TVOKids
Encyclopedia
Children's television series
Children's television series, are commercial television programs designed for, and marketed to children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run in the early evening, for the children that go to school...
programming block
Block programming
Block programming or television block is a strategy of broadcast programming and radio programmers. Block programming occurs when the television network schedules similar television programs back-to-back. The concept is to provide similar programming to keep the viewers. Radio stations use it...
, seen daily on TVOntario
TVOntario
TVOntario, often referred to only as TVO , is a publicly funded, educational English-language television station and media organization in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario Educational Communications Authority, a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario...
(TVO), Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
's provincial educational television network. The show has its own website which holds many educational child-friendly games.
History
Since its inception in 1994, TVOKids has had numerous hosts. In chronological order, they are:Patty Sullivan
Patty Sullivan
Patty Sullivan is one of the hosts at Kids' CBC. Previously, she worked at the W Network and TVOKids. She attended Nelson High School in Burlington, Ontario.-External links:*...
, Kevin Brauch
Kevin Brauch
Kevin Jeffery Brauch , "celebrity bartender," is host of the show The Thirsty Traveler on the Fine Living Network , MegaWorld on Discovery Channel Canada, and Superstar Chef Challenge on Food Network Canada...
, Joseph Motiki
Joseph Motiki
Joseph "Joe" Frederick Motiki is a Canadian television host and performer.Motiki was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario and graduated in 1995 from the Radio & Television Arts program at Ryerson University. While an undergraduate at Ryerson, Motiki beat out 350 hopefuls to become the host of What,...
(Joe), Rekha Shah, Gisele Corinthios, Phil McCordic
Phil McCordic
Phil McCordic grew up in Toronto's North York, and attended the University of Windsor, where he completed an Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts degree majoring in acting...
(voice of Tumbleweed the Hamster), Julie Zwillich (aka Julie 1), Julie Patterson (aka Julie 2), Nicole Stamp
Nicole Stamp
Nicole Stamp is a Canadian actor, director, television host, and television producer....
(host of Ontario Championships of Reach For The Top
Reach for the Top
Reach for the Top is a Canadian game show in which teams of high school students participate in local, provincial and eventually national trivia tournaments...
), Milton Barnes, Mark Sykes, Jackie English, Ryan Field, Kara Harun, Drew Dafoe, and Dalmar Abuzeid
Dalmar Abuzeid
Dalmar Abuzeid is a Canadian actor. He plays the character Danny Van Zandt on the Canadian series Degrassi: The Next Generation. He also plays a main role on the Teletoon series Majority Rules!...
. The three current hosts are: Dalmar Abuzeid, Kara Harun and Drew Dafoe.
The Space
The Space (formerly known as '"The Crawlspace"') is the name of the after-school programing block. The space airs non-stop episodes of shows with a host block in between each episode, varying in length. The Crawlspace launched on April 1, 1994, and was originally hosted by Patty SullivanPatty Sullivan
Patty Sullivan is one of the hosts at Kids' CBC. Previously, she worked at the W Network and TVOKids. She attended Nelson High School in Burlington, Ontario.-External links:*...
and Kevin Brauch
Kevin Brauch
Kevin Jeffery Brauch , "celebrity bartender," is host of the show The Thirsty Traveler on the Fine Living Network , MegaWorld on Discovery Channel Canada, and Superstar Chef Challenge on Food Network Canada...
. Since younger children are home earlier from school, the programming schedule includes 'younger' shows in the earlier time slots, and more 'mature' shows in the later slots. The Space currently airs Monday to Friday, 3:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET and on Saturday and Sunday, 6:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. ET. The Space is currently hosted by Kara, Drew, and Dalmar
Dalmar Abuzeid
Dalmar Abuzeid is a Canadian actor. He plays the character Danny Van Zandt on the Canadian series Degrassi: The Next Generation. He also plays a main role on the Teletoon series Majority Rules!...
.
Gisèle's Big Backyard
TVOKids' Preschool Block, Gisele's Big Backyard (formerly known as "The Nook"), is hosted solely by Gisele, where she is often joined by her puppet friends, Sticks the Squirrel (Jason Hopley), Jay the Blue Jay (Ali Eisner), Melvin the Skunk (Marty Stelnick), This (Ryan), That and Polkaroo. Gisèle's Big Backyard airs Monday to Friday, 6:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m ET. Gisèele's Big Backyard is a programming part time for preschoolers and kindergarteners under the age of 7.A former character, "Hatatoppisite" existed in "The Nook", until "Gisele's Big Backyard" debuted.
Programming
Some of the programs on TVOKids are produced in-house by TVOntario, and are based on Ontario's educational curriculum. Each program is generally short—about 3–4 minutes per episode.- Super Citizens - A comedic live action show about a group of superheros that promote good citizenship. The Super Citizens are: EnviroGirl (Nicole StampNicole StampNicole Stamp is a Canadian actor, director, television host, and television producer....
), Professor Atlas (Milton Barnes), Atomic Guy (Mark Sykes), FlyGirl (Julie Patterson), NiftyGirl (Jackie English), and the Blue Brain (Ryan Field). - EnviroGirl - A series promoting energy conservation, starring idealistic superhero EnviroGirl (played by Nicole Stamp)
- The Royals - A queen of hearts and her jester explore good manners and games.
- The Bod Squad / BOD TV - Spoofs of popular television shows and movies, and starring the TVOKids hosts, these short episodes humorously promote healthy eating. One of the most popular episodes is a parody of The Wizard of OzThe Wonderful Wizard of OzThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of...
entitled "The Wizard of Moz", which is in the permanent collection of The Paley Center for Media in New York City and Los Angeles. - The Bodies - A series promoting healthy eating using characters who live inside a computer program.
- The Reading Rangers - A Western-style series of short episodes, promoting literacy.
- Artbot - Meet adult artists who explain visual arts concepts such as line, colour, and composition. The robot Artbot is played by Jackie English.
- Tumbletown Tales - Popular series performed entirely by small live rodents (using the TVOKids hosts as voice talent). The star of the series is Tumbleweed the Hamster (voiced by Phil McCordicPhil McCordicPhil McCordic grew up in Toronto's North York, and attended the University of Windsor, where he completed an Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts degree majoring in acting...
); the learning objective is real-world application of mathematical concepts. - Tumbletown Reads - Tumbleweed returns working for a newspaper while teacking children writing skills.
- Time Trackers - Gemini Award-winning series converging the broadcast and web aspects of TVOKids to teach Canadian history in a humorous and interactive way.
- Space Trek - Explore the solar system and beyond with host Captain Kent (Mark Sykes)
- Dino Dig - Paleontologist character Alberta Rex (Jackie English) hosts this informational show on dinosaurs.
- Critter Corner - Host Jackie English explores the animal kingdom.
- Mark's Moments - Host Mark Sykes interviews kids with disabilities to learn about their lives.
Tumbleweed
For many years, The Crawlspace had a hamster named Tumbleweed, who served as their ongoing mascot. Tumbleweed took a real hamster's form on the host set until 2003, when he 'left to explore the world' with Phil McCordicPhil McCordic
Phil McCordic grew up in Toronto's North York, and attended the University of Windsor, where he completed an Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts degree majoring in acting...
. He thereafter took a cartoon form. Tumbleweed can now be seen in his own Series: Tumbletown Tales and Tumbletown Reads.