Hold onto your eardrums: PBS Kids will be launching a new show in September, and for those used to hearing “Why? Why? Why?” all day long, your 3- to 5-year-olds are going go to love it.
The brainchild of Angela Santomero (co-creator of Blue’s Clues) and Samantha Freeman (former Nickelodeon exec), Out of the Blue Enterprises will be producing this exciting new program:
The new animated preschool series Super Why! boosts literacy skills through interactive fairy-tale adventures that encourage viewers to participate in learning through entertaining and engaging games. It focuses on the adventures of the 6-year-old, Whyatt Beanstalk—younger brother of Jack, from “Jack and the Beanstalk”—and his fairy tale character friends, among them Red, the Littlest Pig and Princess Pea, living in the enchanted Storybrook Village. PBS KIDS has made a 65-episode initial commitment to the new series and the program has received a Ready to Learn grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the U.S. Department of Education.
I sort of love it already. I mean, c’mon. Whyatt Beanstalk? And what’s not to like about any show brought to us by a Ready to Learn grant?
(Oh, sure. I balked at Between the Lions, initially, thinking that it couldn’t possibly be as good as Sesame Street. I can admit now that I was wrong. My kids have since outgrown both shows and now I have to sneak episodes of Cliff Hanger and Chicken Jane on the sly. Don’t judge me.)
Anyway. Out of the Blue is also responsible for the various offshoot Blue’s Clues shows (Blue’s Room and the Meet Blue’s Baby Brother special), and looks to be ready to take the market by storm, with licensing and merchandising plans already underway. I’ll be keeping an eye on this one.
(And maybe even missing the incessant “Why? Why? Why?”s. Because when they get older, it changes to a very whiny, “Why nooooooot?”)