So why are two public-TV shows getting these shining moments in the sun? The obvious answer is the times we’re living in. CBS had its weirdest-sounding announcer, Christopher Glenn, intone hundreds of In the News segments, while strummer Tom Chapin served up a whooshy concoction for ABC News called Make a Wish. Even the news divisions got into the act. Their theme songs gave a generation permanent earworms. Moving beyond the low-budget exuberance of locally-produced kidfare that dominated the Sixties, these shows were conceptually, if not financially, more ambitious. The 1970s were high tide for wacky kids’ live-action TV - all those Sid and Marty Krofft shows, Shazam, Villa Alegre, Big Blue Marble, and another PBS favorite, Zoom. I’m not holding my breath for anything like this when my personal favorite, The Electric Company, turns 50 in 2021. The Muppets have also appeared in a magazine shoot and a Farmers Insurance ad campaign. This weekend HBO is commemorating the 50th anniversary of Sesame Street, the original literacy-leveling TV show, with a one-hour special.
Two years ago America marked the 50th anniversary of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood with a documentary that kept hearts and seats warm in arthouse theaters and led to the upcoming feature film with Tom Hanks as Fred.
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