Author: jasonmcfiggins

• Chapter 7: Geraldine Laybourne

  Brought on board by Vivian Horner, Geraldine Laybourne was an independent producer with a background in children’s media education. Her acute business sense and creative ability would serve her well…

• Chapter 6: Edu-tainment & Green Vegetable TV

  Schneider instilled a strong focus in Nickelodeon, something the network sorely needed, impressing upon everyone that the goal was to “do something good for kids.” He brought on producers very…

• CHAPTER 5: Warner Amex Expansion & Cy Schneider

  Building on the successful QUBE model, Warner Amex pressed forward with its national expansion strategy. Scott Kurnit, who had served as program director for QUBE in Columbus, Ohio, relocated to…

• CHAPTER 4: Early Nickelodeon Programming

  Nickel Flicks showed existing Warner Bros serials from the 1930s and ’40s packaged as programs complete with cliffhangers. Flash Gordon, Rin Tin Tin, and Charlie Chaplin were just a few…

• CHAPTER 3: Launching Nickelodeon

  “I conceptualized Nickelodeon and got it off the ground,” said Pinwheel creator and producer, Vivian Horner. Coupled with Hauser’s idea of quality children’s programming and tapping Horner for the task,…

• CHAPTER 2: Pinwheel

  To help her craft such programming, Vivian Horner enlisted the help of her colleague Sandy Kavanaugh, another Children’s Television Workshop alum. The two came up with an idea called Pinwheel,…

• CHAPTER 1: QUBE

  In 1975, the television landscape was dominated by just a handful of broadcast networks, leaving viewers with limited choices for programming. During this period, Gustave Hauser, who served as the…