Hodgepodge Lodge
Miss Jean invites elementary school children to her lodge to discuss wild animals and nature topics in a calm setting.
From 1970 to 1977, Hodgepodge Lodge was a weekday half-hour children's show on PBS, produced by the Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting. Hosted by "Miss" Jean Worthley, it brought elementary school children to her lodge for calm discussions about wild animals and nature. Most episodes were filmed indoors, though some took place outdoors. The series ran for seven seasons and 1,114 episodes, ending on May 6, 1977.
Quick Facts
- Host
- Miss Jean Worthley
- Production company
- Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting
- Network
- PBS
- Premiere date
- February 10, 1970
- Finale date
- May 6, 1977
- Number of seasons
- 7
Facts from the source article.
Background
Hodgepodge Lodge aired on PBS stations on the East Coast and was syndicated in the early and mid-1970s. Miss Jean took inner-city children on nature walks to show them the wonders of the natural world. Many of these children had never seen a garden or an animal outside of a zoo. Miss Jean taught them about the habitats of hedgehogs and foxes, and showed them the inside of a pine cone, which might contain a beetle or a worm. Unfortunately, most episodes of Hodgepodge Lodge have been lost because the master tapes were erased to save money by allowing the tapes to be reused. Of the over 760 original episodes, only about 30 remain. Maryland Public Broadcasting offers some of the surviving episodes on DVD, and episodes can also be found on the American Archive of Public Broadcasting web site.
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