The Miracle World of Oswell (1988)

***The Miracle World of Oswell*** is the children's American television program on CVS that was produced in 1988-1998. The show was based around a puppet stage which was designed to look like a city called "Miracleland". The show was hosted by a Canadian-born comedian Kaleb "Oswell" Jones. The show features puppet characters created by Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling. Those characters later appeared in 2011's comedy-horror web series, *Don't Hug Me I'm Scared*. The show was also written by Ben Bocquelet who was later worked on *The Amazing World of Gumball*.

The show premiered on May 23, 1988, and ended on July 22, 1998. After the last episode aired, the show went into reruns on PBS Kids until November 30, 2007.

## Overview

*The Miracle World of Oswell* was filmed at CVS World Studios in Universal Studios Orlando Florida, it was an audience participation comedy show focused on Oswell and the puppets and about them making a show. The first few episodes did not have much of a plot or story line. The Miracle World of Oswell also had three television specials.

## Characters

### Human characters

* **Kaleb "Oswell" Jones** - The host who is always forced to solve problems for the puppets of Miracleland. In season one, Oswell wears a green Miracleland jersey with a blue undershirt. In season two, the color of his undershirt changes.
* **Lucy Whodunit** - The "super-special" character, played by Abigail Collett, who is Kaleb's sidekick and friend. Made several appearances in season 2.

### Puppets

* **Pepper the Porcupine** - The Mayor of Miracleland. Oswell tends to get carried away with things if they don't get out of control while solving Pepper's problems.Pepper is mostly assisted by his sidekick Waylus Wombat.
* **Hal the Helper** - The puppet son of Oswell. He would usually introduce Oswell at the beginning of each episode and always helps him solve problems. Hal is a humanoid character with a red skin blue shirt.
* **Danny Gribbleston** - Another humanoid character. Danny usually does a lot with his father Roy Gribbleston, either painting or playing with the baseball. Along with other puppets, Danny later appeared in the *Don't Hug Me I'm Scared* series under the name of "Yellow Guy".
* **Quacky Duck** - An obvious parody of Daffy Duck from Looney Tunes, Quacky Duck is a dark green duck that lives in the pnds of Miracleland. Quacky is likened by a bunch of rabbits, but he hates them. The song consisted of said puppet singing "Now get outta here you rabbits! Leave meself alone!" When Quacky quotes "Now get outta here," the rabbits present leave the pond. For Season 2, Quacky's puppet was rebuilt which that version also being used for the specials and the new YouTube Channel. In the "Chanukah Special," it is revealed that Quacky loves to eat popcorn cakes. He was also shown to have been attracted by the Miracleland Resort's new housekeeper Miss Cluck (a hen). According to the 1992 summer issue of CVS Land Vision, Quacky is Oswell's favorite puppet. Along with other puppets, Quacky later appeared in the *Don't Hug Me I'm Scared* series under the name of "Duck Guy".
* **Sketchpad** - A talking sketchbook who teaches kids about art and creations. She always tries hard to think of an inspiration. Along with other puppets, Sketchpad later appeared in the *Don't Hug Me I'm Scared* series under the name of "Sketchbook".
* **Tommy Time-Tone** - A talking clock with long limbs whose name is a parody of Tommy Tutone. He teaches kids about time. Along with other puppets, Tommy later appeared in the *Don't Hug Me I'm Scared* series under the name of "Tony the Talking Clock".
* **Roy Gribbleston** - Danny's father. Along with other puppets, Roy later appeared in the *Don't Hug Me I'm Scared* series.
* **Gumby** - A blue cat who is said to resemble Gumball Watterson from *The Amazing World of Gumball*.

### Costumed Characters

* **Red** - Oswell's red sidekick that resembles a red, humanoid cthulhu. Along with other characters, Red later appeared in the *Don't Hug Me I'm Scared* series under the name of "Red Guy".
* **Blocky** - A talking block who teaches kids how to build blocks. He is also responsible for bringing out the "Puppet Transformer" in every episode.
* **Steak** - An anthropomorphic steak who teaches kids about healthy eating. Along with other characters, the steak later appeared in the *Don't Hug Me I'm Scared* series.

## Sketches

The show also featured several non-puppet characters played by Oswell himself:

* **Captain Hero** - Captain Hero is a superhero in black gear that constantly cracks puns. He lives in a streets of Miracleland (which is located near the building where the puppets are located). On many shows, an audience member would be invited to hop aboard where an offscreen person would attack him by shooting lasers at him before he attacks the participant back. Captain Hero first appeared on a Saturday Night Live sketch when Oswell was a writer in the early 1980s. In scenes in which Oswell interacts with Captain Hero, an actor seen from behind would portray Captain Hero with Oswell dubbing his voice in during post-production.
* **The Miracleland Squad** - Members of the audience were also called down to participate in various activities during the main part of the show, such as helping to catch thieves. A recurring joke on the show took place in the Squad HQ in which a member of a squad would use comedic props to defeat villains. It only appeared in Season One.
* **Try Me!** - A game show where a boy and a girl played for points answering questions. Usually the girls win. It was only featured in Season 2. According to an interview with Oswell, "Try Me!" was a pilot he made for Comedy Central in 1985, after it was tested, the network said it was appropriate for children, so CVS got a hold of it and the pilot became "Miracleland".
* **Playworld** - These participants then competed in one of various games in "Playworld" that tested the skill of operating puppets. The runner-up received the "Silver Hamburger", with the winner receiving the "Golden Hamburger" as well as the "Special Topping" (a small amount of water dumped onto the player's head.) If a malfunction occurred or both players tied they both get the "Golden Hamburger". Occasionally, both players received the Special Topping, especially when both players were boys, and if the game involved pies, both contestants would be hit with pies themselves instead of anyone getting the Special Topping (however, the special topping was awarded for pie games in season 2). The Playland stage was enlarged and revamped the second season to incorporate more elaborate stunts; these frequently had the contestants facing each other and squirting water or whipped cream at some target, usually soaking the other contestant in the process. Some season 2 stunts were team stunts where each player had a puppet teammate. Season one was a carnival-style, and on the second season it was a radio-active style.

## The Cartoon Shorts

Before *The Miracle World of Oswell* made its debut, CVS ran the cartoons by themselves on a half-hour block called Animation Domination.

* Season 1 (1988): The *Aliens In the Attic* shorts and *Takeshi Tanuki* (originally aired on Japan's NHK in 1984) shorts
* Season 2 (1995): Segments from *Bart Simpson*
* Re-runs (PTV Park/PBS Kids, 1998-2007): Throughout 1998, the shorts were all shuffled, but in 2000 they began exclusively showing PBS Kids shorts depending on the local station (such as the *K-Kid* shorts on KET in 2000-2005).