PEEP AND THE BIG WIDE WORLD, an engaging new animated series about a little chicken and his friends that teaches science literacy to preschoolers in an entertaining way, launched April 12, 2004 on The Learning Channel at 8:00 am and will premiere April 19 at 8:30 am on the Discovery Kids Channel.
PEEP, narrated by award-winning comedienne Joan Cusack, with a theme song performed by Blues legend, Taj Mahal is part of the Ready Set Learn! commercial-free weekday programming block, which airs from 6-9:00 am on TLC. The three-hour block also airs twice each weekday morning, from 6:00 am Noon on the Discovery Kids Channel.
Based on characters created by Academy Award nominated animator Kai Pindal (KARATE KIDS), PEEP combines animation and short live-action interstitials to nurture preschoolers curiosity about the natural world. Each morning Peep (a newly hatched chicken), along with his friends Chirp (a smart and sassy robin) and Quack (an endearingly egotistical duck), explore the wonders and the mystery of the big wide world around them, while preschoolers will acquire basic science investigation skills such as observing, comparing, predicting and persevering.
Ready Set Learn! is the perfect home for a preschool television series that is charming, silly, playful and fun and infused with so much delight in discovery and the world around us, said Marjorie Kaplan, evp/gm of Discovery Kids who oversees Ready Set Learn! PEEP fits in beautifully with our Ready Set Learn! mission of engaging preschoolers in lifelong learning. Were thrilled to work with the incredibly talented production team at WGBH.
Ready Set Learn! lineup includes: SCHOLASTICS THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS, SAVE-UMS, JIM HENSONS ANIMAL JAM, BRUM and HI-5. The block is hosted by a loveable penguin named Paz who appears in eight-minute segments combining live-action puppetry and whimsical animation at the beginning of each half-hour program.
The new Ready Set Learn! schedule is as follows:
6:00 am, ANIMAL JAM (new time slot)6:30 am, BRUM7:00 am, SAVE-UMS (new episodes April 12-16)7:30 am, HI-5 (new episodes April 12-16, 19-23, 26-30, May 3-7)8:00 am, PEEP8:30 am, MAGIC SCHOOL BUS
PEEP AND THE BIG WIDE WORLD is produced by WGBH and 9 Story Entertainment in association with TVOntario and Discovery Kids. For, Kate Taylor is exec producer for WGBH. For Discovery Kids, Jessica Hanlon is executive producer, Melinda Toporoff is supervising producer and Kaplan is the exec in charge of production.
Alliance Atlantis distributes PEEP while major funding for the series is provided by the National Science Foundation. PEEP is closed-captioned for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers by The Media Access Group at WGBH.
The Discovery Kids Channel is a 24-hour digital channel that offers fun, engaging, high-quality, real-world programming for kids, building on Discovery's signature areas of science, adventure, exploration, and natural history as well as a genre just for kids, real-world narrative and its signature animation, REALTOONS.
WGBH is the producer of award-winning children's series such as ARTHUR, BETWEEN THE LIONS and ZOOM, airing on PBS. Guided by vp Brigid Sullivan, the WGBH children's lineup leads the field in educational multimedia (including the Web, broadband, and interactive television) and in technologies and services that make media accessible for people with disabilities. WGBH's current children's series have been recognized with some of the world's most prestigious awards, including 10 Emmys, the George Foster Peabody award, three Prix Jeunesse awards, a BAFTA, and more than half a dozen Parents' Choice awards.
