Elwood City Central
Arthur => Episodes => Topic started by: Bionic Bunny on September 24, 2013, 07:41:39 pm
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Hey Arthur fanatics,a lot of you have been complaining about the lack of Seasons 1-4 reruns on PBS.THE TIME TO GET THE OLD ARTHUR BACK IS NOW! I'm not gonna let PBS bully me out of my favorite episodes.Are you guys?Any ideas on how we can get them back,like a petition or something?
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Hey Arthur fanatics,a lot of you have been complaining about the lack of Seasons 1-4 reruns on PBS.THE TIME TO GET THE OLD ARTHUR BACK IS NOW! I'm not gonna let PBS bully me out of my favorite episodes.Are you guys?Any ideas on how we can get them back,like a petition or something?
I think that some of the early Arthur episodes are a bit too dated in the eyes of PBS. If you were to convince a station to put more early Arthur in their schedule, know that it would likely be your local station, rather than the main PBS schedule. I too would love to see more season 1-4 Arthur on, but I don't know how likely it is.
Also, I would gladly sign any petition, but have you ever known of a petition that has worked?
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ugh. too dated? ugh. i really hate how a lot of people think that just because something happened a long time ago means it's bad, or that if something is "old -fashioned" then automatically it's awful. some people think that is the way teens think, so they think that way too, so people will think they are "hip" or whatevs. i am a teen and we don't think like that at all.
ugh. stupid pbs.
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sorry. that was a rant. ::)
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I'm with Ralf, a petition isn't going to do anything - it may get their attention, but they won't do anything about it.
And Wildstar, the problem is with educational programs like this, early childhood development continues to improve year after year, and as such, their methods to teach have to change and evolve to not only keep up with the times, but further educate kids beyond skills they may have already picked up on. Sesame Street has the same problem, people made a big deal out of the Old School DVDs with episodes from the 1970s when they came out because they contained disclaimers that said, "These early SESAME STREET episodes are intended for grown-up and may not meet the educational needs of today's preschool children." that was back when they mostly taught letters and numbers among other things... fast forward to today, they're actually teaching engineering to kids now.
Aside from that, I still have a feeling a lot of it has to do with continuity... you have to admit, the characters were different in the earlier episodes, like Binky being a bully (moreso than now) in the first season, among other things, they probably don't want to confuse the kids watching as to why Binky's a bully all the kids avoid one day, then one of the gang the next.
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Well,I took Ralf's advice and wrote a letter to my local PBS station,WNTV-29,asking them to show at least 7 episodes from the first four seasons before the end of the year.I just wish we could do something about it for all PBS stations.I wish PBS would air the show chronologically,and when it was time for a week of new episodes,air 'em,and then go back to airing the show where it was left off chronologically.
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I think part of the problem too at what makes the older episodes "dated" is because so much of real life has changed since then, that it probably would seem odd and strange to kids watching today.
For instance, remember when Ratburn was trying to tell the kids what record players were? "Before CDs were invented?" CDs, for example, are kind of passe now what with MP3 players, iPods and such, kids today probably don't really know much about CDs (though I personally never made the upgrade from CDs myself). There's also a lot of references to VHS tapes, which we all know have been obsolete for years now. Video cameras used for taping home movies look ancient today.
Once again, this is a problem SESAME STREET has had to deal with. In recent years: Hooper's Store is now much more like a convenient store as opposed to a little soda shop, the Fix-It-Shop is gone and has been replaced with a laundromat, the whole street in general has gone through quite a number of gentrification processes.
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For instance, remember when Ratburn was trying to tell the kids what record players were? "Before CDs were invented?" CDs, for example, are kind of passe now what with MP3 players, iPods and such, kids today probably don't really know much about CDs (though I personally never made the upgrade from CDs myself). There's also a lot of references to VHS tapes, which we all know have been obsolete for years now. Video cameras used for taping home movies look ancient today.
Don't forget Muffy's "Cellular Phone" from "Arthur, World's Greatest Gleeper!"
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i never noticed that when i watched the older episodes, and it certainly didn't stop any of my little brothers or sisters (i have lot of them) from understanding it. as for the life and learning lessons being less complex in the older episodes, i think it is actually the other way around. the newer episodes become less complex entirely, going from, say, wishing you were more mature, or being poor when you have a rich friend, to cupcakes being stolen. (although i do like some of the newer episodes, and a few of them do have good "life lessons," a lot of them are just random time wasters. :-\ )
but i understand what you're saying, that's a problem with a lot of kids shows made in the eighties that are still making episodes. usually cartoons back then were not well made at all, (Arthur is an exception.) so they had to try and live down a lot of criticism by making "better" episodes, and hiding the old ones. Arthur seems to be doing the same thing even though the older episodes were some of the best. the new ones aren't bad, and i think they will get better with every episode, (hopefully.) but they certainly aren't better than the older ones.
kudos if you read the whole thing. ;D
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Also, I would gladly sign any petition, but have you ever known of a petition that has worked?
The Mary Moo Cow petition comes to mind. lol ;D
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the newer episodes become less complex entirely, going from, say, wishing you were more mature, or being poor when you have a rich friend, to cupcakes being stolen.)
That episode did have a complex meaning, it showed that if a person was truly guilty of a crime, their guiltiness can almost always be proven with law and order, which is a much better system than blind revenge. Also, it gave an idea (no matter how vague) as to how the United States court system works.
I think that the episodes will become as good as they were pre-season 16 beginning with season 17. I actually kind of liked season 16, but I will admit that it was sub-par compared to most other seasons. I do believe that this was just a rough patch for Arthur, mostly due to the animation changing hands.
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yeah, like i said, i did like some of them. i just liked that one the least. ::) i don't think the problem with the newer episodes is really the episodes themselves, the problem is that the episodes aren't really "arthur" yet. (and of course, the animation...) but yeah, it'll get better as it goes on.
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If the older episodes are on DVD or any other easy-access format, I don't see a reason to go off to PBS about it.
Shows come and go, it's impossible to keep the same old thing reran for years. PBS usually does not air older reruns of a particular program as the earlier episodes are usually viewed as out of date or just played so many times. Programs that have been ended for a while are usually "retired" though sometimes they're brought back from the graveyard if a network requests so. I remember the old Bill Nye program was reran last year on our network for a while - then taken off again once newer fare was available.
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it's impossible to keep the same old thing reran for years.
SEINFELD.
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Well, I looked at PBS's December schedule, and it looks worse than November's schedule, other than the last three Season 16 episodes being reaired. I may start a petition to bring the Seasons 1-4 Arthur back, as last year, we got the Music Festival episode (recorded that one) and the Love Duck one (also got that one) in December.
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Yes... Seinfeld. However as far as the PBS network goes, the nostrums still hold - out with the old, and in with the new. For long runners like Arthur, older episodes are weaned out as new episodes are available. This has also happened with other long running programs on PBS (Thomas & Friends, Sesame Street).
It's worse for programs that have been cancelled, which are typically retired from the schedule after they end. They may be reran for a while, but usually no longer than 2-3 years after they end. It also costs the PBS networks to renew the rights to air any program - and some parent companies are very stringent these days. That said, exceptions do exist - the local PBS station ran the old Bill Nye TV show last year.
That said, I can't find any boxed DVD sets of the older Arthur seasons. I'd be more interested in prodding PBS to release them as full sets, as that way the episodes can be available at least.