Ready, Set, Read!

> And remember, my room is your room.
>
> Joji, multiple occassions

**Ready, Set, Read!** is a live action/animated educational television series that teaches English for kids ages 6-8.

## Synopsis

Joji, a kuya-like teacher lives in a room with his talking animal friends: a goat named Ogot, a cat named Cathy, a lizard named Marj, and a beetle named Nene. Via greenscreen, Joji appears in many different situations that teach the main lesson, taking the role of different characters in a story (ex. the Tomato in Cause and Effect (Part 1). with several interactions with the aforementioned animals. In rare occasions, the show directly mentions the pandemic and its effect on life, on an optimistic end.

For the whole show, overarching themes and arcs start to be in the show, like how most of the earlier episodes dealt with compound words and how they are used, the entiriety of Para, the Brave and Beautiful by Basa Pilipinas is entirely narrated throughout five episodes dealing with inferences. A string of typhoon-related plotlines and data-related activities last for April-May episodes, a mere month before the rainy season, and currently, episodes that are about story structure, cause and effect, and names are abundant.

## Episodes

For the updated list of Ready Set Read Episodes, **click here**.

## Cast

Seth Regen Montgomery Dungca as:

Joji - the teacher of the show, who interacts with the audience and informs them about things relating to the main topic. The cordial member of the bunch, his extravagant personality lends its way to Name the Name.

James Lez Read - an eccentric traveler who travels along in a vlogger-like show, while also finding uses for letters, even interacting with them sometimes.

Captain Verboom - the superhero who solves word-related dilemmas, and often clashes with the Joke, although they never confront each other..

Chef Ling - a chef of European descent who likes to play with compund words, through the form of cooking. Because of his strong accent, he pronounces his S's with a Z.

Dr. Keshau - a mad scientist who, while exceptionally intelligent, still comes out as aloof in the end. So far, his only appearance is in Simple Sentences.

Lino - a poor interviewer who often cares more about grammar than answers. The characters he interviews are also played by him.

Lolo Buloto - an elderly grandfather who has a book full of unfinished stories and missing pages. In Predicting the Ending, he narrates the story of Juan Tamad.

For his animal friends, you have

Ogot - a bespectacled goat who likes reading, drawing, and saying 'meeh' in Rhyming Words.[4] Despite being a bit impatient and inconsistent, but loves to help Joji anytime he's available.

Cathy - originally represented as a bit impolite in Being Polite[2], is an adventurous cat who loves to sing and dance.[3]

Marj - a friendly and curious lizard who often climbs the house walls, according to Joji in Making Inferences and Drawing Conclusions.

Nene - a little beetle who loves to sleep communicates by buzzing (but Joji understands her nonetheless). She is the most infrequent character.

The Joke - the only animated human to have dialogue. She's the villain Captain Verboom fights with; she makes her first on-screen appearance in Different Examples of Compound Words and their Meeting.[3]

## Production

During the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), English would be confirmed as the main topic/subject matter for educational multimedia. Rina Lopez Bautista, the founder of KCH wanted to teach kids English reading proficiency to provide better support for their future. [1]

The Knowledge Channel Foundation teamed up with Security Bank Foundation and Ataneo University to produce RSR, although later episodes are now produced by Rotary Bank and its subsiduaries.[1] The show had its debut in Second Quarter Grade 4, but is now a part of Grade 1 English, replacing reruns of Epol Apple.

The website announced a new show that continues the trend of redefined education programs the foundation has been producing, introduces the main characters, and gives a clear date (21.01.21) on its national debut.

## Trivia

* The voice actors for the animals are not credited, since the credits only show their names.
* This is the first show to include animated characters, since MathDali has a predominantly human cast and Wikaharian features puppets.
* This is the first show to have different co-producers, although it is unknown why.
* This is the first show to debut after the pandemic, compared to other modern KCH shows (compared to MathDali in 2016, Science Says in 2018, and Wikaharian in 2019).
* The production quality has barely changed, though, aside from the lone greenscreened actor.
* For some reason, the first episode uploaded on the Knowledge Channel YouTube is Different Types of Compound Words, but the episode Rhyming Words introduces the characters much more concisely. This is later continued in Unlocking of Difficult Words and Phrases.

## References

1. https://www.knowledgechannel.org/archives/14765
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGbQyR53JnU
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp3my3lNQcg
4. https://www.knowledgechannel.org/archives/aiovg\_videos/grade-1-english-greetings-and-leave-takings-ready-set-read