Anniversaries Pre-79s last rebroadcast on PBS

[ladyelainefairchilde]

24 years ago at this time, 1296 - 1315 were airing for there final time on PBS. 23 years ago at this time, they'd just stopped last airing 1396 - 1400, 1411 - 1420, 1441 - 1445. I made a point to this because
in the 1990s these episodes were not included when the pre-79s were still being rebroadcast. Back then
no one would have imagine that these were the last rebroadcasts to those episodes.

For example Aug 9, 1991 was 1290. You would think that the 1992 pre-79 reruns would of began with
1291 right? Instead it began with 1351 on May 11, 1992. 1291 has not been aired on PBS since
April 18, 1988. The other skip week from 1973 was 1316-1320. Which has not aired on PBS since the
week of April 25-29.

1992-1995 pre-79s consisted of alot of repeats of shows such as 1386-1390 1421-1425, 1431-1440
1446-1455. All of those aired faithfully during the summers 92, 93, 94. Others that did not repeat at all were 1992 pre-79s reruns 1351-1360, 1366-1385. In 1993 pre-79s reruns 1361-1365, 1391-1395,
1401-1410. All of those aired only the one time. 1426-1430 did repeat in 1992 & 1993. As many do know by now in 1995 only pre-79s that were still airing were 1386-1390. After that the broadcast  rights to the pre-79s had expired. Not just because Fred made enough newer shows by that point.

I hope some of this information has been irrelevant.

lef  

[Lady_Elaine]

I never really understood why they stopped airing the pre-79 shows on PBS, I know they had enough modern shows to rotate, but some of those older shows were really timeless...And they weren't all that outdated still in the 90s, because they still aired shows from the early 80s all the way up until the early 2000s but  yet those weren't considered outdated?

[mjb1124]

I guess Fred and/or PBS wanted there to be as consistent of a viewing experience as possible.    It's been said that some of the different elements in early episodes would "confuse" children, whether it's character differences (Prince Tuesday being an infant, forgotten characters like Ino Horse), or changes in the presentation and format of the show (wall colors, changes to the model neighborhood, closing songs, etc.).   This may not seem like a big deal to us now, but you'd be surprised at how much children can be thrown off by things like this (especially if they have disabilities like Asperger's).    It was noted that when Sesame Street tried doing some episodes without "Elmo's World" a few years ago, the test audiences weren't happy, because they were used to the same routine.   This is why that show is so strictly formulaic now.

I myself wasn't that thrown off by the differences in the pre-79 episodes, though I do remember wondering what happened to the "red house" when the 1970 episodes were rerun in 1989.   Conversely, I remember later (when I was still young) wondering what happened to the "Tomorrow" song, so I guess at the time I was comfortable with the idea of two different closing songs.   I do remember similar changes to other shows throwing me off a bit, so I can see where they were coming from.  But if this was the issue, I think they could've at least kept running the 1974-75 episodes, since the only real differences there were Prince Tuesday and Ana Platypus not having been fully aged up.

Another possibility could be that it was too expensive to keep all these episodes in the rotation.   Remember that when Noggin brought back some of the old CTW shows, they only leased 65 episodes of each.   Even when The Electric Company was in reruns on PBS from 1978-85, it was only the last two seasons.    Plus, we've heard about copyright issues with songs Josie Carey wrote that were used in the early episodes, and apparently we're not getting more pre-79 episodes on Amazon in the near future because of issues concerning broadcast rights.   So all this may also relate to why PBS phased out the pre-79's after a while.

By the way, is it true that WQED kept running the pre-79 episodes after they were pulled from the national rotation?

[rogersfan1]

I imagiane that by 1992 they decided to only show pre-79s that were as close to the modern series as possible, as they had enough new ones in the rotation . While some things may be confusing such as set changes and Fred and others being younger they still continued airing early 80s and late 90s together and Fred and the other humans aged a great deal between those episodes. Perhaps that was a factor when  starting around the mid 80s or so their pre-79 runs were in the summer as the schol age kids were home and would have had an easier time understanding and accepting the differences although for me when I saw the 1970 episodes I noticed the NET, wainscotting, different doors and wall clolrs and Tomorrow sone much more than Inoticed Fred and the others being more youthful looking. Had they not resumed production in 1979 I wonder how long the reruns would have continued as as mentioned Electric Company stopped production in 1977 and was in reruns until 1985 only with the last two seasons, although the majority of pre-79s had rerun cycle of 18-9 years which is pretty impressive ofr a PBS kids show.

[mitsguy2001]

I imagiane that by 1992 they decided to only show pre-79s that were as close to the modern series as possible, as they had enough new ones in the rotation .

Maybe, even though they had blue walls, maybe 1331-1350, 1396-1400, 1411-1420, and 1441-1445 had certain elements that could be confusing to kids who primarily watched the later episodes.  What those elements are is anybody's guess.

While some things may be confusing such as set changes and Fred and others being younger they still continued airing early 80s and late 90s together and Fred and the other humans aged a great deal between those episodes.

The issue of Fred aging makes no sense, since 1969 to 1976 is only 7 years.  Obviously Fred aged a lot more in the 22 years from 1979 to 2001 than he did in just 7 years from 1969 to 1976.

As for set changes: there were minimal set changes after 1326.  Also, seeing the different set changes in the different eras of the show was something that I looked forward to seeing each week when I was a kid.

Perhaps that was a factor when  starting around the mid 80s or so their pre-79 runs were in the summer as the schol age kids were home and would have had an easier time understanding and accepting the differences although for me when I saw the 1970 episodes I noticed the NET, wainscotting, different doors and wall clolrs and Tomorrow sone much more than Inoticed Fred and the others being more youthful looking.

I've heard that too about the summer.

Had they not resumed production in 1979 I wonder how long the reruns would have continued as as mentioned Electric Company stopped production in 1977 and was in reruns until 1985 only with the last two seasons, although the majority of pre-79s had rerun cycle of 18-9 years which is pretty impressive ofr a PBS kids show.

The other thing that never made any sense is that 1386-1390 aired 4 years in a row in the 90s; 3 of those times (in 1993, 1994, and 1995), it aired without its predecessor (1381-1385).  In 1386, Fred referred to "last week", so it made no sense to air it without 1381-1385.  I wonder why that is.  If they did not want to air 1381-1385 or if it absolutely could not air for whatever reason, then 1386-1390 should not have aired either.

Something amazing, almost spooky about 1386: in the begining of the episode, Fred shows his drivers license.  The year is illegible (probably intentionally), but the expiration date is clearly Aug. 31!  That is amazing, because the series ended on Aug. 31, 2001!  Obviously, there is no way they could have predicted at the time the exact date that the series would end.

[rogersfan1]

One thing I was thinking some of the 1974-75 episodes that didn't air in the 90s may have had stuff like NOMB stories that prominently featured a younger Prince Tuesday or Ana, I think one of the weeks not shown had Daniel losing a tooth which would show him being older than Ana and Prince Tuesday while being classmates with them in newer episodes, although they had Frogg family weeks airing in the 90s when many wouldn't have been as familiar with them so perhaps the last fe years it was more random for whatever reason.

[mitsguy2001]

One thing I was thinking some of the 1974-75 episodes that didn't air in the 90s may have had stuff like NOMB stories that prominently featured a younger Prince Tuesday or Ana, I think one of the weeks not shown had Daniel losing a tooth which would show him being older than Ana and Prince Tuesday while being classmates with them in newer episodes, although they had Frogg family weeks airing in the 90s when many wouldn't have been as familiar with them so perhaps the last fe years it was more random for whatever reason.

Good point about Ana, Prince Tuesday, and Daniel.  Also, several of the weeks that didn't air had Mr. Allmine, but he was also in 1421-1425, which actually aired 3 years in a row during the 90s.

[rogersfan1]

I was trying to recall, how many pre-79 weeks aired in 1993 and 1994, I think it was like 6-7 as some post 75s must have aired twice as in 1995 they just had one pre-79 week which was kind of strange doing only one and having one which as mentioned had a NOMB story that carried over from the prior week, 4 post 75s would have repeated in 1995 since by the end of that year they had 47 new weeks including Conflict which was still being shown.

[mitsguy2001]

The last time the beige walled episodes aired were during the summer of 1991, ending with Episode 1290.

In 1992, they aired 1351-1360, 1366-1390, 1421-1440, and 1446-1455 (13 weeks)
In 1993, they aired 1361-1365, 1386-1395, 1401-1410, 1421-1440, and 1446-1455 (11 weeks)
In 1994, they aired 1386-1390, 1431-1435, 1421-1425, 1436-1440, and 1446-1455 (6 weeks, yes, in that order)
In 1995, they aired 1386-1390, as you said (1 week)

No idea how they chose those weeks.

As for post-75s that aired twice those years:
1993-94 season: Learning, Things to Wear (2 weeks)
1994-95 season: Playthings, Dance, Making Mistakes, Learning, and Fast and Slow (5 weeks - no idea why they didn't air pre-79s for those weeks)
1995-96 season: Everybody's Special, Mad Feelings (2 weeks)
1996-97 season: Sharing (1 week)

It's also worth noting that for reasons unknown, during the 1989-90 season, they aired Friends and Playthings twice. (2 weeks)

[mjb1124]

mitsguy, I think you were the one that mentioned that if they had started the 1989 pre-79 cycle from 1971 instead of 1970, they still would have ended up at 1351 in 1992 anyway.   So they probably decided to just skip ahead one year, and then take out eight other weeks so they could end at 1455 in time for the post-79 cycle to start.    Four of those weeks must have been skipped arbitrarily, and therefore were given airdates in 1993.    Meanwhile, five of the last six 1975 weeks re-aired in 1993, and four of them aired in 1994, so I guess it might have just been a matter of wanting the most recent episodes possible.     The weeks before that were retired after 1993, with one exception.

That would be 1386-1390, which was the only 1974 week that had airings in both 1992 and 1993, as well as the only one to air after 1993, and the only episode out of the whole pre-79 run to air in 1995.   So I guess that week must have been considered to be particularly special or relevant, perhaps due to its disability theme which was more resonant than ever in the 90's.    As for the references to "last week", based on other posts here it seems like such comments were never given that much consideration.    I guess at the time, they assumed that kids would know that these episodes wouldn't necessarily rerun in their original order, or figured that they wouldn't give any thought to it.

Altogether, there were 17 pre-79 weeks that aired in the 1992-1995 period.   That leaves 1396-1400, 1411-1415, 1416-1420, 1441-1445, and 1456-1460 as the five post-1351 weeks that never aired during that time.    The latter week is understandable since they prepared viewers for older episodes that would never be reran again, but I would be interested in knowing why the others were skipped.

[mitsguy2001]

mitsguy, I think you were the one that mentioned that if they had started the 1989 pre-79 cycle from 1971 instead of 1970, they still would have ended up at 1351 in 1992 anyway.   So they probably decided to just skip ahead one year, and then take out eight other weeks so they could end at 1455 in time for the post-79 cycle to start.    Four of those weeks must have been skipped arbitrarily, and therefore were given airdates in 1993.    Meanwhile, five of the last six 1975 weeks re-aired in 1993, and four of them aired in 1994, so I guess it might have just been a matter of wanting the most recent episodes possible.     The weeks before that were retired after 1993, with one exception.

I didn't list the exact airdates in my post.  But in 1992, Episode 1425 (the Key to Otherland opera, which takes place on a beach) aired on July 3, 1992.  It's possible that they skipped a bunch of episodes so that 1425 could air for 4th of July weekend, and they just decided to continue from there.

That would be 1386-1390, which was the only 1974 week that had airings in both 1992 and 1993, as well as the only one to air after 1993, and the only episode out of the whole pre-79 run to air in 1995.   So I guess that week must have been considered to be particularly special or relevant, perhaps due to its disability theme which was more resonant than ever in the 90's.

Then why didn't they create a post-75 week about disability?

   As for the references to "last week", based on other posts here it seems like such comments were never given that much consideration.    I guess at the time, they assumed that kids would know that these episodes wouldn't necessarily rerun in their original order, or figured that they wouldn't give any thought to it.

Altogether, there were 17 pre-79 weeks that aired in the 1992-1995 period.   That leaves 1396-1400, 1411-1415, 1416-1420, 1441-1445, and 1456-1460 as the five post-1351 weeks that never aired during that time.    The latter week is understandable since they prepared viewers for older episodes that would never be reran again, but I would be interested in knowing why the others were skipped.

Someone thought that maybe those weeks emphasized the young Prince Tuesday and/or young Ana, and possibly raised continuity issues due to them being much younger than Daniel.  That could be; I'd have to check the files for those episodes.  Or maybe they were just not considered as important as the ones that did air.  Also, several of those weeks involve Mr. Allmine; maybe they wanted to remove most of the weeks involving him for some reason.  Although, he was in 1421-1425, which not only aired, but aired 3 years in a row!  Though in that week he was his opera character, rather than his usual self, so maybe kids could have assumed he was someone like Reardon who appeared only in the operas.

Another curiosity is why 1431-1435 aired before 1421-1425 in 1994.  I see no advantage to airing the opera on July 22 rather than July 15 (unlike 1992, where it made sense to air July 3).

Another interesting thing is that in 1993, the pre-79s started on Memorial Day, and in 1994, they started on 4th of July.  I wonder if starting on a holiday was intentional.

It would have been interesting to ask someone who worked at FCI back then how they did those schedules.  I don't think anyone would remember now.

[mjb1124]

Looking through the episode rundowns, it does seem like most of the skipped weeks featured Tuesday and/or Ana prominently, while most of the non-skipped weeks did not.   However, I'm surprised that they aired 1401-1410 in 1993, as those two weeks prominently featured Tuesday.   (They also heavily featured the Frogg family, though that may not have been a negative factor.)  Also, Tuesday was featured in 1353 which aired in 1992, and Ana was featured in 1454 which aired three times during the 90's.   I guess these may have been considered minor enough appearances, and 1451-1455 in particular may have been deemed too important to skip over one Ana appearance which was based around her future.   

Still, it seems like 1331-1335 could have been aired in 1992 instead of 1351-1355, as the former week didn't seem to have any "confusing" content.   I guess they may have just skipped it along with the rest of the first five 1974 weeks just for the sake of jumping ahead a year, or maybe there was a reference to the previous week which featured Tuesday and the walls being painted.    Then there was 1416-1420 which also did not feature Tuesday or Ana, but supposedly may have been skipped due to Daniel losing his tooth.   This seems a bit silly considering that Ana and Tuesday's appearances were mostly purged, while plenty of Daniel's appearances were shown.   But I cant think of any other reason why that week would be skipped -  other than possibly references to the previous week, but again, it didn't seem like such references were considered to be major negative factors.

By the way, regarding Allmine, maybe I missed something but it seems like his only major appearances during 1974-75 were in 1411-1415 and 1421-1425.   The latter week aired in the 90's as you mentioned, while the former also prominently featured Ana and Tuesday.  So I'm not sure if his appearances were a factor.

[mitsguy2001]

Looking through the episode rundowns, it does seem like most of the skipped weeks featured Tuesday and/or Ana prominently, while most of the non-skipped weeks did not.   However, I'm surprised that they aired 1401-1410 in 1993, as those two weeks prominently featured Tuesday.   (They also heavily featured the Frogg family, though that may not have been a negative factor.)  Also, Tuesday was featured in 1353 which aired in 1992, and Ana was featured in 1454 which aired three times during the 90's.   I guess these may have been considered minor enough appearances, and 1451-1455 in particular may have been deemed too important to skip over one Ana appearance which was based around her future.   

Still, it seems like 1331-1335 could have been aired in 1992 instead of 1351-1355, as the former week didn't seem to have any "confusing" content.   I guess they may have just skipped it along with the rest of the first five 1974 weeks just for the sake of jumping ahead a year, or maybe there was a reference to the previous week which featured Tuesday and the walls being painted.

It seems that 1331-1335 is about a circus, which was first mentioned in 1330.  Maybe 1331-1335 couldn't air without 1330?  Also, isn't there a post-75 where Fred and Betty go to the circus?  Maybe 1331-1335 was too similar to similar to that, so there was no need to air 1331-1335.

    Then there was 1416-1420 which also did not feature Tuesday or Ana, but supposedly may have been skipped due to Daniel losing his tooth.   This seems a bit silly considering that Ana and Tuesday's appearances were mostly purged, while plenty of Daniel's appearances were shown.

I see no reason to skip episodes with Daniel, since he is the same age in the pre-79s as he was in the post-75s, so there was no confusion, unless Tuedsay or Ana appears in the same episode.  Also, I remember some kids losing a tooth when they were in kindergarten, which is the age that Daniel was, so I don't see that as being confusing.

   But I cant think of any other reason why that week would be skipped -  other than possibly references to the previous week, but again, it didn't seem like such references were considered to be major negative factors.

Maybe the energy crisis in 1417-1420 seemed less relevant in the 90s than it was in the 70s.  Also, there was the then fairly new week about the Environment, 1616-1620, which probably deals with more current environmental topics than 1416-1420 did.  Interestingly, 1416-1420 is one of the very few post-1968 weeks to deal with a then current event.  It became a current event again when it presumably reaired the week of July 2-6, 1979. (2 weeks after I was born).

By the way, regarding Allmine, maybe I missed something but it seems like his only major appearances during 1974-75 were in 1411-1415 and 1421-1425.

He was first introduced in 1336-1340, another skipped week.  And he apears in 1441-1445, also a skipped week, and the only later 1975 week to be skipped.  Although, as you said, 1441-1445 also prominently featured Tuesday.

   The latter week aired in the 90's as you mentioned, while the former also prominently featured Ana and Tuesday.  So I'm not sure if his appearances were a factor.

Again, in 1425, probably kids just assumed he was an opera-only character, such as Reardon.  Also, in the 90s, pre-79s aired only in the late spring and the summer, so the beach theme in 1425 was appropriate.  Also, that was one of the best operas in the series, so they probably didn't want to lose that week.

To be honest, I think most of these weeks should be able to air, even today.  They don't have most of the elements that earlier pre-79s have that would confuse kids.

I still wonder whether or not it was intentional to air 1425 on July 3, 1992.  It probably was.  But I still wonder why in 1994, they aired 1431-1435 before 1421-1425.  I don't see any advantage to them doing that.

[mitsguy2001]

Another thought that crossed my mind is that maybe some of the skipped weeks show Fred eating meat, before he became a vegetarian.  I know in 1455, Johnny Costa's mother gives Fred a meat pie, but Fred isn't shown eating it, so maybe that was still allowed to air.  Does anyone know when Fred became a vegetarian?  I know David Newell is also a vegetarian.

[rogersfan1]

Today marks 21 years since the last time the Tomorrow song was aired, also interesting how 1386-1390 was the only pre-79 week to have a life span of at least 20 years where every week from 1076-1290 had a life span of 18 or 19 years where the 1974-75 weeks had some of 13-14 years and some of 18-19 years.