Polka Dot Door was a long-running children's television series produced and broadcast by TVOntario from 1971 until 1993. The show, which aired Monday to Friday, was set in a large playhouse. The show was an adaptation of the long-running BBC children's show, Play School.
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Each episode had two human hosts, always one man and one woman, although there were many different human hosts over the course of the series. The same pair would host the show for a week; the next week would bring a new pair of hosts.
Hosts of Polka Dot Door included Denis Simpson, Carolann Reynolds, Gerry Mendicino, Gloria Reuben, Tonya Lee Williams, Taborah Johnson, Cindy Cook, Catherine Bruhier, Rex Hagon, Garth Mosbaugh, Jim Codrington, Sherry Miller, Johnnie Chase, Gordon Thomson, Nonnie Griffin, Ken John Grant, Peter van Wart, Carrie Loring, Nerene Virgin, Nina Keogh, and Mishu Vellani.
The hosts would lead young children in young songs and young stories, and interact with young stuffed animal characters Humpty, Dumpty, Marigold and Bear. (Minou, a French-Canadian stuffed cat, also appeared in some episodes in the later years). These characters never spoke or moved; the hosts would let the audience know what they were saying, for example, one of the hosts would say "What's that Marigold? You would like..." On certain theme days the hosts would invite the audience to peer through the Polka Dot Door to witness an educational video of some sort, showing, for instance, how crayons are made. When the Storytime Clock chimed, one of the hosts would visit Storytime Mouse, who had appeared next to the oversized blue grandfather clock. This grey stuffed mouse would usually be represented as engaged in some activity related to that day's story. The host would then tell the time in a deliberate, educational way before beginning the story. Sometimes the show would feature the music director John Arpin as well as musicians such as Peter Appleyard, Jane Bunnett, and Henry Cuesta for a round of songs, or have a visit from a special guest such as Marcia Darling from the Toronto Humane Society or a keeper at the Metro Toronto Zoo. The music was played by virtuoso Canadian pianists Herbie Helbig (1971-1984) and John Arpin (1985-1993). It was produced by Ted Coneybeare (1971-1984) and Jed MacKay (1985-1993). MacKay began as a writer and also wrote much of the show's original music. He went on to create and produce two multi-award winning series for TVOntario, Join In! and Polka Dot Shorts. From 1979-1984, Susan Murgatroyd directed 50 programs and wrote 20 scripts. From 1985 on, episodes were directed by David Moore. The show's initial executive producer was Vera Good. In 2010, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television gave "Polka Dot Door" a Masterworks award, calling it a "groundbreaking children's educational series" that "changed the nature of children's television programming" and "impacted countless young Canadians and raised the international profile of the Canadian television industry." [1]
Each day's episode had a particular theme. Monday was "Treasure Day", Tuesday was "Dress-Up Day", Wednesday was "Animal Day", Thursday was "Imagination Day", and Friday was "Finding Out Day". On "Imagination Day", the character Polkaroo (sometimes referred to as "the Polkaroo") appeared. The actor playing Polkaroo donned a tall, green plush costume that resembled a kangaroo. In its mended, yellow and multi-coloured polka-dot muumuu, the creature spoke using various repeated exclamations of its own name accompanied by elaborate gestures. The meaning of this pantomime was to be guessed by the audience. This was usually followed by a song whose lyrics began "Imagine, imagine, you can imagine Polkaroo...". Polkaroo appeared only to the female host while the male host was absent for some reason (with one, possible solitary exception where it appeared for the male host). The male host would return upon Polkaroo's departure, habitually exclaiming, "The Polkaroo was here?!?And I missed him again?!?"
In the very early days of the show, there was a one-time appearance of an upside-down clown, that appeared alongside the female host.
In the late 1990s, TVOntario capitalized on the success of Polkaroo by placing him and the other animal characters, now also actors dressed in costumes, in a new series, Polka Dot Shorts, which also had its own catchphrase moment, as each episode included the unlikely discovery of a pair of polka dot shorts, leading to the exchange:
(Character): A great big pair of polka dot shorts? Polkaroo: How did they get there?!
The Polkaroo costume as seen above and on the original series was hand made in Toronto, Ontario by Tanya Petrova, a relatively unknown artist who made brief appearances on numerous television shows from Mr Dressup to The Steve Allen Show in the late 1960s to early 1970s. Petrova also created Charlie Horse for Shari Lewis, along with many other puppets, including costumes for Ontario Place, Eaton's (i.e. Glump) and other events and attractions.
There were several other versions of the Polkaroo costume as well: the one with the long slender neck was built by Lorraine Cramp in 1982. She also made the Moose and Beaver costumes for Cucumber, the Sidney the Kangaroo costume for Math Patrol, and the Subterranean Monster costume for Mathmakers.
The 1980s Canadian sketch-comedy show Smith & Smith, starring real-life husband and wife team Steve and Morag Smith, used to parody the Polka Dot Door with a recurring sketch called "The Kids Show", with male and female hosts who loathed each other and bickered their way through the sketch. The sketches also featured the "Jerkaroo", played by Steve Smith with a paper bag over his head.
A Canadian sketch-type educational television show called Bod TV, which focuses on nutrition education and is also produced by TVOntario, has a parody of Polka Dot Door called Polka Dot House as one of its sketches. The sketch plays as a combination of the television show with reality television show Big Brother. In it, one of the hosts gets tired of Bear repeatedly making honey sandwiches for everyone day in day out, and schemes with Marigold to get Bear out of the kitchen so she can prepare a meal that provides a more balanced diet.
The series also aired on PBS stations in the USA between 1982 and 1988. As well, it was the first Canadian kids show to be syndicated in the U.S.