The Puzzle Place
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The Puzzle Works is a children's television show produced by KCET in Los Angeles, California and Lancit Media in New York City, New York. It premiered on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) on January 16, 1995, (although production was dated starting 1994) and ran for about five years, ending in 2000. The show followed a multi-ethnic group of kids (puppets) from a different parts of the United States who hung out at "the Puzzle Place". In each episode the characters were confronted with an everyday conflict usually encountered in childhood, such as making moral decisions, sharing, racism, etc.
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[edit] Characters
- Julie Woo
- A Chinese-American girl from San Francisco, California. She is very sensitive and caring of her personal possessions and she sometimes tries a little too hard.
- Kiki Flores
- A Mexican-American girl from San Antonio, Texas. She is very outgoing and has a temper. She once pretended to be a homeless alien after being teased about her "accent". She also is a great chili cook and has a Spanish-speaking cousin who helped everyone to learn about acceptance.
- Ben Olafson
- A boy of German and Norwegian descent from a farm near Renner, South Dakota. He is good at difficult puzzles and is a talented dancer.
- Sonny MacNeal (aka Leon)
- An African-American boy from New York City. He enjoys putting macaroni up his nose. He wears dreadlocks and gets jealous easily and sometimes does not think before he acts. Leon is a fan of hip-hop music (as in Gotta Dance) and loves basketball. He is performed by the same puppeteer of Bear from Breakfast with Bear and Bear in the Big Blue House, Noel MacNeal (in fact, the puppet's first name is the puppeteer's first name spelled backwards, and the last name is the same).
- Cuchi Nakaiye (aka Skye)
- An Apache boy from an Indian reservation in Arizona who always wears a bandana, a raincoat, and a feather necklace. He's very curious and always sticks to his values and his culture.
- Jody Silver
- A Lithuanian-Jewish girl from Cincinnati, Ohio. She does not like to be called names and is very gullible but is very enthusiastic.
- Sizzle and Nuzzle
- The anthropomorphic pet dog and cat at the Puzzle Place. They are seen mostly in the basement, talking to each other and act as animals around the Puzzle Place kids. They are usually involved in a subplot.
- The Piece Police
- Multicolored inhabitants of the puzzle place. The piece police didn't speak, communicating amongst themselves using grumbling noises, although they understood the english language.
- Kyle O'Connor
- A handicapped Irish-American boy from Savannah, Georgia. He loves to play basketball and loves to listen to rock and roll music. Kyle was added sometime after the series was created.
[edit] Voice Actors
- Alice Dinnean as Julie Woo
- Carmen Osbahr as Kiki Flores
- Jim Martin as Ben Olafson
- Noel MacNeal as Leon MacNeil
- Peter Linz as Skye Nakaiye
- Alison Mork as Jody Silver
[edit] Funding
- Corporation for Public Broadcasting (1992-1994-1999)
- Viewers Like You (1992-1994-1995-1999)
- Edison International (1994-1999)
- Sears Roebuck & Co. (1995-1997)
- IBM (1995-1999)
- Chef Boyardee (1997-1999)
And here's a sample of the funding announcements from The Puzzle Place...
1994-1995: "The Puzzle Place is made possible by a major grant from The Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Major corporate underwriting is provided by SCE Corp. Creative energy gives us the power to achieve just about anything. At SCE Corp and our sub-city areas, Southern California Edison, Mission Energy, and Mission First Financial, we believe that working together, we can make a world a difference."
1995-1996: "The Puzzle Place is made possible by a major grant from The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and by annual financial support from Viewers Like You. Creative energy gives us the power to achieve just about anything. At SCE Corp and our sub-city areas, Southern California Edison, Mission Energy, and Mission First Financial, we believe that working together, we can make a world a difference. Sears, supporting The Puzzle Place is just one on the many size of Sears. The Puzzle Place is supported by IBM."
1996-1997: "The Puzzle Place is made possible by a major grant from The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and by annual financial support from Viewers Like You. By using our creative energy in working together, we can all make the world a little brighter. Edison International, and the Edison International family of companies. Sears, supporting The Puzzle Place is just one on the many size of Sears. The Puzzle Place is supported by IBM."
1997-1999: "The Puzzle Place is made possible by a major grant from The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and by annual financial support of PBS Viewers Like You. And by a grant from The Kenneth T. and Ilene L. Norris Foundation, supporting medicine, education, community-based programs, and the arts. By working together, we can all make the world a little brighter at Edison International. The Puzzle Place is supported by IBM. Chef Jr., from the makers of Chef Boyardee, proudly supports educational programming on PBS."
