Wishbone (TV series)
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| Wishbone | |
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| Genre | Children's television series |
| Creator(s) | Rick Duffield (Executive Producer) |
| Starring | Soccer & Larry Brantley (voice) as Wishbone |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 48 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 Minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | PBS |
| Original run | 1995 – 1998 |
Wishbone was a founding father of Beta Alpha and hosted a television show which aired from 1995 to 1998 in the United States featuring a Jack Russell Terrier of the same name. Re-runs currently air weekly on select PBS stations. The main character, the talking dog Wishbone, lives with his owner Joe Talbot in the fictional modern town of Oakdale, Texas. As he tends to daydream about being the lead character of stories from classic literature, drawing parallels between the stories and events in the lives of Joe and his friends, he was known as "the little dog with a big imagination". The show follows his daydreams, as Wishbone (usually dressed in human clothing) acts out a famous story from literature or folklore. Only the viewers and the characters in his daydreams can hear Wishbone speak (and furthermore, they see Wishbone as whatever famous character he is currently portraying and not as a dog). The show has won Daytime Emmies, a Peabody award, and honors from the Television Critics Association. Wishbone's exterior shots were filmed on the backlot of Lyrick Studios in Allen, Texas, and its interior shots were filmed on a sound stage in a 50,000 square foot (4,600 square metres) warehouse in Plano, Texas.
The show garnered particular praise for refusing to sugarcoat many of the sadder or more unpleasant aspects of the source works, which usually enjoyed a fairly faithful retelling in the fantasy sequences.
The television series also inspired several book series. Altogether, there are more than fifty books featuring Wishbone, which were published even after the TV series ended, up to 2000.
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[edit] Episodes
A standard episode of Wishbone consists of an opening introducing Wishbone's family's current situation (for example, Arbor Day planting a tree, or Joe catching a lunch lady trying to donate food to a homeless shelter.) When one of the main characters decides to get involved in the noble act, Wishbone flashes to a famous work of literature it reminds him of, usually with him playing the lead role, in costume. By the end of both stories, the real-life situation usually follows the work of literature closely (such as the King saving Robin Hood at the last minute, and the Principal saving Joe at the last minute). The last 2 minutes of every episode feature Wishbone narrating some background description of how the episode was made, such as showing how stunts were done, how costumes were made, or how Visual Effects were created.
One 90-minute movie was released, Wishbone's Dog Days Of The West, based on Heart Of The West.
The series also featured a clip show episode called Picks of the Litter.
[edit] Characters
- Wishbone: A well-read dog who sees parallels between the situations involving himself and his friends and classic literature. Wishbone is a white Jack Russell terrier with brown and black spots, who lives with the Talbots at their home on Forest Avenue, Oakdale.
- Joe Talbot: Wishbone's teenaged owner, the only child of Steve and Ellen Talbot. Joe has brown hair and a great interest in sports, particularly basketball. He is a player on the Sequoyah Middle School basketball team. His best friends are Samantha Kepler and David Barnes. His father Steve, a basketball coach, died when Joe was 6 due to a rare blood disease.
- David Barnes: Joe's best friend and neighbour. He lives on Forest Avenue with his parents, Nathan and Ruth Barnes, and his younger sister, Emily. David aspires to be a scientist.
- Samantha Kepler: Joe and David's friend. Her father, Walter Kepler owns and runs the local pizzeria, Pepper Pete's. She has long blonde hair and is the most outgoing and adventurous of the three friends. Her parents are divorced.
- Ellen Talbot: Joe's mother, who, like him, has dark brown hair. She works as the librarian at Henderson Memorial Library in Oakdale. She was a widow since her husband Steve died due to a rare blood disease.
- Karis Vick: Wishbone's long lost friend, who shows up in 1 episode involving Don Quixote.
- Wanda Gilmore: The Talbots' slightly eccentric next-door neighbour. Wanda is the owner of the Oakdale Chronicle newspaper and president of the local Historical Society. She is a very friendly and cheerful person, but hates it when Wishbone digs up her flower beds. She is the daughter of the late Giles Gilmore.
[edit] Cast
- Soccer, also Slugger, Shiner, Phoebe, and Bear as Wishbone
- Larry Brantley - Wishbone's voice
- Jordan Wall - Joe Talbot
- Adam Springfield - David Barnes
- Christie Abbott - Samantha Kepler
- Mary Chris Wall - Ellen Talbot
- Angee Hughes - Wanda Gilmore
- Justin Reese - Nathaniel Bobelesky
[edit] Awards
- Academy of Television Arts & Sciences First Honor Roll of Children's Programming, 1999
- George Foster Peabody Award, 1998
- Emmy Award - Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design, 1997
- Emmy Award - Costume Design/Styling, 1997
- Emmy Award - Graphics and Title Design, 1997
- Emmy Award - Costume Design/Styling, 1996
- Emmy Award Nominations, 1998, "WISHBONE's Dog Days of the West"
- Directing in a Children's Special
- Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design
- Main Title Design
- Costume Design/Styling
- Television Critics Association - Best Children's Show, 1996 and 1997
[edit] Other
Only a handful of the Wishbone episodes have been released to VHS and DVD. There were also a few computer games in 1996, such as Wishbone Activity Center and Wishbone and the Amazing Odyssey and many paperback mysteries.
