Deep Dive: Kids Breaks 1997

When I look for old station breaks on YouTube, I’m often looking for particular spots I remember from my years working in on-air promotions. As I’ve mentioned, there’s no archive available for perusal – and any old tapes we once had with these elements have since been lost, recorded over or degraded to the point of worthlessness.

One of the spots I recalled was “Short McShort Short.” We aired it in kids breaks in the late ’90s. I found it online as part of a KERA Dallas break featuring a Bill Nye The Science Guy promo, a signaling value spot, some funding credits and elements from “The Game.” Here’s that break…

Sounds Familiar

“This is my house. Ah! And this is my chair. And this is me, talking. And aren’t you lucky – you can hear me. Well, what were you expecting – a cat? Haha! Please. These are my people. My boy, Joe, and his mother, Ellen.” – Wishbone (Larry Brantley), setting up the scene, WISHBONE

Flashback: October 1997

October in North Carolina can mean many things to many people but for some it means the North Carolina State Fair! Our station has often had a presence at this high-profile annual event in Raleigh and so it isn’t far fetched to believe we’d want to promote it on the cover of our Centerpiece magazine.

Wednesday Trivia Question

What PBS Kids series is set on the fictional Birdwell Island?

PBS Kids is home to lots of familiar characters and shows and settings. ARTHUR lives in Elwood City, WORDGIRL fights crime in Fair City and WISHBONE dreams up adventures in Oakwood. Everyone knows Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch live on SESAME STREET. And who can even imagine MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD without the Neighborhood of Make-Believe? Basically, the places often define the shows and characters, sometimes becoming de facto characters in and of themselves.

Hey, It’s Photo Friday!

I mentioned The Game a few weeks back and later realized I had a magnet that touted this brief attempt at PBS Kids branding. This was probably given out 25 years ago. Maybe you still have one on your fridge?

Wednesday Trivia Question

What was the name of the afternoon kids block that ran on PBS in the late 1990s?

Wow. This is obscure. It’s possible that even if you grew up watching this, you’ve long forgotten it. I went looking for information online and I could barely find anything. It’s as if PBS wanted to forget it ever happened!

But as you know the children’s programming that PBS broadcasts is branded under the name of PBS Kids. We at PBS North Carolina have our Rootle brand which gives viewers a 24/7 Rootle channel airing this PBS Kids content and a Rootle block that airs on our main service, PBS NC. Before Rootle, we used the Just For Kids brand for a few decades. PBS Kids, as a brand, has been in use for going on 30 years now.

Back in the 90s, PBS branded the kids block as PTV and featured an animated collection of characters called the P-Pals (sort of anthropomorphic PBS logos). Around 1997, the afternoon block of kids programming was branded under a separate umbrella name. Shows airing during this block were aimed at kids about 6 to 8 years old, with other programs targeted at younger children. Some of the series that were usually included in this block included WISHBONE, ARTHUR, BILL NYE and KRATTS CREATURES.

My Top Five: Kids Show Theme Songs

Since the beginning, kids shows have been a staple of PBS programming. If you grew up watching them, you know full well how catchy the theme songs to most kids shows are. And these are theme songs that still resonate decades after you watched them as a kid. That’s why I put together MY TOP FIVE in the following category: KIDS SHOW THEME SONGS.

5. The Electric Company – “HEY, YOU GUYS!!!!” I’m talking about the 1970s version here (nothing against the newer one). It’s groovy and poppy and so energetic (befitting, of course, its source).

4. Wishbone – He’s the little dog with the big imagination and he’s got a great theme. What’s the story? The story is I’ll find myself singing this cute, catchy ditty without prompting.

3. Bill Nye The Science Guy – If you know that science rules, you’ve probably caught the Science Guy in action back in the 1990s. That electropop theme almost seems like a dance remix of another theme, which is pretty cool. And though it hasn’t been necessary yet, I am ever ready to chant “Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill!” at the drop of a hat.

2. Reading Rainbow – LeVar Burton helped kids learn about the joys of reading but who doesn’t go bonkers for that theme song? I guarantee you that if you belt out “Butterfly in the sky! I can go twice as high!” in any public place, you’ll get dozens of folks singing along with you. But you don’t have to take my word for it.

1. Where In The World is Carmen Sandiego? – Okay, if you told me I’d fall in love with a doo wop infused a cappella pop number about geography, I’d have called you crazy. But fall in love I did with Rockapella’s Carmen Sandiego theme about the villainous vixen’s global crime spree. And with lyrics like “She put the Miss in misdemeanor when she stole the beans from Lima” what’s not to love? “Do it, Rockapella!”

Keep in mind that all of these shows aired on PBS NC at some time and I’m basing this list solely on the theme song alone. These are simply my favorites – not the best or most popular in any fashion – and they represent only my personal opinion. This list is by no means definitive; merely a starting point for a discussion all your own.

Wednesday Trivia Question

What was the first book adapted for the series WISHBONE?

You remember WISHBONE, don’t you? He’s the little dog with the big imagination, a Jack Russell Terrier who lived a cozy suburban life yet always yearned for a more novel existence. The PBS Kids program debuted in 1995 and ran for two seasons and fifty episodes. Along the way, Wishbone became the star of dozens of fantastic adaptations of literary classics, from Shakespeare to Dickens and, in his various adventures, Wishbone acted as a canine Robin Hood, a furry Musketeer and a tail-waggin’ Sherlock Holmes, among other famous fictional characters. The show’s very first episode was a two-parter that adapted a famous work of American fiction published in the 19th century (a classic that was recently included on the list of books ranked on PBS’ THE GREAT AMERICAN READ).

My Top Five: Centerpiece Covers

As any true UNC-TV viewer knows, Centerpiece is our monthly programming guide. You probably have a subscription if you’ve been a donor for any measurable amount of time. Aside from TV listings, you can get insight into shows, station events and much more. The magazine has been produced since the early 1980s and its hundreds of covers have featured artwork, photos and promotional shots of PBS stars, local personalities, fan-favorite shows and an assorted grab bag of public broadcasting notables. The folks who write and edit Centerpiece work hard and always struggle to come up with the perfect cover to present our shows and services to you, the home audience.

And thus I took it upon myself to look back at the 400+ individual covers and pick MY TOP FIVE. Based purely on what caught my eye or made me smile or had pleasant memories associated. Keep in mind, your opinion could differ and this list represents no one else’s opinion but my own.

So here you go: MY TOP FIVE CENTERPIECE COVERS…

5) June 1993 – CLIVE JAMES’ FAME IN THE 20th CENTURY. I barely remember the series but I like seeing Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp get the Warhol treatment.

Hey, It’s Photo Friday!

What’s the story, Wishbone?

One of the neat things about working in a public broadcasting station is that so many people have plush toys of our PBS Kids characters. The folks in our Kids & Education Department have a ton of them. This little guy is everyone’s favorite cultured canine – Wishbone, from the 1990s series of the same name. The bookish barker was a Jack Russell Terrier who brought classic tales to life with an amiable attitude and a well-read wit. Anyone who grew up watching Wishbone’s tails – er, tales will no doubt have fond memories of this adorable doggie.