The hypocrisy of Public Television.

Mr. Roger's was so genuine you cannot help but just love him for his passion.

In 1969, Fred Rogers appeared before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications. His goal was to support funding for PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in response to significant proposed cuts by President Nixon.

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However, as some of you know my daughter has a baby now, when she was little she was addicted to sesame street. It was one of the most ingenious shows on television. I was first generation SS and it helped me through my childhood. It taught us so much partly because it was broken up into several bits of film and was a teacher not just mindless television. I always felt that PBS was separate from regular programming because they did not want commercialism ruining their programming.

Well, here you go.... I was over at her house yesterday and she had the 'new' sesame street on. Hardly anything from the old days. Nothing about abc's or 123's it was all ELMO. Elmo and the Sesame street characters are a huge commercial money making machine and now PBS has commercials. Sad, sad, sad and hypocritical. We are trying to find the old sesame street on DVD now because SS has decided that marrying Ernie and Bert is more important than teaching. I am not against gay marriage but why the hell do our kids have to be brought into this fight? Parents are the ones to teach their kids about social issues like this at the appropriate time and what they feel should be taught. Okay rant over for now. If PBS cannot find the funds and has to change their programming to get the funds then it is not worth it anymore. They are not neutral in any way. And are very much commercialized because the end justifies the means for them.

The "Bert and Ernie are getting married" thing was NOT started by the show nor by PBS but by some group on Facebook. I can't find the reference right now but there was an emphatic statement by the show itself that Bert and Ernie were puppets who do not "have a sexuality" and they are not getting married. So I don't see how you can blame the show for this or talk about it being "hypocritical' because of it.

As for the commercial aspect, yes, I agree it is unfortunate, but surely you realize that funding for public television has been under sharp attack by the right? They have to fund it somehow if they want to stay on the air at all.

AV, this is not because the right has attacked them. Give me a break.

And the bert and ernie thing is not the only problem with that show. If you watch it, lots of coded social issues are brought up in it. A few years ago, I happened to have it on because it was on after something I was watching and there was sexual innuendo in a clip from the count. I swear my son and I saw it.

You know what else. I could live with commercials. I cannot live with changing your programming to make money off of it. Then you are not Public programming you are just like all the other shows and that makes it not worth it anymore. If you want the government to fund PBS then you better control yourself. And we all know the government just does not have the money. Sure have commercials but don't make your whole show about the money making Elmo. It is not worth it anymore. You can get that crap all day on nickelodeon.

Before we had 500 stations on cable, public boradcasting was a nice alternate, but I don't think it should be supported by taxpayers anymore, let it sink or swim on its own programming.

CinnamonGirl wrote: AV, this is not because the right has attacked them. Give me a break.

And the bert and ernie thing is not the only problem with that show. If you watch it, lots of coded social issues are brought up in it. A few years ago, I happened to have it on because it was on after something I was watching and there was sexual innuendo in a clip from the count. I swear my son and I saw it.

The funding cuts almost certainly have something to do with their increase in the use of commercial product placement. Give ME a break!

If there is sexual inneundo on the show, I don't think it is anything new. What is Miss Piggy about if not that? I think shows like this put in the nods and winks to the adults watching the shows. Watch an old Bugs Bunny cartoon to see what I mean. At any rate, I don't see that it's any different from many other shows aimed at children - or that different from what it was years ago.

I really fail to see any basis for your complaint.

Miss Piggy is not SS that is muppets. Different program.

I am not surprised that you don't see the issue. You are not the only one. I have a big problem with some people who believe that capitalism is okay if you are doing it for the right reasons, if you work on wall street you are somehow a money grubbing republican but if you are doing if for the good of man kind then anything goes. Hypocrisy and no one seems to 'get it'.

CinnamonGirl wrote: I have a big problem with some people who believe that capitalism is okay if you are doing it for the right reasons, if you work on wall street you are somehow a money grubbing republican but if you are doing if for the good of man kind then anything goes. Hypocrisy and no one seems to 'get it'.

Come again? I said it was a shame they had to resort to commercialism to make up for lost public funding, not that it was "okay if you are doing it for the right reasons".

And I can't agree with the second part of you comments at all. Capitalism, like any other human endeaver, has a darker side and yes, some expressions of it are definitely less admirable than others. For instance, the brand of capitalism that exploits the environment and doesn't pay the true cost of the damage would be high on my list, forcing the costs onto all of us in the form of health risks. Or forms of capitalism that exploit the health and safety of their employees. For instance, in some points of its history, capitalists employed children as young as six years old in mines and dangerous mills. I guess by your statement you are okay with that? And if I'm not you would say I was "hypocritical"?

CG - I agree that Sesame Street has changed, and not for the better. My daughter saw it and found old episodes to have her son watch rather than the current versions. I'll check with her if she still has them and isn't using them anymore now that he's in kindergarten.