It is ridiculous to me that this spoof of a video would affect her current position. Children would NEVER have access to something like this and yet they could easily go to HBO and enjoy the likes of George Carlin LIVE or watch Alec Baldwin on any regular station where his movies are aired.
This is certainly a joke. We can elect presidents who have driven drunk and smoked dope but we can't have a pre-school tv host simply because she acted out an obvious comedy bit...for god sake bring this girl back. My child loves her program and I sure as hell do not think less of her for the videos.
This firing is ridiculous. My 6-year-old daughter is upset that Melanie is gone. There's no reason she would ever see those videos at her age, and even if she did, it's the content that would matter, not the coincidence of who is starring. Whoever fired Melanie had a puritanical knee-jerk reaction, and THEY should be fired. Re-hire Melanie, she did a wonderful job as host of the show, and doesn't deserve this.
because Melanie's dismissal from the Good Night Show goes against the core values PBS holds so dear: acceptance and tolerance of others. Melanie put a smile on my daughter's face every night, and she misses her terribly. Bring her back!!!
My two boys and I love watching miss Melanie. I will not be watching Sprout until she is back. I can get most all the content that is on sprout from netflix anyway. DirecTV allows you to program the channels you want and the channels to skip. Sprout is now on my skip list. To think PBS can follow this narrow-minded path is just beyond me. BRING BACK MELANIE!
I thought that PBS wasn't supposed to be like the other corporate slime out there. Guess I was wrong, and I won't be giving ANY public broadcasting entitiy money anymore.
My 3 year old son loves Melanie and the Good Night Show. He is also a huge fan of Thomas the Tank Engine which has utilized the talents of George Carlin and Alec Baldwin. How can you fire Ms. Martinez and at the same time, say nothing whe Tony Soprano makes an appearance on Sesame Street? Obviously in the PBS view of things if you're a high-powered entertainer other roles you have taken on in the past, and present, don't really matter as long as the network can garner some publicity from your notoriety.
Thanks to Melanie for a wonderful job and her work on the Good Night Show. Shame on the executives of PBS Kids Sprout.
How incredibly unfortunate that Melanie was fired for being a human being with the ability to think creatively and the desire to challenge authority. Just another example of the mindset of the religious right seeping into mainstream America, and making absolutely indefensible actions seem acceptable on the surface. I hope, so badly, that Melanie ends up in a better position professionally and personally. The thought of how bad this could be for her and her family is very sad. The only positives I can personally glean from these regular events is to teach my young son that is is wrong to judge others, and show him the negative repercussions it can have on someone's life when we do judge them. Secondly, he will learn that he can have an impact on the world, by choosing where he allocates his time, energy and money. We vote with our mighty dollar, and therefor choose to vote no on PBS from this point on. From a former lifelong viewer of PBS and still a listener of NPR.
No 2-5 year old should ever encounter thesevideos, unless their own parents are negligent. Who cares about something as trivial and minor as that. BRING HER BACK
It is ridiculous that PBS said that this will undermine her credibility with the audience! The audience is 2-5 year olds and if the parents don't have a problem with her, then PBS shouldn't either!
This was another knee-jerk reaction by a television network. I can guarantee that none of the core viewers of the Good Night Show (2-5 year olds) are ever going to see Ms. Martinez's videos.
The age-group of the children who watch this show will probably never even see the video anyway! Please re-hire her. My kid misses her. We want to do the Yoga and Sprout poem again.
My little one totally misses Melaine. I am a parent and I don't care that she did this video. The decision to fire her was wrong. Especially with George Carlin and Alec Baldwin narrating Thomas. Come on now! She was great at the Good Night Show. However, I do not miss "Star".
Melanie was an excellent host for Sprout. She helped me calm my three children for bed in the evening. It is a shame that politics can get in the way of good programming and my wife and I are very disappointed in PBS Sprout’s choice on this matter.
because what Melanie Martinez did 7 years ago, when she was in her mid 20s, is no longer relevant today. What is relevant is that she's now a legitimate and fine actress who was doing a terrific job as host of a children's TV show, judging by the reactions that outraged parents have posted in blogs and websites throuhout the Internet. Please, bring Melanie back.
Her character on this show didn't parody the abstinence campaign. I'm horrified that the monologue in another role she has played is the cause in this firing. What's next?
In determining what's right for my child, I'm watching the message in what the characters say in plays, TV shows,radio, etc. that my child sees, and not reviewing the history of characters of each actor in these productions. What a horrible witchhunt this is. I love PBS and all of its programming, but this sort of censoring for actors with the "right" ideology scares me greatly.
I support this petition because Melanie's previous acting job with not "undermine her character's credibility with [the PBS] audience" because the audience is a bunch of kids who have never, and will never see Melanie's previous work. In what way could a previous role possible undermine anything to do with her new role? Our family all loves Melanie and PBS Sprout, and we are very dissappointed by this decision.
I can understand Sprout's concern over the comedy shorts melanie appeared in, but I think this is an overreaction.
Most actors are forced to find work that is not entirely savory, or "kid friendly" in order to put food on the table and keep their career going. Melanie is no exception.
Alec Baldwin and Jim Carlin have said worse things in films and on recordings.
My kid loves Melanie and he wonders where she went.
Melanie Martinez shouldn't be punished for a tiny job she did long before the Good Night show. Other actors and musicians who also provide adult material are usually guest stars on other children's programs like Sesame Street! The enforcing of a double-standard is upsetting (but sadly, not entirely surprising). Melanie was a great host for the Good Night show. My whole family misses her. Hopefully she will return to the Good Night Show. If, not, then I hope she is so successful in the future that Comcast/Britt can eat their shorts.
because PBS Sprout's reasoning is ridiculous. No 2-5 year old should ever encounter these videos, unless their own parents are negligent.
By PBS Sprout's account, Melanie came clean with her employer as was promptly fired.
Melanie showed character...why couldn't PBS Sprout show the same?
I think that firing Melanie Martinez was a gross overreaction. Those videos were silly, 30 second comedy spots done seven years ago. The two to five year old kids who watch your channel will never see them, but they will wonder where their friend Melanie has gone.
I think it's highly sexist that you chose to fire Melanie over these silly videos, yet you still show episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine with George Carlin and Alec Baldwin providing narration. I mean, those guys are FAMOUS for their off color work! But, I guess it's ok for men?
We can put in DVDs of all the kids shows and just watch those--we don't need to turn your station on anymore. Please do the right thing, and bring Melanie back.
We have all made decisions that later in life we wish we could change. My 3 year old LOVES playing "Melanie says" and tells me that he can't go to bed without telling Melanie good night. :)
The Martinez incident is nowhere near the antics of many other celebrities who have worked in children's television and movies without penalty. It is wrong to remove a terrific host with whom the audience has bonded for something that is mild by any comparison to things said and done on screen by George Carlin, Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, and other actors with kid appeal. Steve Burns never suffered as host of Blue's Clues for his distasteful roles in Law & Order and Homicide: Life On The Street, even though the Homicide role occurred during the run of Blue's Clues. As with Steve, the kids who watch The Good Night Show will not see Technical Virgin until they are long past being your audience. As a lesson to our children in fairness (to be communicated to them when they are older), any version of The Good Night Show with another host will not be seen in our home. It is likely that we will also retire PBS Sprout from our list of appropriate channels for our children.
My daughter loves Melanie! PBS execs panicked and made a snap decision, not to mention a very hypocritical one! If a preschooler sees those videos (which by the way are funny ADULT humor!), then let's blame the parents (GASP! What a concept!)Bring back Melanie and fire that stupid STAR puppet thing!!!
How long will people have to repent for what they did in their lives! She made a 35 second commercial. This is insane. She made my daughter smile and now we have nothing. This is insane. The children dont know what she did, as they dont know what their parents do behind closed doors. Grow up SPROUT!
This is a double standard.
• George Carlin does adult stand up and yet played on "Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends." A PBS show.
• How can we forget about the late Richard Pryor? How can we forget about "Live on the Sunset Strip" or "Richard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$#@!!" Back in 1984, Richard Pryor had a kid’s show called “Pryor’s Place.”
• Eddie Murphy does movie’s with adult themes as well as stand up geared toward adults but plays characters in movies geared toward children.
These actors were allowed to do shows geared towards adults while doing other shows geared toward children.
PBS...please come to your senses!!! This is ridiculous. My daughter LOVES Melanie....what is wrong with you PBS. Give her back her job! This is a huge error on your part PBS. Sprout isn't the same without her!!!!!
Children make attachements at this age. They get used to predictible things. Having watched the video on question. I am appalled at the decision made to let Melanie go after spending SO MUCH TIME and energy to make her part of my childs life. If this is the policy and standard of your network, I feel I will be boycotting in favor of more tolerant program stations.
