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86-506: The Sooty Show is a British children's television series , created by Harry Corbett , and produced for the BBC from 1955 to 1967, and then for ITV from 1968 until 1992. The show, part of the Sooty franchise, focuses on the mischievous adventures of the glove puppet character of the same name, alongside his friends Sweep and Soo , and their handler. Between 1955 and 1975, Corbett presented

172-457: A "xylophone", but in reality a toy glockenspiel – based upon the same instrument used by Sooty up until the 1980s. The creation of the franchise is traced back to 1948, when Corbett came across an all yellow bear glove puppet during a holiday in Blackpool . Purchasing the item, he made use of it to entertain his children during that time, including his newborn son Peter (Matthew), naming

258-602: A Sooty-focused theme park area in May 2022. During Matthew Corbett's reign, seven stage shows were performed repetitively. For the first half of the tours, Matthew and Connie Creighton would present, and during the second half, while Matthew was busy writing and filming the TV shows, Connie and Spencer K. Gibbens would present. After Matthew retired, six stage shows toured the country. All starred Richard Cadell; three of them also featured Richard's Sooty Heights co-star, Liana Bridges, with

344-480: A block on Animax , known as "Nick Time") and Cartoon Network (Cartoon Network's age demographic is moving towards older viewers with shows such as Hello Kitty , Regular Show and Adventure Time ) One of the most well-known children's TV programmes comes from Iceland, LazyTown , was created by Magnus Scheving , European Gymnastics Champion and CEO of Lazytown Entertainment . The show has aired in over 180 countries, been dubbed into more than 32 languages and

430-560: A cable, satellite, streaming, or internet subscription to view them on first airing." In the United States, there are three major commercial cable networks dedicated to children's television. All three also operate secondary services with specialized scopes drawing upon their respective libraries, such as a focus on specific demographics, or a focus upon classic programming that fall within their scope and demographics; all three have also extensively franchised their brands outside

516-715: A certain age of child: some are aimed at infants and toddlers, some are aimed at those aged 6 to 11 years old, and others are aimed at all children. Children's television is nearly as old as television itself. In the United Kingdom, the BBC 's For the Children was first broadcast in 1946, and in English-speaking circles, is generally credited with being the first TV programme specifically for children. Some authors posit television for children tended to originate from similar programs on radio. For example,

602-560: A co-star whom he worked with on a number of episodes in the final series of Sooty & Co. By the end of 1999, The Britt Allcroft Company , owners of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends , had purchased a 50% stake in the franchise from Sooty International Limited, and created a joint-venture company called Bridgefilms (Also known as Sooty Limited), which would also handle distribution rights to existing Britt Allcroft property Magic Adventures of Mumfie . The Britt Allcroft Company

688-445: A deal with ITV to move The Sooty Show to their channel. Production was handled by Thames Television shortly after its return in 1968, with Corbett presenting the programme until he was forced to retire in 1975, with his son Matthew Corbett presenting the programme until its conclusion in 1992, when Thames lost its franchise. The Sooty Show featured three different formats during its broadcast history: two created by Harry Corbett,

774-430: A dog and friend of Sooty, who would be portrayed as being dim-witted but good-natured and innocent, who would often make mistakes that would cause problems for others, often get his own back on others when tricked, and have an obsession with bones. An aspect of the character's design was his voice – in performances he would speak in a high-pitched squeak that would have some form of sentences, but would often be translated by

860-724: A few exceptions, perhaps the best-known being the Power Rangers franchise). Typically, programs are either 'for boys' or 'for girls'. The teen demographic targets viewers 12 to 18 years of age. Live-action series that target this demographic are more dramatic and developed, including teen dramas and teen sitcoms . In some cases, they may contain more mature content that is usually not permissible on shows targeting younger viewers, and can include some profanity or suggestive dialogue. Educational programming targeted at this demographic has historically been rare, other than on NASA TV 's education block. However, some programming aimed at

946-465: A magic wand, which he uses for spells conducted to the catchphrase of "Izzy wizzy, let's get busy!" – which Corbett devised – and tapping it to " Shave and a Haircut "; and a water pistol, which symbolises his cheekiness by often being used to soak others around him – including on programmes he is a guest on, such as soaking talk show hosts. On television programmes, the presenter – Sooty's owner and main puppeteer – often acts as narrator for scenes involving

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1032-403: A mixture of slapstick comedy, prop comedy – ranging from gunge , custard pies and water pistols – magic tricks, and music. All routines in both are primarily aimed at providing family-friendly entertainment suitable for young children. In addition, the franchise also include merchandising, ranging from annuals to toys. One such product that was sold was a toy musical instrument – referred to as

1118-469: A new programme, which eventually launched on CITV in 2011 under the title of Sooty . Although the format remained the same, the setting changed to misadventures within a holiday park that they helped to run, while scripts were aimed at younger audiences. Filming of the series took place at Brean Leisure Park , which Cadell co-owned with his brother, until it was put up for sale in 2014. Additional series were still made, but focused on other locations, with

1204-454: A number of children's channels under the Pop and Tiny Pop brands. British versions of Cartoon Network and its sister channels Boomerang and Cartoonito also operate in the country, some 25 years after the initial launch. Ireland has one dedicated children's TV service RTÉjr . Since 1998 RTÉ2 has provided children's programming from 07:00 to 17:30 each weekday, originally titled The Den ,

1290-452: A regular in 1974, after taking over from his father following his retirement in 1975, though with Harry retaining a guest capacity in episodes. The third format used by the programme was introduced by Matthew in 1981, later becoming a staple for all future programmes in the Sooty franchise. Under the new format, Matthew discontinued the use of a studio audience and comedic sketches, in lieu of

1376-500: A sequel for ITV that launched in 1993 under the title of Sooty & Co. . The new programme operated under the same format as its predecessor, but with episodes set mainly within a bric-a-brac shop in Manchester. While Creighton remained a part of the programme for a number of series, Longman was given a physical role as co-star in several episodes, mainly as a regular customer named Mo, alongside her role as Soo's voice actor, with

1462-446: A series of sketches involving Sooty and his friends, but with the inclusion of a studio, and a live audience of young children at each filming session. In this arrangement, Harry was able to incorporate additional elements, including music, story-telling, magic tricks and guest stars alongside the comedic sketches. The format was maintained by Harry when the programme moved from the BBC to ITV in 1968, and later by Matthew, upon becoming

1548-407: A sitcom format focused on a single misadventure, with himself, Sooty, Sweep and Soo sharing a suburban house together. Elements of the previous format, such as guest stars and music, were retained, with narration added in for scenes focused entirely on the puppets; story-telling was also retained, but phased out over the 1980s. The new format included the use of educational elements in some stories, and

1634-448: Is a mute yellow bear with black ears and nose, who is kind-hearted but also cheeky. Sooty performs magic tricks and practical jokes, and squirts his handler and other people with his water pistol. The franchise itself also includes several other puppet characters who were created for television, as well as an animated series, two spin-off series for the direct-to-video market, and a selection of toy merchandising. The franchise remained in

1720-414: Is generally more overtly educational. In a number of cases, such shows are produced in consultation with educators and child psychologists in an effort to teach age-appropriate lessons (the series Sesame Street pioneered this approach when it debuted in 1969). A format that has increased in popularity since the 1990s is the " pseudo-interactive " program, in which the action of the show stops and breaks

1806-635: Is the most expensive children's show of all time. In 1995, Cartoon Network became the first children's channel to be launched in India. Subsequently, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon arrived. Hungama TV (2004) was the first children's channel that had local content. Pogo and BabyTV came later in 2006. By 2018, 23 channels have aired in India. Nickelodeon was the first children's channel in Romania, launched in December 1998. Afterwards, Minimax became

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1892-513: The Cartoon Network , Disney Channel , Disney Junior , Disney XD , and Nickelodeon brands. WildBrain operates Family Channel , as well as the spin-off services WildBrainTV and Family Jr. it has been majority owned and operated by British Columbia's public broadcaster Knowledge Network . In French, Corus operates Télétoon and La chaîne Disney , WildBrain operates Télémagino (a French version of Family Jr.), TVA Group operates

1978-614: The FCC mandates. (The rule for digital subchannels was repealed in July 2019; in practice, most still carry educational programs anyway.) In 2017, there was a programming block that aired on syndication called KidsClick ; it was notable as a concerted effort to program children's shows on television without regard to their educational content, one of the first such efforts since the E/I rule took effect. The transition to digital television has allowed for

2064-405: The fourth wall to give a young viewer the opportunity to answer a question or dilemma put forth on the show, with the action continuing as if the viewer answered correctly. Shows that target the demographic of persons 6 to 11 years old focus primarily on entertainment and can range from comedic cartoons to action series. Most children's television series targeting this age range are animated (with

2150-451: The 1980s to 1990s. The Sooty Show was created by Harry Corbett , a children's entertainer and magician, following the popularity of his puppet character Sooty on children's television and the decision by BBC Television to commission him for several episodes featuring the character. Corbett hosted several episodes for the BBC, originally under the title of Sooty , before later renaming it to

2236-689: The 1990s, more children's television series such as Barney & Friends , Blue's Clues , SpongeBob SquarePants , Bear in the Big Blue House , and The Big Comfy Couch were created. A voluminous range of children's television programming now exists in the 2020s. Notable successes outside the US include shows like Play School , Noggin the Nog , Clangers , Bagpuss , Teletubbies , Thunderbirds , Danger Mouse , Count Duckula , Mr. Men and Thomas & Friends originating from

2322-404: The BBC runs CBBC as well as the preschool-oriented CBeebies , while ITV runs CITV as well as the preschool-oriented LittleBe , as a programming block on ITVBe . Both channels were spun off from children's television strands on their respective flagship channels ( BBC One , BBC Two , and ITV ). The BBC and ITV have largely phased out children's programming from their main channels to focus on

2408-603: The BBC's Children's Hour was launched as a radio broadcast in 1922, with BBC School Radio commencing live broadcasts in 1924. In the early 1930s, radio adventure serials such as Little Orphan Annie began to emerge in the United States and became a staple of children's afternoon radio listening. Early children's shows included Kukla, Fran and Ollie (1947), Howdy Doody , and Captain Kangaroo . Another show, Ding Dong School , aired from 1952 to 1965. Its creator and host, Frances Horwich , would sit in front of

2494-470: The BBC: Sweep in 1957, handled by his brother Leslie Corbett, and Soo in 1964, voiced by his wife Marjorie and brought in after backlash on the BBC's desire not to include a female character. In 1967, Corbett fell into disagreement with the BBC , in particular with the new controller of BBC1 that year, Paul Fox , who decided that Corbett be replaced with another person presenting his programme. Faced with

2580-564: The London Daily Mirror . Later annuals were published by Purnell and Sons . The annuals feature an expanded cast of characters including: In 1956, Philips Records released a 78 r.p.m. record P.B.528. It contains (side 1) "Sooty" (by Corbett) performed by Marie Benson and also featuring Harry Corbett and Sooty with instrumental accompaniment, and (side 2) "Mr Dumpling" (by Heathcote) performed by Marie Benson with instrumental accompaniment. In 1961 an album "Sooty Entertains"

2666-455: The UK, Paw Patrol from Canada, Le Manege Enchantè from France, The Singing Ringing Tree from Germany, and Marine Boy and Pokémon from Japan. Canadian studio Nelvana is a particularly prolific producer of children's programming. Much of Nelvana's product is broadcast worldwide, especially in the US, where the similarities in dialect do not require any dubbing or localization. In

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2752-445: The United States, early children's television was often co-opted as a platform to market products and it rarely contained any educational elements (for instance, The Magic Clown , a popular early children's program, was primarily an advertisement for Bonomo's Turkish taffy .) In the early years of television, advertising to children posed a dilemma as most children have no disposable income of their own. As such, children's television

2838-504: The United States. Also, in January 2008, a promotional DVD containing 5 early-1980s episodes was distributed by The Times newspaper, for Fremantle Media. The episodes featured were: "Bob a Job"; "Safety First"; "Sleep Walking"; "Connie Comes to Tea"; and "Sooty's Christmas Panto". Children%27s television series The purpose of these shows, aside from profit, is mainly to entertain or educate children, with each series targeting

2924-458: The United States. Under current mandates, all broadcast television stations in the United States must show a minimum of three hours per week of educational children's programming , regardless of format. Until 2019, this rule also applied to digital subchannels ; as a result, digital multicast networks whose formats should not fit children's programming, such as Live Well Network and TheCoolTV , were required to carry educational programs to fit

3010-467: The Universe , the 1980s saw a dramatic rise in television programs featuring characters of whom toy characters were being sold to retail consumers in bricks and mortar stores, underscoring the value potential of manufacturing merchandise for fans of children's programs. This practice remains firmly embedded in the broadcast sector's business case broadly in the 2020s. Commercial-free children television

3096-456: The camera and simulate small talk with the viewing audience at home, demonstrating basic skills for the camera. This practice lives on in contemporary children's broadcasting as a genre in of itself, with Australia's ongoing program Play School one example. At one time, a program called Winky Dink and You took a more interactive approach, prompting its viewers to affix a clear vinyl sheet to their television and draw pictures to match what

3182-416: The character and other puppets, thus providing a 'voice' for Sooty during their narration to portray the character speaking normally with other puppet characters. The other two characters in the franchise were created to accompany Sooty in performances, effectively forming the backbone of television and stage shows, and were created by Corbett. The first character, Sweep, introduced in 1957, was designed to be

3268-405: The character tends to sometimes hate being tricked by the others, but does not mind enjoying a laugh when someone else is being tricked. Unlike the other two, Soo was designed to have a voice, in order to provide ease in production of television episodes. After his initial performances with his puppet between 1952 and 1955, Harry Corbett introduced Sooty officially with his own programme, Sooty ,

3354-426: The character was cheeky and naughty, fond of playing practical jokes, but was also kind-hearted and good. Part of the character's design that Corbett devised, was for Sooty being mute in his appearances and thus communicating with others by 'whispering' in their ear, to which the recipient often repeats what was said for the audience to understand. The character often retains two items that are iconic in his appearance:

3440-521: The characters and effectively saw several puppeteers, including Longman, leaving the programme. HIT continued to struggle with the franchise from this point forward, seeing it as having little "international appeal" and attempted to put their stake in the Sooty Limited joint-venture with ProVen Private Equity up for sale in December 2002, with Entertainment Rights as an interested purchaser. However, nothing came forward of these plans and eventually

3526-416: The creation of specially designed sets for the puppet characters, which would be later updated and maintained in subsequent programmes in the Sooty franchise – in particular, a bathroom set created for the programme was specially designed so that its miniature taps and shower dispensed running water. The Sooty Show proved popular with children and helped to develop the Sooty franchise, culminating in

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3612-572: The cultural similarities between Canada and the US, along with film credits and subsidies available from the Canadian government, a large number of animated children's series have been made in Canada with the intention of exporting them to the United States. Such programs carry a prominent Government of Canada wordmark in their closing credits. The BBC and ITV plc both operate children's oriented television networks on digital terrestrial television:

3698-498: The debut of whole subchannels that air children's programming 24/7; examples include BabyFirst , PBS Kids , Smile , and Universal Kids . The country's only directly nationally operated TV service for public consumption, NASA TV , also includes educational programs in its schedule for use in schools. English-language children's specialty channels in Canada are primarily owned by Corus Entertainment and WildBrain . Corus operates YTV and Treehouse , as well as localized versions of

3784-633: The dedicated services; in 2012, as part of the "Delivering Quality First" initiative, the BBC announced that it would end the broadcast of CBBC programmes on BBC One following the completion of the transition to digital terrestrial television, citing low viewership in comparison to broadcasts of the programmes on the CBBC channel. Channel 5 also broadcasts a preschool-oriented block known as Milkshake! , while its owner, Paramount Networks International , also runs versions of Nickelodeon and its sister networks Nicktoons and Nick Jr. Narrative Capital operate

3870-534: The demographic has had some tangential educational value in regard to social issues, such as the now-defunct TNBC block of sitcoms, which often tackled issues such as underage drinking or drug use. According to at least one journalist, for years, Broadcast Standards and Practices departments of networks, Parental Guidelines , and campaigns by social conservatives limited "efforts to make kids animation more inclusive." One former executive of Disney, David Levine, said that "a lot of conservative opinion" drove what

3956-401: The development of new technologies, tailored towards amusing young children, and made use of slapstick humour, including the use of cream pies and water. As episodes progressed, stories under this format later saw the involvement of Sweep and Soo, whom Harry created to accompany Sooty, alongside other puppet characters. The second format, devised in the mid-1960s, expanded episodes to consist of

4042-431: The finale of Sooty & Co. Following his retirement, Matthew Corbett bequeathed his puppets to Richard Cadell , a fan of Sooty and a skilled magician, who produced a new Sooty programme for ITV titled Sooty Heights , which launched in 1999. Like its predecessor, the new programme stuck to the same format, but with episodes set within a beachside hotel that the characters ran, with Cadell joined by Liana Bridges –

4128-728: The first Romanian children's channel to air locally produced content, launched on Children's Day in 2001. Since then, channels like BabyTV and Disney Channel have arrived. Children's channels that exist in Turkey are Cartoon Network , TRT Çocuk , MinikaÇOCUK , Minika GO and Zarok TV . Sooty Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett incorporating primarily television and stage shows. The franchise originated with his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in The Sooty Show in 1955. The main character, Sooty,

4214-436: The formation of additional television programmes that would run on the format brought in by Matthew Corbett in the 1980s. After the programme's conclusion, it was followed with a sequel in 1993, titled Sooty & Co. . The programme also spawned an educational spin-off series for young children, titled Learn With Sooty , that was produced for the direct-to-video market between 1989 and 1991, and several stage shows involving

4300-589: The fourth starring Amanda Howard in Liana's place. From 2005 to 2008, annual shows, featuring the puppet characters and various different presenters, toured around the UK. From 2009, stage shows again featured Richard Cadell. The first, Sooty in Space , was a reworking of one of Matthew Corbett's scripts, and toured the country throughout the year. On 20 June 2014 the Radio Times confirmed that Sooty: The Movie

4386-603: The franchise suffered some setbacks in 2004, and eventually Cadell bought the rights in June 2008. He has since focused on ensuring the survival of the brand with new stage shows and television programmes. The Sooty franchise is focused upon the adventures of Sooty, a glove puppet character created by magician and puppeteer Harry Corbett in the 1950s, alongside his other friends Sweep and Soo . Although mainly appearing in programmes for British children's television , Sooty also incorporates stage shows, both of which make use of

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4472-555: The franchise to his son Peter, who was now performing in children's television under the stage name of Matthew Corbett, with his own programme. Corbett's role in children's television earned him an OBE for his services in January 1976, with his character Sooty being given a special one alongside him during his ceremony. He continued to provide assistance on The Sooty Show as a guest star, making his final appearance in 1984 – five years before his death in 1989. Following his father's retirement, Matthew Corbett took sole responsibility for

4558-409: The frontman for the franchise. In 1997, Matthew devised an animated spin-off, titled Sooty's Amazing Adventures , which ran between 1997–98 and featured a different style of adventures to the live-action show, including voices for Scampi and Sweep, and a different voice actor for Soo. The spin-off lasted two series, before Matthew concluded it in preparation for his retirement in December 1998, following

4644-986: The highest number of LGBTQ characters they ever recorded up to that point. In 2017, some said that LGBTQ+ characters in animated television were somewhat rare, despite the fact that GLAAD praised the number of characters in broadcast and primetime television. From 2017 to 2019, Insider noted that there was a "more than 200% spike in queer and gender-minority characters in children's animated TV shows." In 2018 and 2019, GLAAD stated that Amazon , Hulu , and Netflix, had increased LGBTQ representation in "daytime kids and family television." In their January 2021 report, GLAAD praised LGBTQ representation in episodes of DuckTales , The Owl House and Adventure Time: Distant Lands . Despite this, some industry practitioners state that more than 90% of LGBTQ characters in kid's animated shows within Insider 's database of characters in children's animated television shows "require either

4730-537: The inclusion of songs and music. The glove puppet gained a sufficient profile from television exposure that his likeness became a feature on charity collection boxes used by the Royal National Institute of Blind People in the late 1950s. Corbett expanded on the programme further with the inclusion of story-telling, and the creation of additional characters that would co-star with Sooty. The two most prominent additions were made during his tenure with

4816-434: The incorporation of a studio audience. In 1981, Matthew changed the format towards a sitcom setting, in which he and the characters lived within a country cottage and engaged in a new adventure in each episode. The new arrangement retained some elements from the original format such as songs, while introducing narration in a number of scenes featuring the puppets only. In both formats, guests are featured in episodes, alongside

4902-450: The involvement of prop items for gunging and making messes of human performers and guest stars. The Sooty Show proved a success with children's television, due to the popularity of Sooty, spawning additional sequels including Sooty & Co. in 1993, as well as several stage shows, and a spin-off educational series titled Learn With Sooty . The programme itself was later made available on VHS and DVD, featuring episodes from primarily

4988-422: The main puppeteer for the audience to understand more clearly. The concept was created by Corbett's brother Leslie through the use of a saxophone reed, and became a permanent element of the character upon his debut. The second character, Soo, introduced in 1964, was designed as a panda bear, who would be portrayed as sweet, shy, and mainly responsible, acting as a motherly character to the other two. In later years,

5074-513: The networks turned to affiliated cable cartoon channels or outside programmers for their blocks. On September 27, 2014, the last traditional Saturday network morning cartoon block, Vortexx , ended and was replaced the following week by the syndicated One Magnificent Morning on The CW . Children's television series can target a wide variety of key demographics based on age and gender. Few television networks target infants and toddlers under two years of age. Preschool-oriented programming

5160-406: The ownership of Corbett until his retirement in 1976, before being passed on to his son Matthew . The rights to the franchise were sold in 1996 to a development firm who formed a holding company for the property, with Matthew later retiring and handing over control of the puppet characters to Richard Cadell in 1998. After initial ownership changes from Gullane Entertainment to HIT Entertainment ,

5246-560: The part of a villain; Ramsbottom, a snake; and 'Enry the Robot, a robot with light up eyes who keeps breaking down. Alongside his television work, Corbett also created travelling shows with Sooty and various works for charity, but the switch to ITV created a tighter schedule that increased his workload. As a result, Corbett's work affected his health badly, culminating in him having a heart attack in December 1975. Knowing he would need to retire, Corbett opted to hand over control of his puppets and

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5332-700: The preschool-oriented Yoopa , and Bell Media runs the teen-oriented Vrak . Via its majority-owned subsidiary Telelatino , Corus also operates two children and family-oriented networks in Spanish and Italian, TeleNiños and Telebimbi respectively. On broadcast television and satellite to cable undertakings, children's television content is relegated to the country's public and designated provincial educational broadcasters, including CBC Television and Ici Radio-Canada Télé , as well as City Saskatchewan , CTV Two Alberta (formerly Access), Knowledge Network , Télé-Québec , TFO , and TVOntario ( TVOKids ). Aided by

5418-621: The programme featuring several stories that ventured out into new locations. Matthew continued to conduct further stage shows, and also entered himself and Sooty as guests on other programmes. In 1996, Matthew sold the rights to the Sooty brand to the Global Rights Development Fund (a subsidiary of the Bank of Yokohama ) for £1.4 million, creating Sooty International Limited whose intentions would be to bring Sooty to "true international stardom", but leaving Matthew to be

5504-503: The programme moving to ITVBe . Cadell continued to keep Sooty in the public eye, making guest appearances with him, and at times the other characters, on other programmes. In 2017, Sooty was officially inducted into The Magic Circle based upon the magic tricks he conducted with his handlers. After the expiry of the licence at Brean, Cadells Limited announced in February 2022 to sign a new deal with Crealy Theme Park & Resort to open

5590-407: The programme until his retirement, before it was taken over by his son Matthew Corbett . It also co-starred Marjorie Corbett as the voice of Soo from the character's debut in 1964, until her retirement in 1981, whereupon Brenda Longman replaced her. The show originally focused on a sketch-based format featuring slapstick comedy, music, and stories, along with additional puppet characters, and later

5676-420: The programme's creator; and the third by Harry's son, Matthew Corbett. The first format, used from the programme's premiere in 1955, functioned in the manner of a cartoon short. In this arrangement, Harry would detail a scenario to viewers that Sooty was undertaking, that would often go wrong and cause chaos, often for Harry. The plots devised for these episodes were influenced by societal values, current events and

5762-446: The prospect of this or his programme being cancelled, Corbett decided to sign a deal with ITV to bring Sooty to commercial television, having earlier performed with the character in one of the channel's first product advertisements. The newly established franchise Thames Television would make the programme. The move led to him expanding on the characters that featured in the programme, including: Butch, another dog who occasionally plays

5848-620: The puppet Teddy. In time, his use of the puppet to entertain children with a variety of comedic routines and magic tricks earned him a place on the BBC 's talent competition, Talent Night , being held at Belle Vue, Manchester in 1952. Corbett proved popular with viewers and became the overall winner, landing him a job as a regular performer on the BBC children's show Saturday Special , where his puppet immediately appealed to children, turning him into an overnight success. Corbett opted to redesign Teddy's appearance to make him stand-out on black and white television screens. The overall change involved

5934-468: The puppets faced a misadventure in each episode. Elements such as slapstick comedy, comedic messes, practical jokes, music and guests remained a part of the programme under the new format. Alongside the transformation of The Sooty Show , Matthew branched out into stage shows featuring Sooty, bringing him closer to his audiences. Production on the new format of the television programme was aided by Connie Creighton, who had worked alongside Matthew's father and

6020-436: The puppets on The Sooty Show , although he was forced to forgo his own programme as a direct result. Matthew maintained the programme's format until 1981 before making changes. These included discontinuing the use of an audience and comedic sketches, dropping a number of puppet characters – leaving only Sooty, Sweep and Soo as the main stars – and setting the show to a sitcom format set within a suburban home, in which Matthew and

6106-612: The puppets, Matthew, and Connie Creighton. Its early success led to it receiving a short-run comic strip based on the character, for the children's magazine Playhour between 1960 and 1961, drawn by Gordon Hutchings. Outside the UK, the show was also given international broadcasts in other countries: these included ABC in Australia; TVNZ in New Zealand; and the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in

6192-705: The service was renamed TRTÉ and RTÉjr in 2010. Irish-language service TG4 provide two strands of children's programming Cúla 4 Na nÓg and Cúla 4 during the day. Commercial broadcaster TV3 broadcast a children's strand called Gimme 3 from 1998 to 1999. And then broadcast a new strand called 3Kids . Children's channels that exist in Australia are ABC Family , ABC Kids , and its spin-off CBeebies , Nickelodeon and its spin-off Nick Jr. , and Cartoon Network and its spin-off Boomerang . Children's channels that exist in Japan are NHK Educational TV , Kids Station , Disney Channel , Disney XD , Nickelodeon (also under

6278-529: The stage sets, and the addition of two new puppet characters to the cast: the return of Butch; and the introduction of a new character called Miki – a Brazilian cat. In July 2002, Gullane Entertainment accepted a deal to be acquired by fellow children's company HIT Entertainment , the owners of franchises such as Bob the Builder and Barney . Following the purchase, the then-current TV series went under severe budget cuts, which included new puppet designs for

6364-629: The then-current series was cancelled by ITV in 2004. By 2005, HIT had been sold to Apax Partners and was in heavy debt. The company was unable to offer ITV a new series in 2006 and in October 2007 the company officially announced that they had put the Sooty Limited/Bridgefilms subsidiary up for sale. In June 2008, Cadell bought the rights from HIT, with the intention of saving the franchise and ensuring its future. Alongside conducting new stage shows, he also began work on producing

6450-401: The title that would be use throughout its broadcast history, along with creating additional characters that would become key elements to the children's media franchise sharing the character's name . In 1967, Corbett fell into disagreement with BBC producers over the presentation of the programme, and with the decision by Paul Fox , BBC1 controller at that time, to cancel the programme, he signed

6536-526: The title was changed to The Sooty Show in 1967. The programme, run on BBC TV (later BBC1) between 1955 and 1967 and made as a replacement for Muffin the Mule , included a series of comedic sketches involving Sooty conducting simple tasks or ventures, which would sometimes go wrong and result in a mess that they would need to deal with. The show expanded on the routines used in episodes by featuring slapstick humour suitable for young children, magic tricks, and

6622-502: The use of black dust (or 'soot') upon the ears and nose, which inspired Corbett to change the puppet's name from Teddy to Sooty. The new look cemented the foundations of the franchise. The franchise features three different characters, with the most prominent being the titular character himself – Sooty. Corbett's design for the character was that all his puppets were yellow bears who bore the distinct features of black ears and nose. When portrayed in performances on television and stage shows,

6708-420: Was depicted on Cartoon Network , Disney Channel , and other alike channels. Some argued that cable television, which began to pick up in the 1990s, "opened the door for more representation" even though various levels of approvals remained. Through the 2000s', advocacy group GLAAD repeatedly highlighted the lack of LGBT representation in children's programming in particular. Two years later, they recorded

6794-543: Was first introduced with Sesame Street on PBS in November 1969. It was produced by what is now known as Sesame Workshop (formerly Children's Television Workshop, known as CTW). In the United States, Saturday mornings were generally scheduled with cartoons from the 1960s to 1980s. In 1992, teen comedies and a "Today" show weekend edition were first to displace the cartoon blocks on NBC. Starting in September 2002,

6880-443: Was given a co-star role on several episodes, while following his mother's retirement from her role, the voice of Soo was cast to Brenda Longman; Sweep's handler was also replaced, with Brian Sanford replacing Matthew's brother. Episodes of the programme mostly were aimed at comedic value, but elements of education were included in some stories; a spin-off educational series generated for pre-school audiences, titled Learn With Sooty ,

6966-586: Was going on on-screen. This format did not persist, nor was it replicated, due to a number of factors unrelated to its popularity: children whose parents did not buy them the vinyl sheet would draw with crayons directly on the television screen itself, potentially causing expensive damage; there were also concerns that having children within arm's length of a television screen of the era could expose them to harmful radiation. Later and more recognisably modern shows for young children include Sesame Street , The Electric Company and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood . In

7052-455: Was in production. It was set to go in production in 2016. Wink Taylor, Alex Skerratt and Richard Cadell were writing the film. Cadell confirmed that Matthew Corbett would appear in the movie. In 2021 Sooty and The Trifle of Doom was announced to be distributed by Kaleidoscope Film Distribution. For most years from 1957 to 1998, there was a Sooty Annual ; no annual was published in 1987, 1988, or 1990. The early annuals were published by

7138-512: Was later released between 1989 and 1991 on home video, but never shown on television. Although Matthew had dropped several characters from the show's old format, some returned in a guest capacity, while a new one was introduced in 1990 called Little Cousin Scampi – a character that Matthew devised as being part of Sooty's family, and who communicated in the same manner as Sooty. The Sooty Show came to its conclusion in 1992, whereupon Matthew created

7224-603: Was not a particularly high priority for the networks. This practice continued in a toned-down manner through the 1980s in the United States after the Federal Communications Commission prohibited tie-in advertising on broadcast television. These regulations did not apply to cable, which remains out of the reach of the FCC's content regulations. Due in part to the success of He-Man and the Masters of

7310-417: Was rebranded as Gullane Entertainment in 2000. While Cadell continued to operate stage shows and produce a second spin-off series, titled Sooty's Magic , for the direct-to-video market, Sooty Heights was changed by Gullane Entertainment in 2001. As well as being renamed as Sooty , it also saw Bridges being replaced with Vicki Lee Taylor , the presentation style of the programme being changed, including

7396-492: Was released. It contains Sooty's Concert, Sooty The Chef, Danger - Animals At Work, Sooty's Theatre, Double-Cross Quiz, The Music Lesson, Sooty's Music Festival & Sooty's Photographic Studio. All were also released as four singles. Two more singles were released with titles Sooty's Party Part One & Part Two, and Bedtime With Sooty and Sooty At The Organ. In 1965 an E.P. was released "Sooty & His T.V. Friends" featuring Sooty's Signature Tune, Soo, Sweep & Harry. In 1973

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