In the history of television, there have been few things more soothing than the words of Bob Ross as he created art on The Joy of Painting. Those who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s likely have fond memories of the show as well as its gloriously bearded host – and they will now get a chance to continue reliving those memories.
This news comes to us from Tech Crunch, who reports that Twitch – a popular live streaming network typically used for video games – experienced immense success with a Bob Ross marathon last month on what would’ve been the late host’s birthday. The stream was so successful, drawing in 5.6 million unique visitors, that Twitch will stream an entire season of The Joy of Painting every Monday from 3PM to 9:30PM PST. With 31 total seasons of the series in all, Twitch can air a new season every Monday for the better part of a year before having to repeat things. It has also been revealed that Twitch users will be able to paint along with the series as it airs, sharing their work, as well as commentary, on the site to create an even deeper level of interaction with the classic series.
For those too young to remember, The Joy of Painting was a popular PBS show that ran from 1983 to 1994. It was hosted by the aforementioned Ross and featured calming instructional videos on how to paint various landscapes. Ross’ soothing demeanor has become something of a legend among members of Generation X, and he developed a reputation for describing inanimate things as “happy,” such as a “happy little cloud,” or a “happy little tree.” If you find yourself in any way stressed out, check out a clip below to seriously take the edge off:
Continuous marathons of this nature are not necessarily uncommon. FXX regularly participates in “every Simpsons ever” marathons in which they air episodes of the iconic cartoon for seemingly years at a time before taking a break for different programming. It’s difficult to say at this stage whether or not The Joy of Painting has the kind of appeal for prolonged longevity, but Twitch seems to have enough faith in the program to devote the next seven months worth of Mondays to it.
As of now, Twitch has made no announcements to do anything like this with any other iconic series. But if The Joy of Painting marathons become a hit, we could easily see other programs be given similar treatment on the streaming service, assuming rights issues don't enter into it. We will keep you posted as more information on this happy little matter becomes available.
