Feels Like Home

Attributes: Unique source of cultural, public affairs and children’s programming. Valued alternative to commercial media. Timely public affairs programming.

Liabilities: Elitist adult programming. Lack of audience in segments between children and older adult viewers.

This is how a study I read not too long ago described the public’s perception of Public Television and its role as a provider of informal, life-long learning or “free choice” learning.

The “lack of audience in segments between children and older adult viewers” line got me thinking. Are public television’s programming choices and viewer habits merely expressing the notion that at age 25 or 35 or 45, we lose our ability to look at the world with wonder? Has chasing careers, navigating complex relationships, starting a family, responsibility, mortgages, juggling bills and finding a parking space left us with little time or desire for free choice learning? And it’s not until we’ve retired, lived a life, that we can magically see the world once again with the same unadultered curiousity we did so long ago when the simple joy of riding a bike didn’t involve rushing off to a spinning class after work?

As Ally Sheedy’s character in the 80s movie The Breakfast Club put it, “When you grow up, your heart dies.” If that’s you, watch this great Mr. Rogers tribute video (featuring Chantal Kreviazuk singing a Randy Newman tune). It may bring your heart back to life. No matter what that study says.

Watch Episode 1 - "Wherever You Work"

Of Beakers and Burners

I started writing the script and creating images for episode 2 today. I actually have a pretty clear idea of the main character arcs for the next couple of episodes so it's really just about execution and production at this point. I want to be careful not to get too far ahead of myself and the material by figuring out all eight episodes right now. I want to give the characters and storylines a little room to breathe, to develop. I like the idea of a certrain amount of unplanned evolution in the work. So much of what I do in my day job lately just doesn't seem to leave a whole lot of room for discovery or surprise.

Mike Myers talks about there being two types of science: applied and theoretical. Theoretical science would be studying the nature of a vacuum and applied science would be making a vacuum cleaner. And if you spend too much time in applied science, in production mode and you don't give yourself some time to think and tinker in the lab once in awhile, it becomes easy to lose sight of the real reason you're doing what you're doing.

Even though my chosen career of the past nineteen years requires that I be creative each day, I think I may be doing all this, playing with puppets, because I've somehow lost my way a bit. And I'm just trying to reconnect with the reasons why I'm doing what I do for a living. This is my time in the lab.