Fare thee well, Captain Kangaroo

by Aryeh Dean Cohen 
January 30, 2004
Jerusalem Post
Billboard Guide

Bart Simpson would've loved Captain Kangaroo, aka actor 
Bob Keeshan, who died last Friday at age 76. 

Sure the yellow-haired kid would've tried to slip a dead frog 
into one of those floppy pockets in the captain s jacket 
Keeshan wore, earning him that "Captain Kangaroo" sobriquet. 
Heck, Bart might have even complained about the lack of Itchy 
and Scratchie-style violent cartoons on Keeshan's kiddie show, 
which ran for 36 years on American TV. 

But we're certain that even Master Simpson would've appreciated 
the approach to educating kids and children's television, 
which Keeshan once summed up for an interviewer: "The children 
should never be excluded from what I am doing, and should never 
have the feeling of being part of an audience." 

Bart would've appreciated that Keeshan got his start as pioneer 
television clown Clarabelle, who could've taught Krusty a few 
things about water shpritzing, on The Howdy Doody Show on 
NBC before what was perceived by management as an attempt at 
unionizing cost him his job. Soon he was at rival CBS, taking 
on The Today Show in the ratings wars and helping to raise a 
generation of Baby Boomers and beyond. 

Unlike Bart's Principal Skinner, the Captain never talked down 
to the kids. Whether he was discussing nature with Mr. Green 
Jeans, hobnobbing with Bunny Rabbit, or hitting the floor with 
Dancing Bear, you knew he was talking to you, and that he cared. 

He cared so much that, according to his obituary, he set up 
three alarm clocks in his Long Island home and employed a 
phone service to make sure he got in on time and didn't 
disappoint the millions of kids who tuned in daily. This Boomer 
was a little young to catch the captain at his peak, but we 
still have fond memories of some of his benevolent babysitting. 
"We have respect for our audience," said Keeshan, something 
that appears woefully lacking even in the kids programming 
we let our youngsters watch today, where hyperactive hosts 
only seem interested in selling or hyping something. The closest 
we've seen locally to Keeshan were Dalik Walinitz and Yaron 
London, who managed to interview and entertain kids without 
ever being condescending. 

Keeshan knew it wasn't the TV's job to raise kids, however. 
"Parents are the ultimate role models for children. Every word, 
movement, and action has an effect," he said. "No other person 
or outside force has a greater influence on a child than the 
parent," he said. Yes, even you Homer Simpson. 

So here's a salute to a former Marine who never saw combat 
but won the biggest battle of them all: finding a way to 
educate children using an amazing new medium and an approach 
that was always endearing.