Hey, Hooray, They should send ALL of Sprout Away Tuesday, Jul 25 2006 

PBS Sucks and Melanie Martinez and Sprout Over and Out and Technical Virgin and Good Night Show D. O. D. 9:52 am

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21 Responses to “Hey, Hooray, They should send ALL of Sprout Away”

1. D. O. D. Says:
   July 25th, 2006 at 12:22 pm

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91lch_WMku8

   THIS is why Melanie Mrrtinez was sacked by PBS.

   WoW

2. Dave Says:
   July 26th, 2006 at 9:53 am

   Here’s an interesting take on it: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/offbeat/2006/07/pbs_fires_technical_virgin.html
   She’ll be missed…

3. D. O. D. Says:
   July 26th, 2006 at 12:52 pm

   The Save Melanie Petition:

   http://www.petitiononline.com/SAVEMEL/petition.html

4. D. O. D. Says:
   July 27th, 2006 at 4:12 am

   Perhaps the Power People at PBS SPROUT should also consider removing those god-awful commercials (Life Insurance, Motorized Wheelchairs, CD compilations for Disco music and the Music of the 80s) from the top and the bottom of the hour, not to mention all the other ads for the children’s products which aren’t as bad as watching elderly zombies motoring around in their domesticated golf carts but still cause children’s heads to snap to attention more quickly than a dusty episode of James the Cat.

5. Laura Says:
   July 31st, 2006 at 6:38 am

   My Children asked me to leave a post asking “Please bring Melanie back!” They are 5 and 8. This upsets me!

6. D. O. D. Says:
   July 31st, 2006 at 8:29 am

   Laura,

   What upsets you? Our Weekly Donut website? That PBS fired Melanie? Or both…..

   Kindly let us know!

7. Laura Says:
   July 31st, 2006 at 12:39 pm

   The fact that they would fire poor Melanie. The videos were somthing from 7 years ago. My 2 sons miss her and so do I. We want her back! Please!

8. Michelle Says:
   August 2nd, 2006 at 5:10 pm

   I wonder if all of you have read the article about how the president of PBS - not Sandy Wax, but of PBS itself, is freaking out about how the FCC could shut down some of her affiliates for the use of “indecent” language.

   Evidently, she feels that people should be free to express themselves without worrying about consequences and fines leveed by the FCC.

   Unless your name is Melanie Martinez, that is. In that case, your prior acts preclude you from being hired if they are in any way controversial.

   I’m paraphrasing, of course. Read the article for yourself.

   http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/438517p-369273c.html

   Melanie would not have properly “represented” PBS. Right. So there’s the straight facts. It’s not just the Sprout Network. It’s not Comcast’s involvement. It’s all the way to the top of PBS herself.

   Makes me very sad.

9. Greg Says:
   August 5th, 2006 at 7:38 am

   Could it be that Melanie Martinez wanted to get fired? She knew what the probable reaction would be when she told PBS about the videos. In my opinion she would have had an easier time if PBS found out on their own and confronted her. Then a short “…Yes I did that ages ago response big deal…” would have not been as suspicious as “look I did these videos. What are you going to do about it?” There is no bad publicity and with this media blitz she has broken out of the childrens market and shown she can do comedy.

10. D. O. D. Says:
    August 5th, 2006 at 9:29 am

    This is difficult to say. To the best of our knowledge, Melanie has yet to go public with any formal response to the PSB firing. She may have had enough of the HEY - HOORAY to last three lifetimes. Then again she might actually be feeling horribly depressed, being out of a job and all.

    The Weekly Donut will dig into this further.

11. D. O. D. Says:
    August 5th, 2006 at 9:41 am

    Here’s the closest thing to a public statement - an article in today’s (08/05/06) NY Times:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/05/arts/television/05pbs.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=slogin

12. D. O. D. Says:
    August 5th, 2006 at 9:44 am

    And one more article, published in today’s (08/05/06) Philadelphia Inquirer:

    http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/magazine/daily/15203184.htm

13. renmat Says:
    August 8th, 2006 at 6:56 pm

    My little boy started asking about her today while he was winding down before he his bedtime. I told him she was just on vacation and she’ll be back soon. I hope the people who are in charge of Sprout realize that what she did in the past has ABSOLUTLY no bearing on what she is doing now for our children.

    I guess the corporate types who run Sprout and PBS do not realize that the narrator of Thomas the Tank engine have been an admitted drug and alcohol abuser, Ringo Starr. A man who came up with the “7 dirty words” that aren’t aloud on broadcast television and radio…George Carlin. And Alec Baldwin, a mediocre actor at best who has some political views some might not see eye to eye with.

    It’s a dangerous and disgraceful way of doing business.

14. D. O. D. Says:
    August 9th, 2006 at 10:11 am

    Here’s another interesting article:

    http://www.observer.com/20060814/20060814_Rebecca_Dana_media_nytv.asp

15. D. O. D. Says:
    October 12th, 2006 at 4:54 am

    Melanie has been replaced by an singer/actor/dancer that is more threatening (in his own way) than Melanie could have ever been.

    This post over at http://thezeroboss.com/2006/07/26/the-melanie-martinez-hypocrisy/ sums it up prefectly:

    Devon Reidy said,
    October 11, 2006 @ 9:25 pm

    It has been months since Melanie upbruptly left my 3 yr old son’s nightly bedtime routine and our lives. I was one of probably hundreds of parents who flooded Ms. Wax’s voicemail with anger. Melanie was a wonderful person, who legitimately connected with children on a safe, pleasant, and loving way. She IS the Good Night show. This new host, whom I saw briefly when I was “checking to see if Melanie was back” is exceptionally creepy and monotone. I cannot believe they replaced Melanie, a wonderful girl with a lousy joke documentary when she was young back in the 90’s, with this ambiguously gay robot who significantly creeps me out and causes my son to just confusingly stare at him as if to say “What is this?”

    To the woman above who stated PBS was right in firing Melanie and that she ’should have thought about what she was doing’, you are no more ignorant and close minded than Sandy Wax. Melanie was in her mid 20’s when the mockumentary was made. Do you honestly think she would have any idea that the lousy $500 bucks she made from that video would screw her over royally when she was crowned the host of her own 3 hour show on a major network? I am sure there are some skeletons in your closet, as are in mine. Everyone has a past. Everyone.

    Unfortunately, Melanie is gone from our television (for now), but her special song still gets sung every night before bed.

    For all you parents who cannot remember, here are the lyrics:

    “Hey, okay..
    We’ve had another fantastic day,
    but now it’s time to say ‘Goodnight’
    Cause we’ve got places to go,
    and bubbles to blow.
    Stories to share,
    and dreams to grow…
    So goodnight…Goodnight…Goodnight…”

    We miss you Melanie.

16. dale shuler Says:
    November 6th, 2006 at 7:24 am

    Did those imbeciles really think we wouldn’t notice?
    I read an article that just poppped in my box, then went to imdb to look her up:
    http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6388409.html?display=Breaking+News

    The new permanent host of PBS Sprout, Michele Lepe, after having a temporary creepy host, Creepy Guy, recently played a PROSTITUTE in a film?! Maybe she was one of those nice role model prostitutes? and a TELENOVELA actress? It probably wasn’t one of the racy ones, right?

    And is it me or does this hispanic number look like Melanie? Please tell me she isn’t going to be Melanie’s long lost SISTER, for christsakes.

    I am praying Melanie will make a comment on the hypocrisy. Anyone know how to find her?
    www.feministing.com/archives/005832.html

    MELANIE WE MISS YOU!!

17. Elizabeth Says:
    December 18th, 2006 at 4:52 pm

    My little sister watches The Goodnight Show every night. Though she really enjoyed Leo and all his songs (even though I laughed my butt off at that fruit), I think its wrong what they did to Melanie. PBS seems to be a very hypocritical company.

    And this Nina person is far worse than Leo. I would much rather him than Nina. She’s so fake, and does seem like a Melanie wanna-be clone, like they think were to stupid to relize its not Melanie.

18. Elizabeth Says:
    December 18th, 2006 at 4:56 pm

    In a 7 October 2006 interview for feministing.com, Martinez says “Nothing has changed the way I feel about the videos. I think they are hilarious and still a relevant parody on what the kids are taught in school today. The decision to be in the videos was made by a socially aware adult married actress, albeit a comedic one! Not as a “mistake” or a “poor decision made in college which should now be forgiven.” Definitely not a “skeleton in my closet”! It’s always been listed on my resume. I wanted to act in them because it was a funny smart parody of the abstinence-only teaching in schools that I am against. Not abstinence per se, but the popular federally funded abstinence-only curriculum. Children deserve to be taught a responsible comprehensive sex education curriculum. The spoofs were a way to get people to realize how absurd the notion is, particularly back when the video was made, the Not Me Not Now group. They base their teachings on scare tactics. And what about alternative lifestyles? To them, they don’t exist!” Interesting.

19. Cynthia Guerra Says:
    April 5th, 2007 at 6:38 pm

    OK I know Leo was a weirdo but my son, who has a speech delay..COMPLETELY came out of his shell when Leo sang songs. He knew all the words and the dance moves to ALL the songs! Now I cant find them anywhere! Does anyone know the words to Go To Bed Sleepyhead?

20. Lena Says:
    June 26th, 2007 at 4:52 am

    Geez, some of you people are kind of creepy yourself. Yes, I miss the original host and I think she was given the shaft. And YES! I agree that the “creepy guy” was very offputing. I couldn’t quite believe it the first time I saw him. However, aren’t PBS viewers supposed to be a little more intelligent and evolved beyond some of the gay bashing I have read in some of these posts? The entertainment world is filled with gay people and they are not, by definition, “creepy” because they are gay. In fact, in many cases — especially in children’s entertainment — you would never realize what their sexual orientation is unless you knew them personally.

    I think we are supposed to be the grownups now?

21. Matt Says:
    October 30th, 2007 at 9:06 am

    Hey, don’t diss Bear! “Leo” is Noel McNeal, otherwise known as Bear (from the Big Blue House.) Intresting, eh?

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