The Making of Music Funfactory - December 16, 1986
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- Behold the underlying meaning behind the wackiness of the set and puppets of Music Funfactory.
Music Funfactory (first airing in 1987) was an educational series of programs made to play on television sets in classrooms of 3rd and 4th graders. The show was the brainchild of Fran Powell and she developed the songs and lessons. The set, puppets and nonsensical ad libbing was done by me.
Fran created a previous series called "Mrs. Cabobble's Caboose" (1986) and had my friend Wayne White create the wonderful set and puppets for that show. Wayne brought me aboard as PT Pickens. That series played for many years all over the United States. Fran wrote many original songs for this series.
The Music Funfactory series did not receive much replay. My persoanl belief is that there were too many depictions of cultural stereotypes and some of the old folk, patriotic, and spiritual songs were just too much for many enlightened teachers. There were not as many original songs as in Mrs. Cabobble's Caboose.
The 30 year-old me was obsessed with the possibility of mysterious connections between different religious and spiritual paths. It is quite obvious that betrayal by my evangelical church during the racial tensions of the 1960's left me confused and bewildered.
Thank you soooo much. I miss this show. I still have the song stuck in my head. Look at the Dandies see Mr. Banjo. ☺️☺️
Oh my goodness! Sorry about that ear worm!😉
That's actually my comfort tune in my head when I need to calm down. I hum it when I'm cranky. ☺️
Such a glorious set, Mr, Kabobble (sp?)! Be well. Love
Thanks Doug!
Whatever happened to all the set props when the show ended very curious are they still around today???
I still have the puppets I made for Music Funfactory, but some of them are getting pretty ratty. They have been used for many years in performances of "Bob Roy and the Christmas Cookie ",
The Music Funfactory machines ended up in different places. I took the Note Noter home as a playhouse for our kids, but I think the others were stored in the Channel 8 warehouse and eventually discarded.
I recycled nonfunctional musical instruments that I got from the metro schools warehouse for some of the machines. It's amazing how much stuff is discarded by educational institutions and the entertainment industry, but I guess we can say that same thing about most of our materially consuming activities.