Hey kids, Glenn Beck has a new show

[meegbear]

Glenn Beck has been a frequent critic of the left’s "indoctrination" of American children, attacking PBS and calling out Elmo from "Sesame Street" for favoring the redistribution of wealth.

When he left Fox News last April, Beck explained it was in part because he wanted "to target the youth." And, starting on Monday, he will take direct aim with a children’s show on his new GBTV Internet network with the tea party-friendly name "Liberty Treehouse."

Beck won’t be the host of the hourlong show, grounded in American history and the day’s news, but it will lead into his own daily 5 p.m. show on the subscription-based network. And politics, long considered a taboo in children’s programming, will be a frequent topic, informed — like everything else on GBTV — by Beck’s populist conservative sensibility.

"In the first show, Raj Nair, the host, in a behind-the-headlines segment, is going to talk about straw polls and debates — what they are, where they come from and why they are important," said Joel Cheatwood, the former Fox News executive who now serves as president of programming at GBTV. "I don’t know any kids show that took that on."

The show is a measure of how broadly Beck is stretching his brand now that he is no longer working for anyone but himself in the television arena.

<snip>

With GBTV, he’s clearly trying to move beyond the image of the Fox fire-breather while still managing to keep the fans he made from that time. "Our goal is to create a network bigger than me with a wide range of programming aimed at different audiences and 'Liberty Treehouse' is a great way to kick that off," Beck said in a statement he gave to POLITICO. "'Liberty Treehouse' will not only entertain children and young adults, but it will respect them and their knowledge and passion for history, art, science and current events."

From all indications, the show, which takes its name from the Boston Liberty Tree that served as a rallying point for the American colonists who protested the Stamp Act, walks a line between innocuous educational fare and tea party dog whistle.

Much of the original content in the hour is the kind of thing you might see on Nickelodeon. Nair, the show’s young and charismatic host, will lead a block of kids’ news, explaining the news stories that parents are talking about, presumably a bit the way Linda Ellerbee does on Nick News. James Rollins, the author of young adult adventure thrillers and a veterinarian by training, will do segments on science. And specials will cover typical topics like peer pressure and bullying.

In its curated content, the network’s cultural colors shine through a bit more. There will be episodes of 1950s television shows like "Ozzie & Harriet" and "Flash Gordon" as well as classic cartoons like "Popeye" and "Superman."

"We wanted to show some iconic shows that aren’t around much anymore, that really represent a time when values and family were important," Cheatwood said.

There will also be selections from the "Drive Thru History" series on American history, produced by the conservative evangelical nonprofit National Day of Prayer Task Force and currently linked on the Tea Party Patriots’ Facebook page.

<snip>

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/64760.html#ixzz1ZimY8Ufz

[liberal N proud]

1. But will children watch?

Most kids see right though phony and insane.

[KharmaTrain]

2. Subscription Internet...

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

He's soooooo good people are gonna pay to watch his bullshit? Yeah, right. Dreck's 15 minutes are done...all that's left is the residual grifting.

[pinboy3niner]

3. Too bad they turned down his first choice of name: 'Oligarhy Treehouse'

:rofl: