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Doink!
Click to see the former logo, used from 2009 to 2022.
"This is PBS! (Hoo-hoo-hoo!)"

PBS Kids is a children's television programming block of Edutainment Shows on the American public broadcasting network PBS that launched in 1993. It has aired on many, if not all, PBS stations. While most shows on the block are distributed to stations by PBS themselves, at times shows from American Public Television (which distributes shows to public TV stations outside of the PBS system) have been on the block; in some cases, local stations have broadcast APT-sourced shows under the PBS Kids branding (or a localized variant thereof), even if they were never a part of the national PBS schedule.

The block started under the name PTV, which was used as a way to gather all children's programming on PBS under one centralized branding (known as "Ready to Learn"). Interstitials aimed at younger children featured the P-Pals, or anthropomorphized PBS logos as the mascots (voiced by such names as Oscar J. Castillo, Levar Burton, Fran Drescher, and Jerry Nelson, among others), in the fictional setting of "PTV Park". There were also live-action and music video interstitials aimed at older children, which did not feature the P-Pals and typically aired in the afternoon. However, in order to create a further distinction between programming for the younger and older demographics, another block was created in 1996 aimed at the latter group, known as The Game. It featured interstitials with a stop-motion animated board game set, and included such programming as Bill Nye the Science Guy and Arthur.

Beginning in 1999, PTV and The Game were both retired and the block was rebranded into the PBS Kids that we all know today. The P-Pals were replaced with two new mascots, a boy named Dash and his little sister Dot, with a completely different theme. In what seems like a case of history repeating itself, another block called PBS Kids Go! was created in 2004 to again separate the shows aimed at older demographics. In 2006, the block's early hours shifted to aim at preschool children with the addition of the Ms. Lori and Hooper segments. Both the Ms. Lori & Hooper segments and the PBS Kids Go! brand were dropped in 2013 when the PBS Kids block underwent a rebrand, though still keeping much of the same interstitial themes that started in 1999.

Up until November 2013, it also ran PBS Kids Sprout (later branded as Sprout from 2009 to 2017), a cable channel aimed at preschoolers, alongside Sesame Workshop, NBCUniversal (previously Comcast, but became a part of NBCU as result of the former's purchase of it), and Apax Partners (former owners of HiT Entertainment); it had replaced the little-known 24/7 PBS Kids Channel (which ran from 1999 to 2005, mostly seen on DirecTV). A number of the listed programs no longer airing regularly on most PBS stations (and even shows that never aired on PBS anywhere in the first place) could be seen on Sprout. About two years after NBCU bought its stake, the company bought the network outright. Until September 2016, Sprout itself ran a Saturday morning block on semi-sister station NBC called NBC Kids, with another block on NBCU's Spanish network Telemundo called MiTelemundo. In September 2017, Sprout was rebranded as Universal Kids, and had dropped most of the PBS shows that were still on the channel at that point in favor of original programming and other acquired shows.

In January 2017, PBS launched a new 24/7 PBS Kids channel, which, in addition to being available as a subchannel through most PBS stations, can also be streamed live for free through their website and video app, but only if you live in the United States.


Shows that ran on PBS Kids and PBS Kids Go!:

    open/close all folders 

    1990s 
1993note 

1994

  • The Big Comfy Couch (Originally aired in Canada in 1992 on YTV, presented by American Public Television)
  • Bill Nye the Science Guy (Originally aired in syndication the year before, produced by Disney in association with the National Science Foundation, Rabbit Ears Productions, and KCTS Seattle)
  • FutureQuest (one of few new projects since the block's inception to never use a PBS Kids logo at any point)
  • In the Mix (a newsmagazine aimed at a teenage audience, never officially on the block, but syndicated by PBS itself on many stations; it is, to date, the only PBS Kids program to have a rating higher than TV-G)
  • Kidsongs (presented by American Public Television)
  • The Magic School Bus (first new national PBS Kids program since the P-Pals debuted, would later Channel Hop to Fox Kids, Discovery Kids/TLC, and Qubo for reruns)
  • The Puzzle Place
  • Rabbit Ears Productions (Only Storybook Classics showed up on PBS, while the rest of the series showed up on Showtime)
  • Storytime (Originally a locally-produced program broadcast on KCET since October 1992)

1995

  • Square One TV Math Talk (an educational 15-minute version of Square One TV which served a similar purpose to 3-2-1 Classroom Contact; most of its episodes were the only ones in the Square One TV franchise to end with the P-Pals logo, with the first two ending with the regular 1992 PBS logo in use at the time)
  • Wishbone

1996

1997

  • Hello Mrs. Cherrywinkle (originally made one year before, in Canada only, presented by American Public Television)
  • Wimzie's House (Originally made two years before, but was only airing in Canada. Currently airing in repeats in syndication.)

1998

1999

  • ZOOM - the revival
  • Zoboomafoo (the second of three series by the Kratt Brothers; last show to premiere on PTV)
  • Redwall (one of the very first shows to premiere on PBS Kids; presented by American Public Television, notable for being one of the very few non-educational children's series to air on PBS)
  • Dragon Tales (one of the very first shows to premiere on PBS Kids; one of the few shows to be co-produced by a major Hollywood studio- in this case Sony Pictures Television with Sesame Workshop)

    2000s 
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

    2010s 
2010

2011

  • Wild Kratts (the third of three series by the Kratt Brothers; currently the longest running out of the three series)

2012

2013

2014

  • Space Racers (originally presented by American Public Television, previously a web series in 2011 as Space Race)
  • Odd Squad

2015

2016

2017

  • Wild Alaska Live

2018

2019

    2020s 
2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

  • Carl the Collector
  • Donkey Hodie Bedtime Stories
  • Lyla in the Loop
  • Milo 2021 (acquired from Channel 5's "milkshake!" block in the UK)
  • Nature Chat with Nature Cat
  • Tiny Time Travel (short-form series)
  • Together We Can (series of live-action shorts)

2025

  • Phoebe and Jay

TBA

  • Weather Hunters


Podcasts that have been created by PBS:

  • Keyshawn Solves It
  • Jamming on the Job

Tropes commonly present across PBS Kids branding:

  • A Cappella: Almost all of the early Dot and Dash bumpers had their background music done in this.
  • Amazing Technicolor Population: Dot and Dash, as well as Dee and Del, are easily recognized by their green skin.
  • April Fools' Day: On April 1, 2022, the website and video app both showcased Halloween theming in celebration of April Fools' Day. It happened again on April 1, 2023.
  • Art Evolution: The original six bumpers used a pretty standard thick line and simplistic animation style with predominantly solid colors. Starting in the mid 2000s, a more detailed construction paper style took place, though overall bearing the same basic look. In 2013, the theming was again reverted to a simplistic flat color design, but with a more lineless look and all the characters getting something of a design overhaul.
  • The Artifact: Despite the major facelift for the 2013 bumpers, Dash still retained the old design theme on the logo until 2022.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: This lunch table meme made by KLRU (the PBS station in Austin, Texas) is hilariously meta and groups the shows based on similarities they share (such as Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat and Liberty's Kids both ending after one season).
  • Commuting on a Bus: Dash only appears on the logo proper in the 2013 bumpers, but otherwise is nowhere to be found.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: The PTV era can be considered this if you're used to the current PBS Kids branding. Since the current brand began almost two decades ago, it can be a bit strange to see the original branding where Dot and Dash are nowhere in sight, and with a completely different art style to boot. The Game could be considered this even more so, with its unusual stop-motion style that has never been seen since.
  • Fanfare: Dun dun dun dun...Doink, PBS Kids! Was later changed to be instrumental only.
  • Half-Identical Twins: Del and his twin sister Dee are identical twins.
  • The Internet Is an Ocean: A bumper has D.W. from Arthur show up in a swimsuit claiming that she's ready to surf the web.
  • Jump Rope Blunders: In one bumper, Dot and Dee are holding onto both sides of a jump rope while Del is jumping in the middle. Del gets tangled up and the rope gets tied into different improbable shapes.
  • Last of His Kind: Following the shutdown of qubo, PBS Kids became the last over-the-air channel dedicated to children's programming. PBS is also the only over-the-air broadcast network to show programming aimed at children 2-12, as the others have resorted to teen-oriented edutainment shows, mainly from Litton Entertainment.
  • Little Bit Beastly: Subverted with Del. He has a raccoon tail, but instead of being an actual appendage, it's just a mere accessory that he almost always wears on a regular basis.
  • Long-Runners: Nine shows on the block have run new episodes for a decade or more:
  • Mr. Imagination: Non-character example. The "Use Your Imagination" song bumper that ran in the early 2000s to signal the start of the block and also played on VHS tapes distributed by PBS pretty much is this trope, encouraging children to, well, use their imagination. It even says "if it's raining, you can make the sky blue" in the most cheerful manner possible.
  • Never Trust a Trailer: This tends to happen to shows that have reboots that also air on PBS Kids like the original incarnation of the show, since PBS just tends to re-uses bumpers for the previous incarnation of the show no matter how different the two shows are. The first show to have this happen was Make Way For Noddy, which used this coming up next promo for The Noddy Shop that focused more on the puppets than Noddy. The second show to suffer this was the 2015 version of Bob the Builder, which had an up next bumper using footage from the previous installment that they had aired, which has vastly different character designs.
  • No Name Given: From Labor Day 1999 until Labor Day 2006, Dash and Dot were simply referred to as the PBS Kids Boy and Girl.
  • Parental Bonus: This is Your Brain on Books, an obvious take on the famous anti-drug PSA "This is Your Brain on Drugs." The homage is extremely unlikely to be caught by the target audience of the average program on the block.
  • Permanently Missable Content: This happens with some YouTube videos on the PBS Kids channel, especially the full episodes. Whenever they upload a new episode of a particular show, previous episodes of that show will be deleted or made private. For example, when the Donkey Hodie episode "Piano Problem; Bongo-Lympics" premiered on the YouTube channel, "A Big Favor For Grampy; A Fair Way To Bounce" got deleted to make room for it.
  • The Resolution Will Not Be Identified: Many of the block's shows have ended this way, to the point where they have their own section on the trope's page.
  • Roger Rabbit Effect: Happens once in a while in a few of the bumpers that combine live action footage with animated PBS shows. For instance, the "Action Pig" bumper features Arthur in it with some live-action kids and a live-action pig. A rare 2005 PBS Kids ident with the Be More branding (which was used by PBS then) has Dot and Dash in it, Though most of it is live action. There is also Clifford from Clifford the Big Red Dog in the ident.
  • Saturday-Morning Cartoon: The Bookworm Bunch was PBS's first (and only) Saturday morning cartoon block.note  Some stations continue to air PBS Kids shows on weekend mornings, while others air cooking and DIY shows.
  • "Sesame Street" Cred: During their PTV era, a series of shorts called "Another Pointer From Paula Poundstone" was run that focused on Paula Poundstone teaching kids lessons such as eating healthy food and sticking to their plans.
  • Time Skip: Dot is grown up in the 2013 branding.
  • You Don't Look Like You: Dot became nearly unrecognizable when she was redesigned in 2013.

 
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Video Example(s):

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Banana Cream Pie

Dot bakes a banana cream pie for Dash, but accidentally slips on one of the peels she threw on the ground and ends up tossing the pie in his face.

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