My 4 year old loves Melanie. The short productions that Melanie appeared in should have no place in a decision to fire one of your greatest talents. Shame on you, PBS.
if Melanie is to be fired for her previous "roles", then Thomas should be taken off the air for having hosts such as George Carlin and Alex Baldwin....
I support this petition b/c my 2 year old asks for Melanie EVERY NIGHT and doesn't understand "she's on vacation, honey". Seriously, how am I supposed to explain something to her that she will NEVER know about and that happened seven years ago. PBS made a huge mistake. I guess it'll be Noggin for us from now on!
it is ridiculous that the executives at PBS thought it was necessary to fire Melanie for something she did 7 years ago - and something not very bad at that. My daughter loves Melanie and we have been wondering where she had gone for a week now. I told her I thought Melanie was on vacation - now I have to explain to her that Melanie has left the show. She will be crushed.
I support this petition because any person, TV show host or not, should not be penalized for something that is legal and that they did 7 years ago. If PBS was so concerned regarding her past, they would have done a thorough backround check on her before hiring her to ensure something like this would not come up. I understand PBS's position and know they are trying to protect our kids interest, but any toddler that is on the computer surfing the internet should be supervised and/or parental controls should be used to restrict websites with questionable material. If they did not fire her, odds are that only a handful of "adults" would have seen the film, not toddlers. In my opinion, PBS's firing of Melanie has brought more bad publicity than they were trying to avoid by letting her go. Melanie was a good host for the good night show and it is a shame PBS handled the situation the way they did.
I wouldn't want my kids to judge me for what I did 7 years ago.
My 5 year old has no way to access this media file in question of Ms. Martinez anyway. Why would you fire anyone over such a small incident?
Plus I think it is racial and sexist of you to make such a sweet lady to lose her job over something so silly. Forgiveness is divine!
Public Broadcasting Service is not.
And not getting my check any longer.
It is absurd that she was fired over this, we all have done things in our pasts. I wonder what dirt there is on the rest of the staff at PBS, maybe someone should look at that.
My son calls (called) Melanie his girlfriend, he liked her so much. Sprout owners are hypocrites. Bring her back. We all have a history, but it's just that--HISTORY...We want Melanie!!!!!!!!!!!!
we all have something in our past that we are not proud of, funny or not. She was young and her priorities have obviously changed now that she's a mommy too. Let's not forget it was a spoof. Can anyone take a joke these days?
because my 3yr old is devastated. Her "dream come tru" is to play with Melanie. She hasnt stopeed crying since she found out Melanie isnt coming back!!!
It's a stupid reason for firing her. I don't like Melanie myself, but many kids do (including my own) and to take her away like that is terrible. Are you going to stop showing Thomas because it stars George Carlin--one of the most foul mouthed entertainers out there?
This will be ok when they fire George Carlin, Dr. Ruth and Alec Baldwin. Oh, and someone should fire Eddie Murphy from Shrek, too. Shame on you, Sprout.
because I'm tired of the government, the religious right and right wing media outlets mandating what my "moral values" should be. I'm a parent, I have control over what my children watch on TV. Let me decide what is appropriate for my daughter to watch.
Firing her for this reason is ridiculous because it was 7 years ago..my two year old doesn't even know what a virgin is anyway! and he love miss melanie
because its not for anyone at PBS to judge anyway. Who do you think you are? It was 7 years ago and my children will not be affected in any way. Sounds to me like you needed to promote your shows a little more and poor Mel was your scapegoat. You should be ashamed of yourselves. So what? So one of her first acting gigs was not so great? How many super stars now are fighting having their nude photos displayed in court now? Everyone has done something to not be proud of. Good grief, she has a small child now. Let it go you awful awful people. Show a little support for a starving artist and a little less for your lack luster bottom line because thats all I see happening here. She was a great host and my children loved her. I am withdrawing my financial support effective immediately!!!
I support this petition because these videos have absolutely nothing to do with the Sprout show she hosted. As loyal watchers of the show I find it absurd to judge her on something she did outside of the show. Had she done something offensive or questionable on air that would be fine, but this was another time and another situation.
My son is 18 mos old and he doesn't understand why Melanie isn't on TV anymore with his other bedtime friends. The decision to fire her was unnecessary and is just hurting our children. PBS please bring Melanie back for our children. If we as parents don't mind, why should you?
Melanie should not have been fired for something created over 7 years ago. She was a very engaging and fun host for a children's show. My son is 18 mos old and we would watch every night before bed. We still watch but he doesn't understand why she's not there anymore and its upsetting to him. PBS should stop making our children suffer and bring back Melanie. I hope she has hired a great lawyer!
It seems to me to be antithetical to the principles of honesty and integrity and other mores that PBS Kids TV programming taught me years ago that PBS should choose this particular course of managerial action.
I support this petition because I belive that Ms. Martinez did nothing wrong. These videos were done 7 years ago. These are not videos that the target audience of Sprouts will ever see. Melanie did a wonderful job engaging children and hosting the "Good Night Show"
PBS has a recent history of making decisions regarding their chidlren's programs that I disagree with. I will no longer be supporting PBS because of these decisions.
I am 3 and I love Melanie. I am so confused why she is gone. When I went on vacation for 2 weeks I was so happy when I saw her on TV at the hotel I started screaming. Please bring Melanie back to us Sproutlets! We love her and so do our parents.
My very sensitive and shy 3 year old son loves her and he thinks he knows where his "bestfriend" went. We are moving across country soon. My son said "I'll see her at our new house. She is waiting there for me because I'm her "spoutlet"! Well, I guess Melanie is just one more person we have to say Goodbye to now. This is crushing.
My children love Melanie. I think it's way more offensive to see George Carlin narrating Thomas the Train. Why isn't he considered "inappropriate"? Is it "appropriate" for Dr. Ruth (noted sex doctor) can appear on Between the Lions and Sesame Street. PBS, you should be ashamed of yourself.
I think it is wrong and totally hypocritical of them to do this to a person that helps our children learn,laugh and be creative. I am one parent that knows with all the merchandise we buy and all the support we give to PBS we should be allowed to know what is right for our children. This is 7 years past, when this poor girl was doing small parts to get her acting career pratice and to get a word across to the ever growing population of teenage girls and their sexual pratices.
Children were drawn to her, my daughter found her delightful and she truely made bedtime fun. Who is going to let thier child in their right mind watch that video...I would assume that people would know that we have some good sense in what our child enjoys!
Ms. Martinez did a good job. My daughter liked her. Ms. Martinez should not be fired for something she did seven years ago that her audience, including my daughter, will never see.
