As a member of the intended audience for Maggie Muggins (I was 7 years old when the TV series debuted), I found it slow-paced, relatively quiet, straightforward. It felt more like a visit in which not much happened: being with the people was the point, not the events. No cliffhangers, crises, ticking bombs, just conversation and a bit of a sense of wonder that the ordinary could be somehow important, magical.
In retrospect, I feel that Maggie Muggins was a show that was tremendously respectful of its intended audience, and was one of several such shows, like Bill and Ben the Flower Pot Men (UK), and the later Mr. Dressup, that was, for want of a better word, peaceful.
The format of the show was usually an opening shot of Maggie walking along until she met Mr McGarrity, who was a dungaree-clad, straw-hatted farmer character. Other characters were puppets, notably Fitzgerald Fieldmouse and Grandmother Frog. A relatively small problem was sorted out usually with little fuss, a question of life was pondered, and then Maggie and Mr McGarrity (later, Farmer Feather) would say good-bye until next time.
It had a timeless quality to it, with little or no sense of making every encounter a teaching moment or having to justify its existence in a multi-channel universe.
Good, basic children's TV.
In retrospect, I feel that Maggie Muggins was a show that was tremendously respectful of its intended audience, and was one of several such shows, like Bill and Ben the Flower Pot Men (UK), and the later Mr. Dressup, that was, for want of a better word, peaceful.
The format of the show was usually an opening shot of Maggie walking along until she met Mr McGarrity, who was a dungaree-clad, straw-hatted farmer character. Other characters were puppets, notably Fitzgerald Fieldmouse and Grandmother Frog. A relatively small problem was sorted out usually with little fuss, a question of life was pondered, and then Maggie and Mr McGarrity (later, Farmer Feather) would say good-bye until next time.
It had a timeless quality to it, with little or no sense of making every encounter a teaching moment or having to justify its existence in a multi-channel universe.
Good, basic children's TV.
