ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 18, 1996 TAG: 9612180076
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DENNIS ANDERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
Call it the ``Sesame Street'' solution. Or, for older kids, maybe the ``Carmen Sandiego'' equation.
Creating shows that are fun - and smart - is the daunting model of the future, according to children's television producers and a leading activist for quality children's programming.
Because the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules this year that require TV broadcasters to begin airing at least three hours of educational shows each week, network programmers must turn increased attention to shows that broaden the knowledge base of youngsters, in addition to entertaining them.
The new rules take effect in September.
For veteran producer Mark Waxman, who created the CableACE award-winning science show ``Beakman's World,'' the equation is basic, but challenging: Shows that offer to educate children have to be as entertaining as regular programming.
``I have two preteen boys, so they're my in-house consultants, my focus group,'' Waxman said. ``I see how fickle they can be if a program doesn't quickly assault their senses and grab their imaginations.''
His newest offering in the smart kids' TV derby is ``Bailey Kipper's P.O.V.'' a Saturday morning CBS show about an 11-year-old who dreams of becoming the next Steven Spielberg.
Bailey's secret attic retreat, where he videotapes his own morphed-up family journal, becomes a platform for MTV-style lessons about thrift, consideration for others and energy conservation.
The show, a hit with critics, is fun, too.
``Bailey Kipper's'' chances at survival are better now than they might have been a few years ago, said Waxman, a veteran producer with a successful track record in commercial and public broadcasting. He's waiting eagerly to see what decisions the network makes based on the need for more educational programming.
Although ``Beakman's World'' survived after winning praise from critics and Congress, ``typically, such shows are not highly rated,'' Waxman said. ``Children, like adults, will go for pure entertainment.''
Shows like ``Beakman's World,'' and ``Bill Nye, the Science Guy'' prove learning about science doesn't have to be dull, but they aren't as easy to sell as animated superheroes, noted Peggy Charren, founder of Action for Children's Television.
``It's easier to get animation into the global marketplace,'' Charren said in a phone interview from her Cambridge, Mass., home. ``It's easier to change the language because you don't have to worry about the lips.''
Most cartoon superhero shows are just a bunch of noise and toys, Charren said. But ``Bill Nye,'' she said, is an example of how creative, quality programming also can break into commercial television.
```Bill Nye the Science Guy' started as public broadcasting,'' she said. ``Disney saw it, and now it appears on both commercial and public systems, and that offers the best of both worlds.''
A similar success can be claimed by ``Carmen Sandiego,'' a show about a colorful archcriminal whose globetrotting adventures are now extending into time and history.
In cable, the audience will never be as huge as the net cast by the networks, and cable is not affected by the new requirements, but ``cable does better by children,'' Charren observed.
With the Nickelodeon cable network offering a lineup of popular shows aimed at young audiences, such as ``Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' and ``Clarissa Explains It All,'' live fare for young people is in a kind of renaissance. Nickelodeon just won its own special CableACE award for quality children's programming.
What this should show the commercial networks is that quality, intelligent fare works as a concept, said producer Kenn Viselman, whose new venture is the import of the highly successful British children's show ``Tots TV'' to PBS affiliates.
``Tots TV,'' similar in spirit to ``Sesame Street,'' features the gentle adventures of three rag doll characters, one who speaks Spanish.
``Commercial programmers are conditioned to believe that `soft' programming that doesn't have wars or things blowing up can't be profitable,'' Viselman said.
Viselman knows a couple of things about kids, creative programming and commerce. The producer's last product tie-in from a ``soft'' program was ``Thomas the Tank Engine,'' which, like Barney the much-marketed dinosaur, generated a fortune in license revenues.
``I made a realization years ago that you can do something good and make money at the same time,'' he said.
Networks may increase their educational programming, prompted by the new FCC rules, only to discover ``just how profitable good programming can be,'' Viselman said.
LENGTH: Medium: 89 linesby CNB