Maxie's World

The logo from the intro.

***Maxie's World*** is an American animated children's television show and sitcom produced by DIC Animation City and distributed by DHX Media which it consists of only a season, comprising a total of 16 half-hour episodes including 32 segments (15 minutes each).

## Premise

The series takes place in a seaside town of Surfside, California and follows the adventures of teenager Maxie and her circle of friends. She attends Surfside High School where she is a popular straight "A" student, cheerleader and surfer girl, while after school, she serves as host and investigative reporter of her own eponymous talk show, *Maxie's World*.

Through her work as a journalist, she routinely finds herself called upon to investigate mysteries and solve crimes, bringing the villains (criminals and perpetrators) to justice. Frequently accompanying Maxie in her adventures is her boyfriend, Rob, a handsome and popular football and soccer star at Surfside High.

Additional members of Maxie's circle of friends include Ashley, Carly and Simone, while male friends, Mushroom and Ferdie routinely provide the series with its slapstick comedy elements. Providing much of the series' conflict is Jeri, who is envious of Maxie and is often shown manipulating events to humiliate the TV star in an attempt to sabotage her career and get her own TV show.

In addition to the comedy and mystery elements, the series occasionally takes the opportunity to address more serious issues, including eight very special episodes which deals with the issues of divorce, eating disorders (weight obsessions and overeating), vandalism, teenage smoking, stress and fatigue, dropping out of school, the loss of a pet, and shoplifting.

## Voice Cast

* Loretta Jafelice as Maxie Johnson
* Simon Reynolds as Rob Stevenson
* Geoff Kahnert as Mushroom
* Yannick Bisson as Ferdie
* Suzanne Coy as Simone Williams
* Susan Roman as Ashley Wooden
* Tara Strong as Carly Cooper
* John Stocker as Mr. Garcia
* Nadine Rabinovitch as Jeri Jeffries
* Diane Fabian as Additional Voices
* Gary Krawford as Additional Voices
* Greg Swanson as Additional Voices

## Production

Developed for television by Phil Harnage, along with executive producer Andy Heyward who had worked on *Beverly Hills Teens* and also *SpacePOP*, the series was conceived as a tie-in to the Hasbro line of "Maxie" fashion dolls.

### **Broadcasting and Distribution**

The series was distributed by Claster Television and Saban International and originally aired in first-run syndication in the United States from September 14, 1987, through October 27, 1987, and September 18, 1989, through September 1, 1990, and Freeform (formerly as The Family Channel) from 1993 and 1998. Also, it aired on the United Kingdom in CITV (TV-am and GMTV) from 1990 and 1995 and GMTV from 1993 through 1995.

After its original run, it continued to be broadcast throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s as part of a syndication package featuring rebroadcasts of *Beverly Hills Teens* and *It's Punky Brewster*.

A *Beverly Hills Teens* episode, "*Beach Blanket Battle*", saw the main characters from both *Maxie's World* and *BHT* compete in a charity fundraising competition.

### **Age Targeting**

The series is targeted for a brand audience of kids (7–12-year-olds), teens (13–19-year-olds), young adults (20+) and older adults (30+) for generations to come.

## Broadcast

### **United States**

* *Syndication* (September 14, 1987, through September 18, 1989 – October 27, 1987, through September 1, 1990)
* *Freeform* (formerly as *The Family Channel*) (1993–1998)

### **United Kingdom**

* *CITV* (1990–1995)
* *GMTV* (1993–1995)

## Music

The soundtrack of the show contains thirty-one songs that are played in backgrounds of every episode, (minus *Ride for Your Life*) with numerous performing artists. The opening and closing theme for the intro to every episode is titled "*Maxie's World*". All of the songs were composed by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, supervised by Andrew Dimitroff and lyrics were written by Joellyn Cooperman.