Fairy Tal-e-vision

On Kids' Radio, Connie invites Jason to imagine what television would look like in fairy-tale land. Little Miss Muffet settles in for an afternoon of programs before doing her homework, and familiar nursery-rhyme characters appear in news reports, courtroom dramas, sports, home shows, advertisements, and public-television fundraisers.

Fairytale Action News reports a Big Bad Wolf warning after Shepherd Boy claims to have seen the wolf. Police helicopters and emergency teams mobilize, but the boy admits that he invented the sighting because he was bored and wanted television attention. He later repeats the lie, teaching the authorities not to trust him.

In court, sixteen cows sue Little Boy Blue for sleeping beneath the haystack instead of blowing his horn. His laziness allowed them to wander into a cornfield and eat until all sixty-four of their stomachs hurt. Although the cows made their own foolish choice, his failure to perform his duty also contributed to their suffering.

The Old Man gives a sleepy weather report after staying up all night, bumping his head, and failing to rise in the morning. His carelessness leaves the public without useful information during pouring rain. Meanwhile, public television repeatedly claims that ceilings, lights, and even the sky are falling while begging viewers to donate increasingly desperate sums.

A news feature visits Hansel and Gretel years after their escape from the candy house. Hansel has become so ruled by gluttony that he eats candy buildings and cannot live normally. Gretel criticizes his addiction but immediately joins a reporter in devouring donuts, showing that recognizing someone else's problem is easier than resisting the same temptation.

Sports coverage follows Jack Be Nimble through a fairy-tale triathlon. After jumping a candlestick and building a house, he climbs a hill with Jill for the final event. Jack selfishly pushes ahead even though the rules require partners, Jill trips him, and both tumble down. His desire to win alone costs them both the race.

An investigative report asks why London Bridge keeps falling. The construction contract belongs to a Crooked Man whose dishonesty began when he cheated in a race for a crooked sixpence. His corrupt success grew into a crooked corporation whose unsafe work now creates traffic jams and endangers an entire city.

Other programs turn nursery rhymes into advertisements and domestic troubles. A Big Bad Wolf promotes breath mints, Peas Porridge advertises a nine-day-old meal, and Peter Pumpkin Eater's wife threatens to leave their pumpkin house for an avocado because she hates the decorating. The silly broadcasts keep showing private choices spreading consequences to other people.

At last Shepherd Boy announces that he truly sees the Big Bad Wolf heading toward the news studio. Because of his earlier false reports, the authorities ignore him. The wolf arrives, wrecks the set, and snatches the anchor's toupee while the newscast collapses around them.

After Little Miss Muffet turns off the television to do her homework, Connie asks Jason what connects the programs. Each portrays a form of sin - lying, selfishness, gluttony, laziness, irresponsibility, or crooked dealing - and shows that wrongdoing rarely harms only the person who chooses it. One person's conduct can cost friends, families, partners, and whole communities.

Connie and Jason encourage listeners to compare the behavior they see in entertainment and news with the Ten Commandments. The absurd fairy-tale programs make the lesson memorable: every choice produces consequences, and resisting temptation protects more people than oneself.