Re: Fred Rogers

["Dan Billings" <billings@suscom-maine.net>]

 >I don't see PBS developing new talent like that that doesn't translate
> >to merchandise.  [...]

And what's wrong with that?  PBS needs income just like any organization.
They shouldn't be selling the merchandise during the show but I don't see
any harm in such merchandise being made available.  I was thrilled to get my
Grover puppet when I was a little kid.  I don't think the existence of such
merchandise made Sesame Street any less valuable.

When I was a little kid, WCBB had Sesame Street at 4 PM, Mr. Rogers at 5,
Zoom at 5:30, and Electric Company at 6.  Mr. Rogers was never one of my
favorites.  Even when I was a little kid, I thought Mr. Rogers was odd.  No
man I knew talked like him and I never could figure out why he changed his
shows when he came into the house.  And where was he coming from at the
beginning of the show and where did he go at the end of the show?  Did he
never live in the house where the show took place?  I did think the train
was cool.

-- Dan Billings, Bowdoinham, Maine