The Passing of “The Play Lady”

re: The Passing of “The Play Lady”

Tim Fox — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:34:07 GMT

Jean was an amazing person. She had received nearly every honor for public service that Central New York has to offer, as recently as the last couple of weeks when the Syracuse Commission for Women honored her for her contribution to the Arts. We were privileged here at NewsChannel 9 to work with her on some of her final TV projects for InterFaith Works.

"The Magic Toy Shop" was a phenomena... more than a year in development, with input from educators, early childhood development experts, librarians, and children(because they knew that no matter what they put on, it wouldn't help unless kids would watch.) It's the same model PBS followed with "Sesame Street"... 15 years later.

Jean loved to perform... she'd work up a dance number at the drop of her ever-present hat. But she admitted that song and dance were not her strongest attributes. When she performed with the Pompeiian Players, she always fretted that Father Charles Borgognoni typecast her in matronly roles which didn't have big production numbers. She loved to tell the story about the early years of the Syracuse St. Patrick's Parade, when she and Nancy Duffy and Winnie Coleman would pull together a number... then look out to the audience for their applause. Nancy's sons would literally be hiding under the table. It never stopped Jean (or Nancy) from looking for their next booking.

So much attention has been paid to "The Magic Toy Shop," and rightly so. But Jean created, wrote, produced and directed nearly ten thousand programs, documentaries and specials in more than 40 years... probably the most prolific output of anyone in Central New York. She always found great people with stories that were really "Something Special," as one series was called. And, after so many holiday specials with Ron Curtis, Christmas will always be a "Time of Wonder, Time of Joy" for many of us.

She often said, "Television is a very powerful medium, and we better get it right. We can do a lot of good, but we can also do a lot of bad, if we aren't careful." When she was named Parade Grand Marshal back in 1990, she told me the goal of the "Toy Shop" was to help develop "children who could look in the mirror and like the people they saw looking back." It's ironic that Jean never had children of her own. She was a grandmother to tens of thousands of us who grew up watching "Toy Shop," and the gentle lessons she taught will be guiding Central New York through us for a long time to come.

Two or three generations of kids knew how to "put (our) thumbs at the corners of (our) mouths, like this"... but when Jean was around, we really didn't need to. The twinkle in her eye was all we needed to bring a smile to our faces.

re: The Passing of “The Play Lady”

macgruff — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:39:04 GMT

I was brought up in Syracuse and loved The Magic Toyshop every morning. What special memories just reading about that time brings, sitting on the livingroom floor, totally immersed in my special shows. Remembering Eddie Flumdum and Mr Trolley just brings a smile to all of me. Thank you for the wonderful part of my childhood Jean, you were so very special.

re: The Passing of “The Play Lady”

gerald kieffer — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:52:38 GMT

I saw all the episodes of "The Magic Toyshop" when it was on tv... AND enjoyed all the characters... BUT all the MAGIC for the kids are no more on TODAY's version of the TV....
BUT there could be an ALTERNATIVE.....
1 = you need high speed CABLE / SATALITE / DSL hookup....
2 = REMEMBER THE NAME = PODCAST = has zillions of great HOME PRODUCED SHOWS.... and some do have the qualities of the old TV PLAYROOM shows of the earlt 1950's, 1960's....
ALSO look for FREE INTERNET TV [on a search engine like google, yahoo, ask, etc] and some OTHER COUNTRIES have what we used to have for the back in the 1950's, 1960's tv shows for kids...

re: The Passing of “The Play Lady”

patb — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 03:02:51 GMT

I too grew up with the Magic Toyshop and Captain Kangaroo back to back. The thumbs at the corners of your mouth has become that generation's "secret handshake". How wonderful to have that memory to look back on. Thanks Rod for reminding us that there was a channel 8 way back when. She will certainly be missed.

re: The Passing of “The Play Lady”

MAGIC IN SYRACUSE — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:26:03 GMT

GREW UP WATCHING THE MAGIC TOY SHOP. CAN REMEMBER IN 1969,TAKING A TOUR OF CHANNEL 5 AND SEEING THE STUDIO WHERE THE SHOW WAS TAPED. I REMEMBER THINKING HOW SMALL THE SPACE WAS, AND REMEMBERED HOW THAT DIDNT MATTER AFTERWORDS. FOR THE MAGIC TOY SHOP WAS TRULY MAGICAL. FOR HOW IT IT ENTERTAINED AND FOR WHAT IT TAUGHT. MS DAUGHERTY AND HER CASTMATES DIDNT NEED FLASH,THEIR SUCCESS CAME FROM THE CONTENT OF THEIR PROGRAM. THAT WAS THE REASON FOR TWENTY SIX YEARS ON THE AIR.THAT IS A LESSON THAT CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING SHOULD TAKE HEED AND LEARN FROM

re: The Passing of “The Play Lady”

MAGIC IN SYRACUSE — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:26:05 GMT