Another early 80s schedule theory

[mitsguy2001]

One of the big mysteries is the schedules from the early 80s.  Remember, we know that 1406-1410 aired April 20-24, 1981.  The next known pre-79 week is 1191-1195 airing May 20-24, 1982.  We know that the debut of Competition was June 1-5, 1981.  Assuming everything continued in order May 25-29, 1981 would have been 1431-1435.  We know that July 20-24 was the debut of Play, and we think that was part of a backwards post-75 run (skipping Bubbleland) ending with Starting School Aug. 17-21, 1981.  Bubbleland probably aired Aug. 24-28, 1981.

If the pre-79s continued in order after Competition, then June 8 - July 10, 1981 would have been 1436-1460, and July 13-17 would have been 1001-1005.  But it makes no sense to have a long break for post-75s in between 1005 and 1006, since in 1005, they say that Sara will arrive "next week".

Also, remember, long breaks tended to be between 1445 and 1446.  The 3 weeks of 1446-1460 almost always seemed to air consecutively before cycling back to a very old episode (1001 or 1066).  And, we know from 1985 and 1986 that they were willing to repeat seemingly random weeks in order to keep a break between 1445 and 1446.

May 25-29, 1981 probably really was 1431-1435.  In between the debuts of Competition and Play, there were 6 weeks.  Obviously 2 of those weeks were 1436-1440 and 1441-1445.  Most likely those 2 weeks aired June 8-12 and June 15-19, 1981, since I can't imagine them having a break prior to 1445 for anything other than post-75s.  That leaves 4 mystery weeks from June 22 to July 17, 1981.  What aired those 4 weeks is anybody's guess.  Just like in 1986, there is absolutely no way to have guessed that after 1445 they aired 1286-1290 and 1296-1300.

After the debut of Play, we think the schedule was:

July 27-31, 1981: Competition (Mr. Rogers talks with Parents about Competition airing July 25 or 26)
Aug. 3-7, 1981: Divorce (Mr. Rogers talks with Parents about Divorce airing Aug. 1 or 2)
Aug. 10-14, 1981: Superheroes (Mr. Rogers talks with Parents about Superheroes airing Aug. 8 or 9)
Aug. 17-21, 1981: Starting School (Mr. Rogers talks with Parents about School airing Aug. 15 or 16)
Aug. 24-28, 1981: Bubbleland

Aug. 31 - Sept. 18, 1981: 1446-1460

Remember, the 4 banned weeks (1036-1040, 1051-1060, and 1071-1075) likely did not air in 1981 since there is no possible schedule with them airing even in 1979.  Plus, they were omitted in the 1983 Plan and Play Book (the first edition), but other weeks that did not air in 1983 were included (1031-1035, 1041-1050), meaning that the weeks that were omitted from the book were obviously banned earlier.

Even though somebody will argue that the 4 mystery weeks have to be the banned weeks, remember, that can't be, since there is no way that they could have aired even in 1979, and it is not likely that they were skipped in 1979 and then aired in 1981, only to be skipped in 1983.

Continuing forward:

Sept. 21 - Nov. 6, 1981: 1001-1035
Nov. 9 - 20, 1981: 1041-1050
Nov. 23 - Dec. 4, 1981: 1061-1070
Dec. 7, 1981 - Feb. 26, 1982: 1076-1135

Mar. 1-5, 1982: Discipline (debut)

That makes sense, since 1131 mentions work being done on the house over the weekend, so it has to follow a wainscoting week, not a post-75, so it makes sense for Discipline to interrupt after 1135 rather than 1130.

Mar. 8 - May 28, 1982: 1136 - 1195

And that fits perfectly!!  The only thing we don't know is what the 4 mystery weeks were.

[mitsguy2001]

Just curious to see if Tim or any of the new members know of any new schedule information from the early 80s.  Tim: have you tried contacting anybody to ask.  I know that what we are all most curious about is when did 1036-1040, 1051-1055, 1056-1060, and 1071-1075 last air, and why were they banned.