What do your locals run for E/I programing?

[mjlarochelle]

> "Ron Popeil Infomercial" E/I Report:
> "As the housewife confront the day-to-day events of cooking
> and chopping, they encounter unexpected obstacles,
> unexpected issues, and unexpected feelings that threaten
> their plans, their community, or their own self-image."
----------
LMAO! However I think this is a bit of a stretch, as in all the Ronco infomercials I've seen I don't think any community, plans, or self-image was threatened.

If they want to spice it up for kids, they should at least make infomercials animated on Saturday mornings, and stick in a tiny bit of stuff about cooking and/or nutrition. How would you like an animated Ron Popeil making lasagna for Garfield using the Popeil Pasta Maker? That would make it both E/I and attractive for kids.

 

[mjlarochelle]

Re: What else can quality for E/I...

Why not stop at infomercials? Soft porn movies and psychic readers' infomercials could be made into something that qualifies for E/I. They could have some high-school students (over 18) learning about physics or whatever while in their birthday suits. Not that I would watch...lol.

Speaking of psychic infomercials, I'll never forget Jojo's Psychic Alliance, which I stumbled across once. The host was a Canadian game show host who I only remember as Geoff, and he hosted Chain Reaction which was produced by CFCF in Montreal.

 

[rugrats1]

Re: What else can quality for E/I...

> Speaking of psychic infomercials, I'll never forget Jojo's
> Psychic Alliance, which I stumbled across once. The host
> was a Canadian game show host who I only remember as Geoff,
> and he hosted Chain Reaction which was produced by CFCF in
> Montreal.
>
The only Geoff I knew who hosted Chain Reaction was Geoff Edwards, who was imported from Los Angeles to host the show. He replaced Canadian celeb Blake Emmons -- in order for Geoff to host, the producers had to give the Canadian announcer some face time, so the show would qualify as Cancon.

 

[jegrant]

One good E/I show ...

I recommend "Strange Days at Blake Holsey High" - it's part of the E/I block "Discovery Kids on NBC" and is stripped on the actual Discovery Kids channel as well.

They teach real science with interesting topics, and still manage to weave in some Buffy/Dawson-esque plots (Girl fighting evil, girl dating boy, etc.).

And, for the record, my local NBC station, WTHR, actually runs 3.5 hours of E/I each week, because they follow DKonNBC with a locally produced high school quiz show called "Brain Game".

"Brain Game" is also seen on their Class A TV / DTV subchannel "SkyTrak Weather Network" at either noon or 12:30 (can't recall which) on a weekday. Honestly, I don't think noon/12:30 during the week is a great place for E/I, but I suspect they felt it was the "least impact" position on their schedule. They do also simulcast an hour of DKonNBC on Saturdays.

 

[Darrel]

> WABM-68 (UPN) shows The Smurfs M-W at 7am, and other DIC
> shows "Go For It" and "Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century".
> (Note related to some of the things further down the
> thread: They actually were airing The Littles at that
> point.
>
> WTTO-21/WDBB-17 (WB) shows the PBS show "Liberty's Kids"
> early weekday mornings and is trying to palm "Sabrina: The
> Animated Series" off with an E/I tag.

Here in Madison, WMSN (FOX 47) and WBUW (WB 57) respectively brand "Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century" and "Sabrina: The Animated Series" with "E/I."

Well, I could imagine how a famous literary detective using his keen skills of deduction to solve whiz-bang futuristic "whodunnits" could be considered educational... but Sabrina? How can some kid who's a witch be considered educational?

 

[EricStein]

Re: One good E/I show ...

> I recommend "Strange Days at Blake Holsey High" - it's part
> of the E/I block "Discovery Kids on NBC" and is stripped on
> the actual Discovery Kids channel as well.
>
> They teach real science with interesting topics, and still
> manage to weave in some Buffy/Dawson-esque plots (Girl
> fighting evil, girl dating boy, etc.).
>
> And, for the record, my local NBC station, WTHR, actually
> runs 3.5 hours of E/I each week, because they follow DKonNBC
> with a locally produced high school quiz show called "Brain
> Game".
>
> "Brain Game" is also seen on their Class A TV / DTV
> subchannel "SkyTrak Weather Network" at either noon or 12:30
> (can't recall which) on a weekday. Honestly, I don't think
> noon/12:30 during the week is a great place for E/I, but I
> suspect they felt it was the "least impact" position on
> their schedule. They do also simulcast an hour of DKonNBC on
> Saturdays.

The three oldest broadcast networks (CBS and NBC in particular) do a good job providing quality E/I programs for its stations. It's the syndication market that isn't creating watchable shows for FOX, UPN, WB, and independent stations and their "E/I" requirements. The main reason for that is that none of the major studio-affiliated syndication companies are developing or selling these shows to stations, as they see it's a financial loss for them. Therefore, the smaller, independent, and not as well funded syndicators are flooding the market with low-budget entries that don't entertain as well as educate. With cable and satellite providing even more choices, the E/I rule is 30 years too late. So-called "children's advocacy" groups such as "Children Now!" have their priorities mixed up and should be worrying about other things beside the broadcast "E/I" rules.

 

[mjlarochelle]

Re: What else can quality for E/I...

> The only Geoff I knew who hosted Chain Reaction was Geoff
> Edwards, who was imported from Los Angeles to host the show.
> He replaced Canadian celeb Blake Emmons -- in order for
> Geoff to host, the producers had to give the Canadian
> announcer some face time, so the show would qualify as
> Cancon.
----------
Yes, it was Geoff Edwards...didn't realize he was American, sorry.