PBS KIDS has commissioned Fuzzytown Productions and Spiffy Pictures to produce Carl the Collector, its first series featuring a cast of characters who are on the autism spectrum.
Set for a fall 2024 premiere, this 2D-animated concept for four- to eight-year-olds was created by New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Zachariah OHora (My Cousin Momo).
Carl the Collector centers around an autistic raccoon who is smart and energetic, but who struggles with anxiety in new situations and when things don’t go according to plan. He has a huge collection of things (from the perfect fake mustache for a disguise, to a soft plushie when a friend is in need) to help him solve whatever problems his friends, who are both on and off the spectrum, are facing.
The PBS greenlight is for 40 x 22-minute episodes (each one tells two 11-minute stories). Canadian studio Yowza! Animation (Green Eggs and Ham) will handle the animation, Spiffy Pictures co-founder Adam Rudman (Donkey Hodie ) is working on scripts as head writer, and OHora will executive produce.
Advisors on board include Dr. Geraldine Oades-Sese, a licensed child psychologist and kids book author; and Stephen Shore, an autistic professor of special education at New York’s Adelphi University. “Carl the Collector will become a great tool for both autistic and non-autistic people to gain insight on autism,” says Shore.
PBS Kids owned by the Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) is the most trusted educational brand for children aged 2-8. Since 2021, the brand has operated a number of blocks and linear channels in the United States, Africa and formerly Australia.
For those residing outside the United States may have noticed some rather bizarre variations from the American feed. I mean you have shows like Dinosaur Train currently in its fifth season with the Africa still wrapping up the second season I know shocking.
On top of that there's a lot of shows some fresh that have yet to be broadcast on the channel such as Let's Go Luna, Splash And Bubbles, Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum, Ready Jet Go! and Clifford The Big Red Dog.
From what's understood here, consumers don't have longevity with PBS Kids as seen with Cartoon Network and Disney Junior globally. Despite the fact that some of this content such as Dinosaur Train and Cyberchase have been viewable in these markets.
Generally, PBS Kids hasn't got much credibility for these as the content is funded by taxpayers and foundations which just leads to curiosity as on how much ownership the main PBS brand has over this content.
I for starters don't mind how out of fashion PBS Kids may appear to some audiences. It's one of the few brands that acknowledge their much older properties I mean it debuted in 2019 across Africa airing shows like Mister Rogers Neighborhood and Time Warp Trio.
Aside from that, the main feed is repetitive and perhaps them introducing this content to newer audiences is another way to help build their offering. The international feeds doesn't focus solely on older content as there's shows like Donkey Hodie and Hero Elementary.
PBS Kids can be entertaining to the young and old.
The player guides Arthur Read around a map of Elwood City, while being able to play ten different mini-games. Each completed mini-game awards Arthur a gold star, and collecting ten stars earns Arthur a free pass to enter the amusement park Wonderworld and play an extra five mini-games. The player can play the different mini-games as many times as they want.
The hit PBS series comes to Game Boy Color! Join Zoboomafoo on a wacky adventure in the fantasy world of Zoboomaland!
- Oh no! Zoboo's Animal Friend Cards are missing.
- Jump, climb and swim through 9 fun-filled levels.
- Help Phibby find her favorite Boca Nut snack.
Peter Robbins (born Louis Nanasi; August 10, 1956 – c. January 18, 2022) was an American child actor. Robbins gained national fame in the 1960s as being the first actor to voice Charlie Brown in the Peanuts animated specials. As reported in the past week, the child actor passed away at the age of 65 so here's a list of Peanut projects the former child actor starred in.
A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1963)
A 1965 documentary film was screened for the Greater San Francisco Advertising Club, where it was received with considerable enthusiasm, but Mendelson was unsuccessful in securing sponsorship.
Although never aired on television, the documentary was instrumental in garnering commercial support and the creative teamwork that resulted in A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965 and the ensuing series of Peanuts television specials.
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
On their way to join their friends ice skating on a frozen pond, Charlie Brown confides in Linus that, despite the Christmas season, he is still depressed. After Linus' reproach, and a put-down from Violet, he visits Lucy's psychiatric booth and tells her his problem. She suggests that he direct the group's annual Christmas play to get him involved, and he accepts.
A Charlie Brown Christmas received high ratings and acclaim from critics. It has been honored with an Emmy and a Peabody Award, and has become an annual presentation in the United States, airing on broadcast television during the Christmas season.
Charlie Brown's All-Stars (1966)
A sequel to the 1965 special A Charlie Brown's Christmas, Charlie Brown's baseball team loses their first game of the season, his players quit. Linus meets Charlie Brown with good news: Mr. Hennessey, the operator of the local hardware store, is offering to sponsor Charlie Brown's baseball team, place them in an organized league, and even buy them new uniforms. The special was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program in 1967.
It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
Second holiday themed special following A Charlie Brown's Christmas, as Halloween approaches, Linus and Lucy Van Pelt go out to the local pumpkin patch to find a pumpkin. Lucy selects the largest they can find, and makes Linus carry it back to the house. He becomes upset when Lucy starts cutting it to make a jack-o-lantern. After the opening titles, Snoopy helps Charlie Brown finish raking a pile of leaves. Linus jumps into the heap with a large lollipop, resulting in leaves sticking to his face and lollipop. Then Lucy entices Charlie Brown to kick her football by showing him a signed agreement, but then pulls it away as usual before pointing out the agreement never got notarized.
Second non-holiday themed special following Charlie Brown's All-Stars, with summer approaching, Charlie Brown is upset that he cannot enjoy himself like all the others, but when he sees the Little Red-Haired Girl on a passing bus, Linus figures out that Charlie Brown is in love.
He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown (1968)
Snoopy's persistent mischief is angering the other kids in the neighborhood, and they all demand that Charlie Brown do something about it because "He's your dog, Charlie Brown!"
It Was A Short Summer, Charlie Brown (1969)
School is out for the summer and Charlie, Linus, Schroeder, and Pig Pen are planning to spend it reading every comic book, watching television, playing baseball, and playing classical music. However, Lucy tells them that she signed them up for camp. The girls are eager to go, but the boys hate the idea. The boys shove each other to get on the bus, while the girls line up in order. At camp, Charlie is chosen as captain of the boys' camp. The boys and girls have a swim race, which the girls win easily. Then they have a softball game, which the boys lose with only one run. Other competitions are just as lopsided.
This was the first special to recieve any Emmy nominations.
A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969)
When Charlie Brown's baseball team loses the first Little League game of the season, he becomes convinced that he will not win anything. Linus encourages him to maintain a positive attitude and suggests that people learn more from losing. When Charlie Brown remains morose ("That makes me the smartest person in the world", he says), Linus assures him that he will eventually win at something, but makes a liar of himself by beating Charlie at a game of tic-tac-toe. That night, Snoopy has a nightmare where he is a World War I flying ace, and is shot down while fighting an aerial battle with an unknown enemy (possibly the Red Baron), and he takes over Charlie Brown's bed. The next morning, when Charlie Brown stops at Lucy's psychiatric help booth, she prepares slides to show him all of his faults; the experience only leaves him more depressed. On the way to school the next day, Lucy jokingly suggests that Charlie Brown enter the school spelling bee. However, Linus considers it a good idea and encourages him despite the jeers of Lucy, Violet, and Patty.
This was Peter Robbins final feature film project before his death.
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I'm sure everyone with a DStv or GOtv by now heard about the brand (stylised as PBS KIDS) before stations like SABC and e.tv distributed a handful of series such as Zaboomafoo, Clifford The Big Red Dog, Peep And The Big Wide World, Wordgirl, The Magic School Bus, Arthur, Curious George, Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat, Cyberspace and Super Why.
Now we're gonna catch up with what PBS Kids was back when the brand only existed in the market through its series.
Back when PBS Kids was somewhat decent with a huge fanbase (including every other kids channel to date), the channel aired series such as the ones mentioned above along with Mister Rogers Neighborhood, Sid The Science Kid, Dragon Tales and Clifford's Puppy Days just to name a few.
Children's programming has been essential for many decades on PBS even it's successor National Educational Television (NET) had shows such as Mister Rogers Neighborhood, NET Playhouse before it got replaced in the 1970s with PBS.
PBS had a block known as "For Kids" which ran series such as The Electric Company, 3-2-1 Contact, Reading Rainbow, Zoom, Shining Time Station, The Big Comfy Couch, Kidsongs, Ghostwriter, Long Ago And Far Away, Newton's Apple, Square One Television and Mister Rogers became a part of it.
In 1994, PBS rebranded For Kids Into PTV as part of their Ready to Learn project a goal in which they can get their content to children living in poor households. Shows that joined it's PTV era included Arthur, Kratts Creatures, Zaboomafoo, JayJay The Jet Plane, The Huggabug Club, Theodore Tugboat.
On September 1999, PBS Kids underwent a facelift this introduced their mascots Dash (boy) and Dot (girl) which many only in the United States would recognise through bumpers and interstitials till now. Along came new styles that were simplistic at that time viewers would have praised it just as much as Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon. Shows that followed this facelift were Between The Lions, Dragon Tales, Wordworld, Curious George, Clifford The Big Red Dog with the spin-off Clifford's Puppy Days, Sagwa, Cyberchase, Sid The Science Kid, Martha Speaks and Super Why, Cyberchase and Super Why.
On October 2004, through a series offshore PBS Kids GO! was introduced aimed at kids aged 6-12 year olds. Series that joined the lineup include Maya And Miguel, Fetch With Ruff Ruffman(Lost The Rights Off), Wordgirl, Design Squad, SciGirls, Fizzy's Lunch Lab, The Electric Company and Wild Kratts.
On October 2013, a lot happened with PBS Kids first PBS Kids GO! was discontinued, Peg+Cat was introduced, their style was adapted to look more 2010s but even more simplistic, the mascots were changed as well Dot remained while Dash was eliminated (maybe he grew up with the audience that could be the reason for the discontinuation) and became part of the logo with two new characters Dee (girl) came in to cause more mischief with Del (boy, Dash's replacement). Dash is still alive through merchandise and PBS Kids current logo.
As for the state of PBS Kids today you have good shows such as Martha Speaks, Curious George, Arthur, Odd Squad and once app exclusive The Ruff Ruffman Show but most of the shows are a hit or miss and not that great. They bring in series such as Ready Jet Go, Wild Kratts and then of course there's Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Pinkalicious And Peterrific and Peg+Cat that are useful as this brand has been doing for decades.
In January 2017, PBS Kids launched its 24/7 channel in the United States with plans to rollout the brand internationally. The 24/7 channel consisted of of both current and former series from the channel. They also offered a PBS Kids app and programming block.
MultiChoice added the channel back in June 2018 through the DStv Now service with plans to use it elsewhere if it succeeded then Showmax supplied content that hasn't been seen on the channel. In May 2019, it launched as a pop-up channel only in South Africa and Lesotho as stated it launch with it being permanent for the rest of Africa. Now the channel has been added permanently to South Africa and Lesotho.
PBS Kids' African feed uses the same schedule everyday, airs new double or single bill episodes everyday, has no ads like the one in the United States, no bumpers but they do have interstitials, no marathons or stunts and no shorts or movies but maybe they'll add some of these a little later for now they could be familiarising themselves with the market. The current series on this channel are Peg + Cat - Mathematics, Wild Kratts - Wilderness (Natural Science), Wordworld - Numeracy (English), Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood - Emotional intelligence and human respect (Life Orientation), Time Warp Trio - History, Pinkalicious and Peterrific - Visual Arts, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood - Crafts and music (Creative Arts) and Molly of Denali - Culture (Creative Arts).
In the end, these series are watched and have fans as well even I enjoyed some of the shows back in my youth and see a few interesting shows now. Even stations like Cartoon Network, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon along with their additional stations were at their prime back then compared to now so these brands are no really no different and are just evolving with time.
THANK YOU MEDORA ENTERTAINMENT FOR PART OF THE INFO
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SURVEY ON PBS KIDS
- PBS Kids is #1 in preparing kids for success in school and in life. For those without the channel selected programs can be found on free-to-air channels.
- Parents report that TV is one of the top ways they spend time together as a family. PBS Kids is the best use for family screentime with 37% along with 24% being Disney Junior, 12% being Nick Jr, 2% being Cartoon Network and 25% having other alternatives.
- PBS Kids is #1 in readiness when preparing kids for school parents discovered the following: PBS Kids is 50% helpful and 31% helps somewhat, Disney Junior is 28% helpful and 36% helps somewhat, Nick Jr is 28% helpful and 31% helps somewhat, and Cartoon Network is 9% helpful and 10% helps somewhat.
- Parents especially in low-income communities rank PBS Kids as the most trusted and safe place to watch television.
- Improving in child's behaviour: 66% being PBS Kids, 56% being Disney Junior, 50% being Nick Jr and 16% being Cartoon Network.
- 74% of parents want high-quality educational content available to children anytime, anywhere and PBS Kids is available on TV and to stream. With its programs available for distribution.
