Editor’s note: This ranking of the best Bluey episodes originally ran in January of 2023 and has been expanded with the release of a new batch on Disney+. Still, many episodes remain unavailable in the US and large parts of the world, which is why some of our favorite installments — here’s looking at you, “Cricket” — won’t join the list until later.
Children, while cute, have questionable taste in television. And although first-time parents might be willing to put up with anything for a few minutes of precious silence, by the time of your thousandth re-watch you might find yourself flipping off Blippi or going loco at Cocomelon. When that happens, we inevitably cast about for kids’ programming fit for an adult intelligence. Thankfully, in our time of need, there’s Bluey.
Created and written by Joe Brumm, this Australian series is centered not just on young sisters Bluey and Bingo, but also on their hilarious parents, Bandit and Chilli. Despite being full of magic and mystery, it’s more realistic than your usual pre-school entertainment: The kids’ toys are rarely picked up, the back seat of their car makes me feel a lot better about our own sticky situation, and Mum and Dad are still figuring things out. An attempt at gentle parenting might leave the pups cold and miserable, while an effort to teach a firm lesson is likely to end in tears and ice cream. And although Bandit and Chilli are a source of stability, they’re also prone to exhaustion, hangovers, and the occasional nervous breakdown.
Us, too. Bluey is a globe-conquering phenomenon because parents see ourselves in the Heeler pack, even as our own pups chuckle at the canine hijinks. It’s funny, profound, more than a little naughty, and best of all, for everyone. Here are 13 episodes of Bluey that explain why I’d die for those dogs.
13. “Flat Pack”
“Flatpack” is Joe Brumm at his most cerebral. While the girls play at fish, frog-dogs, lizards, dinosaurs, birds, small mammals, and eventually, monkeys and cave-dogs, their parents act out a sitcom of a married couple assembling a flatpack. Notably, the comedy section finds these upright dogs using tools, even as the kid’s turn out a highlights reel of evolution’s progress. But there’s one more trick up Brumm’s sleeve, and while Bluey and Bingo are evolving, they are also pretending to be a mother and her daughter as the young pup grows up too fast. It ends with all the ideas crashing together, as a “grown-up” Bingo leaves Bluey behind and sets off to explore outer space.
