During the 1990s, PBS children’s programming began to change. As the decade moved on, the proliferation of more all-cartoon educational programs like Dragontales and The Magic School Bus began to surface. However, a number of mostly or all-“live” programs debuted during the 1990s. In this final installment of Classic PBS Children’s Television, we will look at a number of these shows which rose—and fell—during the 1990s.
Barney and Friends (1992 to date) features the purple and lovable dinosaur named Barney who, with Baby Bop and B.J., entertain, teach, and amuse the school children who frequent their playground and capture the imagination and hearts of millions of very young viewers who delight in this award-winning show.
Bill Nye, The Science Guy (1993-2002) could well be suggested as embodying what Mr. Wizard would have looked like had that classic program been produced and filmed near the end of the 20th century. However, while many of Bill Nye’s experiments and scientific explanations did take place in his studio lab, a great many applications of the science illustrated in the show were often done in the “real world,” with young co-hosts demonstrating a whole variety of fun and practical experiments that kids could try at home. Entertaining film segments provided another angle to investigating certain scientific properties, and the end of most episodes included a “music video,” whose lyrics (always sung to recognizable top hits) highlighted a scientific aspect of the episode’s theme.
Ghostwriter (1992-1995) featured a diverse, large cast of New York youngsters who busted crimes and solved mysteries thanks to “Ghostwriter,” an otherwise invisible sidekick who would, when depicted as a computer-generated squiggle, illumination, or other vague image, appear every now and then to point the young investigators in the right direction. Examples of when the audience would know Ghostwriter was coming around to help save the day was when a line of text in a newspaper would suddenly appear highlighted, or a little, fuzzy spot of light would appear on an otherwise blank wall. These often-complex and always interesting mystery stories took place over four consecutive episodes.
Lamb Chop’s Play-Along (1992-1997) was Shari Lewis’ popular PBS series in which her famous puppet characters, Lamb Chop, Hush Puppy, and Charlie Horse and a few young cast members engaged in entertaining and comedic skits and sketches, told jokes, and showed the young viewing audience dozens of fun activities.
Shining Time Station (1990-1993) took place inside a special train station. The small Mr. Conductor (first played by Ringo Starr then later George Carlin) helmed the station, and the workers and occupants of the station (some being puppets) would teach various lessons and values to the young viewing audience. Each episode included a Thomas the Tank Engine short.
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (1991-1996) was an exciting game show for kids, featuring young contestants. Hosted by Greg Lee and featuring Lynne Thigpen, this game show placed three young sleuths who competed against each other by trying to answer clues about geographic locations where Carmen Sandiego and her many criminal minions are said to be hiding from the law. The final round, reached by the contestant who scored highest based on correct answers to geographic-related questions, was a frantic race against the clock where the contestant had to correctly identify several nations on a large map; this map, usually depicting one continent, took up a space on the floor nearly the size of the entire studio and was a fast-paced and exciting climax to the show. The famous a capella group, Rockapella, provided lively and energetic theme music for the program.
While PBS children’s programming may no longer be exclusively live-action television as it was decades ago, it is also true that television evolves. Today’s PBS cartoons are just the most recent effort to appeal to and educate the children of today—a market that, arguably, has never been as sought-after as it has been as of late. What the future holds for PBS children’s programming we will have to wait and see, but it undoubtedly will remain as one of the few safe, educational, and enriching havens that children (and parents) will be able to find on television.
Resources:
Barney and Friends.” Internet Movie Database. 16 September 2007. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144701/
“Bill Nye, The Science Guy.” Internet Movie Database. 17 September 2007. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0173528/
“Ghostwriter.” Internet Movie Database. 16 September 2007. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108787/
“Lamb Chop.” Internet Movie Database. 16 September 2007. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166048/
“Shining Time Station.” Internet Movie Database. 16 September 2007. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098910/
“Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” Internet Movie Database. 15 September 2007. http //www.imdb.com/title/tt0106172/
