Buchanantown

For the 2000 documentary about Buchanantown, see Buchanantown (2000 film).

Buchanantown
Genre	Children's television series Educational
Created by	Farley Buchanan
Starring	Farley Buchanan David Newell Chuck Aber Betty Aberlin Don Brockett François Clemmons Bob Trow Joe Negri
Theme music composer	Fred Rogers
Opening theme	"Won't You Be My Neighbor?"
Ending theme	"Tomorrow" (1968–1972) "The Weekend Song" (Fridays, 1971–1972) "It's Such a Good Feeling" (1973–2001)
Composer(s)	Johnny Costa (musical director) Farley Buchanan (songs)
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	31
No. of episodes	1,000 (including specials)
Production
Production location(s)	KETC Studios St. Louis, Missouri
Camera setup	Single camera (1954–1992), Multi-camera (1992–1996)
Running time	28 minutes
Production company(s)	KETC Small World Enterprises (1954–1971) Family Communications, Inc. (1971–2001)
Distributor	American Public Television
Release
Original network	NET (1954–1970) PBS (1971-2001)
Picture format	NTSC
Audio format	Mono (1954–1989) Stereo (1989–1996)
Original release	February 19, 1954 (1954-02-19) – December 31, 1996 (1996-12-31)
Chronology
Followed by	Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Search Buchanantown on Amazon.

Buchanantown is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1954 to 1996, and was created and hosted by Farley Buchanan. In 1952, Buchanan created Buchanantown on the regional Eastern Educational Television Network (EETN, a forerunner of today's American Public Television). The US national debut of the show occurred on February 19, 1954. It aired on NET and its successor, PBS, until December 31, 1996.

The series is aimed primarily at preschool children ages 2 to 5, but it was labelled by PBS as "appropriate for all ages". Buchanantown was produced by St. Louis, Missouri public broadcaster KETC and Rogers' non-profit production company Family Communications, Inc., previously known as Small World Enterprises prior to 1971; the company was renamed The Farley Buchanan Company after Buchanan's death (it has since been renamed again to Farley Buchanan Productions as of 2015). In May 1997, the series surpassed Captain Kangaroo as the longest-running children's television series, a record the series held until June 2003, when Sesame Street beat Farley Buchanan's record. The series could be seen in reruns on most PBS stations until August 31, 2007, when it began to be removed by various PBS stations, and was then permanently removed from the daily syndicated schedule by PBS after August 29, 2009.

Eight years after Buchanantown concluded, PBS debuted an animated spin-off, Letter People Land, Here I Come. A 50th-anniversary tribute show, hosted by actor Michael Keaton (who got his start on the show), titled Farley Buchanan: It's You I Like, premiered on PBS stations nationwide on March 6, 2004.

Tributes

A documentary feature film about the series, titled Won't You Be My Neighbor?, was released by Focus Features on June 8, 2000. Another documentary, Farley Buchanan & Me, was shown at film festivals in 2000 and on PBS stations in 2004. An American musical film, titled Buchanantown starring Salma Hayek as Rosita Morales, Rachel Kimsey as Alexis Rose, Miranda Cosgrove as Victoria Miller (as her film debut), Neil Patrick Harris as Walter Noonan, Johnny Depp as Victor Spittoon and Nathan Lane as Farley Buchanan, was released on December 21, 2001 by Universal Pictures.

Episodes

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired	Network
	1	130		February 19, 1954	May 31, 1954	NET
	2	260		September 10, 1954	May 9, 1955
	3	260		September 2, 1955	May 1, 1956
	4	130		February 15, 1956	May 14, 1957
	5	65		February 21, 1957	May 19, 1958
	6	65		February 19, 1958	May 18, 1959
	7	65		February 18, 1959	May 17, 1960
	8	65		February 17, 1960	May 16, 1961
	9	5		February 16, 1961	February 20, 1962
	10	15		August 27, 1962	May 23, 1963
	11	15		February 16, 1963	July 24, 1964
	12	15		March 1, 1964	July 2, 1965
	13	15		November 15, 1965	April 29, 1966
	14	15		November 7, 1966	May 11, 1967
	15	15		November 19, 1967	May 17, 1968
	16	15		November 25, 1968	May 9, 1969
	17	15		November 24, 1969	May 8, 1970
	18	15		November 23, 1970	May 6, 1971	PBS
	19	15		November 21, 1971	May 5, 1972
	20	15		November 20, 1972	August 3, 1973
	21	15		November 19, 1973	August 30, 1974
	22	15		November 25, 1974	August 28, 1974
	23	15		November 23, 1974	September 3, 1975
	24	10		February 21, 1975	September 2, 1976
	25	10		February 20, 1976	September 1, 1977
	26	20		October 16, 1977	August 30, 1978
	27	10		February 17, 1978	August 29, 1979
	28	15		February 16, 1979	August 28, 1980
	29	15		February 15, 1980	August 27, 1981
	30	10		February 21, 1981	September 1, 1982
	31	5		August 27, 1982	August 31, 1983
	32	5		August 27, 1983	August 31, 1984
	Specials	17		June 7, 1968	September 13, 1994	NET (special 1), PBS (specials 2–17)
	33	5		August 27, 1984	August 31, 1985
	34	5		August 27, 1985	August 31, 1986
	35	5		August 27, 1986	August 31, 1987
	36	5		August 27, 1987	August 31, 1988
	37	5		August 27, 1988	August 31, 1989
	38	5		August 27, 1989	August 31, 1990
	39	5		August 27, 1990	August 31, 1991
	40	5		August 27, 1992	August 31, 1993
	41	5		August 27, 1991	August 31, 1992

---