Some viewers point lasers at 'Dr. Who'
- Publication: Minneapolis Star Tribune
- Date: 1982-02-24
- Author: John Carman
- Page: 1B
- Language: English
As soon as KTCA-TV (Channel 2) dumped "The Electric Company" from its afternoon schedule in favor of a science-fiction show called "Dr. Who," the station started hearing from parents eager to boo Who.
They complained about violence on "Dr. Who." They griped especially about delivering the "Sesame Street" audience directly into the monster-ridden world of "Dr. Who" at 5 p.m.
And they complained about the after-school audience losing the chance to see "The Electric Company," a PBS series that promotes reading to its designated 7- to 10-year-old audience.
Where "The Electric Company" gives children words, "Dr. Who" gives them latex monsters. The imported British series, acquired by Channel 2 through syndication, stars Tom Baker as a doctor who fights scary evildoers hither and yon in the universe.
The show leads to the kind of small crisis recounted by one of my colleagues. His 4-year-old son became addicted to "Dr. Who." and subsequently developed a fear of going upstairs in the house. He also has to be escorted to the bathroom. My colleague decided this week to forbid him to watch "Dr. Who."
Stephen Kulczycki, Channel 2's vice president for broadcasting, has been on the blunt end of the viewer attack since the program switch was made in late December. Kulczycki offers a broad defense of KTCA-TV's decision.
For starters, "The Electric Company" isn't banished from the KTCA-TV schedule. It still airs at 9 a.m. weekdays. Its target audience is in school then, but Kulczycki notes that the program is televised in many classrooms.
Also. Kulczycki said, the science-fiction show "stretches the imagination of young people. It's like a more complicated 'Star Trek.' It's something that's more difficult to understand than 'Scooby Doo.' " He said that "Dr. Who" does indulge in violence, "but nothing compared to what we see on commercial television."
The clincher, though, is that "Dr. Who" is dynamite, or at least a firecracker, in the ratings. That's right, the ratings.
"I just got my January 'ratings' book in, and it was as popular as I expected." Kulczycki said.
"The Electric Company" had so minuscule an audience at 5 p.m. weekdays that it often failed to show up in ratings books. "Dr. Who" reached into his floppy hat and pulled out a 4 percent share of the January audience. That's not "The Dukes of Hazzard," but it's impressive for public TV. Kulczycki said the show did well with kids aged 2 to 11, and teen-agers.
Even in the (for now) commercial-free world of public television, ratings are scrutinized. If people are going to contribute, they have to be motivated by shows they want to see.
According to Kulczycki, Dr. Who has been dispatched on a vital experimental mission for KTCA-TV. He is to boldly go where no man has gone before and seek out new life for public TV.
"The reason we're running the show is to hook children on other programs, and to get them used to finding us on their dials," Kulczycki said.
He acknowledges that the task is complicated by the fact that "Over Easy," a talk show for old people, follows "Dr. Who" on the schedule. But he reasons that once kids learn there is life on Channel 2, they might come back for such programs as "Nova" and the "National Geographic Specials."
Kulczycki adds that public television has nothing to apologize for regarding children's programming. Besides "The Electric Company," PBS offers "Sesame Street," "3-2-1 Contact," "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," and more.
He has a point. If viewers really want to be angry about the state of children's programming, they should channel that anger toward the commercial networks.
Not in years have children's advocacy groups been as disheartened about TV as they are now. Within the past month, the National Education Association, representing nearly 2 million teachers, told the Federal Communications Commission that the networks are ignoring a 1974 FCC policy statement urging more worthwhile children's programming.
The record supports the criticism. CBS' "Captain Kangaroo" is the only daily children's show on any network, and it's been trimmed to 30 minutes. Such efforts as NBC's "Hot Hero Sandwich" and ABC's "Animals, Animals, Animals" have disappeared altogether. Cartoon laser guns are back in force on Saturday mornings.
The prospects for improvement aren't good. Two years ago, FCC Chairman Charles Ferris was prodding reluctant broadcasters to develop intelligent shows for kids. Ferris went out with the Carter administration. His Reagan-appointed successor, Mark Fowler, wants to give broadcasters free rein in programming.
From that sad perspective, a few of Dr. Who's creepie-crawlies don't look quite so horrible shuffling along behind Big Bird on the KTCA-TV schedule.
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
- APA 6th ed.: Carman, John (1982-02-24). Some viewers point lasers at 'Dr. Who'. Minneapolis Star Tribune p. 1B.
- MLA 7th ed.: Carman, John. "Some viewers point lasers at 'Dr. Who'." Minneapolis Star Tribune [add city] 1982-02-24, 1B. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Carman, John. "Some viewers point lasers at 'Dr. Who'." Minneapolis Star Tribune, edition, sec., 1982-02-24
- Turabian: Carman, John. "Some viewers point lasers at 'Dr. Who'." Minneapolis Star Tribune, 1982-02-24, section, 1B edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Some viewers point lasers at 'Dr. Who' | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Some_viewers_point_lasers_at_%27Dr._Who%27 | work=Minneapolis Star Tribune | pages=1B | date=1982-02-24 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=24 March 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Some viewers point lasers at 'Dr. Who' | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Some_viewers_point_lasers_at_%27Dr._Who%27 | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=24 March 2025}}</ref>
