Theories why Bear came to an end

[beaker]

There is something very special about Fraggle Rock that I have to say I'm liking more than SS and TMS (and I love them both)... the multilayered co-existance of species going through similar problems, maybe? I dunno what it is, but it shines throughout.

Now, I didn't think much of Bear at first until I saw some clips and bits of episodes (and mostly Bear's appearance on Hollywood Squares where he got a question about shaving... his "And I know about that why?" totally won the character for me) I thought this was a clever little series that's too good to be stuck on cable while PBS farted out bad Thomas the Tank Engine knockoffs (ewww! Jay Jay the Airplane). I'm wondering, just like FR, would it have hit a bigger audience outside of cable. But then again, Disney was standard by then and most of everyone had cable by then.

I knew I should have bought some of the VHS when they were clearing them out...

As for Murray? Well, any character in the situation they put him in would have been scrutinized. Personally, I LOVE that they take a character out on the street and have him interact with others (much like Traveling Matt), but I don't like how they reuse so much footage, and I wish they'd refilm new tune ins with Ovejita by his side. Murray's great, but he's even better when he's palling around with the little lamb.

I couldn't get into Thomas...but you know what show is now one of my favorites and has commanded my attention? Chuggington. Seriously. I know, its some new kiddy middle of the road cgi show from the UK, but there's something magical about it to me.
Sadly it seems like they redubbed the British voices out of it for the American audience, lol

Fraggle Rock is on a whole other plane of awesomeness really. I remember for years I kept telling you to check it out, so Im glad youre into it.

I hadnt seen Bear in some time. I noticed the newer Disney Bear releases were six bucks each at Toys R Us, so I picked one up(Storytelling With Bear) and I felt the magic all over again(tho sadly theres only 3 episodes) It doesnt matter if youre 2 years old or 32 like you, you just instinctively want to hug Bear and give him a kiss on the nose, and do the 'cha cha cha'. Not many Muppets bring out that side of me. But to me Bear is such a perfect magical show, I'm hoping like you that they finally begin re-airing all the seasons on a cable channel. I mean, its not like it feels at all dated...looks like it coulda been filmed yesterday.

Do you remember the first time Muppets were seen outside a studio? Was it the Kermit/Fozzie in the pasture outtakes from the Muppet Movie? It's a device that just works wonders. I have saved pretty much every Uncle Matt sketch from FR in a separate folder. Man, now thats ONE Fraggle puppet that needs to be rebuilt

 

[beaker]

Super Why is utter trash. The CGI looks like an unlicensed Disney movie Knockoff (Ratatoing, The Littlest Cars, the Littlest Toy Story 3). But it supposedly makes money, and it must've been cheap to acquire, as it was produced for Canadian TV and they already got Canadian TV tax credit for it (Someone from Canada has to fill me in about that). I have the same problem with it I have with Barney... basically the whole "Kids like Superheroes" bit, so they wind up making a disturbingly repressive toned down babyfied version of them. Come on... they have Hulk and Spidey diapers now, and even toddlers know super heroes punch stuff. I still don't even GET the super hero angle of the program, actually. Seems they could have been anything. Among other things, I still find the tone of the show and shows like it BEYOND patronizing.

I swear, PBS was on a rush to get rid of Reading Rainbow, but it wasn't entirely their fault. One of the most depressing things I've seen was LeVarr Burton going up to get the Emmy for outstanding whatever that Reading Rainbow won and basically pleading for someone to fund them. Worst part is, I haven't even seen it on our PBS stations in years before that. PBS wants flashy junk reminiscent of cable to get in as many sponsors as possible because they don't have kid's pledge drives anymore, and everyone watches cable garbage anyway (BEar was not said cable garbage... it was too good to be stuck just on cable). Same reason why SS has to "dumb itself down." PBS is struggling, and it's mainly due to political nature, but mostly their will to be competitive with channels people actually watch.

I am sooooo grateful I was alive to and the perfect age to bear witness to the glory that was children's television 84-90
(Muppet Babies, Reading Rainbow, G1 Transformers, etc)

I have no idea how anyone can like the newer generation. Whats that one nightmarish looking kids show with the mutant teletubbie ball things? Oh gosh, theres so many nightmarish kids shows out there

 

[Drtooth]

I have no idea how anyone can like the newer generation. Whats that one nightmarish looking kids show with the mutant teletubbie ball things? Oh gosh, theres so many nightmarish kids shows out there

Boohbah? That thing was a TITANIC failure. And I mean that in the boat, not just the size. I remember Target having shelves and shelves of them for deep discount clearance and they STILL didn't move. I will say the educational shows for older kids have done nothing short of improved. World Girl is one of the best written shows for kid's I've seen... WildKrats has been amazing the three episodes I've seen... really, I HATE nature shows, especially the garbage ones they run at 3 Am Sundays to fulfill an FCC requirement, but the Krats have ALWAYS made nature shows so magical and fun, be it their first show, or Zaboomafoo. Even Curious George is beyond amazing, and that's for the wee ones. I'm glad to see the weak junk outnumbered.... but Barney's an immovable mountain of mediocrity and Super Why just... it's just unpleasant on every level.

But other than that, Teletubbies is LONG gone from my outlet, Barney's only got one odd timeslot in the middle of the morning on the supplementary PBS . Seems things ARE moving in the right direction there.

 

[CensoredAlso]

But other than that, Teletubbies is LONG gone from my outlet, Barney's only got one odd timeslot in the middle of the morning on the supplementary PBS . Seems things ARE moving in the right direction there.

I was having a conversation with someone about this, who didn't see why I had issues with modern Sesame Street. I tried to explain that Barney was responsible for Sesame Street changing its format and dumbing itself down. She said Barney was over now though and Sesame Street was still going strong. Well, it may still be on the air, but Sesame Street is far from going strong, in my opinion. Barney may be gone but I think the wrath of the purple dinosaur may be felt for quite awhile, heh. Not saying there's no hope, but it will take time.

 

[rowlfy662]

lord i remember seeing super why when i was in florida i could not sit threw it i really hate seeing 2d and 3d together it does not work

bear we need you

 

[Drtooth]

Well, to be honest, Barney hit them hard in the early 90's... it's Blues Clues and Dora that REALLY warped 'em good lately. And every time they try to switch things back to normal, something comes up and they change everything over again> I know it, you know it, the people working on the show know it. They desperately wanted to bring the show back to what it was, at least pre-season 32 standards, but they just couldn't and changed things over again...


Oh, and Teletubbies was ONLY popular because of that big mouthed guy whining that one of them was a symbol of homosexuality or something. If he wanted the show to be a failure, he shoulda kept his big fat mouth shut. Seriously, what WAS that stuff?

But back to the subject at hand, there is no call for Bear to just be tossed in a corner. I still think it could play today, but the problem is where? It was, as beaker said, a joint between Henson and Disney, and I dunno if Disney would be all that willing to let it out to another channel (cough HUB cough cough). Really, air that right next to Fraggle Rock... would fit perfectly.

 

[beaker]

But back to the subject at hand, there is no call for Bear to just be tossed in a corner. I still think it could play today, but the problem is where? It was, as beaker said, a joint between Henson and Disney, and I dunno if Disney would be all that willing to let it out to another channel (cough HUB cough cough). Really, air that right next to Fraggle Rock... would fit perfectly.

I think for whatever reason, the powers that be at Disney would want to keep Bear geared toward an early developmental audience(1-6 years old) Fraggle Rock if I recall was always more 3-12 year old range. I am still tickled beige for the existence of The Hub, even though I don't have cable. Having grown up loving Fraggle Rock despite rarely being able to see it due to not having premium cable...now that virtually everyone has cable countless kids can be exposed to it. The greatness of The Hub is that it seems to be a virtual celebration of all that I recall being glorious in the 80's. Be it G1 Transformers and GI Joe, or Fraggle Rock. Even the new GI Joe I like(TF Prime is still growing on me)

Bear would simply be perfect right where it was originally: On Disney or other Disney channels. Though most perfect would be PBS. Call me crazy, but I kind of like Martha the talking dog and some of the other newer PBS morning kids shows. There is a simplicity that like Little Bear and Rupert, I find relaxing. Thats why I liked Muppet Babies and The New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh so much. I think the only cheap-o cgi kids show I ever liked was that one with the Crocodile and the duck.

But from the Bear dvd I have, it's now "Disney's Bear"(replacing Jim Henson's signature), and the legal stuff on the back say "Muppets Holding Company"(which would now be Muppets Studio)

 

[Drtooth]

Bear would simply be perfect right where it was originally: On Disney or other Disney channels. Though most perfect would be PBS. Call me crazy, but I kind of like Martha the talking dog and some of the other newer PBS morning kids shows. There is a simplicity that like Little Bear and Rupert, I find relaxing. Thats why I liked Muppet Babies and The New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh so much. I think the only cheap-o cgi kids show I ever liked was that one with the Crocodile and the duck.

Oh yeah, Martha's amazing too. PBS is making strides with really good kid's programming, but Super WHY was a step backwards, and even with an 11:30 AM death slot, the fact they desperately cling on to Barney is nothing short of sad. I'm half and half on the Cat in the Hat cartoon, though. I love Martin Short's interpretation of the character, and I like the things and the fish... but the kids have ZERO personality, the show is dreadfully repetitive (down to singing the same Off We Go song with the same animation twice in a half hour), and the flat Flash animation with fixed poses. But there are strides in better kiddy programming. I can't wait till they disprove the Dora/Blue modual of educational kid's TV.

 

[KirbTreelo05]

February is getting close,and I still can't find any official signs that Bear will be returning to Disney Junior...

Forget what I said about the Hub for a moment in my earlier post; I think it's great that “101 Dalmatians: The Series” is returning, but if Bear doesn’t come back on this channel with some of the older Playhouse Disney shows, (like Drtooth said on the other thread) this will be a major fail on their part. They can’t have a 24-Hour channel with the little bit of shows that are confirmed.

Playhouse Disney has had its own channel in different countries for some time now, airing older shows with new ones, and having host in between programs (similar to how Sprout does it). Why it is when we finally get our version of the channel everything gets changed? The new name makes it sound like they got it from Nick Jr. When I first heard of it, that's exactly what I thought. Playhouse Disney sounded more distinctive and unique...

Getting back to Bear and its discontinuation, I wondering what made "Breakfast With Bear" so short-lived. (Low ratings? Did it become too costly to fly continuously back-and-fourth from New York to California? ...Hmm, maybe not that last one...)
Sure, it may have not been as insanely awesome as the original show, but even before I got fully interested in him again, I enjoyed watching it when I got the chance. It was the first time I had ever seen him in the real world. I thought the idea was neat.

I'm in process of create a BitBBH group with someone on DeviantArt. I was planning on talking about the spin-off in a journal at some point, but hardly anything comes up when I search for it. It feels as if it never happened.

I'm half and half on the Cat in the Hat cartoon, though. I love Martin Short's interpretation of the character, and I like the things and the fish... but the kids have ZERO personality, the show is dreadfully repetitive (down to singing the same Off We Go song with the same animation twice in a half hour), and the flat Flash animation with fixed poses.

I kinda like this show, but I agree with you on with the kids and the animation. I was recently watching an episode where Sally and Nick were learning about hibernation from a black bear named Borris. They made them sound so clueless when they asked Borris questions like if he brushes his teeth or washes his face before he goes to sleep. I couldn't help but be bothered by that. It's like when Kai-Lan acts as if she has no idea why her friends get upset, when usually she's right there during what was happening. I know people do this to make the younger viewers more observant, but there's another way of doing it that won't make the characters seem so oblivious.

Hopefully the animation will improve in the next season. When it comes to Flash, I prefer the fluidness Foster's used to have.

 

[Drtooth]

I kinda like this show, but I agree with you on with the kids and the animation. I was recently watching an episode where Sally and Nick were learning about hibernation from a black bear named Borris. They made them sound so clueless when they asked Borris questions like if he brushes his teeth or washes his face before he goes to sleep. I couldn't help but be bothered by that. It's like when Kai-Lan acts as if she has no idea why her friends get upset, when usually she's right there during what was happening. I know people do this to make the younger viewers more observant, but there's another way of doing it that won't make the characters seem so oblivious.

Hopefully the animation will improve in the next season. When it comes to Flash, I prefer the fluidness Foster's used to have.

I truly wanted to like this show ever since I heard of it. I do, but it just isn't as watchable on a daily basis as it could be. Martin Short acts the heck out of the role, giving a wonderful exuberance that makes him the perfect Cat in the Hat. I have a bug with the fish not being all that resistant, but I guess he warmed up to the Cat over time. Even love how they handle the Things. But the kids with no personality (one should be a lot more reluctant, almost Booberish about flying off to places) and the repetitiveness of using the same song and transformation sequence for 3 minutes of every episode just takes a toll on the rewatchability factor. Seems like next season, they should get someone in saying "We don't NEED to have them sing off to adventure every episode, and we could just quickly cut to wherever they're going instead." Sid the science kid does sing the same songs and has the same structure every episode, sure. but he only does it once in a half hour. I could imagine Moomy going, "Okay... they're singing that song for the hundredth time, and I can't take it anymore" and changing the channel.

Plus, much like the books they're sort of based on, next season they should move onto other scientific topics besides animals in nature. It has a Magic School Bus feel to it, and I'm sure kids would like to see the human body at work or something like that.

As for the animation, it looks lazy. There's a LOT of motion tweening shortcuts, and you rarely see anyone move from a 3/4th angle. Essentially, it looks like you're staring at the same drawing moving. I agree, Fosters did magic with 2D computer animation, even The Mr. Men Show. It's a tool that makes animation easier, but that shouldn't be an excuse to make everything look like 1990's internet videos. Internet videos today have a LOT more movement.

As for Disney Junior... anyone know what's confirmed on that channel? I find another 24 hr preschool network to be a strange, and disappointing choice. I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking this, but why didn't they make a general Disney classics channel with all the old movies and cartoons they used to show. I'm not talking Ducktales or Darkwing Duck, but rather Donald, Mickey, and the rest.