Fun School

Fun School is a Popular Live Action Preschool Series that started airing on PBS from 1992 to 2005, and Spring from 2005 to 2015. It premiered when PBS was looking to succeed its children's lineup of Corporation Street and Mister Roberts' Town.

## The Whole Gang

### Presenters

* Kylie Michaels (Seasons 1-13)
* Kelsey Grammer (Seasons 1-3)
* Jack May (Seasons 1-2)
* Martin Jarvis (Seasons 1-7)
* Emily Bland (Seasons 4-6)
* Miriam Flynn (Seasons 1-3)
* Chris Sanders (Seasons 1-3)
* Sandra Kerr (Seasons 1-6)
* Brittney Montfort (Seasons 10-13)

### Puppets/Toys/Animatronics (The Sidekicks)

* Big Bowwow (introduced 1988, Voice: Ricardo Bland) - A Yellow Human-sized Great Dane who is the hugest of the Sidekicks.
* Small Bowwow (introduced 1988, Voice: Ricardo Bland) - A Brown Chihuahua.
* Delilah (introduced 1991, Voice: Risa Brian) - A Dolly Wearing a Rainbow Dress.
* Messy (introduced 1988, Voice: Bill Cole) - A Tan Pig wearing A Red Shirt.
* Fiddler (introduced 2006) - An Orange Cat wearing a Blue Vest who often plays on his homemade fiddle. He doesn’t have a mouth, making him completely mute, unlike the other puppets who have the ability to make vocal noises and whisper in the presenters’ ears, even keeps that when the other characters talk when the presenters aren’t around.
* Deeka (introduced 1997) - An African Doll wearing a Gold and Green Dress who is Delilah’s Cousin.
* Ellie (introduced 1988, Voice: Suzanne Sherwin (1988-1996), Karlisa McKenney-Burleson (1997-2000), - A Tiny Purple Elephant Toy on Wheels. She is operated using remote controls. Before Delilah’s introduction, She was their sole female of the sidekicks.
* Horace (introduced 1997) - A Grey Teddy Bear who is close friends with The Bowwows.
* Googly Eyes (introduced 1998) - A Googly-Eyed Female Carrot Toy who the presenters pretend to talk to by shaking her.
* Aussie (introduced 1992) - A Kangaroo wearing a Hat who loves company.
* Ray (introduced 1993) - A Patchwork Rooster.
* Trashy (introduced 1994) - A Raccoon Jack in the Box who lives in a trash can.
* Bites (introduced 1995) - A Dinosaur who likes eating.
* Ria (Introduced 2006) - A Female Monkey who likes holding on to stuff.
* Felix McAcorny - A squirrel.
* Miss Edna (introduced 1997) - A Bird (Columbidae) who spoke in a southern accent.
* Book A. Bookworm (voiced by Eli Farrell)
* The Old Grey Mare (introduced 1992, voiced by Helen Reynolds (1992-1996) and Phyllis Cicero (1997-2000) - An old mare girl. They retired her after Season 6.

## Blocks It Aired On

1. Spring Diner
2. Musical Mornings with Melody Mouse
3. Pansy’s Club/The Saturday Club
4. Live at The Bouncyhouse
5. The Explorer Show
6. Pajama Dogs: Pajama Morning

## Episodes

### Season 1 (1992 - 1993)

1. Dive Into Imagination
2. Family Matters
3. Safety First
4. Exercise Every Day
5. Eat and Drink Nutritious Juice!
6. Sandra's Bad Day
7. Down on the Farm
8. Big Bowwow's Big Birthday
9. A Splash Party with Manners
10. Counting the Seasons
11. Meet Kelsey
12. ABC Pudding
13. Camping Day
14. Parade of Numbers
15. Welcome to Mexico
16. Jack Takes Cello Lessons
17. A Musical World
18. When I Grow Up
19. Sharing the Day
20. Everyone's Important

### Season 2 (1993 - 1994)

1. Sights of Autumn
2. Colors and Shapes
3. Can You Picture That?
4. Delilah's Happy Third
5. My Favorite Things
6. Imagine That!
7. Sandra Gets er Cast Off
8. A Day of Tens
9. A Big Day for Kelsey

### Season 3 (1995 - 1996)

1. Marty and the Beanstalk
2. Out Fishing
3. The New Friend
4. Animals Everywhere
5. Jungle Adventure
6. Driving in the Car
7. Claws, Paws, Scales, and Tales
8. Everyone's Welcome
9. Musical Chores
10. Double Trouble
11. Hats off to Ray!
12. Up, Up, and Away!

## Production

### Production Moving from California to Texas (1997)

Risa Brian wanted to try something new with Fun School. Most of Bic’s Shows were done in California, and She wanted Fun School to be an exception.

So, She, along with select production crew members and Longtime Host Kylie Michaels flew to Texas. Then a lot of the voices for the characters were recasted, with only the ones for the main 4 staying.

How Emily Bland became host was a suggestion by Ricardo.

## Trivia

* This show was based on a video series from 1988 to 1991, The Toys and the Fun Place Gang.
* Some of the sidekicks that were puppets appeared in Pansy’s Club. These were Big BowWow, Small BowWow, Delilah, Messy, Aussie, and Ray.
* The sidekicks can talk, but only to each other.
* The show got its own spin-off for Falidon Jr. in 2002 called Play With Me Fun School, which moved to Spring in 2007.
* When the show stopped producing new episodes in 2010, Ellie started to be displayed at The Nostalgia Museum at Omnitrans World Park Florida.
	+ They also added the Fun School live show at the time, that still goes on today but only on special occasions.
* In 2015, Bic Entertainment gave full rights to 12 Story Media to distribute and acquire this show and Angelica Ballerina.

## Criticism and Controversy

The show was largely hated due to the presenters only eating junk food, telling kids that cheating and stealing are good, saying that strangers are friends they haven't met, and the lack of negative emotions on the show.

## See Also

* Playstops
* Spotty Door
* Banana TV

## In Popular Culture

This show was so annoying, other programs managed to parody or roast it. Anianimals had a segment called Fun Shed, that had a total of 20 cartoons.

The characters were Big Bout, Little Bout, Della, and Bessy. Most of them except Bessy would be as dumb as dumb could be When it came to dealing with emergencies, while all Bessy wanted to do is get her own cartoons, which turn out to be boring.

The most popular Fun Shed cartoon was in their first cartoon when The Wacky Siblings, the main characters of the show, got tagged into Fun Shed and hated it. A sequel, Fun Shed & Friends, had Bessy team up with The Wackies to get rid of The Other 3 Gang members, who believed they came back to play.

Schoolcess and Artemis also parodied the show. As well as Gilbert and Friends.