KIDS FIRST! News

American Public Television (APT) will begin offering 60 episodes of the new children’s musical series “Raggs” on February 4, 2008.”‘Raggs’ is one of the most ambitious launches of a new children’s series in the history of APT,” says Cynthia Fenneman, President and CEO of American Public Television. “It’s rare to find an independent children’s TV series that has created so much content and at such a high level of quality. We are delighted to make “Raggs” available to the more than 350 independent public broadcast stations in the U.S.”The series stars five colorful canines – Raggs, Trilby, Pido, B. Max and Razzles – who play in a rock ‘n’ roll band and live together in a clubhouse with their wisecracking pet cat, Dumpster. The innovative format features live costumed characters, animated segments, interviews with children and music videos. Dr. Sholly Fisch, former VP of Program Research at Sesame Workshop, directs “Raggs” educational content which reinforces preschool academic and pro-social themes.Captivating music lies at the core of “Raggs,” with more than 200 original rockin’ songs that educate as well as entertain children and parents. The Raggs concept evolved from the success of The Raggs Band, which has played over 3,000 live concerts on four continents since 2001.For more information, check out the Raggs’ website

Monday, January 14, 2008 at 7p., Nickelodeon is set to premiere The Backyardigans in a new primetime TV movie titled, “Tale of the Mighty Knights” (60 min).In “Tale of the Mighty Knights,” royal knights Uniqua and Tyrone are ready to do mighty deeds in service to their King (Pablo). It seems like a pretty simple task until the King asks them to babysit an egg, which grows legs and runs away! A rock opera soundtrack moves the action along as the knights pursue their egg in Goblin Land and encounter a grabbing goblin (Austin), through Fairyland where they meet a tiny and mischievous fairy (Tasha), and finally to Dragon Mountain where they face a mighty baby dragon (Adam Pascal). Will the knights conquer their greatest challenge yet?The premiere of the TV movie will be followed by a new Backyardigans CD release from Nickelodeon/Sony BMG, titled “Born to Play,” on January 22.The third CD from the hit series features 22 new tracks, including six songs from “Tale of the Mighty Knights.” Joining the backyard gang in the studio are celebrity guest artists Alicia Keys, Cyndi Lauper and Adam Pascal. Alicia Keys lends her unique R&B vocals on “Almost Everything is Boinga.” Cyndi Lauper reminds us to think pink on the jazz-tinged “Lady in Pink,” and Adam Pascal powers the Zepellinesque rock-opera ballad “Not an Egg.”Also, “The Backyardigans Live! Tale of the Mighty Knights,” a 50-city live tour, in partnership with Live Nation, kicks off on March 28.

Vuze, the online entertainment platform, has inked a content deal with PBS to provide selected PBS programming on a download-to-own basis. Vuze is now offering PBS programs including PBS Kids programs such as “Caillou” and “Teletubbies,” as well as “History Detectives,” “NOVA,” and “Scientific American Frontiers,” as well as programming from selected local PBS stations. This deal comes just as PBS enters into a similar deal with BitTorrent.

In celebration of the Wright Brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Discovery Kids presents a special encore episode of its “Wilbur” preschool series that will help even the youngest viewers appreciate this important anniversary and the miracle of modern flight, while reinforcing positive messages about optimism, persistence and resilience. Wibur’s “The Wright Stuff/The Broken Toy” episode makes an encore presentation on the Discovery Kids Channel on Thursday, December 17 at 11 AM (ET) as part of the network’s award-winning, commercial-free READY SET LEARN! block of preschool programming. WILBUR also airs at 7:30 AM (ET/PT) on TLC.

The special episode features two flight-related stories about Wilbur the calf and his barnyard friends: Dasha, an inquisitive duck; Ray, a flashy and opinionated rooster; and Libby, a sweet two-year-old lamb. In “The Wright Stuff” Wilbur wants to know what it feels like to fly. Dasha tries to teach him but nothing works. A storybook about the Wright Brothers inspires Wilbur to keep trying. In “The Broken Toy” Ray has built a beautiful model airplane which Dasha accidentally breaks. Wilbur helps Dasha overcome her fear that Ray will be mad and reads her a book that demonstrates why it is always best to tell the truth and say you’re sorry.

“Wilbur” was conceived by Jill Luedtke, Kim Anton and Tracey Hornbuckle, three moms from San Diego, who saw a need to enhance early literacy skills among young children. The moms were inspired by a visit to a Utah farm where they met an adorable little calf named “Wilbur.” They wanted to help lay a foundation for reading and felt that a barnyard with charming animal characters was the perfect setting.

In each episode, Wilbur and his barnyard buddies find themselves in a new situation or dilemma. Wilbur knows that books are full of ideas and that they can help his friends solve the problem. Wilbur then takes kids through the process of reading an actual storybook and shows that books are read from top to bottom, left to right and turn the page to continue the story.

“Wilbur” is a production of Mercury Filmworks, in association with Chilco Productions, EKA Distribution, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Discovery Kids. For Discovery Kids, Erin Wanner and Amy Sprecher, who brought “Wilbur” into the network, are executive producers.

READY SET LEARN! is an award-winning, commercial-free programming block with a curriculum that acknowledges preschoolers’ innate curiosity and is designed to foster optimism and resilience in their expanding exploration of the world. It airs on both the Discovery Kids Channel and TLC. Discovery Kids Channel lets kids of all ages (from preschoolers to tweens and teens) explore their world from their point of view. This 24-hour digital cable channel provides entertaining, engaging, and high-quality real-world programming that kids enjoy and parents trust. Every day, kids can learn about science, adventure, exploration and natural history through documentaries, reality shows, scripted dramas and animated stories. Garnering multiple Emmys as well as awards for quality children’s television, Discovery Kids is committed to satisfying kids’ natural curiosity about… well… everything.

CYBERCHASE^sm gets into the holiday spirit of giving on PBS KIDS GO!^sm with a heartwarming all-new episode, “When Penguins Fly,” premiering today, Wednesday, December 12, with repeats on Friday, December 21 and Wednesday, December 25 (check local listings).Penguins can’t fly – or can they? In Cyberspace, on one special night each year, the penguins of Penguia take flight to deliver gifts to young borgs across the virtual universe. For the first time ever, the CyberSquad’s friend Fluff is participating, and invites his pals Matt, Jackie, Inez and Digit to join him in the impressive Penguin March. They head to the Ice Palace, where the gifts are made and where magic snowflakes are sprinkled on the penguins so they can fly. But Hacker, up to his usual ruinous tricks, doesn’t want a happy holiday (let alone happy little borgs) so he creates a giant ditch in front of the Ice Palace and traps all the penguins in its icy depths! The CyberSquad must get the penguins ice-shoes so they can climb out before midnight, but how many do they need? With too many to count, the answer lies in the kids’ ability to sample the penguin population to make a close estimate. Can the CyberSquad save the penguins and their favorite holiday too??