Kate in Yellowstone; Friends at Nite; Switched at Birth Renewed...

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Boardwalk Empire will return for a 12-episode second season starting Sunday, September 25th.

Teen Mom star Amber Portwood is in rehab again, although nobody seems to be sure who is footing the bill.

Perhaps the generous benefactor can help 16 and Pregnant's Aubrey (the one who was caught shoplifting recently). Aubrey has a tumor in her throat that she can't afford to have removed.

Rumor has it that Kate Plus Eight is filming in Yellowstone National Park.

Beavis & Butthead is returning to MTV, if you haven't already heard. For a sneak peak, click here. Note: it's pretty much the same old junk.

In case you missed my tweet, Friends will be joining the Nick-at-Nite lineup in September! Similarly, I tweeted out that there will be a Mister Rogers spin-off entitled Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, which features the next generation... in animation.

Walmart has joined the crowds of those offering streaming.

FOX won't allow free viewing of its shows on its website or Hulu in the fall. You'll need to use the pay-Hulu site or prove that you're a subscriber of a participating pay TV service.

The Simpsons will have an episode that spoof The Social Network in 2012.

Remember all the crazies who stockpiled for y2k? They're at it again, and Livin' for the Apocalypse will showcase some of them. It starts Sunday, August 28th at 10pm on TLC.

Franklin & Bash will have a live video chat after the season finale tomorrow, August 3rd. Check out the info.

And, in my favorite news of the week, ABCFamily has ordered 22 MORE episodes for the first season of Switched at Birth, coming in early 2012!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Another Monday, another long-running television show. I decided to go with another PBS show, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Like last week's Sesame Street, this show also is geared toward children, has puppet sequences as well as live sequences, and often shows clips from factories and galleries to help viewers understand how things are made. A main difference: no new episodes are being made; the final episode aired in 2001.

There is never a plot, and storylines only half continue from episode to episode. The Mr. Rogers segments do not continue, but the Neighborhood of Make-Believe sections can carry for days. Mr. Rogers often breaks the fourth wall by recapping the puppet sections for the audience, and discussing what went on. Fred Rogers himself was one of the show's puppeteers, and with him viewers imagined themselves on the trolley to and from the Neighborhood of Make-Believe.

Characters: King Friday, Queen Sara Saturday, and Prince Tuesday; Lady Elaine Fairchild; X the Owl and Henrietta Pussycat; Daniel Tiger (who lived in the clock); Corny the inventor; Grandpere the tiger (who lived at the Eiffel Tower); the Platypus family (little Ana was so cute!); and Harriet Elizabeth Cow (the schoolteacher). Oh, and of course Mr. McFeely, Mayor Maggie, Chuck Aber, and Lady Aberlin.

Fred Rogers wrote over 200 songs for the series, and sadly, I doubt that the new generations will be privy to learn them all. While there is a campaign to make Mister Rogers a part of daytime PBS scheduling once again, it is currently only airing once a week or so in most parts of the country. There were some great episodes, and I learned about a lot of different things, including how toothpaste is made, LoL. "Jospehine, the Short-Necked Giraffe" was my favorite sequence, but it seems that I cannot find a good video clip. It was a three- or four-day sequence, and extra time was allotted to the musical play than the usual middle segments. Josephine was a giraffe, and she had a friend, Hazel, who was an elephant. Hazel played the trombone, and there was another giraffe who played the "hoof organ," which was similar to the floor keyboard in Big. And a snake who learned to hiss. The main theme (I believe) was to accept and love your differences.

The clip below gives a good view of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, introduces several characters, and begins with Mr. Rogers in the sandbox, one of my favorite live-action settings.