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Creator / PBS Kids

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/200px-PBS_Kids_Logo_svg_8157.png
Doink! PBS Kids!
"This is PBS! (Hoo-hoo-hoo!)"
—first PBS Kids logo (1993)

PBS Kids is a children's block of Edutainment Shows on PBS that launched in 1994. It has aired on many PBS affiliates.

The block started under the name PTV, featuring the P-Pals, or anthropromorphized PBS logos as the mascot, in their fictional setting "PTV Park". It was used as a way to relegate all the network's child programming into one centralized place. However, since the shows had wildly varying demographics, from young kids to preteens, another block was created in 1996 to help remedy this called "The Game", which featured interstitials with a stop-motion animated board game set. This block would air programming more centered on the older end of the child demographic, such as Bill Nye the Science Guy and Arthur.

Beginning in 1999, PTV and The Game were both retired and the block was re-purposed into the PBS Kids that we all know today. The P-Pals were replaced with two new mascots, Dot and Dash, 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 bring the shows aimed at older demographics into one place. This was again 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, 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). 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) can currently be seen on Sprout. About two years after NBCU bought its stake, the company bought the network outright, rechristening it Sprout. Sprout itself runs a Saturday morning block on semi-sister station NBC called NBC Kids, with another block on NBC's Spanish network Telemundo called MiTelemundo.

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

1993:note 

1994:

1995:

1996:

1997:

1998:

1999:

2000:2001:

2002:

2003:

2004:

2005:

2006:

2007:

2008:

2009:

2010:

2011:

2012:

2013:

2014:

2015:

2016:

Tropes commonly present across PBS Kids branding:

  • 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 retains the old design theme on the logo.
  • Commuting on a Bus: Dash only appears on the logo proper in the 2013 bumpers, but otherwise is nowhere to be found.
  • Fanfare: Dun dun dun dun...Doink, PBS Kids! Was later changed to be instrumental only.
  • No Name Given: From Labor Day 1999 until Labor Day 2006, Dash and Dot were referred to as the PBS Kids Boy and Girl.
  • Stop Motion: "The Game" block in the late 90s used this.

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