Talk:The Joy of Painting

Original Host

Was there another host before Bob Ross? I remember watching "The Joy of Painting" years ago with an older, grey-haired host. He had a European accent of some kind, and his instruction was somewhat less soothing than Ross's... When painting a mountain, for example, he'd exclaim, "Fire it right in there!" while 'stabbing' the brush into the canvas. Once he was gone, that's when I recall Bob Ross doing the show.

rAS—Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.75.95.127 (talk) 14:51, June 10, 2006‎

According to Talk:Bob Ross, this should actually be "Joy of Painting II", with the current tile being a (previous) show with this mentor as the host. --GargoyleMT 20:50, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

That was a man named Bill Alexander, I believe. Mr. Ross said he studied under him.

Yes, that was the guy! Here's a link to his Wikipedia page...

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Alexander_(television_painter)>

192.75.95.127 05:38, 21 January 2007 (UTC) rAS

I believe Bill Alexander's show was called "The Magic of Oil Painting". I think they were two entirely different shows, even though Bob Ross did learn wet on wet oil painting from Bill Alexander. --Pandawdy 17:50, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

The Joy of Painting in the Netherlands

As of March 31st AT5, has stopped airing The Joy of Painting, and a search revealed that currently no other stations in the Netherlands are broadcasting the show, so all references have been deleted Mr.RandomKnowledge 01:39, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Well, it's back on now. I'm watching it as we speak. Jan Panda (talk) 14:24, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Controversy

This section seems to be misnamed to me? What controversy is there about the show being syndicated and still being broadcast? AnmaFinotera 04:23, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I was hoping for some painter controversy from this section, but it's just about syndication. It should be renamed 'Boring TV afterlife'.

--Wragge 20:38, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

Failed video game and parodies sections

Failed activities of a notable subject that could have been notable are acceptable as long as they are properly referenced. Parodies, especially by other notable entities, are noteworthy because this refelcts the parodied subject's influence on notable culture. - CobaltBlueTony™ _talk 14:21, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

I agree, particularly the video game. Yes, it was never released, but it was still a rather revolutionary and speaks to the series longevity and cultural influence to come 11 years after the series ended and Ross died. The parodies, much as I personally dislike them, also do show the series cultural influence and continued memory in American society where normally a PBS show like this would be forgotten long ago. That section does, however, need some sourcing. -- AnmaFinotera (talk · contribs) 15:33, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

I concur. Charles Edward 15:50, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

The parodies are still unsourced after months, nor is there any reliable references regarding them. I've removed them again. Really, a list is unnecessary in either case, better would be reliably sourced reception info noting that it was frequently parodied. -- AnmaFinotera (talk · contribs) 02:02, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

Family Guy and VH-1

Family Guy has a small segment where Mr. Ross threatens to maim/hurt the viewer. I can't say which episode.

http://quotations.about.com/cs/tvquotes/a/fmly_guy_quotes.htm

VH-1's Michael Ian Black talks about how humanity has produced the most gentle human, which is Bob Ross.

http://www.tv.com/i-love-the-%9180s-3d/1985/episode/549751/summary.html

Apple8800 (talk) 18:36, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

Bill Alexander was NOT the original host

In case no one is aware - and this is evident to me - Master Bill Alexander had his own show, "The Magic of Oil Painting" which had at one time an older, earlier title, "The Happy Painter".

Bob Ross began "The Joy of Painting" around 1982, his own version of Alexander's technique but never as sophisticated or as fast. Ross could never attain the audience Alexander enjoyed until Alexander's death in 1997.

Geez! All you guys have to do is visit the Bill Alexander website, and cross-check with Bob Ross' website.76.195.85.160 (talk) 18:02, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Actually Ross stole from Bill Alexander

Also, I realize this may seem touchy, but I am certainly old enough to recall all this: Master Bill Alexander pioneered this technique, though lots of artists have used similar ways of painting.

It should be noted that Bob Ross basically stole Alexander's format, technique and TV presentation. Everything from the subject matter to the equipment - Ross even cleaned and dried his brushes exactly as Alexander had taught since BEFORE World War II. I made a sturdy screen bottom for a coffee can for brush cleaning - just as Alexander, not Ross, invented.

Alexander was on TV teaching this stuff, perhaps contemporaneously with Ross - but Ross, as I said, stole everything from Alexander. Yes, STOLE it. The only true difference is Bob Ross had a Plexiglas palette (which shape was specially designed by Alexander) - and he could never paint anywhere near as beautifully as Alexander did.

Can we discuss that someplace? Who yanked the page on William Alexander? He and "The Magic of Oil Painting" deserve something if Ross gets TWO articles.76.195.85.160 (talk) 18:13, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Williams' pioneering technique has been acknowledged several times by Ross and his company (and even in the PBS retrospective of Ross' life). As such, the acknowledgement dismisses any notion of anything being "stolen."

I've also seen some of Williams' shows; and Ross outdoes him in everything. Ross is more personable, more relaxed in his teaching method, and produces better paintings.

Of course, both are impressionistic painters and their paintings are enjoyed based upon personal preferences. As is obvious between my 'post' and the above rant.

And if that isn't enough, whose show has been in continuous rerun showings? 2600:8800:784:8F00:C23F:D5FF:FEC4:D51D (talk) 12:16, 1 February 2020 (UTC)

Grammar

"Rather, he intended for viewers to learn certain techniques ..." should read "Rather, he intended viewers to learn certain techniques ..."

The 'for' is a superfluous colloquialism, used by some (USofA) Americans. (Though not the better educated ones)! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.181.174.7 (talk) 14:42, August 18, 2011‎

Legacy section?

I'm almost positive everyone inside the creative spectrum and most people on the outside have some sort of knowledge watching his show, I think there should be a legacy section, indicating parodies and odes that were about either Bob Ross or the show in total. --Matt723star (talk) 01:08, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

I was at a craft store a while back and saw Bob Ross band paints and brushes. Perhaps this counts as part of his legacy as well? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 167.230.96.8 (talk) 15:49, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

Changed the Legacy section slightly. Beauty is Everywhere is not another Bob Ross show. If you watch it on Netflix, it's just episodes of The Joy of Painting packaged under the name "Beauty Is Everywhere" for Netflix. The Huffington Post article being referenced is just wrong (a lof of their pieces aren't very reliable). --Bmb8609

The legacy section could use some help. Something simple like listing the items chronologically would help, but . As is, the late-life accomplishments of Bob Ross (mentioning the MTV commercials and Bill Nye parody) are interleaved with the much later events like the 2015 Twitch stream event. Also the mention of the MTV commercials doesn't seem linked with The Joy of Painting at all - if it is, the connection should be made more explicit.

Source for number of seasons?

What is the source for The Joy of Painting running for 31 seasons? The show aired from 1983-1994, which is 11 seasons. His DVDs were broken into a series of 13 episodes each, but those are volumes, and not the original seasons. Huffington Post talks here about the show's 11 seasons, as the NY Post does here. 67.1.121.105 (talk) 09:02, 12 November 2015 (UTC)

Where are you getting the 11 seasons from? I see them saying it in the sources you provided but they're selling a complete collection here from his own company that lists 31 seasons. FrameDrag (talk) 18:45, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

The page you linked doesn't mention the word seasons at all. 67.1.121.105 (talk) 18:06, 15 November 2015 (UTC)

it does... 31 series... season and series get interchanged a lot.. For instance this weekend is the series finale of dr who.. But it's coming back next year. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.112.205.151 (talk) 17:59, 2 December 2015 (UTC)

The word season is often used in the United States, while the word series is often used in the UK and Australia for instance. They mean the same thing. According to all official sources, The Joy of Painting consists of 31 seasons with 13 episodes each. Veldhuis94 (talk) 08:17, 4 April 2022 (UTC)

Requests for comment: Indefinite semi protection

There's a {{Rfc}} discussion at Bob Ross regarding indef-semi protection for this page and Bob Ross. See main RfC discussion Mlpearc (open channel) 15:48, 2 April 2016 (UTC)

Number of seasons (again)

Why does the page say TJOP only had 12 seasons? The official YouTube channel and the DVD Legacy set both say it had 31 seasons. UPDATE: Edited it back JCW555 (talk) 22:50, 20 May 2021 (UTC)

Painting time lapse

When did someone discover that all Bob Ross paintings could be put in a time lapse? There have to be a segment about this in the article, because how much planning did he not put into this? Feels like he must have put so much thought into it! 98.128.228.64 (talk) 07:31, 15 July 2023 (UTC)