Hundreds Audition To Be The New Captain Kangaroo -- Producers Want Contemporary Show To Start This Fall

TAMPA, Fla. - Captain Kangaroo is being called back to duty, and hundreds have lined up for the commission.

The producers of the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" and Anheuser-Busch have teamed up to revive the popular children's show, which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1984, then was carried on PBS until 1993.

This time, the Captain will be aimed at the 2- to 7-year-old children of the baby boomers who watched the original show.

"I was born and raised on Captain Kangaroo," said Captain hopeful Steven Fiorenza, who produces a local children's educational TV show.

Producers plan 26 half-hour episodes for the first season, starting in September. Some of the new series will be filmed at the Busch Gardens theme park in Tampa, where the tryouts were held.

Bob Keeshan, 69, who made famous the original kindly, mustached character, will not be associated with the show. He said through a spokesman he would not take part in a production that does not allow him to have artistic control.

Still, producers are negotiating to bring him on board, said Barry Stagg, spokesman for Saban Entertainment, the company that owns the rights to the show.

"Maybe we'll have him elevated to admiral and make periodic appearances on the show," Stagg said.

Producers plan to make the show more contemporary, with interactive computer technology and more of an "MTV-style approach," Stagg said.

Yet some things will probably stay the same, judging from the

line that all Captain Kangaroo aspirants were asked to recite: "You know, I'm really worried about Mr. Moose. He's not acting like himself lately. He hasn't even tried to trick me with a knock-knock joke."