In this report, Playback looks at the people and forces involved in the development of three new Canadian kids’ programs and the marketing and merchandising thrusts behind those and some other kids’ properties.

Inside:

Development diaries:

The Charlie Horse Music Pizza p. 24

Zoboomafoo p. 27

Mr. Men p. 29

Treehouse TV p. 26

Wimzie update p. 30

ACT awards approach p. 30

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The strength of ventriloquist Shari Lewis as a legendary children’s performer and brand name is behind a marketing and merchandising push that will follow the launch of her newest series The Charlie Horse Music Pizza Jan. 5, 1998.

Building on the success of Lamb Chop’s Play-Along, the Music Pizza series is a music education and appreciation program of 40 half-hour episodes to air weekdays on pbs in the u.s. and Canadian cable companies with pbs feeds. The focus of each episode will be a music lesson: for example, notes of the scale, lyrics, rhythm, kinds of instruments and genres of music.

The merchandising plans are still preliminary, stresses Robert Friedman, a representative with the Los Angeles office of Golden Books Family Entertainment, which is running the Music Pizza merchandising plan.

Therefore, he declines to offer any specifics about the merchandising strategy, distribution reach or prices. Friedman does say, though, the initial merchandising program will include plush toys, home videos, puppets, apparel and musical products. A full line of books including storybooks with sound chips embedded in the pages, and activity, coloring and sticker books will be a mainstay of the sales plan.

A secondary push might include party goods and songbooks.

‘The merchandising plan will be a continuation of Lamb Chop’s Play-Along series, which can be called a major merchandising success,’ says Friedman.

‘Parents have their own relationship with Shari Lewis as a performer and a brand name and that gives them a level of comfort for their children.’

The sales plan will continue as long as the series remains on the air, he adds. Product distribution will be handled through regular wholesale and retail channels and licensing agreements.

Production for the television series ran from Aug. 12 to Nov. 7 in Vancouver’s cbc studios with guests such as Dom DeLuise, Alex Trebek, Monty Hall, a b.c. native, and jazz star Diana Krall.

The show is geared for children aged three to eight, with the skew to the older end of the demographic. The show’s title, meanwhile, comes from the theme of the main set, The Music Pizza, a beach-side pizzeria that is the hangout for neighborhood kids.

Golden Books, which is headquartered in New York, acquired Shari Lewis Enterprises in July and will direct the merchandising push in English-speaking countries.

Golden is one of the leading children’s book publishers in North America and owns one of the world’s largest libraries of family entertainment copyrights such as the Shari Lewis library including the Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy characters, books, tv specials, films and home video titles. Golden also owns the classic animated programs Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman.

In Music Pizza, Lewis is the restaurant operator, with Charlie Horse her sidekick. The series introduces new puppets that will no doubt become merchandised themselves. The newcomers are Take Out, a skateboarding orangutan delivery boy who plays the strings, and Fingers, a raccoon who plays woodwinds. Rounding out the cast are Lamb Chop and Hush Puppy.

‘Music Pizza is like [sitcom series] Cheers for kids, but what we serve up is music,’ says Lewis, a 12-time Emmy winner as outstanding children’s performer. ‘The kids who flock [to the pizzeria] love to make [music], move to it and listen to it. We’ll be introducing them to a smorgasbord of music styles from country and classical to Dixieland and marching bands.’

She adds: ‘New research has confirmed that the study of music at an early age aids children throughout their lives. Learning music teaches you how to learn anything.’

The Music Pizza series’ production costs are funded by pbs and other organizations including NAMM: The International Music Products Association.

It is produced with Golden Books and kcet/Los Angeles.