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PBS has announced that Miss Lori and Hooper, who serve as the hosts and educators during the PBS Kids programming block, will be back for a second season.

The second season will include the following:

PBS KIDS is strengthening the preschool setting in season two with new age-appropriate curriculum themes presented in a structured format such as “Music Time,” “Math Time,” “Art Time,” and “Reading Time.” Using letters, shapes, colors and other elements designed to get kids involved and engaged, as well as familiar environmental elements such as smocks, easels, mini tables and chairs, books and more, children will feel like they have entered a real preschool each morning on PBS KIDS.

PBS Kids also announced a new show titled SUPER WHY! would join the block.

This animated superhero series is designed to boost literacy skills through interactive fairytale adventures that encourage viewers to participate through entertaining and engaging games. Whyatt Beanstalk, younger brother of Jack from “Jack in the Beanstalk,” and his three fairytale character friends transform into the “Super Readers,” with special literacy-charged powers. The Super Readers jump into books to discover answers and find solutions to everyday preschooler questions and challenges.

PBS Kids(R) Launches Second Season of Popular Interactive Preschool Destination on September 3, 2007

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Nickelodeon has announced 2 new series to debut during the 2007-2008 season.

1. Umizumiz - The curriculum is math based in this animated series about an urban repair squad that helps solve everyday preschool problems in Metro City. The show will air on Noggin.
2. Bubble Guppies -Is a 3D, CGI-animated variety show set in an underwater classroom. Each episode will delve into a preschool topic from a
   variety of angles as the cast and viewers at home explore the swaying kelp forests, fantastical coral reefs, and undersea gardens of their aquarium-inspired surroundings. The series was created and produced by members of the team who do The Backyardigans.
3. In addition to the new series, a fifth season of Dora the Explorer with 14 new episodes - including 3 hour long specials) will air on Nick Jr.

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Blue’s Clues which recently celebrated it’s 10th anniversary is spinning of a new series, Blue’s Room. Blue’s Room differs from Blue’s Clue in that 1)it is live action, 2)Blue talks. The Blue’s Room format should be familiar to regular Nick Jr/Blue viewers because it has been used for 5 specials.

Joining Blue is her little brother Sprinkles, Roar E Saurus, and Frederica. Joe also remains a regular, if not as integral, part of the cast.

In the premiere episode, Blue helps out while Old McDonald has to run some errands. The puppets gather eggs, feed animals and milk a cow. All the while kids are learning without knowing it (my 3 year old now knows what a “dozen” is).

The episode will premiere January 26th at 10:00am. If you miss it, head over to NickJr.com where replays can be viewed. Also, a new episode, Knights of the Snack Table will be packaged with 2 Blue’s Clues episodes on a new DVD available January 30th: Blue’s Clues - Blue’s Room - Knights of the Snack Table

Other reviews can be found at Children’s Media Consultant and Newsday.

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Nick Jr. will be getting a new series this fall as today they announced picking up Yo Gabba Gabba!. The series will be a live action magazine style show. Consistent with most new preschool television it will heavily use music.

From the press release:

Yo Gabba Gabba! stars Host DJ Lance Rock (Lance Robertson) who brings to life five friendly toy characters in a colorful land full of song and dance. The magazine-style format of the series is infused with a retro style and beat driven music. Yo Gabba Gabba! will feature animated segments, real kids and special guests, in addition to a vibrant world of puppet characters

As for the title of the show, it is the magic phrase that triggers the puppets to play and dance along with viewers.

The show is produced by The Magic Store and W!ldbrain. Wildbrain also produces the Playhouse Disney hit Higglytown Heroes and this is the first venture for The Magic Store.

The initial order is for 20 episodes and the show is slated to premiere fall of 2007.

Related: Yo Gabba Gabbba Home Page

There’s a sample clip after the jump. (more…)

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(c)Disney

Johnny and the Sprites, which has been airing as an interstitial for a little over a year will have it’s first full episode air. The series will premiere on Saturday, January 13th at 10:00am on the Disney Channel. It will be a full block of premieres on Playhouse Disney that day with 2 new episodes of Little Einsteins, 2 new episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and a new episode of Handy Manny. The full block will air between 8:00am and 11:00am.

In series premiere - Turbo Car Johnny – Johnny gets carried away playing a video game but ultimately figures out that it is a lot more fun playing outside with your friends. The second part of the episode is Antenna Dilema. A painting of Ginger makes her feel uncomfortable about her curly antennae until Johnny helps her realize that it is okay to be different.

More new episodes will premeiere on January 14th, 20th, and 27th - all at 10:00am.

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The Upside Down Show is a new live action show debuting on Noggin. It features David Collins and Shane Dundas who are better known as The Umbilical Brothers. The gist of the show is that Shane and David interact with kids who are given a virtual remote control to control the pair’s actions on the show.

The premiere episode begins with Shane creating a piece of art. The remainder of the show is Shane, David, and the viewer looking for a place to hang the art. When they realize that they can’t hang the art on their refrigerator, they go in search of a museum. The experience several rooms such as the Sticky Room, the Fog Room, and the Musuem of Finger Painting.

My kids thought this was one of the funniest shows they’ve ever seen and were giggling throughout. The duo’s roots in comedy made it worthwhile for parents to pay attention as well. There were a half dozen instances of subtle hilarity in the first episode alone.

Shane and David are dynamic to say the least and make the show compelling despite it just being 2 guys instead of a collection of animated animals. In addition to playing themselves they also serve as Knuckles & Pointy, aka Action Fingers. Think Oobi without eyeballs, but cool.

This isn’t their first foray into preschool television as they are also the voices and sound effects behind Maisy.

The educational goals of the show are pretty broad and encompass everything from social development and imaginative play to cognitive and language skills. While none of the lessons are as obvious as in some kids shows, they are present.

The show will debut at 11:00am on October 16th with back to back episodes. New episodes will debut each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 4:30 pm for 4 weeks. The regular time slot will be 11:00am and 4:30pm.

There are only 13 episodes of The Upside Down Show. The downside is that with 10 airings a week, things will get very repetitive very quickly.

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A new show called Handy Manny is set to premiere on Playhouse Disney on September 16th.  The main character is voiced by Wilmer Valderrama (Fes from That 70’s Show). 

The show is reportedly a mix between Bob the Builder and Dora the Explorer.

ModernMom - “Handy Manny” to Premiere on Playhouse Disney

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On August 28th Nick Jr will premiere the first 2 episodes of Wow Wow Wubbzy. Wubbzy is a little guy who lives in a town called Wuzzleburg with his friends Widget and Walden. The main educational goals of the show revolve around preschool social skills such as listening, sharing, helping, and compromising.

The show starts off with a rather loud theme song that doesn’t really seem to be indicative of the tone of the show. Wubbzy and his friends are very gentle and sweet characters. While Wubbzy is a fairly simply drawn character he is provided with ample charm and emotion from Grey De Lisle who voices Wubbzy.

The characters are all likable, and the setting is simple enough. The quirkiness and color schemes used in Wuzzleburg seem very Oswald like.

As for what my kids think, both my 3 year old and 5 year old love the show and have asked to watch the screener multiple, multiple times. It isn’t as interactive as shows like Little Einsteins, Blue’s Clues or Dora the Explorer, yet the kids are engaged and laughing. And in the episode I screened, I didn’t come across anything objectionable.

The initial order for Wubbzy includes 26 episodes. The first two will air at 11:00 and 11:30 on Monday August 28th.

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Nick Jr will offer a preview of it’s upcoming series Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!. The show will be available on NIck Jr Video as well as the Wubbcast.

Ten videos and segments will be available between now and the August 28th premiere.

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PBS Kids will debut Curious George on September 4th.

The series is designed to inspire kids to explore science, math, and engineering in the world around them in a fun and entertaining way. Based on the best-selling “Curious George” books by Margret and H.A. Rey, and narrated by Emmy-winning actor William H. Macy (”Seabiscuit,” “Pleasantville”), the daily series expands George’s world to include a host of colorful new characters and original locales, while maintaining the charm of the beloved books. Each of the thirty half-hour episodes includes two animated stories followed by short live-action pieces showing real kids who are investigating the ideas that George introduces in his stories. The series will encourage inquiry and curiosity, promote hands-on exploration, and show parents and caregivers how to support children’s science and math-related play.

william h macy, curious george

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