Me and My Monsters
| Me and My Monsters | |
|---|---|
| Created by |
Mark Grant Claudia Lloyd |
| Starring |
Felix Williamson Lauren Clair Macauley Keeper Ivy Latimer Puppeteers: Heath McIvor Don Austen David Collins |
| Country of origin |
Australia United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Greg Brenman Donna Andrews Lisa Henson Halle Stanford |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel |
Network Ten (Australia) CBBC (UK) ZDF (Germany) |
| Original run | 18 October 2010 – 27 April 2011 |
Me and My Monsters is a children's comedy television program from The Jim Henson Company that combines live action and puppetry. The series is an Australian/UK co-production filmed in Australia. It first screened on CBBC on 18 October 2010 and airs on Network Ten and Nickelodeon.[1]
Overview
The Carlson family, who have recently relocated from Australia to the UK, discover that there are three monsters living in their basement. Eddie would get along with the monsters much to the chagrin of his father and sister and to the delight of his mother.[2]
Production
The series is produced by Tiger Aspect Productions and Sticky Pictures with the Jim Henson Company. It was commissioned by the BBC in the UK for CBBC, ZDF in Germany, and Network Ten and Nickelodeon Australia in Australia. It features four human actors and three monster puppets developed by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. The series is written by Mark Grant, Rebecca De Souza, Claudia Lloyd, Larry Rickard, George Sawyer, Tom Basden, Sam Leifer, and James Bachman. There are 13 episodes in the first series which have all been aired. A second series aired in less than half a year and features 13 more episodes. The first series aired on CBBC on 18 October 2010 and aired every week day except Monday until Series 1 Episode 10, Dust Bag Love, which aired on 29 October. Episodes 1 through 10 had a slot of 8:00 am or 8:05 am during half term. When half term finished, the show did not air until 3 November 2010 with Episodes 11 and 12, airing at 6:30pm. Episode 13 aired after that weekend on its normal Tuesday not Monday slot concluding Series One on 8 November 2010. A second series was then set to start airing on 11 April 2011 at 8:00 am, and a new repeat slot of 6:15 pm for the new episodes has been made on CBBC. Originally, the whole two seasons was made as 26 episodes of half hour for one whole series but has split into two seasons with a 4 to 5 month gap in between their original airdates.[3]
Characters
- Eddie Carlson (played by Macauley Keeper) – The monsters' best friend, who is at school at Whitgift in Surrey.
- Kate Carlson (played by Lauren Clair) – Eddie's mother who is nicer to the monsters than his father and daughter.
- Nick Carlson (played by Felix Williamson) – Eddie's father who hates the monsters.
- Angela Carlson (played by Ivy Latimer) – Eddie's older sister who also hates the monsters like her father.
Monsters
- Haggis (performed by Don Austen) - A gigantic red and orange monster. He doesn't do a good job at being a monster since he tends to scare himself.
- Norman (performed by David Collins) - An odd purple monster who is a bit of an oddball.
- Fiend (performed by Heath McIvor) - A green multi-eyed monster who is the smallest of the bunch. He considers himself the leader of the monsters.
DVD Release
The full series of Me & My Monsters was released as a box set in Germany and Switzerland. Also in Norway and Sweden. In Australia, there has been a DVD release of Me and My Monsters called Series 1: Episodes 1–7. As the title says it contains the first seven episodes only.
Books
4 episodes from the series were turned into books. The first one was called monsters in the basement and was based on series 1, episode 1. The second book was called Monster mess and was based on series 1, episode 10. The third book was called Monster mess and was based on series 1, episode 12. The fourth and final book was called Monster school and was based on series 1, episode 2. Although all books are based on episodes from series 1, the third and fourth book were released during series 2. All books are written by Rory Growler.
Episodes
Series 1
- Strictly No Pets -
- Monster Smart -
- Monster-in-a-Box -
- The Fabulous Monsterettes -
- The Big Fib -
- Haggis Strikes Back -
- My Big Fat Monster Wedding -
- Sleepover -
- Dear Diary -
- Dust Bag Love -
- Baby Love -
- Call of the Mild -
- Bogey Brothers -
Series 2
- Monster Lurgy -
- Shiny Stuff -
- Staycation -
- Teenage Dream Boy -
- Monster on Top -
- Monstrously Good Cookies -
- Quality Time -
- Next Big Thing -
- The Fall Out -
- Chain Gang -
- Swap Fever -
- Alone Together -
- Monstersitter -
NOTE: Only Series 2 Episodes 1-7 were broadcast in HD on BBC HD in Spring 2011 and Series 1 Episodes 1-4 on CBBC HD throughout December 2013, although all the episodes were filmed in HD. Series 1 episodes 5-13 will be aired from 27 February until 11 March 2015. These will be aired on CBBC HD.
Cast
- Macauley Keeper - Eddie Carlson
- Lauren Clair - Kate Carlson
- Felix Williamson - Nick Carlson
- Ivy Latimer - Angela Carlson
Puppeteers
- Don Austen - Haggis
- David Collins - Norman, Haggis (assistant puppeteer)
- Fiona Gentle - Norman (assistant puppeteer)
- Sean Masterson - Haggis (assistant puppeteer)
- Matthew McCoy - Norman (puppeteer, ep. 1-6)
- Heath McIvor - Fiend
- Alice Osborne - Fiend (assistant puppeteer)
