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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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Apparently Disney debuted a new preschool show, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse at their theme parks. The show will air during the Playhouse Disney block and feature Mickey and friends in 3-D CGI animation.

The educational goals of the show are mathematics and problem solving.

The show’s format is described below:

Each episode starts with Mickey inviting viewers to join him in calling out the “magic” phrase, “Meeska, Mooska, Mickey Mouse!” With that, the fantastic, mouse-shaped structure that serves as the series’ shape-shifting home base begins to magically appear. Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Pluto and Daisy all join Mickey as he invites young viewers to help solve challenges, overcome obstacles and go on fun adventures. Interactivity is key from start to finish as Mickey speaks directly to preschoolers, asking questions and encouraging them to play games, participate in special phrases or cheers, and solve puzzles to reach a goal. After successfully completing the day’s adventure, Mickey recaps the day’s fun activities and lessons learned through the celebratory “Hot Dog!” song. Mickey turns to the audience and, with a wave and a wink, he promises to “See Ya Real Soon.”

Incidentally the Hot Dog song is a They Might Be Giants creation.

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CBS, which earlier this year parted ways with Nick Jr programming on the weekends, announced their new schedule. The “Saturday Morning Secret Slumber Party” is a three hour block of programming featuring 8 shows. The shows are:

• Cake
• Dance, Dance, Dance
• Horseland
• Kooky Kitchen
• Littlest Pet Shop
• Trollz
• Sabrina: The Animated series
• Madeline

Where the Nick Jr. block is aimed at preschoolers, the Slumber Party block is aimed at children aged 6-12.

In addition to the shows there will be interestititals promoting healthy eating and lifestyles.

The new block will premier Saturday September 16th.

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On April 10th Noggin will premiere it’s newest show, Pinky Dinky Doo. The show is the brainchild of Jim Jinkins. Jinkins has quite the resume in preschool television as the co-creator of Stanley and JoJo’s Circus. Pinky Dinky Doo is actually based on a series of books that Jinkins authored. The books were inspired by stories made up at bedtime for Jinkins’s own kids.
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Nickelodeon announced today their strategy for new show development and launches across video games, internet, podcasts and other media. It also announced several parts of it’s production schedule going forward. Items relevant to the preschool set include:

• Downward Doghouse: Twenty episodes have been ordered for the show which is set to launch March 2007. The show aims to teach preschoolers about Chinese culture, much in the same vein as Dora the Explorer. The show aims to help kids understand their emotions and be mindful of the feelings of others.
• Wow Wow Wubbzy: Twenty-six episodes of the show have been ordered. Originally it was slated to debut in the fall of this year, but now appears to be set to premiere in 2007. The press release was corrected, and the show is still set to debut in 2006.
• New episodes of current shows slated for 2006-2007: On tap are 18 episodes of LazyTown, 20 episodes of The Backyardigans, and 20 episodes of Go Diego Go.

Nick also announced the Inkubator Lab. The Inkubators Lab will be dedicated to the development of original animated content made specifically for a diverse range of platforms, including broadband; wireless; portable video devices; online and gaming.

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This week Playhouse Disney is debuting a new interstitial called Feeling Good with JoJo. JoJo and Goliath will lead preschoolers through various stretches and poses in the music filled shorts. Many of the poses are designed to overcome preschool-age fears.

The interstitials will air weekdays at 8:55am this week, before moving to their regular timeslots at 7:55am and 10:25am.
JoJo’s Circus, television

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The Wonder Pets is the latest preschool television offering from Nick Jr. The Wonder Pets are a guinea pig (Linny), a duckling (Ming-Ming) and a turtle (Tuck), who go on various adventures. The adventures begin when the trio receive a call that a baby animal is in trouble. They then assemble their Flyboat which will take the pets wherever they are needed. What is unique about the show is that it is done entirely opera style, with all the dialogue sung.

The show was created and is produced by Josh Selig. Selig isn’t new to preschool TV. He was the creator of Go, Baby! and Oobi, a writer on Sesame Street, and the head writer for Little Bill. I had the opportunity to watch the first episode with my kids.
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Nick Jr will premiere their newest series The Wonder Pets on March 3rd with a simulcast on Noggin and Nick Jr. The Wonder Pets is a animated operetta revolving around 3 pets in a preschool classroom. The pets go on adventures to save baby animals in trouble.

What is interesting is that Nick Jr. is leveraging NickJr.com to help with the launch. Starting on February 17th they will be streaming one of the stories from the second episode. In addition to the internet sneak peak, there will also be clips available on Verizon Wireless V Cast starting February 24th. This follows a similar approach that the network took with offering sneak peak vodcasts of Wow Wow Wubbzy.

nick jr., television

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Nick Jr. has started production on a new animated series for preschoolers. Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! will focus on teaching social skills and self awareness in an imaginative world.

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! stars a curious little creature named Wubbzy and his two pals Widget and Walden who live in the mythical city of Wuzzleburg. The offbeat loveable friends live in a world, which is a whimsical and imaginative version of our own. All Wubbzy wants to do is have fun and spend his time chasing flutterflys, eating ice cream and playing hippity-hopscotch! But when he runs into everyday kid problems, he calls on his friends for help and advice. Widget is a mechanical whiz who owns a fix-it shop and is always ready to jump in and lend a hand. Her solution to any problem is to build something big and complicated, but her inventions don’t always work! Walden is a quirky scientist who finds great wisdom in everything from ancient philosophy to tarot card reading. He has a unique way of looking at the world, but his brainy approach doesn’t always produce practical results.

The show won’t air until Fall 2006, but you can follow the production with the Wubblog. Tuesday, January 10th at 2:00pm there will be a sneak peek podcast featuring a music video from the show. The podcast will be available at the Wubblog, and at the Nick Jr. Video website.

television

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On Monday, January 2nd PBS Kids will debut a new show titled It’s a Big Big World. The show takes place in The World Tree where a number of animals native to the rainforest make their homes. The show uses a mix of puppetry, animatronics, and computer animation called Shadowmation. The educational goals include science and geography. My initial impression after seeing the show is Bear in the Big Blue House meets Go Diego Go with a little Bill Nye. The flow of the show, and the characters call to mind “Bear.” But the setting, and emphasis on problem solving resemble Diego with a curriculum that would make The Science Guy proud.

The test audience (my almost 5 year old son, and 2 1/2 year old daughter) and I watched the first episode, “Not Found Here.” The show began with Snook waking up and talking to the viewers. My son was instantly engaged, laughing and answering the questions that Snook posed.

Smooch and Winslow, a pair of marmosets come looking to Snook for help. The primates are looking for a friend they had recently met named Wartz. Unfortunately Smooch and Winslow didn’t remember very much about Wartz, or where they could find him. Snook, being the helpful sloth that he is, agrees to help track down Wartz. Because they have very little information to work with, Snook suggests that they find all the places Wartz isn’t so that eventually they find the one place he is – essentially the scientific method.

Along the way the trio check with the other inhabitants of The World Tree. Here we meet the rest of the characters. First they visit Burdette, who I believe is a macaw and is a little bit bossy. Next they stop and see a slightly neurotic, ant-obsessed anteater named Bob. Other friends along the way include a monkey named Oko who seems to be Mr Miyagi with a little bit of Shaggy thrown in, a fish named Ick, and a wise old turtle named Madge.
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