The Magic School Bus (TV series)

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***The Magic School Bus*,** known by fans as **the Original Series**, is an American-Canadian animated children's television series based on The Magic School Bus book series by Joanna Cole. It is followed by its sequel, **The Magic School Bus Rides Again**.

## Premise

Like the books it's based on, the show focuses on the exploits of Ms. Frizzle and her class of eight students (nineteen in the books) who board their titular school bus, which takes them on field trips to the solar system, inside the Earth, and inside the human body, or to other such impossible locations.

Because the books present scientific facts in the form of stories in which fantastic things happen (for example, a bus turns into a spaceship, or children shrink to the size of blood cells), each has a page at the end detailing in a humorous manner which parts of it represented scientific fact and which were inventive storytelling. In the show, this was replaced by the *Producer Says* segment at the end of each episode, in which the producer (voiced by Malcolm-Jamal Warner) receives phone calls from kids complaining about how some things that happened on the show and could not happen in real life.

## Production

In early-mid 1994, *The Magic School Bus* concept was made into an animated television series of the same name by the Canadian animation studio Nelvana and Scholastic. Executive producer Deborah Forte explained that adapting the books into an animated series was an opportunity to help kids “learn about science in a fun way". Each episode ran for 30 minutes. In the United States, it originally premiered on PBS, through South Carolina's SCETV network; it was the first fully animated series to be done so. On September 1998, the series ended due to PBS demanding more shows aimed towards younger children.

## Broadcasting

PBS aired it in 1994-1997 of the Magic School Bus. Strangely, there is a Fox Kids airing of it as a special in the commercials for Fox Kids incorrectly dated in September 10, 1994. Please note that the credits starts at 7:32 to 8:03. It Was Aired On PBS Kids Rewind On October 2020 Due To Popularity Along With Bill Nye The Science Guy.

Fox Kids acquired the rights to the show from PBS on October 10, 1998 and it ran on there until September 2002.

The show was also shown on TLC and Discovery Kids from 2003 to early 2010. The **Qubo** Channel picked up the show in Fall 2010. According to the website, it no longer airs on the channel or any **Qubo** block.

In 2021, the show aired on AFN Family and it will do so ever since.

When the show is syndicated on international networks, the *Producer Says* segment is edited out to make room for commercials. The segments are only seen when the series is shown on non-commercial networks (e.g. Fox Kids) and children's networks (commercial breaks are shorter).

In 2013, the entire series started streaming on Netflix and has been ever since.

The show's theme song was performed by the late Little Richard.

The show was released on VHS by KidVision Video between 1994 and 1999 and by Warner Bros. between 2000 and 2009. In 2012, New Video picked up home entertainment rights to distribute Region 1 DVDs, including an entire series set. In the home video and DVD releases, all the episodes are uncut with the *Producer Says* segments intact.

## Cast

### Main Characters

* Lily Tomlin as Ms. Valerie Frizzle
* Max Beckford (season 1) and Andre Ottley-Lorant (seasons 2-4) as Timothy "Tim" Wright
* Amos Crawley (season 1) and Danny Tamberelli (seasons 2-4) as Arnold Matthew Perlstein
* Daniel DeSanto as Carlos Ramon
* Maia Filar as Phoebe Terese
* Erica Luttrell as Keesha Franklin
* Tara Meyer as Dorothy Ann "D.A." Hudson
* Stuart Stone as Ralph Alessandro Giuseppe "Ralphie" Tennelli
* Lisa Yamanaka as Wanda Li
* Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Susan Blu as the Producers

### Recurring and One-Time Characters

* Renessa Blitz as Janet Perlstein
* Robby Benson as Archibald Seedplot (Phoebe's old teacher (and current in Rides Again))
* Carol Channing as Professor Cornelia C. Contralto II
* Rosalind Chao asMrs. Li (Wanda's mother)
* Tyne Daly as Dr. Tennelli (Ralphie's mother)
* Dana Elcar as Mr. Terese
* Elliott Gould as Mr. Perlstein
* Wynonna Judd as Molly Cule
* Eartha Kitt as Mrs. Franklin
* Dan Marino as Garth Sinew
* Rita Moreno as Carmina Skeledon
* Edward James Olmos as Mr. Ramon
* Dolly Parton as Murph
* Tony Randall as Radius Ulna "R.U." Humerus
* Paul Winfield as Mr. Ruhle
* Kevin Zegers as Mikey Ramon
* Sherman Hemsley as Mr. Junkett
* Michael York as Harry Herp
* Ed Asner as General Araneus
* Ed Begley Jr. as Larry
* Dom DeLuise as the Baker
* Swoosie Kurtz as Mrs. Hudson, Dorothy Ann's mother
* Cindy Williams as Gerri Poveri
* Alex Trebek as the host from "Shows and Tells"
* Matt Frewer as Inspector 47
* Jessica Walter as Ashley Walker Club-Dupree
* Dabney Coleman as Horace Scope
* Bebe Neuwirth as Flora Whiff
* Malcolm McDowell as Mr. McClean

## Seasons

* Season 1 (*1994*)
* Season 2 (*1995*)
* Season 3 (*1996*)
* Season 4 (*1997*)

## Specials

* A Magic School Bus Halloween
* The Magic School Bus: Holiday Special

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