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I've been trying to find the right TV balance lately for my almost-2-year-old. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV for kids under 2. I pretty much stuck to that until my daughter was about 18 months, when we started watching some Sesame Street. That's still all she watches at home except for the occasional nature documentary or Muppet Show DVD, but at day care I think she watches a couple of hours a day of mostly educational Barney/Sesame Street-type shows.
When my daughter was tiny we had Baby Einstein videos, but I felt guilty every day I showed her one -- despite the fact that she had colic and TV was pretty much the only thing guaranteed to get her to stop crying. Baby Einstein is not actually educational, according to research, but nonetheless I think I'd be less uptight with my next child if he/she had colic also, and show him/her more TV. It can't be worse than having your mom lose it and start screaming because the colic has eaten her brain.
Lately my daughter has become obsessed with TV and begs to watch it frequently, and also cries when Sesame Street is over. I don't aim to make it forbidden fruit, but I don't think it's unreasonable to limit TV to an hour a day for a 2-year-old.
There are times, though, I secretly envy the many moms i know who let their kids watch TV all the time. Those moms get so much more free time, and can cook and clean while their child is nearby without interference.
We never watch TV on channels with commercials. I don't need to provide my child's mind to advertisers so young, not only because I don't want to have to resist buying her everything she sees, but also because commercials feed children so many sex stereotypes. My daughter loves trains and trucks, and since she has a natural interest in that area, I encourage it. She has lots of matchbox cars. (She also likes to sing to/feed her doll and her stuffed animals.) I don't want her to learn from commercials that girls don't play with cars and that her roll model should be a sluttily-dressed Bratz doll.
I recently read a book called "Into the Minds of Babes: How Screen Time Affects Children From Birth to Age 5," by Lisa Guernsey, that examined the actual research out there about the effect of television on kids. The amount of research is surprisingly small. Apparently there's not much to back up the TV-is-evil premise except the general idea, which I agree with, that kids should be actively exploring the world around them instead of riveted in place watching the screen. But truly educational TV is apparently... drumroll... truly educational, when balanced with plenty of exploring time during the day. I liked this book because the author had a lot of TV guilt like me but is also a science journalist who knows how to look for the evidence behind claims.