Mondays just got a little happier, with some help from Amazon‘s streaming outlet, Twitch, and a whole lot of vintage Bob Ross. In the wake of its Joy of Painting marathon, Twitch has announced that every Monday they will run one season of The Joy of Painting on /bobross. Since there are a total of 31 seasons, Twitch assures viewers they will only encounter reruns every seven months.
To call Twitch’s nine day marathon of the long-cancelled series The Joy of Painting a success, is underselling it. According to Vulture, 5.6 million viewers tuned in (we’ll leave the question of whether they first turned on, and later dropped out, in Vulture‘s capable talons). Continue on for all the details from Twitch.
From the Twitch blog:
Monday Night is Bob Ross Night
Nov 09 2015 · 76 comments · News
Update: We’ve changed the schedule so that people in Europe can more easily catch Bob on Mondays. For more info, click here.
Life is full of happy accidents.
When we first discussed the idea of running an all-episodes marathon of “The Joy of Painting” with the Bob Ross folks, we weren’t entirely sure what would happen. We knew it would bring attention to Twitch Creative and give the internet some enjoyment and inspiration for a few days. We had no idea it would grow into the phenomenon we’ve seen it become.
Bob has taught us a lot in the past few days, I think we can all say that.
The reactions people have had to seeing Bob again and in some cases, for the first time, have been truly amazing. From across the internet and all over the world, we’ve been moved by the responses. […]
Well, all good things come to an end eventually. #RUINED! We’ve been as sad as you have, knowing the end of our marathon was approaching. Bob’s voice sends many of us to sleep at night, and calms and inspires us throughout the day. Bob has reminded us of what’s important in life, reminded us of our childhoods, time with family, and the days we’ve spent creating something. WE DIDN’T WANT THE END TO BE REAL.
So, we pulled out all the stops and came up with a new plan. #KEEPBOB. From now on, Monday night is Bob Ross night. Every Monday, we will be running one season of The Joy of Painting on /bobross starting at 3pm PST and ending at 9:30pm PST. There are 31 seasons, so repeats will happen only once every seven months. Whether you’ve had a great Monday and want to celebrate with a familiar crowd, or your day has plain sucked and you want to be calmed by his soothing tones, Bob will always be there for you every Monday night without fail.
The great people at Janson Media and Bob Ross Inc have been incredibly supportive. They’re as excited as we are to see Bob getting the recognition and attention he deserves. So, as a thanks, they are allowing Twitch broadcasters to re-stream these mini-marathons. You can paint right along with Bob, add commentary, and broadcast the result to your own channel. Time to add your own favorite color.
Oh, and of course we’ll celebrate Bob’s birthday every year by running an all-episodes marathon starting on October 29th.
Finally, we want to do something with the proceeds from /bobross that would make Bob proud. Proceeds will go to:
- The rights holders – the wonderful folks who have kept Bob’s work alive all this time
- Root division, our local arts organization supporting artists as well as teaching children the arts
- St Jude, an amazing cancer research organization
- Twitch Creative community support
Thank you to all who tuned in and tapped into your inner Bob Ross. May your skies forever be full of happy little clouds and your vistas filled with almighty mountains.
And remember – you can make any little world you want. GGWP, Bob.
#SAVED,
Bill
What do you think? Did you tune into the nine day marathon of The Joy of Painting TV series? Do you plan to stream the series via Twitch? Are you a happy little tree?
