What's New? (American TV series)

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What's New? is a half-hour American daily science and entertainment television program for children, [1] [2] that was broadcast on the National Educational Television (NET) network and its 1970 successor, the Public Broadcasting System (PBS), from 1962 to 1973. [3] The program aired in black-and-white and, then as of October 1967, in color. [4] [5]

The show began with a marching theme, with the narrator saying: "In, Out, and Round About. Here, There, and Everywhere. What's New?"

The target audience was upper elementary school and junior high school grades. The show was hosted by Al Binford, [3] with daily segments presented by science teacher George Fischbeck, [6] [7] [4] naturalist Murl Deusing and others, including deaf mime actor Bernard Bragg whose silent semi-comical educational adventure sketches were based on the artistry of his teacher, Marcel Marceau. [8] Ron Finley created the opening credits. Each program would deal with three different topics, such as baseball or space science. [4] [5]

References

  1. ↑ Wolters, Larry. "What's New? Show Called What's New" (Chicago Tribune, August 25, 1963, TV Section 5, p.14)
  2. ↑ What's New? programming schedule {with daily mention of George Fischbeck and Murl Deusing} for Monday, February 20 through Friday, February 24, 1967 on Pennsylvania educational station WITF, channel 33 in Reading (Reading Eagle, February 19, 1967, TV section, p.4)
  3. 1 2 "J. Allison (Al) Binford Jr." (Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame)
  4. 1 2 3 "How well do you remember August 1967?". Wqln.org. WQLN (TV). Archived from the original on 2010-02-05. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  5. 1 2 Mary Ann Watson,"The expanding vista: American television in the Kennedy years," Durham, NC, Duke University Press, 1994, p. 186
  6. ↑ Fischbeck, George. Dr. George: My Life in Weather {Chapter 3: "My Classroom Expands" is devoted to his work at NET} UNM Press, 2013
  7. ↑ "'Dr. George' Fischbeck dies at 92; popular weatherman at KABC–TV (Los Angeles Times, March 25, 2015)
  8. ↑ Bragg, Bernard as signed to Bergman, Eugene. Lessons in Laughter / The Autobiography of a Deaf Actor. Gallaudet University Press, 2002


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