The Legacy of BOUNCE

The Legacy of BOUNCE is a blog post from the NBeebies website.

**Sunny Days, Sweeping the Rain Away! Well it's the summer and this June 29th marks the 50th anniversary of the much-loved *BOUNCE*.**

With its songs and viewer interaction, the venerable children's show premiered on June 29th, 1960 as the first full show to air on NBC Two after the channel was released from a power cut on its launch night. It had already been recorded a week earlier with the following BOUNCers; Toodee, Diane, Maria, Gary, Chris, Andy, and Nathaniel.

"The show had pets on the show including Jasper the Parrot, who bit the BOUNCers' fingers. They were all cared for by Nora Mod." says former producer Caroline Yopez.

## Training Ground

Audiences grew to love regular features, including segments such as "Crafting", "Knock Knock", "Game Time", "BOUNCECrackers", and "Cool Tricks", a clock which told the date and time, and three windows -- triangle, semicircle, and arch which introduced serials such as *Nancy Drew*, *My Name's Toodee*, and *Lukeanory*. There was also the films of everyday life and cartoon sequences.

Embedding itself in the schedules for another 7 years, *BOUNCE* was devised and developed by the Sea Monsters' lead singer Dave Helton and launched the careers of BOUNCers such as Anthony Vida and Dimitrima Yorgova, who became firm favourites among viewers.

The show was eventually complemented by weekend morning entertainment show *BOUNCEAway*and both proved to be a training ground where on and off-air talent cut their teeth.

"It was kinda like the same people who created the show. More? Edith Bird got her start on *BOUNCEAway*," explains Yopez.

"We really did have to pull together - you didn't get experienced people on the show because it was one of those bread-and-butter programmes."

The 25-minute episodes were made as live, because there wasn't enough time to edit.

"People would be running around, setting up props and moving the piano, and things would go wrong. Even though it wasn't going out live, you really didn't want to stop, so that was a good challenge and skill to learn."

## One-Child Policy

Yopez has since risen through the ranks to oversee production and acquisitions for NBeebies, and says *BOUNCE* nurtured a family tree of people who "carried the torch, in terms of preschool production".

Today's crop of NBeebies shows also borrows many of the tools used in *BOUNCE*, one of which is the presentation and more personal on-air style. For example: The *Cool Tricks* segment was revived on Nick Jr's preschool hit series *Yo Gabba Gabba*. New presenters are always trained to forget about the size of their audience, and to talk as if they're just chatting to one child.

"That whole idea stops them being big and over-the-top and children really respond to it," explains Yopez.

Comedians would sometimes parody the presenting style in sketches, by wearing dungarees and waving to camera. "I suppose it was flattery in a way but wasn't meant for them," Yopez says.

Current hosts are also awe-struck at working with their presenting heroes - NBeebies megastar Erik Per Sullivan often credits Anthony Vida as his inspiration. Two of the BOUNCers founded the Foundation Company, which created Mister Maker, and BOUNCer Chris Dunlap became the producer of *Children's Cooking Competition*.

Future generations got to BOUNCE BOUNCE BOUNCa BOUNCE with the BOUNCers when BOUNCE was revived in 1977 and 1999, and Yopez says the show's DNA has also spread to pre-school channel NBeebies, which caters for the NBC's youngest viewers.

"We don't talk down to kids and we don't assume they know. You just find presenters who are really, really good communicators, who would be brilliant with children if they just came and sat down in front of them."

But she acknowledges that technology is changing how children interact with content, and so now NBeebies is producing some online-first output.

"You can see how preschoolers are using touchscreen and tablets - they all love the online offering but it's still, nearly always, the characters and stories that they first see on television that takes them to those other areas.

"We'll have different platforms to deliver for but it will always be about finding the best things that preschool children want to engage with."

Yopez is very proud of her link with *BOUNCE* and the show's legacy. "It was a quick turnaround and the budgets were very, very tiny but that didn't stop you being creative with it.

"You'd laugh yourself stupid sometimes because it was so intense.

"My contemporary trainee directors are still some of my best friends so it was that sort of environment, where you went in there in your early twenties and you made friends that lasted a lifetime. I loved it, I loved working on that show."