FEEDBACK & E-MAILS from FANS

Here are some e-mails I have been sent regarding this site and other TVOntario shows. These people share many of the same fond memories I have. Some recall shows I didn't watch. Some need help trying to remember show titles. Others offer more links. Have a read and feel free to send me an e-mail

January 6/06 From Esther

I'm a new teacher in Toronto and I was thrilled to come across your site. I was looking for videos to help teach art concepts in the classroom, and found a number of Artscape episodes in the resource centre of my school board. I remember the series from my childhood. Funny thing is, I didn't grow up in Ontario; I lived in Vancouver until I moved to Hong Kong when I was seven. I can't really recall where I saw Artscape when I was young, but my boyfriend remembers a lot of the shows you mention on your site. I myself also remember Bits and Bytes, Eureka (I wish I had the full collection!), Fables of the Green Forest, and Barbapapa.

Anyhow, getting back to Artscape, from the tapes I was able to borrow from the resource centre, there were 8 different episodes each about 15 mins long. The titles or themes of the show were:
Episode 1: Line
Episode 2: Shape
Episode 3: Form
Episode 4: Pattern
Episode 5: Texture
Episode 6: Colour
Episode 7: Perspective
Episode 8: A summary of the different themes

The series was based on the adventures of two kids, Tracy and Craig, who are on a school field trip to an art gallery when they get pulled into a fantastical world called Artscape. They become trapped in the world of Artscape and through their attempts to return to the gallery, they meet a number of interesting characters who teach them about the different elements of art through hands on investigation, song and dance, and some great examples from nature, our daily environment, and the works of famous artists.

If you would like more information on the series, please let me know and I will tell you what I can. I do share in your sentiment that the tv programming of today seems to be failing our kids in the lack of knowledge it presents to them. What may be an even greater tragedy, however, is the fact that the few remaining copies of the quality programming you have featured on your website are quite old and falling apart. I only wish that we could make copies of them on dvd before we lose them altogether.

Thank you from both my boyfriend and myself for the trip down memory lane. And all the best in your quest for copies of the various shows we all treasure!

(Thanks for the info - if I expand the site to include Artscape, I will have lots of material to go on now!)

Jan 7/06 from Shawne

Wow, this site brings back some great memories. I used to watch a show that was in French when I was like 4, 5, 6 or something. I loved it. I have been searching everywhere for it. THE PROBLEM IS I CANNOT REMEMBER THE NAME OF IT. All I can really remember is that I was mesmerized by it. It was not animated it was live action. There were these big giant flowers whose petals opened up slowly to reveal different characters. Today's Teletubbies kind of remind me of it. Can anyone help me with the title or information on it?

(hope someone can help)

Jan 8/06 from Sarah

I am so happy to have discovered your site. My friend, Owen, and I are always reminiscing about the glory days of TVO. I was reading your
content about "Read All About It" only to discover that an older gent I volunteer with at Jessie's Centre For Teenagers (in Toronto) is the
writer, Clive Endersby. What a small world! Thanks for the great site.

(Excellent stuff)

Jan 9/06 from Ryan:

Do you know a kids show that had people playing a wolfman a witch and some other frankenstein guy, there was a dj and they danced to psychadelic music and did air band stuff, i know there was a witch, i can't remember much else, i think it was canadian and was on ytv in the late 80's, maybe as repeats.

(Hilarious House of Frightenstein - starring Billy Van, now showing in repeats on Drive-In Classics)

Jan 10/06 from David:

I recently came across your site dedicated to TVO and wanted to say thank you for providing the fond memories.

Growing up in Northern Ontario in the 70's and 80's, TVO was pretty much a staple for me, as we only had three or four television channels before cable TV, in
the early 80's.

I'm in the IT field now, living in Saskatoon, and I attribute my interest in computers to the TVO program, "Bits and Bytes". It's what spawned my interest in
computers and I've never looked back.

(It's great looking back at that program now and seeing how much computers have advanced)

Jan 12/06 from Samnatha

Ok, here's my questoin. When I was really young, I remember a show coming on early in the morning called"Bookmice"
I have a couple of Episodes recorded somewhere, but I was wondering where I could get others. I really loved that show!!! I especially liked the Wiz of
Wonder, who was powerful, but so kind. I want to find the Episode where the Mice met him and if you can't find it, can you give me a brif synopsis of
it?

(Can anyone help?)

Jan 12/06 from Judy:

Your site with all the TVO shows is amazing. I can't believe you actually have copies of so many of the shows - Read All About It, Readalong, Jeremy, Barbapapas!! Also, I have a very vague memory of a show that I didn't see on there and I'm wondering if you might remember it too. All I can recall is that it took place in a toy store (it wasn't animated - there were real actors) and there was an old man who worked there and also a little boy. In the episode I remember, there was a tricycle that was moving across the floor all by itself. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be scary, but I certainly found it to be! I think that's why it stuck with me all these years!

(Two Plus You, I think you are thinking of)

Jan 13/06 from Alex:

me(alex) and my freind (anna) have spent many hours endlessley reminising about old tvo programs and have subsequently done loads of reasearch trying
to jog our memories...

when we found your site it was like an godsent blast from the past!

(Thanks!)

Jan 24/06 from Steven:

I am writing you to find out if you could tell me how I can get the complete collection of PBS's INSIDE/OUT on DVD.
I can remember watching it in school back in the 70's. It is sad enough that life seem to slip away and those who we never thought
would leave us are no longer around........enough babbling on like a victim of mid-life crisis, I just want to capture a little youthful
magic. I know, this sounds a little like a twilight zone episode(kick the can).

(That was in the Twilight Zone movie too)

Jan 25/06 from Aliisa

My name is Aliisa and I just thought I would mention that Willo the Wisp will be available on DVD March 7, 2006!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CSUNQG/qid=1137182292/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/103-6486224-7619824?s=dvd&v=glance&n=130

GREAT Website by the way

Jan 26/06 from Travis:

I was wondering if you ever got an answer to this show. I cant seem to find anything about it online. Thanks man.

May 26/04 from M:

Well, I was getting wistful tonight so I started tooling around old
Nickelodeon sites and lo and behold, I came across your site looking for
something on Read
All About It (which I remember watching in 5th grade and that alien guy was
really creepy). Anyway, I want to thank you for a great site and ask if you
remember a show about a kid with magic gloves (probably welding gloves with
silver glitter) who rode a stationary bicycle (I think he put goggles on
too)
into some kind of fantasy land where there were these bad guys always trying
to get his gloves or cause mischief or something. I remember the kid was
kind of
fat and not the typical kids show protagonist. Just curious as to whether
you have any ideas. Might not have been TVO or Canadian at all. Thanks.

(Anyone have an idea?)

I figured it out. The show was called Storylords. Tell everyone on your site.

(Always great to get answers - thanks!)

Jan 28/06 from George:

I recently stumbled across your website while looking for the TV show "Bits and Bytes". I have
such good memories watching that show when it originally aired! I recall that right after Bits and Bytes on TVOntario was another computer
show, which was hosted by Jim Butterfield. He was a Commodore guru at the time. Do you happen to know what that show was called? I can't
remember at all.

(Computer Alliance?)

Jan 30/06 from Julia:

Sadly I'm a child of the 90's (I'm 15)although I know alot about shows of the 70's and 80's like Belle and sebastian,Teddy Ruxpin,Snorks,Seabert, etc.
I, ve been working my ass off trying to find good Barbabeau pictures. He's my favorite Barbapapa and I,ve been heard that you had a picture of him with
his fur shaved off and crying? Can I see that?

(Link sent)

Jan 30/06 from Michael:

I haven't thought about "Read All About It" in years, then yesterday I thought that I would look it up on the Internet to see if anyone else watched the show too. I'm so glad I found your site! I watched this show every summer on Georgia Public Television from about 2nd grade and 4th grade. I so want to see this show again and have an opportunity to share it with people who have never seen it and maybe share it with my children some day. This show was very instrumental in giving my a life long love of literature and history! I'm now about to get my Bachelors Degree in Music and history from College. THANKS "READ ALL ABOUT IT!"

(It was a great series)

Jan 31/06 from Matt

I am hoping that you or one of your knowledgable readers can help me find the name of a program I have been trying to track down information about for
years. I think one day I will truly go insane until i discover this show's title and information about it. My friend Monica is the only person on the
face of the planet who VAGUELY remembers it and she thinks it was called Fantastique.
I think it was either on TVO or CJOH or CTV Kids in the late 70s early 80s. I would watch a half an hour of children's programming that included what I
believe to be Rankin/Bass version of The Adventures of Pinnochio, The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, the animated history lesson taught by Max the 2000
year old Mouse ("I know because I was there, I'm Max, I'm 2000 year old." and THEN... the show would end with this scary, bizarre marionette show with
some creepy synthesizer music and no dialogue. The opening credits had what appeared to be colorful streamers whizzing
across the screen to the aforementioned creeeepy synth score. Each episode featured a different story told by marionettes. The only segment I remember
was one of a chef trying to chase a giant sized lobster around the kitchen to put him in the pot of boiling water. In the end- the lobster ends up
cooking the chef instead. Although I don't remember any of the other stores, I do remember that NONE of them ever ended happily and in fact, they
all were pretty disturbing to the point that I couldn't watch them because they were so scary.
Please tell me someone out there can help me!

(Calling all people - hope someone can help)

Feb 1/06 from Katharine:

Me and my friend were just discussing a show we used to watch when we were younger that was played on TVO. Its from the 90s. We cant remember much except we know it was a cartoon and had a spider in it and two young children...likely a boy and a girl...and we think they were British. I stumbled on your site looking for clues on the internet. Any idea what this show might have been? Its a very vague description but neither of us can figure it out. Thanks very much.

(Another call for help!)

Feb 3/06 from Maggie:

Just came upon your website and loved seeing the "All About You" logo. Your pictures of the program brought back lots of memories. I actually loved the program and learned a lot. I had a lot of interest in the human body as a kid and ended up working in a allied health field. Anyhow, I am wondering if you know if this program has a DVD or video of some or all of it's episodes. My son is also very into the human body and I thought he would love this program. I've been searching online but haven't had any luck finding on "All About You".

(I don't believe it is commercially available)

Feb 5/06 from Kimberely:

I am so happy to have found other people who are as interested in the old children’s shows as I am.

Your site and the one I found on angelfire have been most helpful at jogging my memory.

Now, I was reading your feedback page, and came across some info about Ron Oliver, a name I had nearly forgotten about. I am 100% certain that he did a show in the very early 80s called ‘The Silver Basketball’

It aired locally in the Peterborough Kawartha region, not too far from Toronto. In fact, I remember some of my classmates actually being ON that show.

I can just barely recall the details of the show ….

It would start out at an outdoor basketball net, with Ron shooting hoops alone, then a small group of about 5 kids (aged 4-6 approx) would run to him and he would greet them and blab la blabla…

The children would ask what was going to happen, and then he would leave the basketball (usually) on the court and take them to a hut of some sort, where they would (I think) do a craft or something.

Then he would take them to this woman who always sat at a ferris wheel (the children never rode the ferris wheel that I saw) and she would either read or sing to them. Then ( I believe) Ron would take the children back to the basketball court where he would say good bye to them and he would continue shooting hoops.

Now, I am trying to recall this from the mind of a 5 year old that hasn’t seen the light of day for 25 years. And since I had only caught about 4 or 5 episodes of these show, all watched on a small black and white TV in my playroom back in 1980 … I think I did ok. J

I am not sure how they recruited the children, but I can actually try to contact my old classmates since they SHOULD remember something from it.

Sadly, I never really knew if the basketball was silver or not, since my TV was black and white and nearly everything looked silver. But the original show was taped in colour.

I can bet there are literally NO grown kids who can remember that show. If there are, we are a dying breed.

I think I will contact the local television station in Peterborough to find out more. This was not a TVO show.

Although, I would like to add there are many non-TVO shows that were very educational and memorable, like The Friendly Giant with Bob Homme and Mr. Dressup (with Casey and Finnegan).

Anyhoo, I have you bookmarked and I will come back with more info as I ‘kom på den’ (Swedish for find out)

(Thanks for the thorough info on Ron - I will add this to the site!)

Feb 8/06 from Ron:

thats a great TV archive site you have. Very special interest. My sister is looking for anyone selling any of the Romper Room series kids shows on YTV in the early
90's.

(Not sure on this one, a little after my time)

Feb 8/06 from Gary:

thank you for making this website tribute to TVO Shows. You are definitely a patriot of special shows that deserve attention. I want to say that I'm very
sorry that Canadian executives of TV programming have dismissed the innovative flavor of children's programming that makes TVO known back then. However,
you're not the only one whose TVO programming has been compromised in Canada, but PBS American shows have been compromised too here.

But anyway, thank you for not loosing hope and thank you for taking your time and your hardwork of saving these lost children's shows to the internet for people
like me to remember and enjoy.

Sir, I was wondering I could have a moment of your time to ask a few 'fan' questions concerning a particular TVO show which is 'READ ALL ABOUT IT!' My
questions has to do with the casts of the show.

Okay, I read in your website as to what became of David Craig Collard (Chris) who is now a successful screenwriter and story editor for American TV and
films such as 'Family Guy'

Sean Hewitt (Duneedon) moved on to guest starring roles on feature film, tv, and probabaly Broadway.

Unfortunately, your info didn't specify the rest of the cast which brings me to my 'Then and Now'

Questions.

1) What happened to Stacy Arnold (Samantha)? I mean is she out of TV business or is she still alive, or is she teaching somewhere?

2) What ever became of Michael Dwyer(Alex)? The second person that I'm highly curious about right next to Stacey Arnold

3) Most importantly, what ever became of Jorja Fox(Lynne)? You said that you've contacted her once. That tells me you might have some information about
here status. I was told that she's been out the acting business and moved on to be a successful journalist for Canadian newspapers. Can you confirm that?

Friend, It my hope that you'll be able to provide the answers to my questions about these people. You're the only one who lives in Canada. I'm looking forward
to you responding me. Thank you so much for your time and hard work.

Thanks for the info, much of what I have been able to find out has been through Google searches.

Feb 13/06 from Scott:

Hey this site of yours rocks. I'm 27 and I remember most of those shows when I was little. Your site came up when I did a search of Fables of the Green
Forest. Wow I remember it like it was yesterday. Too bad there wasn't recordings of some of the theme songs. I really loved Read-a-Long and
Harriet's Magic Hat. Thanks for taking the time to put this sit together. It was fun to look at. Good research too! WOW!

Thank you.

Feb 16/06 from Robert:

not expecting to find anything, I did a google search on "Louise McNamara"(I was hoping to find something on "all about you"), and your site was one of the very few listed as a result. so I checked it out and I was thrilled to see info on all those '70's shows I had seen in my youth. and then I noticed among your list of programs that you own, that you have 3 episodes of "all about you". I have been wanting to see this show for so long! I haven't seen it since it originally aired. even 3 would be great to see again(although of course, I would love to see them all. but 3 is better than none).
I would also like to see the one show you have of "the write channel"(RB BUGG!).

Not many people do a seach on Louise, glad you stumbled across the site

Feb 18/06 from Ian:

<<I am hoping that you or one of your knowledgable readers can help me find
the name of a program I have been trying to track down information about
for
years. I think one day I will truly go insane until i discover this show's
title and information about it. My friend Monica is the only person on the
face of the planet who VAGUELY remembers it and she thinks it was called
Fantastique.>>

Hi, I grew up in Ottawa in the 70s/80s, and I think I remember this show.
It wasn't called 'Fantastique',
it was called, 'Fantasia', I believe. And I remember it correctly, it was
pretty creepy. I never understood
most of what I was watching.

March 14/03 from Gabor:
wow, does that ever bring back a lot of great memories. I was wondering if
you or anyone else remembers a show that I'm pretty sure was on TVO back in
the late 70's. It was a cartoon and it was basically about the history of
the world. It followed the adventures of the same group of characters
through time from cave men to rocket ships. Each show was introduced by an
animated clock or something like that. From what I remember the animation
style was either Japanese or French

I can definitely help you with this one. The show originated from France,
where it was called 'Il etais une fois ... 'homme". In english,
it was titled 'Once upon a time...man." It's actually what I was looking
for when I first came across your site, and I was a little
surprised to find that you didn't have it listed at all on TVO.

It was produced by Procidis Production, which can be reached via this
website http://www.procidis.com/.

(Great info!)

Feb 25/06 from Jason:

Hi! I just stumbled upon your very cool TVO website. I had palabra jot stuck in my head and decided to do a little searching! I grew up in Maine and remember many of these shows thru school and public television. I guess i shouldn't be surpirsed as we are so close to Canada! It's great to see that other people remember as well =)

(Enjoy!)

Feb 26/06 from Melanie:

I can’t believe there is someone out there who remembers the show “All About You!” I am almost 36 years old, and I lived in Washington state from birth to age 7 and I used to watch that show all the time. I remember having to watch it in my first grade classroom and then having to draw a picture of the stomach afterwards (that particular episode talked about how the stomach digests food, etc).

When I was a toddler and a preschooler I remember watching another show, I think it was on PBS, called “The Music Place.” They would sing songs and talk about rests and beats and things like that…”Tee tee tah, tee tee tah.” It drove my grandmother crazy. Do you remember that show? As a very small child I lived about 40 miles south of the Canadian border and I watched a good deal of Canadian children’s television shows, among them being “The Friendly Giant” and “Mr. Dress Up.” Was “The Music Place” a Canadian show perhaps?

(Can anyone help with the Music show? I never was one big into learning music, so hopefully someone else can help!)

March 1 from Samantha:

Have you ever heard of the show Harrigan...it was in the 70's and late 80's. It was based in Kingston Ontario ...I believe. I went to school there and we sang on the show.

(I only remember the theme song)

March 2/06 from Collin:

Hi This is an awesome site you have. I was wondering do you remember a TV Ontario show called Strawberry Square? The host was a huge black man that
wore red suspenders. I remember on the Read All About It page (GREATEST KIDS SHOW EVER!) that Lydia Zajc emailed you about Otto & Theta breaking down
while filming. I was wondering if you could share anything else Lydia said about the show,herself and the cast. And is it true that Lydia is a
Freelance Writer?

(Most of what I know is from simple google searches and time)

March 2/06 from Cheryl:

You are soooooooo cool.

I just relived my childhood by seeing this site! Thank you so very much for capturing Canadian children's television of the 70's and 80's.

Some other absolute favourites of mine also include Today's Special, Polka-Dot-Door, and Simon (the chalk boy)

(Thank you)

March 3/06 from Grand:

I was just looking at your site and I came across "High Feather". I have to admit I started to tear up. This was my favorite show. Do you have any episodes of the show or can you tell me where to get them. Also I was wondering do you remember a show called "Rock School" Hosted by Herbie Hancock that also came on PBS?
Thanks for your time.

Do you remember A Show Called 3.2.1. Contact that had an Inner Show Called " The Bloodhound Gang".

(I didn't learn of High Feather until about a year or so ago)

March 7/06 from Heather:

This will end a long term brain fart my girlfriend and I have been having at work. We have been driving everyone we work with crazy trying to remember names of shows we use to watch and so on. So a big thank you to you. It's likely the first time in a long time i'm actually looking forward to going to work just to finally end all the bickering....

One thing...there's a girl at my work going on about a show with a hippo..she was pink with a flower or something......."henreietta" I think she said her name was. Would you happen to know what show that was?

(New Zoo Revue featured the very lovely Henrietta)

March 11/06 from Akira:

Like so many others, who have written, all I can say is WOW! I am stumbling over myself to get the words
out. I probably missed half the school year in both fifth and sixth grade
(1980-1982), and I would stay home and watch these shows on WGBH in Boston. Like someone else wrote, the
shows ran from 9AM until around 2:30 with an hour at lunch for Sesame Street. I think I watched the news
or something else then. I was too "old" for SS.

Now that I am an adult and married to a teacher and with a young daughter, I keep thinking about these
shows and how formative they were in developing my own thinking and critical skills. I know that I didn't
get these skills from school--a place that was a site of anxiety for me.

I particularly loved "Read All About It", although WGBH never ran the final episodes and also neglected
to show the second season. I mostly loved the shows like Inside Out, Think About and Trade Off. I just
loved how they left you at the end to decide... at least I think all those shows did that. I also love
the grit and the immediacy of the filming of those shows. I know this effect is partially the result of
the low budgets, but compared to the glitzy shows (and empty) shows of today I felt that this was not the
world we "should" live in but rather the way the world was. I remember one show of a young, angry inner city
black teenager who feels the pressure of living in an overcrowded apartment and he flees to an abandoned
house to find solace. It was so gritty.

Other favorite episodes from these shows (in general) was one where a group of students plan out the theft
of a moose head from a rival gang. They build a map, literally it's a diorama, of the local woods where the
rival "gang's" house is. I recall they used a club "song"--the flea song.

Other episodes were of students locked in a school and the idea of conflict and conflict resolution or lack
thereof.

I do recall in the early 199o's while in grad school, I rented a room from this woman who taught high
school. She had access to all these old shows for her class. She once brought home a creative, 70's version
of the O. Henry (?) story of the Tiger and the Girl Door dilemma story. It was just sooo Pink Floyd
1970's. It was great.

(Thanks for the memories, it seems they shows have various effects on people - mostly good)

March 17/06 from Balasrub:

i came up with your site while trying to find a certain children's show that was most likely made in the late seventies, but maybe the early eighties. (i grew up overseas, and the only television we got were of old shows, so i'm not sure exactly when it would have been made)

i think there have been a couple of people describing vague details of possibly the same show. at the beginning i think (or maybe the end) there was an older man and woman (who definately had white hair) who would play guitar and sing a folky song. the man would tell a story as the woman would illustrate it with pastels, and sometimes the drawings would have very minor animation. one of the stories i remember (in fragments) involved a man, who had a dog and maybe a cat, and met a snake who turned out to be a prince, and made the man wealthy, and then the man had a castle, and a wife with golden hair who was brushing her hair and a strand of it fell into the river and floated down on a leaf, and somehow the man lost all his castle and riches and wife, and there were these mice that had to steal this golden ring... i dunno, those are just bits that i can vividly recall visually, along with the voice of the man and the mouse who had to steal the golden ring. hmm, any ideas what this could be?

(I know this one person telling a story, the other person drawing has been mentioned before, I just forget now what the title was)

March 17/06 from Hordak:

Hi, I've posted this before but I remember a little bit more detail. I'm having trouble remembering the name to a show. Here is the description:

The show was set in a mansion and it was hosted by a woman. She had long brown hair that she wore in a bun. She wore a purple gown or robe. Two puppets accompanied her on the show. One was a bear puppet named Bear Facts, who wore a blue striped shirt, and the second might have been a female turtle. The jist of the show was that the woman would answer questions asked of her by the puppets and she would answer them with video footage (I seem to remember one of these segments talking about something being made on an assembly line.) I recall that the TV Ontario logo would be flashed at the end of the show. It aired on my local PBS station on the instructional television block during the late 80's and very early 90's. Please help me if you can.

I'd really like it if this got posted in the feedback portion of the site because I have wonderful news. My questions have at last been answered. The name of the show I have been trying to remember is called The Magic Place. The female host in the purple robe was Miss Mystery, the turtle puppet was named Kelly Turtle along with Bear Facts. I have to extend a great big thank you to the people in the Yahoo TVO group for helping me at last find the answer. Now I hope there are websites with pics, info and the theme song from The Magic Place somewhere.

(Glad to hear answers have been discovered)

March 24/06 from Dee:

Hi!! I grew up in Boston Mass during the 80's and I remember watching All about You, Read All About It, 321 Contact, other Ontario TV shows that ran
on PBS from the early 80s until the early 90s. I loved watching Voyage of the Mimi and RAAI. New Hampshire Public TV runs Instructional TV from
2qm-6am M-F of some AIT classics such as Trade Offs and Self Inc., another 70s favorite. One of the things I love about the AIT programs and such was
the openings, theme songs and theme music, logos and closings. They are so innovative and practical in design, I'm a graphic designer student. I always
loved the classic AIT logo that was animated at the closing of said programmes. Assignnment the World is still on PBS, if anyone remembers this
show. I would love to make or see a t-shirt with the classic AIT logo on the front. Anyone with knowledge on this contact my email: midnight075@hotmail.com

(Hope you hear from someone - good luck!)

March 28/06 from Michael:

I was told about your site about a friend who also collects educational TV videos. There was one Tim Robins hosted episode I was hoping you could help
me track down......

Not sure which series it was (I *do* know it was Tim Robins as a host though, and it was from the early to mid 70's). This was an episode I
called "The Satan Show", because the subject was about books on Satanism (not mere paganism, but all-out Satanic lore). It started out as a bunch of
Satanists holding a black mass (or a very hokey rendition of one), and by the time some pact with Lucifer was signed using a chicken foot & blood, we
cut over to Tim Robins in his studio talking about several books to read on the subject, along with the ominous warnings NOT to actually practice any
of these rituals, because, as Tim would close out the episode by saying, "You'll be asking for trouble".

I'm sure it was an episode that was never aired again after the Moral Majority 1980's, even if the rest of the series was shown again, but I'm
still floored by the balls-out attitude to actually put out a series on Satan worship into an educational series (even by 70's standards). To
promote a series of books and yet at the same time warn the kids to avoid it was a bizarre paradox in education.

I'm not sure if it was one of the series where Tim inks out a portrait of a scene from a book in this episode, but I do remember the hokey black mass
scene at the begining, as well as Tim's dire warning at the end.

Here's something on this I wrote on another board:

"Back in the early-mid 70's, NBC had spent a load of dough to convert their classic "Peacock" logo to a streamlined looking "N". However, NBC forgot to
take into account that the Nebraska Public Television Network had a nearly identical logo for years. NBC managed to avoid a messy lawsuit by paying
NPTV some money in an out-of-court settlement, as well as donating a bunch of state-of-the-art (for the time) TV production equipment.

And, from their Channel 26 studios located from the A/V section at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, they created several original educational
TV programs.

The one you're thinking of is called "Once Upon A Time", where a witch kidnapped a librarian and kept her in the dungeon of her tower with a
machine that would produce books based on whatever story elements were placed into it.

The other show you're thinking of was called "Star Lore", made by the same people who did OUAT, where an alien queen kidnapped a librarian (I sense a
subliminal desire for kidnapping here) and taken her back to her home planet "until the children of her world are able to have imaginations".
Instead of a bookmaking machine this time, the heroine had the aid of a computer named 1Z2Z.

This group did a lot of shows for NPTV's Schools Telelearning Service (they were like a Midwestern version of the Children's Television Workshop), and
they still show these programs (well, they OWN the shows, so of course they can afford to air them as long as they like)."

Since that time unfortunately, the STS program has been defunded and these programs no longer air (thanks, Bush!), so the stuff I managed to get saved
to DVD is sort of a memorial to an interesting era in education TV.

Another local series I have was called "Nebraska Communities". Best way to describe this one is "eccentric 18th Century French scientist builds a time
machine and travels to circa 1980's Nebraska to learn about the future" (yes, that is the premise). I kept a few sample episodes of this series
since the guy who played the nutty french scientist was the same actor who played the original "Godfather" for the Godfather's Pizza commercials up
until the late 90's (http://www.jobfairohio.com/godfathers/gf2.jpg).

(I hope with such a detailed description someone can help you out!)

March 30/06 from Mary:

How would one get ahold of the Zardip's Search for Healthy Wellness series?

(Hopefully with this post, someone with help!)

April 3/06 from Brent:

Would you know where I can purchase the Parlez-Moi series on DVD? I have called one of the Canadian TV stations a while back and they had the show on VHS, but I prefer DVD. Or do you know of a site that sells this title?

(I am not aware of anysite that houses the whole library. You may wish to try International Telefilm; I have one episode)

April 4/06 from Shelby:

I love your site. I am only 15, but my 5th grade teacher introduced our class to Read All About It. I love the show, but could never find any of the episodes anywhere. I found your site and it seemed like you were able to get a lot of them all the episodes to RAAI. I would love to own my own copy for me and for my future children. It was such a great series and I loved every minute of it and looked forward to watching a new episode every week when Mrs. Mitchell would show us.

(A great series indeed!)

April 4/06 from Steven:

I found your webpage on TVO shows from the 70's a real trip. I was looking for info on The Adventures of Timothy Pilgrim and stumbled by it.
One detail that keeps coming to mind is the fact that Barney wore cloggs (sp?). I haven't seen the show in a long time, but I seem to recall Tim getting away all those times because Barney wasn't swift of foot (given the footware). I can't shake that ridiculous image of a long haired bully in those things lol.
Next weekend I'm going to check out that memorable warehouse where Tim lived near the corner of King and Bathurst.
I'm having trouble viewing any and all images. It would be nice to see one of Tim and Zach.

(They were clog like boots I believe, great fashion footware of the 70's!)

April9/06 from Shannon:

I just have to let you know what an awesome trip down memory lane I had looking at your website. I was trying to explain to some people about the show "Just Like Mom" and no one I talked to could remember it. So as I got into your website more and more shows that I loved growing up were there. I was trying to remember a show I used to watch as a kid...I think it was Canadian but I'm not sure. It had a dog that was always helping people and at the end the dog always left the people it helped. Usually the people wanted to keep the dog but he always "moved on" I used to cry at the theme song. If you can help that would be great.

Thanks Again and keep up the good work.

p.s. Was tele-francais actually on television because I remember watching it in school?

(Littlest Hobo another classic program that reeked of Canadiana)

April 11/06 from Anthony:

You run a wonderful website. I wonder if you would be so kind as to upload the opening credits for the Edison Twins.
I've been looking for it forever.

(Sent)

April 12/06 from John:

I noticed you have all the Inside/Out episodes on tape. I recall as a kid there was some acoustic guitar music on the closing part of the show. I've been
trying for years to get that down on guitar. Sadly, there's been no way to find the show ...

Is there any way to get a copy of the theme music for Inside/OUT? Weird, but I always remember how it sounded, even know, 30 years later.

Also, a friend expressed an interest in Eureka! episodes.

(Sound clips of both sent, enjoyed thoroughtly)

April 17/06 from Brandon:

I'm looking for a show im pretty sure was on TVO during the early 90s. It was about two cats, Ricky and Tango, and their dog friend Charlie. I
can't remember what the show was called but it was set in like a run down warehouse-like house, garden, and overpass area where charlie lived
in a small room. All the characters are puppets. There was also a porcupine who lived in a junkyard and a fox (i think) named Rose who
lived in the country and came to visit all of the other characters. If memory serves, Charlie went to school (i think they sometimes did quick
scenes of school kids doing crafts), while Tango and Ricky played at home. If you know what the title of this show is, could you please email
me back. Sorry if the email is hard to follow, i can't remember much of the show. Thanks for your help

(Too recent for my knowing, but I hope someone else does)

April 18/06 from Carlos:

I live in Brazil. I used to LOVE the Bits and Bytes tv show, which was on brazilian TV Cultura (channel 2), in early 1982/1983.

Nowadays I'm a Systems Analyst, and I'm also a computer collector. I can say that 95% of what I am, came from watching that fantastic TV show.

Today, googling about the Bits and Bytes, I found your web page, and nearly cried when I saw all that pictures of it, all that were buried
deep in my brain. Fantastic stuff.

(It is so great to hear how these shows have had such a positive influence on people and their career path)

April 18/06 from John:

i came across your site not too long ago, cool stuff. i was wondering if you happened to have any 'thinkabout' stuff on vhs or dvd?
i'm 36 and i used to watch it all the time
i remember i used to stay home from school and watch it haha, along with 'the draw man' if you remember that one..
i used to watch all that stuff, whiz kids, land of the lost, white shadow..all that stuff, so your site brings back a lot of memories.

(Thinkabout was a pretty well done program)

April 20/06 from Megan:

Hi there. Love your site. I've searched far and wide for a kids show from the 80s to no avail. In this show, a bunch of middle school kids would meet up in this office and (I think) write a newspaper. Sounds normal, but the show was pretty creepy. Weird messages would appear on their computer or their typewriters would just start typing. Once, a portal opened in the office and the kids board a sort of train car and are taken through various puzzles and challenges. There was always some sinister force working against them. Ring any bells? It was on PBS in the early to mid 80s, but my guess is that it was made in Canada. Any ideas would be quite helpful!

(The most popular show on the site by far - Read All About It)

April 22/06 from Rob:

Love the site!! Now I'm convinced that EVERYTHING exists on the Internet :)
I am trying to think of a show that was produced at least in part by TVO in the 80s/90s. It dealt with science topics (I remember in particular a set of shows on DNA) and were computer-animated graphics on a blue background. The individual episodes only lasted 5-10 minutes and the channel I watched (I think it was the cable TVO feed in Detroit) would show a half-hour or so block of them. I am a teacher now, and would love to track some of these down for my classroom.

(Again, too recent for my knowing, I hope someone else out there knows)

April 24/06 from Emily:

I have been trying to figure out that name of that show with the Hobo Clown "Palrez-Moi" for two years now!!!! I stumbled upon you site looking for another show and saw that you had Parlez-Moi on there. That show was sooo creepy, I hated being forced to watch it in french class.

What a great collection of shows you have on your site. I was wondering if you know any way to get a hold of episodes for these shows. If there is a TVO library of some sorts.

great site. now I can sleep at night.

(Another happy customer!)

April 27/06 from Jordan:

All About You began in what I believe was the late 1960's or early 1970's, that part I am foggy on. It was originally a series of ten in class 15-minute videotape lessons that could be rented and played in school classrooms via WGBH and 21 Inch Classroom series.

Miss Louise Sperling (McNamara's maiden name) was Assistant Director of the 21 Inch Classroom productions. She taught elementary science at the Winsor School in Boston and fifth grade in Lexington, Mass. She served as a science editor for Ginn and Co. and then was consultant to the children's library at Boston's Museum of Science.

The Series Consultant for All About You in its early days was Mrs. Ada B. Litchfield was a first grade teacher in Harwich and Dennis, Mass. She was editor for six years, two of which were with primary level health textbooks. She also wrote and published children's stories.

All About You also came with supplemental teacher's guide, preparatory and follow up activities, special vocabulary, and films and film strips to augment the television lesson.

Content: Explored the wonders of mind and body (with first graders) and reasons for good health care.
Used illustrative models, demos, film clips and simple drawings. Included many experiences to make the child an active participant in each lesson.

Personally, I remember watching this show and liked it as a kid. I particularly remember an episode that explained to me how my eyes worked! Where did you find that screen cap? I havent seen those opening cartoons or heard the theme song in years.

This program was originally distributed by the INstructional Television Library Project (an NDEA activity).

Lessons from the original (pilot?) series:

Are You A Machine - introduces children to the idea that their bodies are like machines in many ways and different from them in other ways.

Two Hundred Bones - shows the framework of bones in the body and describes its functions

No Strings On You - considers muscles as bands which hold the bone framework together and give it movement. Explains why excercise is important

What's Your Fuel? - explains how the body changes food into fuel needed for energy.

Twenty White Horses - demonstrates how teeth function and why it is necessary to take good care of them.

Take a Deep Breath - considers the body's need for air and how it gets in and out of the body

Your Wonderful Pump - explains the function of the heart and blood circulation

Getting the Message - reviews the five senses and the brain

You and your Feelings - explains emotions and the importance of considering the feelings of others.

My, How You've Grown! - introduces the idea that growth takes place when cells divide and portrays the amazing potential of a baby.

(This is some great All About You info - this will certainly be getting added to the page)

May 29/06 from Rachel:

You have to help me!

There is a show I used to LOVE from the late 70's/ early 80's (maybe) about an African American family that had a father, mother, sister, brother and grandmother named Mamma Violet

I KNOW this show was called "Getting to Know Me" ... I can still hear the song in my head (well, 1 line of actual words heehee. It goes "Cus I'm getting to know me (da-da-da-dadada) ... getting to know me, and I like it. I like it..."

Awhile back I was getting nastolgic for the show and checked it out on IMDB. I thought I found something (but not much) Just credits. (I always like to see what actors are doing now -if anything) ... I just went on IMDB and there is now no listing! WEIRD!! (I even did a character search for Mamma Violet. NOTHING!!

Do you know the show? If not, do you know where I can search it? Google is coming up empty. Do you know any good forums?

Also, as a side note ... do you remember PowerHouse? You should add that to your site!

(I hope someone can help!)

May 2/06 from Ian:

Thanks!

I came across your site looking for that show, I’ve spent about three hours searching on many search engine sites with a whole bunch of keywords to try to find that show, simply because it’s one of my favourite memories when I was younger, sat watching that show in the summer holidays from school, but could never find anything on it.

Fantastic! Thanks! The link brought back a lot of happy memories.

I can do something more constructive with my time now and not keep on looking for that show, thank goodness. Now... Vicky the Viking... here we go again....

(Yup, know your story all too well)

May 2/06 from Lee:

I'm from Australia. After having a nostalgic conversation with a friend over tv programs from our childhood, I remembered this video my Aunty had about a woodchuck leaving home to see the forest, with everything else still fairly sketchy. I do recall that it was emotional, quite serious, with conflict, torn woodland-creature flesh, and a particular scene where someone calls out spookily for Johhnnyyyyyyy, which haunts me to this day. After googling for a woodchuck named johnny I was amazed to find anything at all on Fables of the Green Forest.

I must have watched this video dozens of times as a kid at 5 or 6 years of age (about 1987, 1988)... Not out of choice, mind you. It was due to my Aunty owning a BETA video player at the time when stores had just discontinued selling BETA videos; this left her with very few videos (this remarkably being one of them). So I had one video (distributed by CEL Entertainment I remember) with 2 or 3 episodes, plus a teaser for the next episode. I never saw that next episode... To this day I may have buried in my crippled subconscious a deep, unfulfilled longing to find out just what happened to little Johnny and that balloon thing he ended up in.

Thanks for the pictures! It got me on to further searching and I came upon this realplayer video of the Fables of the Green Forest intro theme with audio, the same sweetly corny version on the video I once long ago did see. It gives me chills hearing it again after all these years: http://www.pelleas.net/wmt/greenforest.rm (hope thats ok to link)

(Great memory and great link!)

May 4/06 from Tara:

What a trip down memory lane!

For YEARS I thought that "Read All About It" was called "Ghostwriter," which is an American show that debuted in 1992. So I would always be frustrated when I'd look it up.
Now the memories come flooding back!

About this "palabra jot" worm... for some reason Read All About It made me think of that worm's show... I can remember, I think, at the
end the big orange WBGH call letters, which are for a Boston PBS station, so I thought they produced the show... I can find nothing
else about it. Someone here, I think, says it's called "The Write Club" but I can find no other info. on that.

The answer might already be in your feedback, but I didn't sift through it all yet.Are there any pages about this show?

And, I know you're from Toronto, but there was also an American show called... **I think!** Saturday Morning Mysteries??? on ABC??? Does
anyone remember this? This show frightened the bejesus out of me at times, too... just like Read All About It.

I think it's funny, now, that I'm a newspaper writer today. It must be from watching all of these shows!!! Thanks for the fun memories!

(I think you might be thinking of The Write Channel? Can anyone confirm/deny?)

May 6/06 from Mark:

I enjoyed your site, I was actually trying to find out some info on old shows when I came across it.

I'm an actor, and some of my earliest appearances were on TVO: "Measuremetric", "A Requiem for Literacy", "Mr Smith Goes to the Movies", "Magic Shadows" and "Saturday
Night at the Movies".

Coincidentally, (and without any patronage or recommendation on my part), my dad (Jim Parr) later became the 2nd CEO of TVO from 1979-1985, replacing Ran Ide.

My favourite shows were "Vision On", "Tales from the Riverbank", Elwy's programs, and britcoms.

Vicky Gabereau (host of "Gabereau" on CTV) had an early start on TVO. She was Reiner Schwartz's fill-in host on "Nightmusic". And maybe another show after that? Vicky
was also a friend of mine back in the early days; we were a clown troupe known as "Puck Rent-A-Fool" with Frazier Mohawk and Lynne Cavanaugh.

Hart Pomerantz was our lawyer back then, he was Lorne Michaels partner on "The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour" which was on CBC. Hart also wrote for Laugh In and Phyllis
Diller and went on to do a game show called "Double Up" and he was a panelist "This is the Law". Frazier and Vicky appeared as contestants on "Double Up".

My dad had a recurring bit between TVO shows called "Parrsnips" where he answered viewers queries and critisisms about TVO and it's programming. A must see!

One of the highlights of my career was appearing with my dad on Saturday Night at the Movies. Elwy interviewed us as father and son and showed a photo essay my dad
created, wrote and narrated, composed of pictures of me in my clown persona. I think Ran Ide was also there.

(Thanks for the great memories!)

May 17/06 from Ronald:

I have a 2 year old and I want her to watch some of the stuff that I grew up watching. Plus, it takes me back to my childhood years of the 70's.

(I have some episodes, I think there are some Simon websites out there - that's why I don't have one)

May 19/06 from Candice:

hello,
i'm looking for images from (1st of all) and dvds of the animation JEREMY.
As in, "I'm a bear named Jeremy", the theme song. I watched it in the 70's on ACCESS tv in Alberta ... I believe it's originally from the Netherlands?

(Sent images. I think Jeremy is Polish)

May 19/06 from Mathieu:

Hey LOVE the site, and it really brings back ALOT of memories of some of my favorite tv shows, even ones I completely forgot about like Jeremy.
I was hoping you could help me. Around the same era as these shows I remember a show that had the following details:
1)There was this "magic ring" at the bottom of a cookie jar.
2) There was somesort of pink robot.

I know these are very vague, but it is has been driving me crazy. Any idea of what show Im talking about, or am I just crazy?!?!
Hope to hear from you.

(Weird shows. I really don't know)

May 24/06 Marissa:

so i dont usually write people to ask them random questions but i have been driving myself insane for the past week trying to remember the name of a
show that i watched when i was younger. I dont know if you'll know what im talking about because i grew up in the late 80s and early 90s. The show in
question was animated, it had a talking spoon and fork and tea towel..im pretty sure a toothbrush too, anyway the objects would come to life during
the night and always panicked to return to their places before anyone woke up. my friend seems to think that it aired in both french and english and
we're pretty positive that it aired on TVO. If you could help settle our minds, it would be greatly appreciated.

(As usual, hope someone else knows)

May 29/06 from Marcus:

I was wondering if you remember a show in which a boy would shine a flashlight on his bedroom floor (after he was put to bed), and would jump into the spot that the light created and was whisked away into a fantasy land where he meets many characters, one of which is a man with a top hat? Sounds confusing, but my memory is limited on this show.

(Jamie and the Magic Torch - a few people have discussed this show in the feedback sections)

June 3/06 from Sara:

wow....i have been searching all over the web for weeks. i've contacted pbs here in the states and the board of education i my town..and nobody knows of
the shows i am looking for. i remember most of them featured people with canadian accents...and i even vaugely remember some of them even saying that
they were from ontario. i'll tell you waht i remember and it is suprisingly a lot.

ok..my favorite was a show about a librarian who wore a blue outfit and had brown helmet hair. it hink at the beginning during the intro...it kind of
went over how she was put to sleep by some gold dust at a time of anarchy. when she woke up there were these kids standing around her in her
underground library who ahd blinking light up head bands and were wearing str trek like uniforms. the educational goal of the show was to teach the
dewey decimal system as well as reading comprehension. there were screnes where the kids seemed to be communicating with someone telepatically. i also
remeber the anarchic biker type people who were the antagonists. the kids used the books and the librarian's help to figure out that the way to defeat
the bikers was to some how project a big horse into the sky because they were terrified of the horses.

the second one was a science show about some kids and a robot. they slid big record sized disks into the robot for films about science. then the robot
would lead them in conducting experiments. the intro had a lot of creepy drawings of kids that kept over lapping, and some very unintelligible
singing. this one semed very odd to me...but i believe it is because there were some european children on the show who i couldn't understand.

there was one other one that it hink you might be able to help me with. it was about these children who hung out in a book store adn learned how to
write stories form the man who worked there. there were often little cartoons in between to illustrate the stories.. i remeber almost everything
in the store including the costumes were red...could be wrong though...but the set was all like a drawing. the shelves and books were painted onto the
walls.

(Tome & Talismans, Start Here, Don't know)

June 12/06 from Remie:

I love your site! I wish I could see more of those "Parlez-Moi" and "Write On!" episodes. Those really bring back memories. I'd love to watch an episode of "Secret Railroad", too!

I wonder if you remember a show I'm pretty sure was on TVO... it starred a skinny white guy with a curly afro... he wore a skin-tight suit that showed his guts... his anatomy. Each episode dealt with learning about a different part of the body. There was some singing involved. Does this ring a bell?

Another show I'm trying to find info about was a live-action show for kids on Global, Saturday afternoons. It was an ensemble cast of adult actors who performed fairy tales and fables. It was usually pretty creepy... songs, etc. Sound familiar? The intro had the cast singing while riding on the back of a wagon... I think one guy was running behind and they pull him up.

There are a bunch of shows from Global I'd love to see again... Tales of the Riverbank (Hammy Hamster), Treehouse (fat guy with a guitar, sang with kids), Circle Square (Christian tv show for kids), News from Zoos, and KidsBeat!

If you have any info on the above shows, I'd love to hear it!

(Slim Goodbody is the first one for sure)

June 14/06 from Kayla:

ok i remeber a show that wasnt like a full length show but it was 10 or 15 minutes long i remember tehre was a kitchen towel that was a baby.a mother
and then a talking toothbrush who the talking pencil loved and talking slippers and hammer and as soon as the talking alarm clock would say i am
gonna ring they would all got bacl to tehir spots and i forget what it is called!:| please help me remember i am 15 and watched it in the 90's on tvo
or one of those programs.

(Not sure)

June 21/06 from Tom:

I've been a fan of the TVO, AIT and other teaching PBS shows since the 70's and regularly check out your site and Matt's site for trips down memory lane. I read your response to some feedback about the Inside Out theme and you mentioned you had a recording of it. Would it be possible for you to send me a copy as well? I am interested in several other theme songs as well, such as the one from Self Inc., High Feather, and another from a geography show I believe was hosted by a Dr. Rugg. I haven't been able to find any info online on this show though. If you happen to have any of these others or even any others you wouldn't mind sharing in a Zip file, I would really appreciate it.

(Info sent, where applicable)

June 26/06 from Duy:

I always thought TVO's original Bits & Bytes series surpassed the updated Bits & Bytes 2. Although the second series was practical for its
time, the specs they gave became obsolete quite quickly, but the first series included more computer science concepts that could be used
regardless of particular computer trends.

(Some very well made points)

June 26/06 from Caren:

Hey, thanks for the info on Bits and Bytes. My little brother and I watched it on PBS in the '80s growing up in New Jersey, and I was looking for info on it. It IS funny to remember how computers were perceived back then. I can still remember the theme song. ;)

(Interesting theme sone it was)

July 6/06 from Janice:

What a great site you have. It totally takes me back to my childhood in the early 80's. I remember watching Just like Mom, Harriet's Magic Hat, Inside Out, The Body Works etc. Now I am on the hunt for the name of a show I use to watch in the mornings- and I believe the year was 1983 maybe 1982 as I began grade 1 in the fall of 83. It was a kids show (American?) on in the morning, had 2 characters a man and a woman they were in space, and the inside of the ship was pretty much wall to wall computers, and I believe the computer may have talked to us. It wasn't very long in length as most shows were about 15 minutes or so. It was in color, but it was dark copy. My husband who is 5 years older than I am doesn't recall this show, but there are a few people that I know still remember it. Hopefully you, or someone out there knows what show I am talking about. So far your website is the closest I've come to recalling the shows I used to watch back then.

(I hope someone can help)

July 7/06 from David:

The person that was looking for info on the show "Bookmice"

I remember seeing it on TLC (The Discovery Channel spinoff) on weekday mornings in a block of shows that also included "Professor Iris." Hope this is some help!

(Any info is always helpful)

July 13/06 from Santiago

i saw your website dedicated to TVO and its pretty awesome. i was wondering if you knew of any websites with some information about the tv show Join In?

(None that I know of)

July 13/06 from Ross:

It was on TVO, maybe it's called something else. But it had an evil TV that would zap people / characters.

I believe that the good person was willow o the wisp and he was a ghost or something.

NO ONE remembers this, do you?

(Check the feedback, a few people have mentioned the show - it's on DVD now too)

July 16/06 from James:

What an awesome thing you've done. I grew up on most of the shows you have listed!! Anyway I could get my hands on a set of Eureka videos for teaching
my students? It's how I learned everything.

(Eureka is quite educational!)

July 18/06 from Katherine:

Your site rocks!

July 19/06 from Amber:

i was chatting with my friend the other day and we both remembered watching a show where the cast lived in a lighthouse as well
as one (it may be the same but i think its different) that always seemed to have adventures ina boat on the water. can u perhaps tell me with waht
limited info i have given u what they could be? thanks either way

(Putting the word out on the site!)

July 24/06 from Jenn:

i'm trying to remember the name of a television show from the 90's it was about a boy who ends up falling out of a tree and going into a coma. While
he is in a coma he dreams that he is in a fantasy land. thats about all i can remember

(not sure)

July 25/06 from David:

Is this a Canadian site? American? Anyway, was thinking about 'InsideOut'-- what a strange show. Well-made but a little out of touch, it
seemed, with the average kid of the 70s. I remember the babysitter who got frustrated, as well as the boy on his bike who bought the comic book out of
turn.

In the U.S. these programs were shown in the morning and early afternoon, so if you were sick at home they would often be the most interesting things on.

(Site is Canadian - but does focus on shows both North and South of the border)

July 25/06 from Laura:

this is for the person that asked about a title about a cartoon that had a spider in it. i don't remember this being a cartoon but tvo did show snow spider author jenny nimmo there's also emlyn's moon/chestnut soldier

(thanks!)

July 27/06 from David:

I stumbled upon your page while looking for info on Inside/Out (I have afew eps.), and noticed you said you had 2 eps. of Big Blue Marble. May
I ask you for a very brief description of these (or episode titles, if there were any?)? I haven't seen this since childhood so I don't know
if they "named" the BBM shows.

(Looks like they are the original shows, but someone has new ownership on them)

July 28/06 from David:

It was made in Wisonsin and apparently still airs there on PBS.

http://www.ecb.org/storylords/index.htm
http://www.ecb.org/education/tapedub.htm
http://www.ecb.org/mmedia/storylords.ram

http://www.prairiepublic.org/education/pstv/titles/story1.htm
http://www.prairiepublic.org/education/pstv/guide/duborder.html

August 1/06 from Lisa:

I came upon your site tonight and I can't believe how many people (including myself) reminisce about our childhood tv shows. While browsing through your site I noticed some shows that I completely forgot about such as Readalong and Dear Aunt Agnus. They brought back so many memories for me. I also used to watch Today's Special (which my favourite episode was the one when Waldo the magician had a sneezing spell and every time he'd sneeze he'd shrink smaller and smaller and so Jody Jeff and Sam had to go and find the magic potion which was in some basement of a barn in a forest). Other favourites also included Polka Dot Door, the Elephant Show, Join In, Sesame Street, and occasionally Harriet's Magic Hats. I think that it's so great that you have a site like this and I am sure that lots of other people really appreciate it. Like many others, I really wish that some of these shows would come out on dvd or if TVO would re-air some of these shows for nostalgic purposes. Kid's tv shows just aren't the same anymore. We need some good quality shows like the ones we all grew up watching.

(thanks for the comments!)

August 4/06 from Evey:

i was just hoping you could try to help me figure out the name of an old show i watched all the time when i was little. All i remember about it was that there were these 2 cat puppets. The boy cats name was Ricky but i dont remember the sisters name. The cats lived in this big house with like only really one room and a balcony. The house lead out to a courtyard type place where there was a big tree. A colourful bird would come and land in the tree or stay in the tree and he would bring the cats mail sometimes. as they went through the courtyard eventually there was a long divider. it had a fountain in it and a little house where another puppet lived that was a dog. past the divider was a garden with a gate at the very end and sometimes another animal (maybe a kangaroo) would come through the gate to visit the dog and cats.

i really hope you can help me figure out the name of this because my friend and i have been really frustrated with not being able to figure out the name and if you can it would b SO AWESOME!!!

thankz for any help

(I am being told the show was simply called Kitty Cats)

August 6/06 from Jody:

I remember when I was in grade 2 or 3, we all used to gather around and watch TVO educational shows - Guess What, Let's All Sing, etc...... (1976..?)
During those same years, there was one time when we all gathered around the tv, and watched a show called either The Doomsday Machine, or The Doomsday Rocket - it seems to me it was some sort of a serial of 2 or 3 different episodes, but I'm not sure - and I'm reasonably sure
it was on TVO.

I wonder if anyone knows what I'm talking about....?

(Doomsday machine sounds vaguely familair)

August 11/06 from Vic:

I stumbled upon your website while searching for information on an educational TV show from the 70s called "Inside/Out'. My sisters and I used to watch it and some other great TVO stuff when we were kids growing up in Anaheim.
We would love to be able to see these and the "All About You" shows.
I don't really have anything to trade as far as video goes, but I have a pretty massive music collection and I may have something you are interested in there, but I would be willing to pay for your time and material to dupe off DVDs of those if not.
Anyway let me know.
Thanks for the great website and I hope to hear from you.

Oh, check out my website
www.photosoftheforgotten.synthetrix.com
You might see some nostalgic things of interest there.

(That's a neat website - like the neighbourhood that is now gone - and some rad skateboarding moves!)

August 12/06 from Tom:

I came across your webpage of old tv shows, and was surprised by all the information on children's tv shows that I remember watching when I was small. My favourite TV show was the Willy and Floyd show, starring Les Lye and Bill Luxton. It's very difficult to find any information about it at all. It was made in Ottawa but aired on stations throughout Ontario (and maybe other provinces) in the '70's and '80's for the most part. Do you have any information on it at all, such as the number of episodes, what years it was produced in, a guide or anything? Also, do you have any of the episodes in your collection? Thanks for any help you can give.

I have some more information that I know about Willy and Floyd that may help. Filmed in Ottawa, it started in 1966 as a 15 minute wraparound for cartoons. Over the years, it evolved into a half hour show. I'm not sure what format the show took between the wraparound start and 1975. However, in 1976, Willy and Floyd was set in a talent agency owned by the title characters. They would show films on their projector (usually skits starring Willy and Floyd and/or a regular cast of characters, but sometimes films made by others), audition local talent, lip sync to old recordings, and do other fun things. They stayed in the talent agency setting until 1979, by which time the set looked completely different. In the earlier episodes, the agency was pretty bare with humble furishings. By 1979, they had couches and more expensive looking chairs in a well-furnished lobby. The stage was always connected to the lobby by a single door. During these years, guests such as Rich Little, Bruno Gerussi, Holly LaRocque, Jim Unger (of "Herman" newspaper comic strip fame), Mac Beattie and many others appeared along with the local talent. The regular cast of characters all played by Luxton and Lye included Morley the mailman, Captain Aubrey Fatch, Grandma Bernice and Aunt Rhody, Doctor Dilly, Manny the restaurant owner, Alivin and Philby the poets, Henry Higgenbottem, and others. Two characters not played by Luxton and Lye were Matilda La Fong (their paper girl) and Howard Jerome (their janitor). These were also the real names of the people playing these characters.

I know little about the look of the show in 1978, and how the agency changed its look during this time. I don't know if I have seen episodes produced in that year or not, but I assume they existed and that the show ran straight through from 1976 to 1979.

Willy and Floyd dissapeared after 1979, but resurfaced around 1981. In the first episode of this series, the two main characters recieve word that their talent agency is being torn down and that they must evacuate. However, they get the note too late and it is torn down with them still in it! There is a great shot of them standing in the rubble of a demolished building wiping off sawdust and such, but none the worse for wear. After this, I remember that they went to a computer company that they stated was their "old" place, which insinuates to me that they might have done a series at some point in the unaccounted for years in the afore-mentioned computer company which they call "computic". I was never clear what they actually did in the "computic", but I remember there was a huge computer that filled a room and sometimes showed them films. I also remember Margaret Trudeau and Jim Unger being guests in one episode each of this run. The computer setting was probably one of the strangest of the whole Willy and Floyd series.

Although this computer series lasted for a year or less, Willy and Floyd resurfaced for one more year on tv in 1984-1985. This time, they owned a lavish looking hotel called the Willy and Floyd Arms. I think these episodes got quite a bit of play since they probably cost more to make (I think the set was a big deal at the time). By this time, Willy and Floyd was more of a sitation comedy for kids. Alanis Morisette was actually a guest star in one of these episodes while she was a young teenager and she sang one or two songs.

As I mentioned in the previous e-mail, Willy and Floyd starred Bill Luxton and Les Lye respectively. Bill Luxton was a host on many many tv programs produced by CJOH during the '60's, '70's, and '80's including the Kreskin show that you have. Les Lye became famous for playing all of the adult roles on the hit children's tv series of the '80's, You Can't Do That on Television. He even wore his Floyd wig in a few of the roles he played.

Anyway, if you do get a chance to post this, (I hope I didn't ramble on too much, I wanted to provide as much info. as I could), if anyone has info. on where to get episodes, or knows about the years I left out or has a specfic episode guide, that would be fantastic. Please let them know they can contact me at my e-mail address if they do: shangrilas47@hotxmail.com (remove the x) As Willy and Floyd was one of my favourite tv shows, I'm always eager to learn more about it or talk to others that know about it. I e-mailed CJOH (who I was told own the rights to the show) and sadly they said that all of their copies were lost or thrown out, along with all other programs they had from the '80's and before, because the broadcast tapes were too large and they ran out of space. They also indicated that they felt very badly about this.

Also, here is a rare website with an article about Willy and Floyd so you know I didn't make it up, haha.

http://www.ottawatheatre.ca/cmt/articles/cmt20031125.html

(posted as requested - hope you get some emails)

August 13/06 from Zac:

I am here in Colorado searching high and low for the 1980’s show Bits and Bytes shown on TVO in Canada and presumably it was PBS here in states that I recall watching it on. My father and I watched this together during it’s original airing in the states…we only taped a couple episodes and they have been lost over the years. Today I run my own computer service company and this show was one of my earliest motivations to start down this path. I would be willing to go to great lengths at this point to track down a copy of this show.

Amazingly, even with all the old goodies surfacing on the internet these days I can find no significant traces of this show…except for your site http://www.rickstv.com/tvo/ and a few odd mentions here or there. Your site was a blast; I don’t know most of the TVO lineup but seeing the Bits and Bytes screenshots got me thinking about all the ones I used to watch as clearly you have with that collection. Finally I have a smidgen of hope that I might finally track this down.

(Bits and Bytes had a big effect on many computer fans)

August 15/06 from DCD:

wondering if you remember a show that was educational storytelling show with a girl that wore a red or orange shirt white pants and rainbow suspenders and she had a puppet dog friend on all episodes?? this has been bugging me ! used to watch all the time!

(not sure)

August 18/06 from Richard:

I really loved your website on the 1970s PBS children's shows! It brought back many fond memories for me to see all those images and logos from those shows.

August 18/06 from Deb:

Wow! Like the many people who have provided feedback on your site, I am so impressed with what you've done here. I'm hoping you or they can help me out with something my friends and I have been trying to figure out for years:

There used to be an old cartoon movie (or show...can't recall) that appeared on public TV that was about a mean old giant who built an enormous brick wall around himself to keep out all the children out, then all the plants in the garden died...it ended with him smashing down the bricks so the kids could come in to his garden and play and all the plants grew back.

I remember the animation being kind of grainy and brownish...does this ring a bell at all? ANY info you might know about would be amazing. It has been bothering me for years!!

Thanks and keep up your great work!

(The Selfish Giant, which is based on the story by Oscar Wilde)

August 24/06 from Taufan:

I stumbled upon your TVO nostalgia website after searching the Internet for any clips of Bits and Bytes - it turns out that there are a few very short clips on Youtube.

Anyway, I watched this series with endless fascination when I was about 7 or 8 years old, growing up in New York. The big PBS station, WNET/13 ended up broadcasting one episode every week as part of it's "Academy on Computers" adult-learning campaign. I don't remember the years, but it must've been the mid 80s, as the limited episodes I have are on Betamax. I remember even at that young age, realizing there were similarities between the cartoon segments in Bits and Bytes, and the way the entire Eureka! series was animated.
In the States BnB was followed by another show, more advanced that taught programming in Pascal - I remember the instructor was British so it might've been something that was brought over from the BBC, and I think they were learning on Tandy computers. At the age of 7, I was trying to figure out multi-dimensional arrays in Pascal!

Also, I remember another TVO educational series from the late 80s that had titles like "Senior Chemistry" and "Senior Biology" that were also broadcast here in the states via the PBS/ITV late-night feed. These featured more advanced topics in their respective sciences, with very detailed (though crude for it's time) computerized graphics. There was usually this very spacey-ambient background music, and a voice (which could've been that of Billy Van's) would narrate the subject matter.

(Thanks for the comments)

August 28/06 from Yaron:

I think you are the only one in the world that can help me. When I was a small kid, the Israeli instructional TV used to air an American show called: "Big Blue Marble". It was an ingenious TV show!!! And I remember it very well till this very day (20 years after I last saw it) I have been trying to get a VHS/DVD copy of the show for years, but had no success.I wish to see it again for nostalgic reasons; it reminds me of my forgotten childhood.

(Big Blue Marble was well ahead of its time)

August 31/06 from Marc:

I’ve been checking out your site and I must say it’s been a pleasure checking it out. Very informative! However, I’m having problems remembering a show and would greatly appreciate it if you can help in any way. I use to watch a kids show with my brother in the 1980’s, late 1980’s if I remember correctly. It aired the same time as ‘Today's Special’, just after it I think. All I remember about the show is that one of the characters was dressed up as a lion. There were other characters and I think they were all in some sort of costume, each wearing a different costume. The guy in the lion (or tiger) costume had black whiskers painted on his face, I think. I’m sorry I don’t remember more for you to go on.
I’ve been trying to find the name of the show forever! If you have any idea on what it could be, I’d really appreciate it if you’d let me know.

One last question. At the end of all (?) or some episodes of ‘Today’s Special’, was there a bit where there were two cops solving a crime? Or am I thinking of ‘3-2-1- Contact’? I don’t remember watching ‘3-2-1 Contact’ but the cops may be from that show and not ‘Today’s Special’. Thanks again for all your help.

(The first show I believe is Zoobilee Zoo, not so sure on the premise of the other)

September 12/06 from Angelique:

I use to watch 2 television shows when I was a kid but for the life of me can't remember the names of the television shows, thought maybe you could help. I did live in Canada so maybe they are Canadian shows but not sure.

The first was a show that had count Dracula, Frankenstein, a witch with her cauldron, also a wolf man that was a dj--as a dj he'd play songs and he'd then dance infront of a psychedelic background and when he was dancing all you could see in front of this background was his figure as a shadow.

The other was one that I watch about 2 kids that found a necklace owned by one of their grandparents, the necklace was broken allowing them to turn a dial that brought them to a land that was dying. The had to then find a sleeping giant to wake him in order to tell him his land was dying. At the end you come to find out the giant had given out several necklaces to different children but because that one necklace was broken it allowed them to travel to the giants land.

Neither were cartoons but the second one did have puppets in it.

Hope this rings a bell for you.

(Hilarious House of Frightenstein for the first one, uncertain about the second one)

September 18/06 from James:

First of all I really appreciate your excellent TVO / AIT websites. The memory of these shows needs to be kept alive! There is one TV Ontario educational show that I haven’t seen mentioned at all on your website called “Landscape of Geometry”. It was an 8-part series with episodes about 15 minutes each, made in 1982. It was hosted / narrated by David Stringer, who was on some other TV Ontario shows such as the science program “Not Another Science Show” and later a show about recycling called “Waste Not”. It was a fairly mature show (albeit very self-mocking) about basic concepts of geometry, presumably aimed at high school students. I have found one website that has a description of the show, and a summary of each episode:

http://www.tv.com/landscape-of-geometry/show/23893/summary.html?full_summary=1&tag=showspace_links;full_summary

(I never watched this show, but with your help, I was able to. When it aired, it was a bit too advanced for me. The host of this fine show has his own website - you can check it out here: http://www.davidstringer.ca/ - lots of interesting stuff on his site)

September 23/06 from Shelton:

Just wondering if you can help me I am looking for the today's special TV kids show from TVO on this 4 episode, "hats" "Noses" "Sleep" "Gardens" on VHS or on DVD, Is a birthday gift for someone I am dating which has appearing on the show I have mention. please help.

(Anyone have these episodes?)

October 4/06 from Angel:

the one show you never mentioned is zoobalizoo. that was a all time favorite of mine. i wish it was still on tv. because i would love for both of my sons to beable to watch it.

(I think this aired a bit after my time)

October 7/06 from Dee:

I thought I was the only nostalgic person as far as kids shows were concerned. I was an only child growing up and the tv was my teacher, babysitter, entertainer etc. I totally loved being sick and getting to stay at home to watch all the shows that played while I was in school! Just to add to the extensive list that everyone is mentioning....
The Magical Music Box - Starring Heather Conkie and that Victrola (it would magically send instruments and kids to the studio).
Also there was that show with puppets that had rubbery heads...I think it was called....The Safety Kids...the song went
"Calling all safety kids, calling all safety kids....." There was a squirrel....cleverly called...."Squirrel" and a bunch of other folk...
do you recall these? Also an obscure memory - inbetween shows like Willow and the Wisp etc. there would be these short cartoon fables...like one episode there was an old man and woman and the story was they ended up getting 3 wishes and one of the wishes ended up getting a link of sausages attached to her nose because they were fighting and wern't watching what they were saying. Then their goat ended up on their roof eating the grass?? I remember thinking even back when I was a kid that the cartoon was poorly made since I'm sure it was being dubbed in english since the person would be doing the voice over and not in sync with the cartoon...but anyway - let me know if you recall any of what I'm talking about.

(Thanks for sharing your great memories)

October 8/06 from Becky:

I’m trying to locate a video copy of Harriet’s Magic Hats – Dairy Farmer, if you can help, I’d appreciate it. Thank you.

(Anyone have this episode?)

October 9/06 from Joseph:

Love your website. Are you, or have any of your fans, been able to recall the lyrics to a prominent song from Strawberry Shortcake? It went something like:

Let a song tell a story,
Let a song be your friend,
Let the melody rise, right inside,
And let the rhythm be your beat--

This song was especially important when the mailman character of "Jingle" was transferred to a new town, and lost all his friends. He had been taught the song by his old friends, and was feeling pretty devastated. He was able to sing the song, cheer himself up, and find new friends.

I'd like to teach my children this song. Any help would be fantastic.

(Anyone know the full lyrics?)

October 13/06 from Erin:

I was so excited to come across your site. In fact I haven't even begun to go through it all yet. I have been searching for information on shows like "Read All About It" and "Artscape" for a while now, and couldn't find anything until now. There are even shows on your site that I couldn't remember the name of and only had a vague recollection of watching when I was quite young (born in 1977). This is so great! I just sent the link to my sister as well. I am looking forward to reliving old memories. Thank-you!

October 18/06 from Sara:

i was doing a google search for this show that was stuck in my head and been bugging me for years, I watched it as a kid...it had the recycle cycle segment, and the Mail puppet..They always made puppets out of butter containers , anyways your forum came up. And i couldnt find the part that had that show on it....Was wondering what the name of it was and if you knew it. thanks.

(Sounds interesting, I don't know it though)

October 24/06 from Mark:

I came across your site and found two things that are really of interest...I'm in the US, but most (if not all) of these shows aired here in the early/mid 80s on PBS. I was really surprised to see that you have an episode of Music Box, I've been looking for that show for ages, as well as "All About You" - the instant I saw the screenshot, I remembered it vividly, as well as the additional screens of the host of the show and the anatomical dummy.

Secondly, I was wondering if you might remember a show that aired at the same time as the ones on your site...it was on PBS in the afternoon, around the early 80s, and was narrated by an artist (whose face you'd never see), but he would tell a classic story such as Hansel & Gretel while sketching it on canvas with colored pencils...I've been dying to find the name of that show (I think it was simply "storytime" or "storyteller", or something like that - although I don't see those on imdb.com).

I'm also looking to get episodes of "Supergran" which was produced in England. It's frequently on Ebay, but only in PAL format. It aired on PBS in 1985.

(The show sounds like a John Robbins program)

November 9/06 from Jody:

I am interesting in obtaining VHS or DVD copies of Read All About It. I love this show so much. I used to watch it in the 4th grade every friday. It's funny...as this was a canadian show, I can't seem to figure out how my teacher in Tennessee had copies of the show.

(The distances that this program reached always amaze me)

Novermber 9/06 from Michelle:

Hi! I have been searching the web for YEARS trying to get my hands on The Write Channel. I want to share this recording with my best
friend of 23 years. We met in 4th grade and loved "The Wite Channel" and even had our own "Club" complete with a flag for RB Bug. She is now an
actress in hollywood, so there isn't much I can get her that she doesn't already have. This would be priceless! Please contact me if you can help me in any way!

(Wish I had more than the one episode I provided you)

November 13/06 from Stacey:

When i was in elemantary school we use to watch a tv show during class time. I think the time frame would have been about 1983+. I can't remember much about it except that it had a character named boots, and an owl (they could be one in the same) and they taught reading skills. I swear it was on TVO. It must have been pretty good to have been shown in the schools. They did the song "them bones" in one episode and i am almost certain that it showed the french hobo guy in it.
Any help would be appreciated

(Readalong and Parlez-Moi mixed? I don't recall that...)

November 13/06 from Silvia:

I`m so glad I found finially someone who could help me out! Can you pleace tell me in which episode "Larry" (Corey Haim) played with?
And also I would like to buy that one, where Corey Haim is in. I found VHS from Edison Twins V1 - V4
but I have no clue which episodes are on which VHS. Maybe you can tell me?

(I am fairly certain he was in Dogs and at least one other episode on those tapes)

November 13/06 from Doug:

You may like to know that The Ozlets series episodes 1-6 is available on DVD.

www.nomadfilmsinternational.com

November 14/06 from Clare:

A strange discussion at work has several of us remembering a short that used to air (we think) on TVO in Toronto. The main character was an animated guy on a drinking glass who used to sink through the shelves in the kitchen cupboard. I can't remember much more than that, he may have worn a hat and he would meet up with other characters on mugs and cups in the kitchen. Anyone remember it?

(This was the "Teeny Little Super Guy" skit which was on Sesame Street. The same skit may have been on Pinwhee on Nickelodeon. I remember parts of the theme song, "Teeny little super guy, he's no bigger than your eye....don't look in the sky, don't look in the sea, he's inside of you and me....snap your fingers, here I come." Hope these sketchy memories help)

November 15/06 from Christine:

I was wondering if you have any info about this show. It was comprised of 2 clay blobby guys that would fight. They were different colours (one blue, one green) and at least one had black hair. They would squish each other or else build things out of clay to fight with. They spoke gibberish—please forgive me if it was really French, because this was before I learned the language at school. They had arms and legs but their torsos looked like round blobs. I was born in 1978 so it would have been in the early 80s. On another message board about classic TVO shows, one other person knew what I was talking about but thought he saw it on TFO. I watched it on Access in Alberta, so I’m not sure if it was on TVO or not.

(I recall this show vaguely, seemed to be used as filler inbetween shows - wish I had more info)

November 17/06 from Kim:

Thank you thank you thank you. I live in the UK now and so do not have many people to bounce children shows of the 1970's off of.
The Adventures of Timothy Pilgrim was driving me nuts for years- I had such a vague memory of it and needed to piece it together. All I could recall was Zac, a medicine man- and the cart. Thankfully you had pictures, episode guide and all. LOL Ol Coot- I remember that now too!
Love your website, it's brought back memories of many forgotten TVO shows and PBS- like Inside Out- I LOVED that!!
Thanks again for making such a fab website.

November 20/06 from Russ:

What's the tv show from the 1980's.. where there was a guy who always wore Hockey Jersey's and played Guitar.. had two kids who helped him out
and he sang the song "you can do it" .. with the kids singing "yes you can!" and he had a moustache..
and there was always a scene where some older guy would talk about eating healthy for sports.. and then he'd get hurt and an ambulance would come around and take him away
what is that show called???

(This is "Yes You Can", which ran on the CBC in the early 1980s and at some point later on YTV. It was hosted by Kevin Gillis, who some people may remember
as the co-creator of the CBC series The Raccoons. In fact, it seems like there's a very strong connection between "Yes You Can" and "The Raccoons".
Even the song "You Can Do It" appears in two Raccoons specials) - Thanks Richelle for the info

November 25/06 from Pamela:

Hi love your site I have been trying to find out the names of two shows that I used to watch on tvo and with your site I found the name of one "read all about it" wow what fun memory's looking at it all lol.
I am still searching for one, it was English children and they traveled places on a magic carpet and there was a phoenix that used to burn and come back to life at the beginning or ending of the show, any info would be great

(Phoenix and the Magic Carpet?)

November 29/06 from Ian:

Great website by the way. I have been trying to rememver the name of a Canadian TV show from the 1970's and it is eluding me. The show aired on Saturday mornings. The theme-song from the show was "Sing this Song All Togther" (originally recorded by the Rolling Stones). It was very minimalist and was not a big bidget show. It was Aesop's Fables, acted out for the kids to understand the morals. Help, as this has been driving my crazy for many years. For some reason, the name 'Storybook Theatre" comes to mind but I don't get any hits on the web with that title. Thanks for any help you can provide. Have a good one!

(No idea, hopefully someone else knows)

December 4/06 from Dave:

I found your contact info on your site... I wanted to know if you have copies of Dear Aunt Agnes... If not do you know anyone that does? Any
idea where I should look? I'm desperately trying to track these down.

(One of the many shows, we all trying to find)

December 8/06 from Blaine:

First I must say i can't believe I found this site. I have been talking about these shows with people i know for ever. i had a conversation with a friend just the other day about the inside/out show, which was one of my favorite shows if not my favorite. which is how i found your site actually. i typed in inside out 1970's and it magically took me to you. i still can't believe it actually. i think about all those shows all the time. i tried to find the inside out show on you tube, but no dice. i think about all the TVO shows all the time. Itas magical feeling that i feel so conected to. im 35 now, i grew up in Port Elgin ON and used to watch TVO when i was sick away from school. when the world was still normal. i really feel so glad i was a child a this time of the world. I feel so lucky that i was able to experiance such amazing and positive shows. The world really has changed, for the worse, as im sure you can agree. its hard to believe that some of the stuff i see on tv now actually is being shown. what happend? it really makes me sad. I have been looking for the old TVO shows for ever. I never thought there was anybody like your self. it really is very strange. recently i have been on real quest for this nostalgia. and been thinking about it almost everyday. And never thought I would be possible to find info no these shows. and then i found your site. it seemed so magical, as if it was sent magicaly to me. i know that sounds strange but its how it seemed. All the shows from TVO really have a dream like quality to me. It was a time when things were so much purer. I wish those times were where i could be again. lately i just seem to be able to have other tv shows to cling on too. i am really close to h.r. pufnstuf and you can't do that on televison, and the tomorrow people, the electric company, old school sesame street, sid and marty krofft stuff. i was really into the early nickalodeon stuff from the early eighties. the used to show you can't do that on televison and then live wire( the kids talk show), then the tomorrow people came on. the tomorrow people(thames show) was pretty amazing. it had a really scary vibe to it and the opening them was really erie. it was had element similar to dr.who. Well back to the TVO stuff. It was my childhood. I think probably too much of it. but it was still all good memories. i used to think about this really amazing show that would come on TVO which i never could remeber the name of. it was on of my favorites. i used to think it might of been a dream that dreampt up. i would lay in bed thinking about this show, and still do now along, with inside/out. the show was The Adventures of Timmothy Pilgrim. It was so great. the scences of him running from the thug in the leather jacket(which i now remember is barny, thanks to your site). i would ask people if they knew this show but nobody had a clue what iwas talking about. when i saw it on your site it was better than any store or sureal thing i could possibly think of. i was so glad to see the pics. this show was so cool. i really would struggle with trying to remeber it over the years. i rembered the trunk and the boots, and barny. but reading the stuff on your site, alot more stuff came floding back to me. thanks for this site, it really is amazing. I really was glad to see the inside/out stuff aswell. i was just talking to my friend about this the other day, but he had no idea what i was talking about. like the A.O.T.P., inside/out was very sureal to me. very unusual and somwhat frightening. i alway remeber the one episode of the boy who gets lost in the city. it was my favorite. i remember that part where he touches some greenish stone and the something wierd happens, the music gets really strange and then he runs into a clothin department store with all these maniquins looking at him. this episode had a profound effect on me as a child. and kind made me obsesed with the series. i would watch the show hoping this episode would come on. but i only saw it twice, and from what i can remember, the second time i caught the show when it was already half way done. but the othere epeisodes were really strange too. i remeber the one I Dare You, i saw that one in grade three. and they also showed us In My Memory. that one seemed to be on all the time. but the starting of the show was amazing. still nothing compares to it. freaked me out as i kid, but thats why i loved it. the audio that acommpianied this was just as important. very pyschodelic qualities. at one time i contacted the NFB to see if the knew anything about this show, i think i thought they might have had a part in it. but remeber recently that it was from the states. Gosh this show really was so good. I didn't think i 'd ever find someone who had info on it. I really am glad that i found your site. I pretty much rely on old shows to get back old lost feelings. with the whole youtube thing now i can see some of the past. but not really any of the TVO stuff though. I hope you don't mind how long this email is but i really am cincerly so happy to find this site. I wanted to ask you if there way you might be interested in selling me some TVO stuff on dvd? It would really be going to a good home. and i WOULD BE SO GREATFUL if you could. I don't think there could be anything better than having the ability to see these shows again. I don't really have much to trade but i can tell you what i do have , I have about five discs of you can't do that on television. I have the complete series of the tomorrow people. the complette tv seires of h.r.pufnstuf. the oldschool sesamee street box set. lidsville boxset, 2 best of The Electric Company boxsets. the readers digest animated classics of the Oscar Wilde stories , The Selfish Giant, and The Happy Prince. Well I have almost everthing you could want on the band the Smiths. Don't know if you like them or not. But they are one of my favorites. well thats all i can think of right now. if you want to do a trade or will accept money, please let me know. i hope that we can do something, I really am only looking for the TVO stuff, if you would sell me some i would forever be greatfull. well i still live in Ontario, in a place called Whitby, next to Oshawa. Was working at Ontario Power Generation over the course of the last couple years doing rad repair on pickering units. not really that fun, i actually am considering changing fields going back to school right now. well thats that. i hope you didn't mind the lenght of this email, as i know it was pretty lenghty. i will be reading this site regulary now that i know about it. i could talk about all the other shows that i love from that time, but i thought it might just take up to much time, but actually all of them i love and remember. oh here a question? do you remember a science show with a black bacground that had these bubles with this guys head in it. talking about aspects of physics and biology( i think) it had the opening theme of a kraftwerk song. oh and Report Canada With Heather Conkey. it was kind of this querky show set up like the new. Heather would show art from kids and stuff. Great theme song if you remember. on report canada you'll find out who you are. ( i think those are the words) well man thanks again. and hopeto hear back from you soon. take care

(Thanks for the awesome memories)

December 8/06 from George

Wanted to drop you a line and tell what a great flashback it was to see your site. I grew up outside of Ottawa and devoured these shows as a kid. A couple of shows I remember on CJOH that have not been referenced on your excellent website are Size Small (a morning young children’s show with puppets and a female host with short black hair) and-Bebop and Bubble Gum (children’s variety/talent show out of Ottawa, very very low budget, but the gimmick was that the children were all actual performers, musicians and singers and the like). Wish I knew more...
I seem to remember a show about a kid who had a magic T-shirt-it was live action and I think the T-Shirt had a picture of a tiger on it that gave him super powers? Any ideas?

(Anyone know?)

Decmber 10/06 from Kelly

Hi, My name is Ashley and I am trying to remember a children’s show from a long time ago,,, I think from the late 1980’s to early 1990’s. All I can remember from this show is at the end there was a man dressed up like a giant record and he played the wooden spoons. I am stumped. Could you please help me remember?

(Anyone know?)

December 19/06 from Rolinda

I am a teacher in the States and I was wondering if you could tell me where I can purchase the artscape tapes from the 1980's TVO kids show. I have looked on
ebay, amazon, and barnes and nobel. Is there a candian vendor that I could purchase the tapes from? I LOVED it so much and I know that my students would love it
too!Thank you.

(A great program, but I don't know where it can be bought, I am afraid)

December 25/06 from Scott:

Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed your TVO site and thanks for all the hard work you obviously put into it.

Favourite Shows: Fables of the Green Forest, Readalong, Math Patrol

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Shows on this site: TVOntario TVO TV Ontario PBS AIT All About You Barbapapa The Body Works Bits and Bytes Cucumber Eureka Fables of the Green Forest Guess What? (With Jan Rubes) Harriet's Magic Hats Jeremy Kidsworld Let's All Sing(with Tony Saletan) Mathmakers Math Patrol Parlez-Moi Read All About It Readalong Report (with Heather Conkie) The Adventures of Timothy PilgrimTwo Plus You! Vision On(with Tony Hart) What If...(starring Billy Van)World of B.J. Vibes Write On AIT Programming PBS Programming (In Other Words, Math Wise, It Figures, Thinkabout, Inside/Out, High Feather, Dragons, Wagons & Wax) Edison Twins, Just Like Mom, Camp Cariboo, YTV's Rec Room)