Monster Sunday School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monster Sunday School is a series of children's shorts produced by Davey Porter Pictures. The series is seen during the Nanna's Cottage, exclusively on the Trinity Broadcasting Network.
| Monster Sunday School | |
|---|---|
| Format | Children's television series |
| Created by | Davey Porter Dave Moppert |
| Starring | Rachael Rizzo Davey Porter Dave Moppert Evan Kossow Gracie Porter |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 3 x 2 minutes each |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | TBN |
| Original run | October 7, 2006 – present |
The show is about a group of cute and fuzzy monster kids (100% puppets created by MonsterPuppets.Com) who come each week to Mrs. Church’s Sunday School class. In addition to Mrs. Church, the regular puppets are Clyde, Gilda, Topp and Brine. Other recurring puppets include Bible characters such as Moses and Noah. Crossover characters from Nanna's Cottage include Marvin and Little Harry. Each week the kids learn a simple Bible story that helps them to understand the importance of good character.
Contents |
[edit] Episode Guide
[edit] Season 1
(By Broadcast Order)
- Show #1 "Listen and You Shall Hear" (Air Date: 10/07/06)
Mrs. Church (Rachael Rizzo) introduces the characters of Monster Sunday School; the kids learn the importance of listening when they help Noah find his missing elephant.
- Show #2 "Making Fun Isn’t Fun" (Air Date: 10/14/06)
Clyde (Davey Porter) and Topp (Evan Kossow) learn the importance of not making fun of others just because they’re different.
- Show #3 "Thou Shalt Not Be A Fibber" (Air Date: 10/21/06)
Little Harry (Dave Moppert) brings Marvin (Davey Porter) to Sunday School as his guest. When Moses can’t remember the 9th Commandment, Little Harry learns the importance of being honest.
- Show #4 "Unanswered Prayer" (Air Date: 10/28/06)
When Clyde (Davey Porter) prays for a pair of Super-X Turbo Thruster roller skates but doesn’t get them, he concludes that Jesus doesn’t love him any more. The entire class learns that some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.
- Show #5 "Clyde’s Litterbug Blues" (Air Date: 11/04/06)
When Brine (Gracie Porter) outs Clyde for being a litterbug, the entire class learns what it means to be good stewards of the Earth.
- Show #6 "Patience is Job One" (Air Date: 11/11/06)
When the monsters can hardly wait for the pancake prayer breakfast after Sunday School class, Gilda (Dave Moppert) gets into trouble for eating Mrs. Church’s apple. The monsters learn the true meaning of patience with a visit from Job.
- Show #7 "Clyde's Precious Memories" (Air Date: 11/25/06)
When Clyde's grampa passes away, Mrs. Church (Rachael Rizzo) helps the other Sunday School monsters understand why he is so sad, but also comforts Clyde by reminding him he will be reunited some day with his loved ones in heaven.
- Show #8 "The Talent Show" (Air Date: 12/02/06)
The Sunday School monsters discover their unique talents when Mrs. Church challenges them to a contest to see who can be most creative with a blank piece of paper. The class gets a visit from Doubting Thomas (Evan Kossow).
- Show #9 "The Guy from Some Area" (Air Date: 12/09/06)
When Little Harry (Dave Moppert) is late for Sunday School because he was slowed down by an injured man on the sidewalk, the whole class gets a lesson in being a Good Samaritan.
- Show #10:
Because episode 10 of "Nanna's Cottage" is an all-music episode with no breaks for commercial spots, there was no "Monster Sunday School" that episode.
- Show #11 "A Fish & Chips Tale" (Air Date: 12/30/06)
When Topp brings a sack lunch with him to Sunday School, the aroma of fresh fish & chips makes the other monsters hungry, but there's not enough to go around. Matthew makes an appearance in class to retell the story of the miracle of the Fishes and Loaves.
- Show #12 "Brine & Goliath" (Air Date: 08/04/07)
When the kids encounter Arbuckle (a huge dog from Nanna's Cottage) on the way to Sunday School, only Brine has the courage to pass by him. King David makes a visit to class to tell the monsters about his long ago encounter with a Giant.
- Show #13 "Good Attendance" (Air Date: 08/11/07)
When Mrs. Church arrives at Sunday School to discover most of her students are absent, the monsters learn that other activities like sports, surfing and shopping aren't as important as remembering to worship the Lord.
[edit] The Christmas Special
- "Away in a Monster Manger" (Air Date: 12/23/06)
In this first 30-minute installment of Monster Sunday School, Clyde, Brine, Topp and Gilda learn the true meaning of the season with a monster retelling of the birth of Jesus Christ. Mrs. Church narrates a visual journey back to the very first Christmas nativity, featuring our Sunday School monsters as the original Bible characters, Joseph & Mary and the Three Wise Men. Mrs. Church, Marvin and Little Harry make guest appearances as Inn Keepers in the little town of Bethlehem. The episode includes two original Christmas songs written and performed by Davey Porter.
[edit] Cast
[edit] Regular Characters
| Character | Actor | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mrs. Church | Rachael Rizzo | Mrs. Church is a kind and gentle Sunday School teacher who imparts love and Biblical wisdom to the little monsters who attend her Sunday School class each week. |
| Clyde | Davey Porter | Clyde is a little bit dopey and sometimes unruly, but he’s the kind of kid who has the most to learn in Sunday School. |
| Topp | Evan Reece Kossow | Topp is from Jamaica. He’s Clyde’s friend and sometimes the class clown. |
| Brine | Gracie Porter | Brine is the teacher’s pet, usually sweet and considerate. Brine is least likely to exhibit bad behavior, although she knows how to stir up a hornet’s nest. |
| Gilda | Dave Moppert | Gilda is a bit of an oddball, but she’s not afraid to speak her mind. She frequently sides with Brine in boys-vs-girls disagreements. |
[edit] Recurring Characters
| Character | Actor | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Marvin | Davey Porter | Marvin can be loud, obnoxious, selfish, and is known to throw tantrums and pick his nose in public. Marvin provides conscience and lessons of right and wrong for our viewers and visitors to Nanna's Cottage. |
| Little Harry | Dave Moppert | A bad little puppet who gives Marvin bad ideas. He tries to get Marvin to do bad things, and to tell big lies. He usually succeeds, until Marvin learns his lesson and tells Harry, “I’m not gonna do it!!!” |
[edit] Background
Monster Sunday School was conceived as a series of shorts to replace the commercial breaks of Nanna's Cottage on TBN, a network that generally has no paid commercials in their programs. There are three breaks within each episode of Nanna's Cottage which last approximately 2 minutes each, which allows space to insert a 6-minute stand-alone mini-episode (an episode within an episode) of Monster Sunday School within each episode of Nanna's Cottage.
[edit] Production Staff
- Davey Porter, executive producer, director, writer
- Karen Sponsler-Porter, co-executive producer & costume designer
- Eric A. Stillwell, producer & writer
- Kevin M. Sponsler, producer & station relations
- Penny Havlovick, producer & production manager
- Dave Moppert, assistant director & post production
- Sal Collura, director of photography
- Kale Dawes, ADR & closed caption engineer
- Jeffrey L. Robinson, props & set decorator
[edit] Puppeteers
- Davey Porter
- Dave Moppert
- Rachael Rizzo
- Eric A. Stillwell
- Evan Kossow
- Emmie Robinson
