CBeebies: 18 Years and Counting ANNOUNCED and being FILMED

CBeebies has given us plenty of mysteries to wonder about. What's the Story in Balamory? Why have I never seen the Teletubbies, Yo Gabba Gabba, and In the Night Garden in the same room together? And just who is that guy who has grubby hands and interacts with vegetables? But all signs point to one of the biggest mysteries of all unfolding on CBeebies: 18 years and Counting, the primetime special celebrating the milestone birthday coming to the CBeebies channel on 10 February, and BBC Two on 18 February: who is the new presenter?

CBeebies: 18 Years and Counting is an all-ages primetime event that offers a colourful look back at eighteen years. This special contains appearances from some old presenters and children's characters, and will be hosted by Cerrie Burnell. the special reimagines classic segments and songs as old and new faces get ready for a big party to celebrate the channel's 18th birthday.

But just what else is happening on this special? Will there be funny bloopers and past presenters we all know and love? Perhaps this clue will help:

 Before the party where she reveals the mystery new presenter, Cerrie will take a look back at CBeebies' past generations while laughing at bloopers in this star-studded celebration. Some of her favorite memories include presenting with co-star Alex Winters, reading viewers' birthday cards, and singing songs.

Who will appear in the special?

Some of your favorite presenters will return for the celebration; Sue Monroe, Nicole Davis, Chris Jarvis, Eva Alexander, Justin Fletcher, Emma Fan Lee, Andy Day, Katy Ashworth, and Ryan Russell. Current presenters Pui Fan Lee, Sid Sloane, Cat Sandion, Ben Cajee, Alex Winters, Nisha Anil, and Sam Michaels will also appear.

When can I watch it? BBC, do you know?

Premiering 10 February 2020 on CBeebies and BBC iPlayer.

Case closed! Another mystery solved by Detective Maddie!

BTW, where is Rodd Christensen?

The 10 weirdest classic kids shows of all time

Every generation has a slate of local kids TV shows that seem to transcend the medium, and not always in a good way. Back in the day, 'merica unleashed an avalanche of utterly loopy kids programs onto an unsuspecting public, the effects of which probably still keep a fair amount of psychiatrists busy today.

These are the 10 nuttiest, most brilliantly insane slabs of US TV culture that equally inspired and shocked a generation of kids.

The Electric Company

This PBS series was where TV really wanted kids to go to after they graduated from all those preschool TV shows. This sketch comedy series featured characters played by Rita Moreno, Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby, Joan Rivers, Luis Avalos, Skip Hinnant, Jim Boyd, and Judy Graubart, and aimed to help kids learn punctuation, vowels, and other important grammar skills.

There are many unforgettable moments, including those Spiderman segments, Easy Reader, Vi, Fargo North, J. Arthur Crank, the Short Circus kids, Lorelei the Chicken, and guest stars as varied as Big Bird, Grover and Oscar the Grouch. 

Scooby-Doo

The longest-running children's cartoon series in 1969 was animated by Hanna-Barbera, but looked cheap as chips even with a purported budget of almost $2 million. It's best remembered for its head-ache.

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

Fred Rogers was the original children's television host - calming youngsters with his personality and all. His show mixed crafts and field trips with life lesson parables starring puppets and humans alike.

ZOOM

Based upon the popular BBC kid's show Play School, Zoom is now best remembered for its kid hosts and viewer submissions. The series rain daily from 1972 until 1978 on PBS.

During its peak, Zoom was sold to more countries than the mighty Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

A world without Zoom

In a world without Zoom, there is a glumness, persistent as it follows all of us through every aspect of our lives.

In this world, mail addresses do not provoke a jaunty tune everyone knows. Nor do "like but doesn't like" riddles.

In this world, the secret language "Ubbi Dubbi” has never been uttered, and - ubif yubou wubere tubo subay ubit ubout luboud others nearby might assume you were having a stroke.

In this world, millennials all cite Mr. Roger's as the pinnacle show of our preschool days, which is, like, fine, Mr. Roger's, Sesame Street, The Electric Company, and the Muppet Show were all great shows after all, but still something about it left us wanting.

For the next generation, it would (obviously) be Arthur, with a little bit of Sesame, Wishbone, and Dragon Tales thrown in there too!

In this world, Boomers were not allowed to send in their content to TV.

In this world, the likes of the late Jared Nathan, Kaleigh Cronin, and Bernadette Yao find success elsewhere on television and film, though never feel quite fulfilled in their craft.

In this world, Playschool would continue to run (and rerun and rerun) for years on PBS.

In this world, “Box 350” makes us think of a big box. And "02134"? A street address somewhere in Boston.

In this world, Boston-ers who want to teach children about science have to go on Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman to do so, and man, it really sucks.

In this world, we never keep singing "I Am a City Child", "John Henry", and "How Do You Do?".

In this world, a kids show would never have 2 specials about 9/11.

In this world, we all still love that We Are Family music video but it doesn’t have that song kick halfway through.

In this world, you never wanted to write letters to your favorite shows about what you'd like to see.

In this world, you will never learn how to fly high.

In this world, children face the cold, dark images of themselves on the TV.

In a world without Zoom, everyone born after 1972 and/or 1999 is selfish, cares only of themselves. They do not know how to share, let alone show compassion. Anyone who does not look like you, think like you, love like you is a threat. Diversity is scary. Thinking outside the box, unnecessary.

In this world, no hip, fast-paced Boston child wants to audition for a TV show with his tone.

In a world with Zoom, we are made better. We are shown science, recipes, plays, games and crafts at a young age, and viewer submissions are celebrated. Both renditions of Zoom (70s and the present day) give us the weird and the silly, but also all of the heart and charm. It shows us healthy relationships, and also how a show with a child cast is cool and diverse. Both Zooms gift us understanding of science and humor, secret languages that stay with us for a lifetime, and growing up knowing these child stars, and it never asks for anything in return. In a world with Zoom, we are given all the tools we need to be confident, compassionate humans as soon as we’re able to walk, and it’s still there for us a generation later. It makes the world wonderful, bright, and Zooming.

Where would you be if it weren't for Zoom?

Why I hate Sesame Street and love Yo Gabba Gabba

FUN FACT: The people behind YGG are actually doing Sesame Street segments. (Sharing Song, Making Pizza), so SS is actually getting that show's taste.

My favorite show is Yo Gabba Gabba. And If there was one show I hate it would be Sesame Street. The core values that I live my life by are obtained from what I learned from these two shows. Helping kids grow into kinder human beings; without them I know for a fact that I would be a completely different person today.

'Sesame Street' (1969 - Present)

Although Sesame Workshop is a non-profit organization, they managed to sell millions of copies of VHS and DVD. I hate it, even though I go on Muppet wiki time to time. Produced in over 150 countries, in 2017 Sesame Workshop had been awarded $100 million to bring early education to refugee children. Every project that they take on is inspiring and it's a secret of mine to be on an episode of Sesame Street, preferably in a scene with Burt and we are taking about birds (Yes, I've thought about this many times).

Growing up there was not a lot of depiction of Asian American on television and when your own third grade teacher referred to you as a "chink" there's no surprise that it was hard for me to feel connected or be proud of my own culture. So when the YGG cast watched Cornelius perform or when Big Bird traveled to Japan and China, I finally felt like I existed. Also, it was quite amusing to watch Big Bird mistake everyone in Japan to be from Ohio when they said hello to him. 

'Yo Gabba Gabba' (2007-2015)

It was hard to write this section of the post because everything thing that could be said about Yo Gabba Gabba has already been said. If you haven't read any of them then to sum it up, Yo Gabba Gabba was created by Christian Jacobs of the Aquabats and Scott Schultz, who worked together on skateboarding videos. From DJ Lance Rock and friends, I learned about not biting my friends or not owning up.

TV Kids next bumpers

I'm creating digital kids’ channel

TV Kids, which launched yesterday, will change the way children watch TV forever.

TV Kids offers programming for youngsters aged 1 to 8. It’s animation meets live action. TV Kids’ rad mix of programming includes Yo Gabba Gabba!, Jack’s Big Music Show, Mister Maker, Show Me, Show Me, Blue’s Clues, Leap Frog, The Wiggles, You & Me, and Wow Wow Wubbzy.

ZOOM Audition

On June 24th, Justin, Sarah-Jane, and I went to Boston to audition for the hipster kids show ZOOM.




It was a long journey from Boston so there was enough time for food and sleep. Days before the shoot Justin had an accident in Staffordshire that left him with a broken nose! Regardless, knowing how excited we were to work with him, he still pushed to move forward with the shoot, even with the swelling and bruising. At the end of the day, we were able to reschedule for the next time they were in town, but we didn’t forget how dedicated Justin was to following through.

This is WGBH Studios, where we auditioned. There were lots of kids there, and some were even already ZOOMers.

We were so nervous that when all 3 of us auditioned it wasn't so bad after all!





Hope we get on!