As someone consuming a lot of PBS Kids programming right now (mostly
by DVR with the little one), I will note that while most of the
programming is animated, they're doing a fair amount of live-action
interstitial, and they do have some newer series like Odd Squad that
are mostly live-action with (bad) special effects added.

There's some TERRIBLE computer animation (I'm looking at you, Sid the
Science Kid), but a lot of it is passible.  Curious George has been
high quality, and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood has great content
combined with creative (but stuff) CG.

I wonder what the cost difference is?  Set construction? Group
performance time instead of flexibly scheduled voice recording?
Union-set rates and residuals?

On Thu, Aug 13, 2015 at 1:11 PM, Mark Jeffries <[email protected]> wrote:
> Here's a bunch of tweets collected by Current on the news:
>
> http://current.org/2015/08/c-is-for-capitalism-reactions-to-the-sesame-street-hbo-deal/
>
> Several tweets mention the irony of the fact that a series that was created
> to teach the poor basic letters and numbers skills is now only available "to
> the rich" (which is not necessarily true, but hey).
>
> The comment in the top post from the PBS station manager in Seattle makes a
> more important point--that the bulk of PBS Kids programming over the last
> decade has become animated instead of live-action, which is a big change
> from the PBS lineup many of us knew and loved.  I realize that at least most
> big city PBS stations are now wall-to-wall kids from early morning to
> BBC/"NBR"/"NewsHour" time and that animated programming is cheaper than live
> action, but the PBS difference outside of the emphasis on education WAS
> Mister Rogers, The "Sesame Street" humans, "The Electric Company" cast and
> the "ZOOM" kids.  That's gone now (not to mention the fact that credits are
> now squeezed back for promos--and I realize that the target audience can't
> read 'em anyway).
>
> Mark Jeffries
> Saints Spotlight Editor
> [email protected]
>
> On Thu, Aug 13, 2015 at 9:06 AM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> I was relieved to read your last paragraph. The story sounds like the kind
>> of thing we are supposed to respond to with something like outrage that they
>> are screwing with an iconic cultural tradition. But based on my SS
>> experience, extensive but now about 12 years removed from my last real
>> exposure, it sounds to me like this story could be headlined: "PBS Fixes
>> Sesame Street".
>>
>>
>> On Thursday, August 13, 2015, <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Last fall, PBS quietly unveiled a half-hour edition of "Sesame Street"
>>> that aired hand-in-hand with the original 60-minute version.  The 30-minute
>>> edition was essentially a condensed version of the original, with most of
>>> the show's second half (primarily "all Elmo, all the time") removed.
>>>
>>> Now, the 60-minute version will be gone altogether come mid-November, as
>>> PBS and Sesame Workshop have opted to go just with the 30-minute version,
>>> citing the usual "changing viewer habits" and "positive affiliate reaction"
>>> reasons ...
>>>
>>>
>>> http://current.org/2015/08/pbs-will-drop-hourlong-sesame-street-from-fall-schedule/
>>>
>>> I'm the father of a soon-to-be pre-kindergartner, and she lost interest
>>> in "Sesame Street" over the course of the last year.  But when she did
>>> watch, I noticed she did not have any interest in watching the full hour.
>>> Her preference was watching segments that interested her -- she was more
>>> enthralled in watching, say, a two-minute lesson on letters and numbers than
>>> a 20-minute "Elmo fest".  When Elmo or another character/segment she didn't
>>> care for popped up, we'd leave the room to color, read, or some other
>>> activity.
>>>
>>>
>>> JD
>>>
>>>
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