Could Between the Lions ever come back?

Buff Beaker

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Very VERY well put.
Between the lions was extremely lucky to manage 10 seasons as by season 4 the money ran out and they only managed to continue to make the show as they moved the show out of New York and Boston and to elsewhere as it was cheaper to film there. But even then the number of episodes decreased because it was so expensive to make
Defunctland covered the topic really well in their video I suggest watching it

That was a fantastic video!
 

mimitchi33

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I want to see this come back to teach a new generation of kids how to read. It makes me sad how most of the older shows are off the air, yet they still re-run Clifford and WordWorld!
Very VERY well put.
Between the lions was extremely lucky to manage 10 seasons as by season 4 the money ran out and they only managed to continue to make the show as they moved the show out of New York and Boston and to elsewhere as it was cheaper to film there. But even then the number of episodes decreased because it was so expensive to make
Defunctland covered the topic really well in their video I suggest watching it

DEFUNCTLAND IS AWESOME! I've been hooked every since the Bear episode.
 

Buff Beaker

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I want to see this come back to teach a new generation of kids how to read. It makes me sad how most of the older shows are off the air, yet they still re-run Clifford and WordWorld!

DEFUNCTLAND IS AWESOME! I've been hooked every since the Bear episode.
Yes!!! PBS should definitely do reruns for between the lions.
 

salemfan

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A few reasons.
1) puppet shows are wildly expensive. Gotta build special sets, hire puppeteers, all this stuff that doesn't come cheap.
Government grants only go so far, then you need to rely on corporate sponsors. Towards the end of the show's run, Chick Fil-A was a sponsor. Not everyone may like their political alignment, so possible boycott.
But who said if they were to make a new version of Between the Lions it would have to be with puppets? Who said a reboot of Between the Lions can't be animated? Just because Between the Lions was of the same structure as old Sesame Street (a main story interrupted by various short segments) but for an older age group doesn't mean it had to be made with puppets.
 

YellowYahooey

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I think "Between the Lions" was more structured like "The Electric Company" than "Sesame Street". Like "The Electric Company", it focused more on phonics and taught children to read, while "Sesame Street" was more teaching the basics, such as the alphabet, shape recognition, and counting to twenty, among many topics. Although I did learn on Muppet Wiki that "Sesame Street" did have some phonics segments in the 1990s, such as words starting with "SH", "CH", etc., and even a Waiter Grover segment involving "ch" words. But those phonics segments were not used as extensively as on "The Electric Company".

I agree that certain series can make a comeback, if not with live puppets. Shows that relied on puppets over the years can be revived with 3D computer animated characters instead of live puppets. "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" used puppets in the Land of Make-Believe, and the spinoff, "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood", used 3D computer animation. I am not sure how Daniel's show is doing in the ratings, or whether or not production had ceased.
 

datman24

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I mean, is there really that high of a demand to bring back a show like Between the Lions?
 
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