The Laybourne's filmed neighborhood children in their basement

http://articles.latimes.com/1996-09-08/magazine/tm-41780_1_disney-channel/4

She rearranged Nickelodeon with the force of a tornado, starting as a consultant at the network launch in 1979. After getting a master's degree in elementary education at the University of Philadelphia, she formed an independent production studio and, with her husband, Kit, an independent filmmaker, was creating pilots for the network. The following year, Laybourne joined as a programming manager and was elevated to general manager in 1986. At the time, Nickelodeon was losing $10 million a year as a commercial-free channel with the lowest ratings in cable. It was the "spinach channel," bitter tasting–but good for kids.



Guided by rigorous focus groups with children, Laybourne honed a philosophy for the network based on the mind-set that growing up is tough. But the network had little money for developing programs to help kids cope, so Laybourne bought cheap old shows and packaged them to look cool. She started accepting advertising and retooling the economics of production to make originals affordable. Game shows came first, with "Double Dare" debuting in 1986, shattering the myth that kids would only watch animation. She produced the show with neighborhood kids in the basement of her New Jersey home. [ ](https://8ch.net/pol/res/12880410.html#q12880424)