Podcast feedback

[Eric S]

Does anyone have any feedback on the podcasts? I really enjoy doing them with Tim, but I kinda feel, though I'm not sure about Tim, that we're talking to ourselves. I don't mind it since I like the subject matter and it's fun to discuss it with Tim. But I do know that when he asks me for ideas for podcasts, I can't come up with much beyond, "Let's review an episode, or an opera, or a record". Is that boring to anyone? We haven't done an opera yet, and we've been pretty hesitant to make every podcast, an episode or LP review, though that would be easy to do. Tim's done a good job of varying the content, but would it bore people if we did more, just random episode reviews? I'd love to hear suggestions, for what people like in the other podcasts they listen to that they think we could bring to this podcast. A few podcasts that I listen to encourage listeners to write in with questions. Not sure how Tim feels about that, but I'd love that sort of interaction- if anyone had questions for Tim, myself, or anyone else who's hosted, they could contact Tim with it and it could be read and answered on the podcast, to the best of our ability of course. Any thoughts?

[earnhardtfan4life]

I have a couple of ideas.  One in which we can't do until September when the new Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood comes out.  From the way I understand it, the target age for the audience in some ways mirrors what the age range was for MRN during the pre79 era.  There might be times when as we watch we might find hints of pre79 or maybe post79 elements in that particular episode.  Who knows maybe we might see X vs Hen II attempting to make a fruit salad again.  Comparing and contrasting MRN vs DTN.  There might be topics discussed on DTN that might make something click in our minds, hey Fred mentioned this sometime during the pre79 era. 

Another idea I had but it may require some work.  Interviews with guests/casts/workers who appeared/worked on MRN.  Maybe contacting WQED:  finding a cameraman who worked with Fred.  Finding someone who has a deeper view of what Fred was like.  You might need some kind of recording device to get taped phone conversations.  Then again you all might not have that capability to do that sort of thing.  That may limit what you can and can't do for podcasts.     

I'm actually a big professional wrestling fan (yes, I know it's kind of a like a sin compared to Fred's work) but it's fun stuff and I listen to a lot of podcasts.  Most of what's discussed is the current product:  such as what happened on Monday night's wrestling show and what could happen next, etc.  Although there are "old school" wrestlers that interact with the current product and give their opinions.  Unfortunately with MRN we are dealing with the past tense.  Maybe discuss how children's programming is today.  Would Fred be happy with the choices that are out there now.  Probably not.  Once DTN get's started that will fly open doors to new topics.

If you are going to review an episode, it may help to choose an episode that is readily available on the pbskids.org web site that way everyone can refer back to it.  A lot of people don't have access to even the post 79 episodes.

Mike

[pastorscott]

I also think it would be interesting to hear from people who worked on the show.  Either those who worked "behind the scenes" or who worked in front of the camera in bit parts or in major roles but haven't had the forum to share stories.  I think listening to an interview with Audrey Roth would be great.  I'd love to know more about her. Or the set designers, or the people who made the models.  People who worked on the show can give us more background in Fred's creative process, and just the mechanics of putting a show like MRN together.

I don't find the episode reviews too interesting, personally, unless it's some significant episode (like the first or last ones) where more analysis could be offered. 

Here's an idea: do a series of podcasts about those cast members who have died:  Don Brockett, Bob Trow, John Reardon.  Some information about their background could be gleaned from the internet. Maybe Tim knows people who knew them?

I find the topic of generating ideas rather tough, I know I was a guest on one podcast, it's hard to come up with additional ideas.
Scott

[Neighborhood Archive]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. And Eric, thanks for putting this topic out there for feedback.

I'd definitely like to do more podcasts. Any ideas are certainly appreciated.

I do like the idea of a Q&A podcast with questions sent in from NA readers. Maybe we'll run with that sometime soon...

[MrRogers143]

I'd like a podcast about the Neighborhood Trolley. Like how the idea of the trolley got started, and the different music played as it goes along the tracks.

[HenriettaPussycat]

I know I'm a little late to the game w/r/t this post, but please forgive me; I only started posting as of this week.

One suggestion: Consider cutting down the podcasts to 30 min. instead of 60.  I really enjoy them, but they tend to drone on a bit after about 30 min.  Of course, this could just be my short attention span, so others on the forum can feel free to disagree with me.

One comment: I liked the new Q & A format this week.  Even if future podcasts aren't completely Q & A, perhaps there could be a time at the end for Q & A for two or three questions posted on the message board.

One response to an issue raised in the previous response: I suspect that Fred got the idea for the trolley--or at least, the design for it--from the Duquesne Incline.  Check out the following photo and let me know what you think: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Duquesne_incline_2012.jpg>.  Another possibility is that he got the idea from the trolleys that used to provide the public transportation for Pittsburgh (see <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Railways>), though the design clearly didn't come from there, and they ceased operation in 1964, right after the show went national, if I recall correctly.  I'd be interesting to see what others think, since this is all my speculation, and I don't have any verification for any of it.  Just a local's perspective.  ;)

[Neighborhood Archive]

One suggestion: Consider cutting down the podcasts to 30 min. instead of 60.  I really enjoy them, but they tend to drone on a bit after about 30 min.

I assume that the only one you've actually listened to is the most recent one. Out of 11 podcasts so far, this last one is the only one to ever come close to 60 minutes. Most are around 30 minutes with a few being as short as 10 minutes.

[Eric S]

Darn you Henrietta Pussycat! I'm always trying to get Tim to do longer podcasts and he consistently edits them down to 30 minutes. Finally, we did one that was longer, and you've told him it's too long. You've undone all my hard work!

Seriously though, since I participated in this last one, I can't really judge it objectively, but I don't think there should be an arbitrary time limit on them. Some weeks we'll have more to talk about, some less. I suspect most of the episodes will be closer to 30 but I'd hate to lose good content just because of a self imposed limit. Just my two cents.

[Eric S]

Regarding the Trolley question, I believe in the Grandfather's week of episodes, the gentleman at the Trolley museum told Fred that his Trolley looked like it was modeled after a particular Canadian trolley, and since the Neighborhood started in Canada, there's a good chance that that's true. I wonder if Fred had anything to do with the Trolley or if someone at that station, involved with Props or whatever, merely grabbed some reference, or something off the shelf and created a trolley, without any input from Fred.

[MrRogers143]

Eirc- The Trolley was a model of a single truck, open car. I just meant how the trolley got it start on the program, and the different music played throughout the year. Almost similar to the one done on Prince Tuesday's voice.

[HenriettaPussycat]

Tim: I have listened to at least one other podcast.  It was the one where you talked about "Mister Rogers and Me" and where you talked to Tim Madigan, if I recall correctly.  I think that one may have been around 45:00.  Sorry, I didn't realize that the norm was 30 min.!

Eric: I didn't mean to start any feuds!  I had no idea that you and Tim have argued over this matter.  This was just my two cents.

Re: the trolley, it hadn't occurred to me that it may have started in Toronto, but that seems like a very plausible idea, given that much of the rest of the set was designed there.  I'll have to look into whether Toronto had trolleys, and if so, what they looked like.

[Neighborhood Archive]

I had no idea that you and Tim have argued over this matter.

I assure you that Eric was only kidding.

[mitsguy2001]

Not sure if this is too much work, but it would be interesting to have a written summary of the key points of each podcast, for those of us who don't have the time to listen to every one of them all the way through.

[Eric S]

Yeah I was just kidding about the length. I mean, I was serious about wanting longer episodes, but there was no animosity or anything.

[NAhelper]

Personally, I prefer the longer episodes. When I make the effort to listen to one it's nice to have it longer and thorough, but I can understand about others preferring shorter ones. The one suggestion I would make is to not edit parts out after you have recorded it. There's been a few times you mention something that you discussed previously that was apparently cut out... then I'm dying to know what you talked about and left off! In any case, I certainly enjoy the podcasts short or (especially) long. Thanks Tim, Eric, and the others who have participated!

By the way Tim, podcast 11 still isn't up on Itunes...