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Thursday, October 08, 2015

The Lookback : Children's TV blocks : PBS Kids GO!

 PBS  The Flashback 


     This is our first ( first, means there is more coming?) delve into PBS as a lookback  , but they do children's programming, they are more  well,  the opposite. (Viewers like you)
    PBS's children's shows are either known for educational or preschoolers.  PBS deiced to make a new block (mostly aired in afternoon, but depended on your market as most PBS stuff does) it's target audience were children who were probably outgrown the needs of "Sesame Street"  and watching shows like "Arthur" , "Zoom" (the revived one from 1999 ) , and "CyberChase".   This bring us to PBS Kids GO! (shout the Go , or you are doing it wrong)  which was introduced in 2004   it was going to also be a new channel (a digital over the air channel) . Which sounds great.
 
     It's look was  the PBS  Kids logo but no face of a child thing .
                
        PBS Kids go! incorporated  two long running  PBS series :  Arthur (  1996-present)  and  Cyberchase  (which began in 2002 ) , and depending on your market  , Zoom (which began in 1999 and ended in 2005). They also introduced two new series to  PBS' fall line up, First , a spin-off of Arthur featuring Buster, the bunny.  Which featured , the character  in a series where  was video taping  different kids in his travels around the  United States with his Father. It was based off an episode of Arthur of the same name where Buster's Father takes him and Arthur's Family to New York . It was a mixture of live action and animation. (not live animation that would hurt the drawer's wrist)  
               
                    
                Meanwhile ... how many times can someone say Buster?

While another series was Maya and Miguel  , which  focused on twin brother and Sister 10 year olds and the things they get into.   Since this is PBS Kids and not some other thing ,  it had a focus on multiculturalism and  language learning.  Maya usually tries to help a family member or a friend but  her plans, which sometimes includes her friends  go wrong, It ran 65 episodes from 2004-2007 (some PBS stations repeat the show as of now )
    These were the first "core 4 "  series of PBS Kids GO!
  In 2006   they added a new series called "Fetch With Ruff Ruffman" which like Postcards from  Buster it was half animation  , half live-action.  A Game show where kids competed on challenges and the host was a cartoon dog named Ruff.    This series ran from 2006 to 2010.    With the challenges the contestants had the viewers at home were able to learn along with  the contestants.
  Also, in 2006  as a short at the end of  "Maya and Miguel" a  series called "Word Girl" started  airing  and it became it's own 30 minute show in 2007. (Still running today)   This series is about  a girl named Word Girl who has come to our world  and acts as a superhero  who also has a large knowledge of vocabulary. (Remember this is PBS)  She was adopted by an Earth couple , called the Boxfords and she is known as Becky Boxford  , because all great superheros have secret identities.
       The series  , features a word  each episode  that is repeated at times when need during  the 11 minute period. (Most episodes were two 11 minute segments)   Which makes it fit in that educational thing it has.

Now a word from some guy ... we don't have commercials thanks to you.

             I would say that the PBS Kids go  shows were targeted to older kids , and they were educational ,yet still somewhat not irritating with it.
  In 2008, they added another show about a talking dog  called  "Martha Speaks" it is based off a book by Susan Meddaugh.  Martha is a dog  who can talk  she got the ability by eating a bowl of alphabet soup   and it went to her brain instead of the other way.  (Ummmm don't try that at home , we think) Anyway the other characters (though not all of them) include a 10 year old girl named Helen, she is Martha's owner and also voice of reason in her group of friends.

         
                Most dogs  go Ruff Ruff Ruff


Now a reboot, remake, re-do?  The Electric Company was a PBS show from the 70's  , in 2009  PBS remade it for PBS Kids Go. It was also created by Sesame Workshop (they also make the famous show about a street , but they don't make the seeds). It was  a show with clips , animations, sketches , and Music videos and with a connected storyline.  The main characters were teenage literacy heroes (whatever that means)  who battle  vandals . Of course it was a show that was meaning to teach kids about language usage and  words.   It ran from 2009 to 2011,

    Design Squad  (sounds like a show on HGTV) , was  a show  that had middle  and high school children   compete in designing  whimsical machine to  win $10,000 scholarship.
      Another series was Biz Kids ( or Biz Kid$)  it taught financial understating to pre-teens. There was sketch comedy used to teach the audience  to explain economic concepts.
  Sci Girls  was an educational show  about Girls being in the STEM (Science , Technology , engineering   and  Math).  Each episode started with cartoon characters named Izzie and Jake  , as Izzie has some problem she needs solved  , she has a handy database of real life "SciGirls". The  Viewer sees a girl or group of girls are solving in either of the STEM branches, this returns us back to Izzie as she uses what she (and we ) saw for her own solution.
                                           

  Now  the final series we are talking about is Wild Kratts. It features brothers Chris and Martian Kratt  and they save an animal from a situation it is caught in.  Or the show the viewers that some pre conceived notion  of animals is not  what they seem to be. 's a live action and  animated show  interweave between each other.  

 That was the last new series under the PBS kids Go! Branding as  in 2013, after 8 years the brand was retired and programs were put under the PBS Kids banner,  That PBS Kids Go ! wasn't as a recognized brand as PBS though it would have been  as much as PBS kids is. But they felt that their mission to get kids older than base preschoolers had worked.  PBS kids now is  meld of both programs for preschoolers and school aged kids , that it might not been as well established with if not for PBS Kids Go!

  That's our look back ... stay tuned next time when  we make a show about   the PBS head  getting married to the CBS eye. (what?)

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