PBS Pals/Tropes

Template:Tropes

***PBS Pals*** is a animated television series on PBS created by Douglas Love and Ellen Goosenberg Kent, who previously created *Out of the Box* for Playhouse Disney. It features characters from animated PBS KIDS and Bookworm Bunch shows airing at the time, including *Clifford the Big Red Dog*, *Arthur*, *Cyberchase*, *Timothy Goes to School*, *Jay Jay the Jet Plane*, and *Elliot Moose*. It premiered on PBS from February 11, 2002 to September 26, 2005, adding up to 4 seasons and 120 full-length episodes, as well as two specials, several toys, video releases, and the PBS Pals Theme Park. The series takes inspiration from *Sesame Street*, and in fact, it was cancelled because many people thought it was a *Sesame Street* clone.

This series, hosted by Clifford, takes place in a treehouse that is actually a TV studio, which is usually the setting of a main story with segments in between. These segments are either scenes from live-action PBS KIDS shows or sketches designed to teach concepts such as the alphabet and counting featuring characters also seen in the main story.

## Tropes

* **Aesop Amnesia:** Usually concerning the main cast, due to situations calling for some kind of conflict.
* **Audience Participation Song:** The characters encourage the audience to join in with several songs.
* **Babysitting Episode:**
	+ "Emily Elizabeth Looks After Kate"
	+ "Muffy Babysits Kate"
	+ "Francine Babysits Sherman"
	+ "Fern Teaches Doris to Babysit Kate"
* **Big Eater:** Caillou tends to eat things whenever he appears on this show.
* **Breakout Character:** Sagwa Miao, from *Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat*, seemed to appear on this show a lot.
* **Christmas Special:**
	+ "Elliot Saves Christmas"
	+ "Preschool Musical on a Stick," which features stick puppet versions of the show's characters.
* **Clip Show:** "100th Episode Celebration" is a collection of series premieres of PBS KIDS shows.
* **Cloudcuckoolander:** Several characters on this show to some degree.
* **Companion Cube:** Several characters have dolls on this show, including Buster, Clifford, and Sagwa.
* **The Danza:** Kathleen Barr as Kathleen Hawthorne
* **Defictionalization:** There is a theme park in Virginia based on the show.
* **Every Episode Ending:** The show's letter and number sponsors are announced, similar to *Sesame Street*
* **Follow the Leader:** Many people saw this series as a *Sesame Street* clone, hence why it was cancelled.
* **Go to Sleep Ending:** Usually at night or if there is a sleepover.
* **Kent Brockman News:** In "Elliot Saves Christmas," Mark Howard (Emily Elizabeth's father) is an anchorman who reports on it being Christmas again, per Elliot's wish.
* **The Leader:** Clifford is the host of the show. It is even mentioned in the theme song!
* **Library Episode:** Caillou goes to the library in one sketch.
* **Loads and Loads of Characters:** The show features characters from animated PBS KIDS shows, and boy are there a bunch of them?
* **Milestone Celebration:** "100th Episode Celebration" celebrates the show's 100th episode
* **Missing Episode:** There are several.
* **No Fourth Wall:** The characters, mainly Clifford, speak directly to the viewers.
* **Nostalgia Filter:** The show is remembered fondly by those who grew up with it.
* **The Other Darrin:**
	+ Cameron Ansell replaced Mark Rendall as Arthur Read in season 3.
	+ Earl Fisher took over as Clifford after his original voice actor, John Ritter, died in between seasons 2 and 3.
* **Only Shop in Town:** The characters mainly go to the Sugar Bowl from *Arthur*, run by Mac from *Clifford the Big Red Dog*.
* **Parental Bonus:** The show sometimes features parodies of other shows and movies, mainly through the segment "Mr. Bleakman Presents..."
* **Recycled Script:** The show's episodes share their plots with other kids' shows, namely *Sesame Street* (mainly seasons 30 and 31) and *Tweenies*.
* **The Resolution Will Not Be Identified:** The show's final episode, "Pedro Takes D.W.'s Place," played out like any other one.
* **Salt and Pepper:** Marvin the Tap Dancing Horse and Eddy Largo almost always appear on this show with one another. Same with Emily Elizabeth Howard, Charley, and Jetta Handover from *Clifford the Big Red Dog*.
* **Sick Episode:**
	+ "Sagwa and Clifford Are Sick," in which the two titular characters both catch colds on the day of their playdate, being cared for by Boris (Caillou's dad) and Fern respectively, and T-Bone has to rush back and forth to their respective homes to check on them.
	+ "D.W.'s Been Sick," in which D.W. throws up after eating an apple that hasn't been washed.
* **Shout-Out:** Some episodes of this show show other TV shows, films, and even **CARTOONS**.
* **Show Within a Show:** The show features segments from other PBS shows, mainly live-action ones, in between the main story of each episode.
* **Spin-Off:**
	+ *The Hawthornes*, in which Arthur and his sister Kate visit their friend Kathleen and her family.
	+ *Last Hours Before Bed*, based on the episode "A Night with Buster."
	+ *The Road Show*, starring Inez and Oliver Frensky.
* **Talking to Himself:** Sagwa Miao and Fern Walters, both of whom are voiced by Holly Gauthier-Frankel, interact in the episode "Sagwa and Clifford Are sick."
* **To the Tune Of...:** The show's theme tune is sung to the tune of the *Allegra's Window* theme song.
* **Vomit Discretion Shot:** In "D.W.'s Been Sick."
* **Welcome Titles:** The show's theme song shows the characters singing to the viewer about how wonderful a time they'll have together.