Q & A : A Children’s TV Pioneer Looks Back--and Ahead

Before Barney, before Big Bird, there was . . . the Captain.

Millions of Americans grew up with Bob Keeshan’s grandfatherly Captain Kangaroo persona, the jovial keeper of the Treasure House, who invited children into a safe, gentle world where Mr. Green Jeans, Mr. Moose, Tom Terrific and Grandfather Clock held sway.

The show ran on CBS from 1955 until 1984, then continued in reruns on some public television stations until 1993. Now, at 68, Keeshan has grown into the white-haired, white-mustachioed role he began playing in his late 20s.

A longtime children’s advocate, he keeps busy as a director of the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, a director of the National Assn. of Children’s Hospitals and as the national spokesman for the Coalition for America’s Children. He’s also involved with Corporate Child Care Inc., an on-site child care program for business that he founded with former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander in 1987. His “Family Fun Activity Book” was published by Deacon Press in 1994.

In town to shoot an infomercial for a new product that regulates children’s TV viewing, Keeshan shared some observations about the current state of the medium he helped pioneer.

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Question: How would you rate children’s TV programming today?

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Answer: I wouldn’t rate it very highly. We deregulated broadcasting back in the ‘80s and up until that time, broadcasters had the responsibility to account for their programming and how it served the community. With deregulation, they no longer have that responsibility, except for the Children’s Television Act of 1990. A section of that law says that every licensee shall provide value-oriented programming for children. So we now have some stations saying, “Well, we broadcast ‘The Jetsons’ and that teaches kids about space travel” or that “Family Feud” teaches kids how to cooperate in a family setting.

Q: They have been called on that, however.

A: Well, they have, but I don’t think that this (Federal Communications Commission) is going to really make a campaign of it because the Administration has other issues it has to be concerned with before it gets around to broadcasting and children.

I like to point out to people that in public television, a producer starts out by saying, “How will this program help to serve children?” In commercial television, not always, but almost always, the producer starts out by saying, “How can I make big bucks by exploiting children?” And a lot of them make very big bucks.

I don’t particularly care for the (Mighty Morphin Power) Rangers and the (Teen-age Mutant Ninja) Turtles. I know they’re very popular with kids. They’re the good guys and they solve problems by fighting the bad guys, but they do it with aggression and violence. A lot of young kids, particularly 4- and 5-year-olds, don’t really understand that violence and aggression are not legitimate ways to address problems.

Q: At that age, children are just learning how to control their own feelings.

A: Yeah. We always say in our child care centers, “If you are unhappy with something that’s happened, use your words. Use your words.” We have to socialize children so that they understand that, and unfortunately, all these television programs go absolutely counter to that.

Q: Is the number of hours that children spend in front of the set perhaps the larger issue?

A: Yeah, there’s the quality and there’s the quantity. The relationships that young children have with their peers and parents are critical to their development. If they spend four, five, six, seven hours a day, as many kids do, viewing television, that time is taken away from peer-group relationships and parent-child relationships. But a lot of that is not the fault of the industry. A lot of that is the responsibility of the parent.

You’d never say to a child, “Honey, I’m tired, go out and play in traffic.” But when you say, “Go watch television,” and don’t intervene in program selection, you’re leading them into a wilderness that can deeply affect them.

Q: You’ve said that many kids’ shows exist primarily to sell toys. But if parents and educators agree that a show is worthwhile, does that make merchandising OK?

A: Marketing is OK if the television show existed first. It becomes the parental responsibility to say no. Kids have got to know that they can’t have everything. But a lot of parents don’t teach that lesson. They have guilt feelings about not spending (time with their children), so (they say), “You want this new stereo, fine.” That is teaching kids a lesson that goes way beyond television and merchandising and everything else.

Q: Do you ever feel you missed out on something? Think of all those Mr. Moose dolls and Bunny Rabbit dolls. . . .

A: No. Maybe my lawyers would, but I never did anything for money. We always had a rule that if the product came from the program, then it had legitimacy. That is to say, if it were a record album or a book, that sort of thing, that was fine. If it was a T-shirt or a funny hat that didn’t exist in the program, then we really didn’t want anything to do with it.

Q: You’re in town doing an infomercial--what about that?

A: I’ve never done an infomercial before, but this product is tailor-made for what I’ve been talking about: control of the television set. This device, TV Time, can be programmed so that television is locked out at times that have been agreed upon.

Q: Do you have a financial interest?

A: I get paid to do the infomercial and I think I get paid something for every one that is sold, but it’s a very minimal amount. The point is that the product is right in the first place.

Q: Do you miss being a part of children’s television?

A: Not really. I’ve got so much to do. If I were in production, I would not even think of getting into publishing as I have been. My (“Family Fun Activity Book”) is very similar to stuff that I did on the program in the Playtime segments, when I used to say, “Parents, spend some time with your young people today.” And people would say, “That’s a wonderful idea, but what do I do?” So this book of arts and crafts and games and all kinds of activities--labeled by age group--was designed so it’s easy for parents to use as a reference work. The publishers are so enthusiastic that they are giving me my own imprint and we’re going to create a line of books for children and families.

Q: If “Captain Kangaroo” were starting out today, what do you think its chances for survival would be?

A: It would never get on the air.

Q: When you talk to people who watched the show growing up, is there any one element that they mention most often as meaning something special to them?

A: There’s a sameness to it which is very rewarding to someone of my advanced age. Regardless of whether they say, “Mr. Moose was my favorite” or “I loved Dancing Bear,” they almost always say, “You know, you were my friend. You made me feel good about myself and I always trusted what you said.”