Author: DOuG pRATt

Mister Rogers’ Beach Party

A while ago, I commented that the personal philosophy expressed by Charles Schulz in an interview reminded me of Fred Rogers. That got me thinking I should watch the Tom Hanks movie, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. I’ll do that soon.

As a kid, despite being older than the target demographic, I watched Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood on New York TV. It had a quiet, reassuring tone, puppets, and a nice woman.

The reassuring tone relieved some of the stressful atmosphere occasionally experienced at home. I was a fan of puppet shows even before learning that Bob Clampett’s Beany & Cecil, a beloved cartoon series, began as a puppet show. The nice woman on MisteRogers was Betty Aberlin or, as she was called, Lady Aberlin.

Betty Aberlin on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, 1968

Poking around the Net for more background on Aberlin, I was surprised to see these images. Whoa, sexy Betty!

Betty in a swimsuit that looks more like a baby-doll nightie? It couldn’t be from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, could it? Actually, yes. Episode 1425, from 1975. Betty was teamed with hunky Bert Lloyd as her brother.

Betty Aberlin and Bert Lloyd

Lady Elaine, a puppet as an evil witch, expresses an interest in the “nice-looking young man,” who is forced to exercise in a cage for her entertainment. It reminded me very much of something else from 1975.

It’s interesting that Fred Rogers, who was careful in developing his program material, would present physically attractive adults in this way. It’s as if he were gently and innocently suggesting the desires that inevitably, and necessarily, come with growing up.

Here’s the episode, with Betty falling in love with a swan and rescuing “Rocky Horror” from the evil witch’s clutches. Spoiler alert: It was all a dream!

Tech note: The video plays automatically. Firefox has a feature to prevent that on a per-site basis. This is how it looks.

The Two Jacks

Two comic book artists who had an uncanny ability to put whatever they wanted on paper, seemingly without effort, were Jack Kirby and Jack Davis. They were able to work so quickly, it was as if they had a “drawing nerve,” sending what was in their minds directly to their hands.

Davis left comics, except for MAD Magazine, to become perhaps the most successful commercial artist of all time. He was certainly the most prolific. This 1966 ink and wash drawing, borrowed from the Art of Jack Davis group on Facebook, was for a TV promotion of Guys and Dolls.

This pencil drawing was posted by Jack Kirby’s grandson Jermey on the Facebook group, Jack Kirby: The King of Comics.