This study focused on the television viewing behavior of a sample of 277 two- and three-year-old children, who were observed by their mothers as they watched a children's studio variety television program entitled "With Mother." The program consists of skits by performers disguised as animals, songs and games, exercises, an animation segment entitled "Kids Like Us," and films about daily life. Some of the children were also presented with monthly magazines carrying stories about the same eight characters appearing in the animation segment "Kids Like Us" in order to study any possible effects of a media mix. Researchers were particularly interested in the number of viewing hours per day, whether mothers watched the program with their children, the children's ages at the start of viewing the program, their mimicry of exercises shown, imitative role playing, their learning and understanding, their attitudes toward each segment of the program, their attention span, changes in their character preference in "Kids Like Us," their recognition of these characters, their reactions to the animation, and the effects of the magazines on their viewing behavior. It was concluded that the degree of understanding increased from two-and-a-half to three-year-olds. In addition, although the program was generally popular, "Kids Like Us" provoked a divided reaction among children based on the different characters portrayed in the story. (4 references) (DB)