says.

The show has also done a lot to expose children to the world of animation, flaunting different styles in the episodes “Escape” and “Dragon,” providing a near-voiceless episode in “Rain,” and breaching the fourth wall in “Puppets,” where the show stops briefly to zoom out on the creation of just a couple seconds of animated frames.

It's also credited with appealing to dogs — and not because the characters are the same species.

Research has said dogs have vision similar to red-green color blindness in humans, meaning their color spectrum is limited to blue, yellow, brown and shades of gray — which happen to be the colors of the Heeler family. There were more pets named Bluey, Bingo, Chilli and Bandit across the U.S. last year, too, according to Rover.

So it's fairly safe to say “Bluey” has appeal across species, as well as generations.

“I used to tell people what do ‘The Sopranos,’ ‘The Wire’ and ‘Breaking Bad’ have in common? They all have lower IMDb scores than Bluey. It used to anyway. I watched all these great shows, but I think ‘Bluey’ is still a favorite, maybe because I have kids. But I put it right up there with all of them,” John Schmidt says, admitting that he and his wife have watched the episodes without their children.

Schmidt says the episode tied a nice bow to end the season, and would be a perfect series finale otherwise.

“I get emotional about the potential of Bluey no longer having new episodes,” says Schmidt. “But we'll see.”

This image released by Disney+ shows a scene from the television series "Bluey." (Disney+ via AP)

This image released by Disney+ shows a scene from the television series "Bluey." (Disney+ via AP)

This image released by Disney+ shows a scene from the television series "Bluey." (Disney+ via AP)

This image released by Disney+ shows a scene from the television series "Bluey." (Disney+ via AP)

This image released by Disney+ shows a scene from the television series "Bluey." (Disney+ via AP)

This image released by Disney+ shows a scene from the television series "Bluey." (Disney+ via AP)

This image released by Disney+ shows a scene from the television series "Bluey." (Disney+ via AP)

Colored pencils sit around a drawing of "Bluey" the Australian kids' television program character on a sketch pad Friday, April 19, 2024, in Phoenix, Ariz. (AP Photo/Cheyanne Mumphrey)

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump could face more sanctions over another round of potential gag order violations when witness testimony in his hush money trial resumes Thursday morning.

Judge Juan M. Merchan will hold a hearing over four more online posts that prosecutors say violate the court's mandate barring the former president from speaking publicly about jurors or key witnesses in the case. Merchan already found Trump in contempt of court on Tuesday, fining him $9,000 over nine online posts and threatening him with jail time if he continues violating the gag order.

It’s unclear when Merchan might rule on the new sanctions request. The trial is in its 10th day.

Keith Davidson is expected to return to the stand after dominating Tuesday's witness testimony, outlining how he negotiated hush money deals with the National Enquirer and Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, on behalf of former Playboy model Karen McDougal and porn actor Stormy Daniels.

Prosecutors have said that Trump and others conducted a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election by purchasing and burying salacious stories that might hurt his campaign.

Trump is accused of falsifying internal business records to cover up hush money payments — including $130,000 given to Daniels by Cohen — recording them instead as legal expenses.

He has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

The case is the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president and the first of four prosecutions of Trump to reach a jury.

Currently:

— Key players: Who’s who at Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial

— The hush money case is just one of Trump’s legal cases. See the others here

— Read the judge's full order on Donald Trump's gag order violations

— Trump calls judge ‘crooked’ after facing a warning of jail time if he violates a trial gag order

Here's the latest:

Prosecutors in Donald Trump's hush money case are seeking more fines — and not jail time — for the former president over more alleged violations of his gag order.

Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy asked the judge to impose a $1,000 fine for each of the four violations, which prosecutors contend include comments made in the hallway outside the courtroom, where Trump often speaks to reporters.

In one of those monologues, Trump attacked Michael Cohen as a “liar.”

“The defendant is talking about witnesses and the jury in this case, one right here outside this door,” said Conroy, the prosecutor. “This is the most critical time, the time the proceeding has to be protected.”

Conroy said prosecutors were not yet seeking jail time as punishment because the alleged violations at issue happened before Merchan ordered Trump on Tuesday to pay a $9,000 fine for nine previous violations.

“Because we’d prefer to minimize disruption to this proceeding, we are not yet seeking jail, but the court’s decision this past Tuesday will inform the approach we take to future violations,” Conroy told the judge.

Judge Juan M. Merchan opened Thursday's proceedings in Donald Trump's hush money trial with a contempt hearing on prosecutors' allegations that the former president violated his gag order four more times.

Those are in addition to nine violations Trump was fined for earlier in the week.

Merchan said prosecutors had submitted four exhibits, constituting a video clip of each violation, which will not be played in court. Trump’s lawyers submitted nearly 500 pages of evidence in a bid to refute the alleged violations.

In a court filing, his lawyers argued that the gag order was designed to silence him while his enemies — including witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels — are allowed to repeatedly attack him.

Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy said in court Thursday that’s not true, arguing that the gag order was imposed as a result of Trump’s “persistent and escalating rhetoric aimed and participants in this proceeding.”

“By talking about the jury at all, he places this process and this proceeding in jeopardy. That is what the order forbids and he did it anyway,” Conroy added.

The jury was not present for the proceeding.

Donald Trump arrived at the courthouse in lower Manhattan for the 10th day of his hush money trial just after 9 a.m. on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters on his way in, the former president criticized the proceedings as “a ridiculous show trial” and “bogus.”

He also griped that the case should have been brought “eight years ago,” which would have been before prosecutors allege a crime was committed.

Karen McDougal sold her story to the National Enquirer in August 2016 and Stormy Daniels made her deal with Michel Cohen in October 2016. Trump didn’t start making reimbursement payments to Cohen, which prosecutors say were falsely logged as legal fees, until 2017.

Trump strode into the courtroom trailed by his lawyers and aides including Boris Epshteyn.

Donald Trump's hush money trial is expected to last another month or more, with jurors hearing testimony four days a week. The former president — who has cast the prosecution as an effort to hurt his 2024 campaign — is required to be there, much to his stated dismay.

“They don’t want me on the campaign trail,” he said Tuesday.

The judge said Tuesday that there will be no court on May 17 so Trump can attend his son Barron’s high school graduation.

Court also won’t be in session on May 24 to accommodate a juror who has a flight that morning, the judge said. That means the trial will be off for four straight days for the Memorial Day weekend, resuming on May 28.

Keith Davidson, a lawyer who represented former Playboy model Karen McDougal and porn actor Stormy Daniels in hush money deals with Michael Cohen and the National Enquirer, returns to the witness stand on Thursday.

His testimony dominated Tuesday afternoon as he outlined the sequence of events that led up to the agreements, including his first interactions with Cohen, who was then Trump's lawyer and personal fixer. Among other things, Davidson testified that pseudonyms were used in the deal with Daniels and that Cohen was late in delivering the agreed-upon $130,000 payment for the porn performer.

He also testified that he thought Daniels' story would be a “tornado” if it got out.

Daniels has alleged that she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 while McDougal alleged a yearlong affair with him. Trump has denied both allegations.

During a one-day break in Donald Trump's historic hush money trial, the former president lashed out at the judge overseeing the case and complained about a gag order that bars him from speaking publicly about key witnesses and others.

“There is no crime. I have a crooked judge, is a totally conflicted judge,” Trump told supporters at a Waukesha, Wisconsin, event on Wednesday.

While the gag order pertains to speaking publicly about jurors, key witnesses and others in the case, Trump remains free to criticize Judge Juan M. Merchan.

Witness testimony in Donald Trump's criminal trial is set to resume Thursday, but only after a hearing on more potential gag order violations takes place.

Prosecutors have said that Trump, in four new online posts, again violated a court mandate barring him from speaking publicly about jurors, witnesses and others in the hush money case. Judge Juan M. Merchan already sanctioned the former president on Tuesday for nine online posts, fining him $9,000 and threatening him with jail time if he continues violating the order.

The sanctions — and the prospect of more — highlight the difficulty Trump has had adjusting to his court responsibilities as a criminal defendant while also campaigning as the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (Charly Triballeau/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump walks outside the courtroom of his trial at Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings at Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. (Eduardo Munoz/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings at Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)