Jeff speaks to fans

Hey everyone ! Just wanted to send my thanks for all your support for TS and especially Derek B.for his petition- you've certainly got my support !

I want to hear from you!

Hey, I just want to let you know that you should stay involved as much as possible to help make this happen. Free feel to write to TVOntario letting them know you support the show. Also, feel free to respond to the postings that I have posted here. And, if you want, e-mail me at derekb27@gmail.com to leave a comment or ask a question. Honestly, I may not know more than you, but I like hearing from people.

2 bits of good news!

Long time no post! To those of you who regularly check this blog, you may have noticed that I have not posted in a while. I am often busy with theater and things fall by the wayside. Anyway, I have a couple exciting bits of news. One of them is that I have received word that Jeff Hyslop (Jeff the mannequin) has now joined our crusade to bring this show to DVD. The second is that I have personally received word from somebody at TVOntario that things may be happening soon. I do not know what that means, but we'll just wait and see. I know that some of the higher-ups at TVO have changed and, because of this, I am told that we have another shot at this.

Let's all keep our fingers crossed!

Letter to TVO

Hello, my name is Derek Bontreger and I have always been a fan of quality television programming, especially quality programming for children.

I was influenced by this early on in life with one TVO show in particular: "Today's Special."

Thinking back on my childhood, I was very influenced by outlets that helped me to expand my creativity and form who I am today. I was a child who was very interested in the mysterious; I loved the magic and intrigue. I loved inviting Jeff, Jodie, Muffy and Sam into my life on a daily basis.

I see that, more clearly now than ever, the show appealed to me because I was seeing the world through Jeff's eyes, especially because he was seeing the world through ours. Jeff, although he appeared like a grown man, was actually about as old as we were--probably younger. He was a mannequin awakened through a magic spell; he knew nothing of the world he found himself in. The world he saw, the questions he had, the feelings he encountered were ours as well. He could not speak down to us because we were sharing the same experience. This is why "Today's Special" spoke so well to our generation.

Although the episodes were fantastical, although magic spells were cast and broken, the lessons we learned were anything but otherworldly. "Today's Special" didn't tiptoe around tough subjects. "Butterflies" taught us about death and "Phil's Visit" taught us about something that most U.S. children's shows would be too nervous to attempt to teach us about: alcoholism. This was an episode that I was especially impressed with, because it let us know what alcoholism is--a disease; it still treated the victim with respect.

It also introduced us to a world of song and dance--definitely one of my favorite aspects of the show. A massive amount of talent and energy went into writing multiple songs and choreographing impressive dance sequences for every episode. As I searched through a fan site the other week, I decided to download a clip from the episode, "Tears." Although it had been over a decade since I had last seen it, I found I still had every word to "The Magical Bird," a song featured in that episode, memorized. This show has an endurability that is not often found.

Yes, this show still has fan sites because it still has an incredibly loyal fan base. Every day a few more people sign my "Today's Special" petition to bring it to DVD and I often get e-mails from fans wanting to know the latest developments. I have even gotten two signatures from stars of the show (Nina Keogh and Bob Dermer). I have also been lucky enough to be in semi-regular contact with people who work at TVOntario (past and present) who want this to happen. This show deserves to be passed down to the next generation of viewers.

I thank you for your time.

- Derek Bontreger, a humble fan

P.S. Check out my petition: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/derekb27

P.P.S. And my blog: http://www.alimagocus.blogspot.com/

Episodes are NOT erased!

Many of you fans have been sending letters and e-mails to TVO and are getting the following response:

Thank you for writing to TVOntario. Unfortunately for most programs that we aired in the 70s, 80s & 90s, our broadcast rights have expired. As such, these programs have been erased from our files. To find a copy of these programs, you might want to try searching the Internet or visiting amazon.ca.

Regards,

Member & Audience Relations
TVOntario
It's All About Learning!

I want to debunk this rumor right now. The episodes are, in fact, NOT erased; the Sales and Licensing department have confirmed this. Just to let you know not to make that a deterrent.

Muffy the Mouse speaks to fans

Let me be the first one to leave a comment . I wish you well with your petition, and your efforts in getting Today's Special out there on DVD. The T.S. fan base is huge (and especially in the U.S.) These days, Muffy is treated like a rock star by twenty somethings who are nostalgic for the show!
All the best of luck getting it going everyone!
Cheers, Nina Keogh aka Muffy Mouse

"Today's Special" ... Shout it loud and clear!

"Today's Special." Remember that obscure Canadian children's television show that was broadcast in the '80s on TVOntario as well as Nickelodeon? Oftentimes, I have found that people do not remember the show until I remind them about a mannequin that came to life whenever a hat was put on his head and the magic words, "Hocus pocus alimagocus," were said. I also remind them that it took place in the children's department of store and it also starred a rhyming mouse, a puppet security guard and Jodie, who was in charge of putting together the displays. The show was on from 1981-1987 and produced about 120 episodes. It definitely ranked up there with "Sesame Street" and "3-2-1 Contact" as some of the best educational shows for children.

Anyway, the real story begins a couple of years ago as I was bored late one night at Goshen College. I was trying to finish a paper and my mind began to wander. I knew that I needed to surf the Web. But, what Web site to go to at 3 in the morning? Well, I happened to run across a certain site (http://todays-special.schuminweb.com/), the best and most complete "Today's Special" site one can find. All of the memories came back to me and it wasn't long before I was in regular contact with somebody at TVOntario, trying to bring this wonderful show back to us in DVD form. I started an online petition (http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/derekb27) in 2004, that still gets new signatures every day.

I know that there are many people from all over (including people who worked on the show itself) who want this to happen. In short, this blog is my way of updating fans on the status of the show making its way to DVD. So, stay tuned. I'm hoping things will happen soon.