| Children's programming must be a tough gig. Producers, writers and directors have to walk a fine line between content and entertainment.
With TV essentially becoming synonymous with the word babysitter in some households, you have to wonder what the future holds for children of today's programs. I consider my generation to be one of the lucky ones – we had Captain Kangaroo, Sesame Street (without Elmo), Mr. Dressup, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Hilarious House of Frightenstein and The Friendly Giant. Sure, they were just people and puppets, but after 25 years I can still tell you my favourite sketches from most of those shows – that is, except for Mister Rogers and Captain Kangaroo.
I like to classify these characters in the "could have been serial killers" category. Fred Rogers was just so methodical. He had outside and inside shoes, he hung up his clothes and he actually washed his feet in one episode. Even from my limited five-year-old life experience, I knew something was up. I did not trust that man in the cardigan. And his puppets were creepy. And I love puppets. At pbskids.org/rogers, you can safely rediscover Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood without having to really consider why Fred thinks you’re "special."
Captain Kangaroo confused me as a child. I didn’t know what to make of a man who dressed up in a suit and talked to a moose who clearly deserved to be shot. At www.tvparty.com/lostterrytoons.html, there are some great clips of the Captain hanging in his pad and dusting (getting rid of evidence), along with the nostalgic Tom Terrific cartoons. The fact that the Captain was formerly a clown on the Howdy Doody Show does not help his case. I will be forever haunted, wondering what was under those floorboards in the Treasure House. |
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