PBS is supposedly cutting transmission of Mister Rogers episodes from five days to only one this fall.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/arts/stories/2008/06/15/2_TV_BYE_ ROGERS.ART_ART_06-15-08_E5_H0AFF9V.html?sid=101
No comments yet? I don't think it's gotten enough media attention so far.
Personally, I can't help feeling like it's a sign of the bleepin' End Times.
I could care less about their piss poor attempt to give props to its cultural significance by giving it a token, once-a-week airing. That's just idiocy; it completely ignores the original, intended format.
And to add insult upon insult, I'm quite familiar with PBS's current line-up, and I'm sorry but some of the obviously No Child Left Behind-mandated shows have absolutely no soul. Stupor Readers, anyone? They could easily chop some of those to save room for MR.
I did read somewhere that the Pittsburgh PBS station has already declared that they will continue to air five episodes a week, to cut short what was anticipated to be a hellish public outcry.
Is that said for ALL PBS stations or just a few?
shareThat's just great! So a bunch of heads at PBS got together and said, "alright, we'll keep Teletubbies and Barney, but lose Mister Rogers. It's been running the longest, its out of production and it doesn't match any of our other shows." That's just great! COME ON, everybody's tired of Barney and Teletubbies and all that crap now. I don't even know why they're still making Sesame Street.
This is a huge mistake and it's just the beginning of PBS's downfall. Write letters, call'em up! Stop this from happening!
As you mention the "original format", it should be noted that of the first ten years or so of its production, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood aired five days a week but the episodes weren't grouped into week-long theme units until 1979. That said, they haven't been airing the pre-1979 episodes for many, many years, so it's bit academic now. In that regard, I don't disagree with you that airing Mr. Rogers once a week doesn't make much sense, since the only episodes the only episodes they were airing recent years were the ones from 1979 and on.
Ultimately, although of course Mr. Rogers would say, rightly, that it's okay to be angry and to let it out, throwing anger at a problem doesn't solve it. The thing to do is to keep showing our children Mr. Rogers, whether he is on the air or not. Many episodes can be bought on video or found online and many of us also have homemade recordings from old TV broadcasts. There are shelves in my house filled with mostly VHS tapes of Mr. Rogers recorded straight from TV years ago now.
Om Shanti
I envy you! I'd love to see 1985 to about 1995!
shareI'm sure I have some of those episodes on tape somewhere and many are probably on youtube, vimeo, or other online video sites. I also know that many Mr. Rogers episodes from across the show's run are available through Amazon's Instant Video feature. Episodes from the 1980s through to 2001 were shown regularly and I guess still would be on stations that have Mr. Rogers on their lineups.
Om Shanti
I'm sure I have some of those episodes on tape somewhere and many are problem on youtube. I also know that many Mr. Rogers episodes from across the show's run are available through Amazon's Instant Video feature. Episodes from the 1980s through to 2001 were shown regularly and I guess still would be on stations that have Mr. Rogers on their lineups.
Om Shanti
Ugh! That sucks! Why do they give time to garbage like Barney and The Teletubbies and ax quality shows like Mr. Rogers.
--
"House. My room. Can't walk. My father! My medal! Father, don't!"
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Here's what my local station said about this:
Thank you for your interest in KCTS 9; and especially in Mister Rogers Neighborhood.
Though PBS will no longer be providing us the feed for this program in the autumn, KCTS has made no decision to reduce the number of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood programs. We will be recording this program over the summer and airing them in the autumn. Please check back with us in August for updated children’s programming schedule information.
Thank you for sharing your comments with us.
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Sorry to hear you didn't get the Ritalin you so desperately needed.
I'm so pissed... I'm going to go eat at IHOP.
I read today about the plan to cut Mr. Rogers nationally. :-( They've already stopped airing it here in Kansas City for about a year. I'd written to my local PBS, and it seemed to work for a while, but they stopped shortly after I wrote in. I posted a thread about it here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062588/board/nest/24767992?p=1
So, try writing to your local PBS. It just may do some good.
http://savemisterrogers.com/
"It isn't what faith you practice, but how you practice your faith." - A.C.Y.
That's really sad, what's next Sesame Street? I like some the the new shows but nothing beats the classics. Why is everyone beating up Barney, it's a fairly decent show for kids.
shareWow, it's really sad that the PBS people are allowing that to happen. Mr. Rogers is way more beneficial to kids than all of the modern children's shows that are way over-thought-out for maximum educational value but actually just suck. Mr. Rogers actually teachers kids something!
shareI was wondering why it wasnt on recently!! Yeah this is pretty lame, considering how few of the newer shows directly address some of the issues Mister Rogers does. Mister Rogers is still the best & brightest of childrens programming, period.
"Why does the Earth have colors?" - "The New World"
It comes on twice a day here @ 6:30am and 1pm (on an over the air digital signal).
shareI still love watching it and I am an adult.
shareThat's the problem. The only ones who will watch it are adults now who watched it eons ago. The bulk of the episodes are over 30 years old now. The show simply doesn't connect to children with modern problems out there. The world has changed. This country has changed dramatically. The problems children face today are just different: rampant obesity, furloughed school days, Wii/xbox/PS3 addiction, internet porn, terrorist attacks, all to name a few.
"The world has changed. This country has changed dramatically. The problems children face today are just different: rampant obesity, furloughed school days, Wii/xbox/PS3 addiction, internet porn, terrorist attacks, all to name a few."
Similar problems existed back in the '80s and '90s, except the video game addictions were NES/SNES/Sega. Believe me, I was there.
There were terrorist threats in the '80s, namely the Cold War.
As for obesity, there were weeks that talked about healthy food and exercise.
You wrote this a while ago, but I'd like to respond. You're right, things have changed, but some things are universal and eternal. Mr Rogers' Neighborhood helped kids (and adults!) to deal with some of the most universal issues facing human beings: fears, insecurities, relationships, acceptance, understanding, responsibility, etc. And you know...maybe if more children watched MRN, they would grow up to be the kind of adults who are able to competently run the world and raise their children so that we would have fewer of the unnecessary issues we face today.
shareThis is not true. Mister Rogers can be appreciated from all generations and generations to come. My kids will be watching it when or if I have any. Every parent's job is to bring up their kids with quality TV like this and Sesame Street.
Your chains are still mine, you belong to me! - The Phantom Of The Opera
You're not wrong that there have been many changes. On the other hand, Mr. Rogers usually dealt with timeless issue and rarely attempted to broach the kinds of problems you list above; that simply wasn't his area and there were other shows and resources for those kinds of things, just like it wasn't a show that aimed mainly to teach kids how to read or count. Internet porn is obviously beyond the realm of Mr. Rogers, as is anything directly to do with video games!
Moreover, when you mention terrorism, Mr. Rogers did actually produce a week of shows on "Conflict" at one point--I believe it was during the cold war. And way back in the early days of the show, 1968 to be exact, there was a show about assassination to help children deal with things they would have been hearing about Bobby Kennedy and MLK. Those episodes haven't been shown in years, but still, Mr. Rogers did attempt at one time to help young children deal with issues surrounding violence and war. It's a shame that his show wasn't still in production by the time of September 11th. We could have used his voice in dealing with that period of time.
Om Shanti
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