Janice Burgess, a longtime Nickelodeon television executive who promoted children’s curiosity for decades, died on Saturday at 72. She oversaw shows like “Blue’s Clues” and “Little Bill” and created her own musical children’s show, “The Backyardigans.” https://t.co/5IP7O6h7Re pic.twitter.com/HdVZTJaPxv
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 5, 2024
- She oversaw shows like Little Bill and Blue’s Clues (original)
- She also created The Backyardigans, which had over 70 styles of music across its multiple episodes. She focused it on her childhoods in Philly, using her imagination to play.
- The music was composed by Evan Lurie, who said in an interview that Ms. Burgess’s “ability to cut to the meat of what needed to be done was just astonishing.”
- Ms. Burgess made sure to cast children of color, and the roles were recast every few years as their voices changed
- “I’m really quite a refined person, but there’s nothing I like more than cops and robbers and gunfights and crazy driving and fast and furiousness,” she said. “When you think in terms of little kids, you don’t want to scare them, and I’m not in favor of showing any kind of violence or aggression, but you can certainly have a big adventure even if you’re 3.”
Backyardigans music still slaps, RIP icon!
