99 Fun Facts About Kids TV Show

Which famous puppeteer did Sesame Street's producers ask to work full-time on the show in 1969?

Jim Henson waived his performance fee in exchange for full ownership of the Sesame Street Muppets, rights the show's workshop finally bought in 2000.

Which Sesame Street Muppet did NASA discuss sending into space aboard the shuttle Challenger?

Big Bird's performer, Caroll Spinney, said the puppet wouldn't fit, so a teacher, Christa McAuliffe, flew on the doomed 1986 mission instead.

Sesame Street's Count von Count is modeled on which actor's portrayal of Dracula?

Bela Lugosi's Dracula inspired the Count's cape pose and laugh, and European folklore held that vampires felt compelled to count scattered seeds.

Which is Cookie Monster's favorite kind of cookie?

Chocolate chip is his favorite, but after 2005 health segments sparked rumors he would become Veggie Monster, he began calling cookies a sometimes food.

Which Muppet performer, also the voice of Yoda, played Cookie Monster when Sesame Street began in 1969?

Frank Oz never planned a career in puppetry: he has said he really wanted to be a journalist or direct movies, and he later became a film director.

Which Sesame Street Muppet describes himself as three and a half years old?

Elmo never caught on until Kevin Clash took over the puppet from a frustrated Richard Hunt and gave him his high falsetto voice.

Which Sesame Street pair shares its names with two characters in the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life?

Bert and Ernie share names with the film's characters played by Ward Bond and Frank Faylen, but the show's makers have said the match is a coincidence.

Which Muppet had orange fur in Sesame Street's first season before turning green?

Oscar the Grouch was orange in season one and green from season two, and he exists because producers wanted Muppets who could share the street with the human cast.

What did Sesame Street tell children about Mr. Hooper after actor Will Lee passed away in 1982?

That he had died: producers chose to be honest, airing the episode on Thanksgiving Day 1983 so parents would be home to talk it through with their children.

In a classic 1971 Sesame Street picture book, which Muppet begs readers to stop turning the pages?

Grover ties the pages down and even builds a brick wall to stop you, only to discover that the monster at the end of the book is himself.

Which Sesame Street Muppet did the adults dismiss as imaginary for 14 years, until they finally met him in 1985?

Mr. Snuffleupagus was finally revealed because writers feared children would stop telling adults about disturbing things if the grown-ups on the show never believed.

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was produced by a public TV station in which city?

Pittsburgh's station WQED made the show, and Fred Rogers said he went into television because he hated it and wanted to use it to nurture viewers.

Fred Rogers weighed 143 pounds for decades and said the number stood for what?

I love you takes one, four and three letters, and after his morning swims Rogers stepped on a scale that kept reading 143.

Fred Rogers was ordained as a minister in which church?

Presbyterian leaders ordained him with an unusual charge: to minister to children and their families through television rather than leading a congregation.

Which actor played Fred Rogers in the 2019 film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood?

Tom Hanks plays Rogers, yet the story follows a jaded Esquire journalist who is assigned to profile him and comes away changed.

After Steve left Blue's Clues in 2002, what was the name of the new host?

Joe, played by Donovan Patton, took over after Steve Burns quit, saying he refused to lose his hair on a kids' TV show.

On Blue's Clues, where does the host sit down to work out what the three clues mean?

The Thinking Chair is where the host pieces the clues together, after drawing each one in the notebook, a device meant to teach children memory skills.

Which Australian city inspired the setting of Bluey?

Brisbane is where Bluey is set, and creator Joe Brumm based the show on his own experience raising two daughters.

What is the job of Bandit, Bluey's dad?

Archaeologist is Bandit's job, and his voice, Custard frontman David McCormack, first assumed he was being asked to record just a couple of lines.

What does Peppa Pig love jumping in?

Muddy puddles are Peppa's favorite thing, yet thousands of Peppa clips were once pulled from China's Douyin video app.

Which toy giant bought Peppa Pig's owner, Entertainment One, in 2019?

Hasbro kept Peppa Pig but sold eOne's film and TV business to Lionsgate in 2023 for $500 million.

Which Canadian toy company produces PAW Patrol?

Spin Master developed PAW Patrol as a TV show and a toy line at the same time, working out the story before the toys were designed.

What breed of dog is Chase, the police pup on PAW Patrol?

German Shepherd Chase has a sad backstory: PAW Patrol: The Movie reveals he was abandoned as a puppy on the streets of Adventure City.

In the PAW Patrol TV series, rival Mayor Humdinger is mayor of which town?

Foggy Bottom is Humdinger's town in the series, but in PAW Patrol: The Movie he grabs the mayor's job in Adventure City.

What kind of animal is Boots, Dora the Explorer's best friend?

A monkey named Boots is Dora's best friend, and in the show's Spanish and Italian dubs the lesson flips, teaching English words instead.

What kind of animal is Arthur Read?

An aardvark is what Marc Brown made Arthur, and a still of Arthur's clenched fist from one episode later became a hugely popular internet meme.

Which reggae artist performed the Arthur theme song 'Believe in Yourself'?

Ziggy Marley sang it with the Melody Makers, and in 2019 Alabama's public TV network refused to air the episode where teacher Mr. Ratburn marries a man.

What color is Tinky Winky, the biggest of the Teletubbies?

Purple Tinky Winky was accused by Jerry Falwell in 1999 of being a hidden gay symbol, because of his color and his triangle-shaped antenna.

What type of dinosaur is Barney?

Tyrannosaurus rex Barney started as a 1988 home-video series that Sheryl Leach made because she couldn't find good videos for her young son.

Which future pop stars both appeared as children on Barney & Friends?

Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato met at age 7 while waiting in a Barney audition line, sat down to color together and became close friends.

Barney's closing song is sung to the tune of which traditional children's song?

This Old Man is the tune of Barney's closing song, and music from the show was reportedly used by US interrogators on detainees.

Who hosted Reading Rainbow on PBS from 1983 to 2006?

LeVar Burton and his company licensed the brand from WNED in 2011, then relaunched Reading Rainbow as an iPad app in 2012.

Reading Rainbow's 2014 revival campaign raised over $5 million on which crowdfunding site?

Kickstarter backers revived the brand, but WNED, the station behind the show, later took legal action against its former host.

Who voiced Ms. Frizzle in the original Magic School Bus cartoon?

Lily Tomlin returned two decades later in Netflix's reboot, where Ms. Frizzle earns a Ph.D. and hands the bus to her sister, voiced by Kate McKinnon.

Before becoming the Science Guy, Bill Nye worked as an engineer at which aircraft maker?

Boeing employed Nye as an engineer on the 747, and his Science Guy name began as a sarcastic retort from a host of a local sketch comedy show.

What breed of dog was Wishbone, the PBS pup who daydreamed his way into classic novels?

Jack Russell Terrier Soccer played Wishbone, and on promotional tours he flew first class, stayed in four-star hotels and had his own security detail.

A 1997 Pokémon episode sent hundreds of Japanese children to hospital with seizures; which Pokémon's attack caused the flashing?

Pikachu's Thunderbolt caused the strobing explosion, yet it was Porygon, the episode's featured Pokémon, that the anime largely kept off screen afterward.

What kind of animal is Zoboomafoo, star of the Kratt brothers' TV show?

A lemur, a Coquerel's sifaka named Jovian, played Zoboomafoo on camera, and a puppet took over whenever the character had to talk.

Which former Beatle was the original narrator of Thomas & Friends?

Ringo Starr also played Mr. Conductor on the US spin-off Shining Time Station, then left to focus on music, and George Carlin replaced him in both roles.

Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends live on which island?

Sodor is a made-up island, the setting for stories Wilbert Awdry first told his son Christopher when the boy was stuck in bed with measles.

What do the Doozers, the Fraggles' tiny neighbors, make their buildings from?

Radishes go into the Doozers' candy-like building sticks, and Doozers want Fraggles to eat their work so there is room to build more.

Doug Funnie's superhero alter ego is called what?

Quailman is Doug's daydream alter ego, and creator Jim Jinkins later sold the show's studio to Disney, which ordered new episodes of Doug.

Which children's book illustrator drew the Little Bear books that the TV series is based on?

Maurice Sendak illustrated the first five Little Bear books and later helped produce the cartoon, staying closely involved in its new stories.

In Hey Arnold!, what is the name of the boarding house Arnold's grandparents run?

Sunset Arms sits in Hillwood, a city creator Craig Bartlett pieced together from places he loved, including Seattle, Portland and Brooklyn.

Which toy did Captain Kangaroo feature on air in the 1950s, helping turn it into a hit?

Play-Doh began as putty for rubbing coal soot off wallpaper, until Kay Zufall, a relative of the maker, suggested selling it as a toy.

Which two words did Howdy Doody's silent clown finally speak at the end of the last episode in 1960?

Goodbye, kids came from Lew Anderson, Clarabell's third performer; the original clown, Bob Keeshan, reportedly left in 1952 amid a salary dispute.

Schoolhouse Rock! began when its creator's son could memorize which band's lyrics but not times tables?

The Rolling Stones' lyrics stuck with David McCall's son, so McCall hired musician Bob Dorough to set multiplication to music, which became 'Three Is a Magic Number'.

Before creating SpongeBob SquarePants, Stephen Hillenburg worked as what?

A marine science educator at the Orange County Marine Institute, Hillenburg drew a tide-pool comic, The Intertidal Zone, whose characters grew into SpongeBob's world.

In Avatar: The Last Airbender, which sky bison spent a century frozen in an iceberg with Aang?

Appa was trapped in the ice with Aang after the young Avatar ran away from his new responsibilities and a storm drove them into the ocean.

Which Batman villain was invented for the 1992 cartoon Batman: The Animated Series, not the comics?

Harley Quinn was created by writer Paul Dini and artist Bruce Timm as a henchwoman for the Joker. She only reached the comic books a year later.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers reused battle footage from the Super Sentai series made in which country?

Japan's Toei Company made Super Sentai, and the American producers shot new scenes with their own actors around its costumed fight footage.

Nickelodeon's famous green slime first appeared on a sketch comedy show made in which country?

Canada's You Can't Do That on Television, made at an Ottawa station, slimed any cast member who admitted to not knowing something.

Which actor, who later played God in Bruce Almighty, was Easy Reader on PBS's The Electric Company?

Morgan Freeman joined the original 1971 cast as Easy Reader, a smooth hipster who loved the printed word, long before his film fame.

Which blockbuster film director was executive producer of Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs?

Steven Spielberg approved every part of each Tiny Toons episode, then judged the pitches for its follow-up at home with his children's help.

Scooby-Doo, the cowardly crime-solving companion of Shaggy Rogers, is which breed of dog?

A Great Dane, though early drafts called him Too Much, a bongo-playing dog whose breed wavered between Dane and sheepdog.

In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, which weapon does the pizza-loving Michelangelo fight with?

Nunchucks were cut from British broadcasts over worries about the weapon, so the cartoon later handed Michelangelo a grappling hook.

LazyTown, home of the acrobatic hero Sportacus, was created and filmed in which Nordic country?

Iceland's aerobics champion Magnús Scheving created the series and played Sportacus himself, filming at a purpose-built studio near Reykjavík.

In Phineas and Ferb, the boys' teal-colored pet secretly works as a spy; what kind of animal is he?

A platypus was chosen by the show's creators for its obscure, striking looks, and Perry hides his spy work behind a mindless pet act.

Disney's TaleSpin recast Baloo the bear as a cargo pilot; which animated film did Baloo come from?

The Jungle Book also gave TaleSpin its villain Shere Khan, who returned not as a jungle hunter but as a ruthless corporate magnate.

Which instrument does SpongeBob's grumpy neighbor Squidward Tentacles play, badly, in his spare time?

Clarinet is Squidward's chief passion, though he has no real talent for it. Despite the name, he is an octopus, drawn that way for the species' big brainy head.

In Rugrats, which toy tool does baby Tommy Pickles use to break out of his crib?

A screwdriver made of plastic is Tommy's escape kit, and the older Tommy of later stories keeps it on his keychain as a nod to his baby days.

Which mystery substance did Professor Utonium accidentally spill into the mix that created the Powerpuff Girls?

Chemical X also made the girls' nemesis: Mojo Jojo was the professor's lab assistant, a chimpanzee caught in the very same accident.

Which sorcerer spends The Smurfs cartoon trying to capture the little blue creatures alongside his cat Azrael?

Gargamel shares a shack with Azrael, and the two bicker constantly: he insults the cat, and the cat answers him in kind.

Inspector Gadget gets the credit, but who secretly cracks his cases with help from the dog Brain?

His niece Penny does the real detective work, regularly foiling the villains of M.A.D. while keeping her bumbling uncle out of harm's way.

In Captain Planet and the Planeteers, which power does Ma-Ti's ring hold alongside earth, fire, wind and water?

Heart is the gift of Ma-Ti, the Planeteer from South America, and the five rings together summon Captain Planet when the team cannot cope alone.

Ben Tennyson of Ben 10 turns into alien heroes using which watch-like device stuck to his wrist?

Omnitrix is the alien prototype Ben finds inside a fallen pod on the first night of a camping trip in his grandfather's RV, the Rustbucket.

Which pair of fairy godparents grant wishes for ten-year-old Timmy Turner in The Fairly OddParents?

Cosmo and Wanda later became parents themselves when Timmy wished for them to have a baby, a little fairy they named Poof.

Rocko, the easily frightened hero of Nickelodeon's Rocko's Modern Life, is what kind of Australian animal?

A wallaby it is: the show's creator dreamed up the character after meeting one at a zoo in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Gravity Falls, where twins Dipper and Mabel Pines spend a strange summer, is a fictional town in which US state?

Oregon is where the twins' Grunkle Stan runs the Mystery Shack, a tourist trap, and the kids help out between investigating local mysteries.

In Dexter's Laboratory, which older sister keeps barging into the boy genius's secret lab and ruining his experiments?

Dee Dee is as carefree as Dexter is intense, and their unsuspecting parents never learn of the vast laboratory hidden in his bedroom.

Masters of the Universe, the cartoon starring He-Man, was commissioned by which toy company to sell action figures?

Mattel ordered the cartoon once the Federal Communications Commission relaxed its ban on children's programs based on toys.

Which girl is the devoted owner of the house-sized pet in PBS's Clifford the Big Red Dog?

Emily Elizabeth was given Clifford by her parents on her sixth birthday, when he was still a very small puppy.

The PBS puppet show Between the Lions follows the lion family of Theo and Cleo, who run what kind of place?

A library is home to the lions and their oddball staff, including Click, a talking computer mouse, and a dinosaur who serves as the thesaurus.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic takes place in which kingdom, ruled by Princess Celestia?

Equestria is shared by three kinds of pony living in harmony: earth ponies, winged pegasi and unicorns.

Which talking dog belongs to the space-age family in The Jetsons and starts his words with an R sound?

Astro growls an R onto the front of every word, a vocal trick that was later handed to another cartoon dog, Scooby-Doo.

In Animaniacs, the Warner siblings Yakko, Wakko and Dot were locked away for years inside what studio landmark?

A water tower is the trio's prison, modeled on the real one that stands on the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank, California.

Which Saturday Night Live cast member got his start in the original cast of Nickelodeon's sketch show All That?

Kenan Thompson began on a show pitched as a kid-friendly version of the very series he joined in 2003, and he returned to produce its 2019 revival.

Which actor, later Morpheus in The Matrix, played Cowboy Curtis on the kids' show Pee-wee's Playhouse?

Laurence Fishburne was one of the regular human visitors to the Playhouse, alongside Phil Hartman as Captain Carl.

Which BBC programme, on air since 1958, is the longest-running children's TV show in the world?

Blue Peter has been broadcast since October 1958, and since 1963 its young viewers have been able to earn the programme's own badge.

Britain's Postman Pat delivers the mail around the village of Greendale with which black and white cat?

Jess later landed a spin-off, Guess with Jess, in which the once-silent cat can talk and has adventures with the farm animals.

The animated hero Fireman Sam protects the village of Pontypandy, set in which part of the United Kingdom?

Wales gave the village its invented name, a blend of two real towns, Pontypridd and Tonypandy.

Thunderbirds, the 1960s British saga of International Rescue, was performed by what instead of live actors?

Marionettes with electronic controls starred in a method the makers called Supermarionation, filmed alongside scale-model special effects.

Shaun the Sheep first appeared in which Wallace & Gromit film before getting a TV series of his own?

A Close Shave was the duo's third short and an Academy Award winner, and the woolly newcomer was named as a pun on the word shorn.

The 1990s kids' horror anthology Goosebumps adapted the best-selling scary novels of which author?

R. L. Stine's stories drop preteens into otherworldly scrapes, and most episodes adapt one of his novels directly.

In DuckTales, which wealthy uncle looks after Huey, Dewey and Louie when Donald Duck joins the Navy?

Scrooge McDuck spends the show guarding his fortune from the Beagle Boys and his Number One Dime from the sorceress Magica De Spell.

Which actress starred in Nickelodeon's Clarissa Explains It All before playing Sabrina the Teenage Witch?

Melissa Joan Hart's Clarissa spoke straight to the audience about school, boys and her annoying younger brother.

On Nickelodeon's game show Legends of the Hidden Temple, what was the name of the giant talking stone head?

Olmec knew the secrets behind every treasure in his temple, and teams such as the Red Jaguars and Silver Snakes competed to retrieve one.

Which PBS Kids preschooler stars in a 2012 cartoon set in Fred Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe?

Daniel Tiger shares the neighborhood with the children of other puppets from the original show, such as Katerina Kittycat and Prince Wednesday.

In The Transformers cartoon, which tyrannical leader of the Decepticons is the archenemy of Optimus Prime?

Megatron's evil robots and the heroic Autobots both left their homeworld of Cybertron, crash-landed on Earth and lay entombed for four million years.

Ash Ketchum, the ten-year-old hero of the Pokémon TV series, sets out from which hometown?

Pallet Town lies in the Kanto region, and Ash leaves it dreaming of becoming a Pokémon Master, picking up many traveling companions along the way.

In Kim Possible, sidekick Ron Stoppable brings along which unusual pet named Rufus on missions?

A naked mole-rat suited Ron because his father's allergies ruled out any pet with hair, and Rufus's small size and agility often save the day.

Which future La La Land star was a Mouseketeer on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club with Britney Spears?

Ryan Gosling shared the cast with Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera, years before any of them were famous.

In PBS's Martha Speaks, which food gives the family dog Martha the power to talk?

Alphabet soup did it: the pasta letters traveled to Martha's brain instead of her stomach, giving her the ability to speak human words.

Max and Ruby, the young brother and sister of the preschool cartoon Max & Ruby, are what kind of animal?

Rabbits both: Max is a rambunctious three-year-old, and Ruby is his sometimes bossy seven-year-old big sister.

Which ventriloquist created the sock puppet Lamb Chop, who first appeared on Captain Kangaroo in 1956?

Shari Lewis later gave Lamb Chop puppet pals on her own show, including Hush Puppy and Charlie Horse.

Which host presided over the messy obstacle course on Nickelodeon's first game show, Double Dare?

Marc Summers was a television warm-up comedian who first went to a tryout in place of a friend, then passed several auditions to land the job.

In Are You Afraid of the Dark?, which group of kids meets around a campfire to tell horror stories?

The Midnight Society met at a secret spot in the woods, and each storyteller tossed a handful of dust on the fire to make the flames leap.

Which Rocky Horror Picture Show star voiced the father, Nigel, in Nickelodeon's The Wild Thornberrys?

Tim Curry voiced Nigel Thornberry, head of a family of roaming wildlife filmmakers whose daughter Eliza was granted the gift of speaking with animals.

Which pair of scheming spies plot against Rocky and Bullwinkle on the orders of Fearless Leader?

Boris and Natasha carry punning surnames, Badenov and Fatale, and answer to the dictator of the made-up nation of Pottsylvania.