“The Sailor Bob Story” Sets Sail Again Thursday, November 3

During the 1960s and 70s, kids in central Virginia grew up with Sailor Bob. Every morning they tuned in to watch Sailor Bob at his drawing table where he was joined by his puppet friends, Gilly Gull, Mr. “Squeaky” Mouse and Blue Bird. “Gilly,” perched in the porthole near the top of Sailor Bob's drawing table, pesters Sailor with jokes and hijinks.

With his vaudeville-style humor, Blue Bird entertains from the porch of his birdhouse and Mr. Mouse, peering from his mouse hole, “squeaks” to Sailor Bob about the events of the day. Then, Sailor Bob turns to his poster-sized sketch pad and creates lightning fast drawings with his trusty magic marker.

Relive these moments and explore the world off screen in the encore presentation of the documentary, The Sailor Bob Story – A Documentary Tribute. The program debuted to a packed house at the Byrd Theatre back in January. This encore presentation will be the first time the program is aired in High Definition.

Also in the program, VGO Productions’ engineer Guy Spiller briefly explains the history behind the process of getting film images on television. He shows us some of the actual Sailor Bob materials used to prepare for The Sailor Bob Story - A Documentary Tribute, and provides us a glimpse at the process of migrating the footage to the digital realm.

Tune in on WCVE PBS / WHTJ PBS:

• Thursday, November 3 at 9 p.m. on WCVE PBS/WHTJ PBS
• Sunday, November 6 at 2 p.m. on WCVE PBS/WHTJ PBS
• Sunday November 6 at 8 p.m. on WCVW PBS

The program, locally produced by VGO Productions, was awarded a 2011 Bronze Telly Award. The Telly Awards honor the very best local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions, and work created for the Web.