Join us as we catch up with three past guests! Author and illustrator Marc Brown, his son, producer Tolon Brown, and children's writer Peter K. Hirsch. Our previous conversation with them mostly covered the new Max series HOP, a show that celebrates diversity and inclusion with a cast of differently-abled characters. This time, we take a trip back to Elwood City, where we discuss the iconic Arthur franchise, from the original books to the beloved PBS television series and the spin-off Postcards ...
Dec 18, 2024•1 hr
Join us as we talk with the legendary Sharon Hampson and her talented daughter, Randi Hampson, of the children's musical duo, Sharon & Randi. Together, they continue the beloved legacy of Sharon, Lois & Bram, a musical trio that has entertained children for generations. Sharon and Randi share stories about their experiences on television with The Elephant Show and Skinnamarink TV and discuss the impact of their music on families around the world and the joy of bringing laughter and learn...
Dec 14, 2024•51 min
Join us as we speak with actor and voiceover artist Ty Olsson. From his early days on projects like The X-Files and Lake Placid to his memorable voiceover work as Ord in the PBS Kids series Dragon Tales, Ty shares some wonderful stories from his diverse career. We dive into his more dramatic roles, including his powerful portrayal of Mark Bingham in A&E's Flight 93, his recurring role as Benny Lafitte in Supernatural and more.
Dec 11, 2024•42 min
Join us for a heartwarming conversation with "Mrs. Big Bird" herself, Debra Spinney, the wife of the late Caroll Spinney, original Muppet performer of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street. Debra offers a unique perspective on the world of puppetry, having worked closely with Caroll on iconic projects such as Big Bird in China and Follow That Bird. Beyond the Muppet world, Debra shares stories about their travels, Caroll's artistic side, Debra's collection of Caroll's work and so much m...
Dec 08, 2024•1 hr 58 min
Join us as we speak with the incredibly talented Colleen Smith, a puppeteer and actress whose work includes various projects with The Muppets and The Jim Henson Company. She has also lent her puppetry talents to shows like Nickelodeon's The Barbarian and the Troll and Disney+'s Earth to Ned. Colleen shares stories from her incredible career, from her early days as a puppeteer to co-creating GLOP, the Glorious Ladies of Puppetry. She discusses performing on stage in Puppet Up!, the overall challe...
Dec 04, 2024•1 hr
Join us as we talk to Traci Paige Johnson, the creative mind behind one of the most beloved children's shows of all time. As the co-creator of Nick Jr.'s Blue's Clues and the voice of its title character Blue, Traci shares stories about the show's creation and the casting of the original hosts, Steve Burns and Donovan Patton! Traci also discusses working on the 2004 spin-off Blue's Room, casting Josh Dela Cruz for the 2019 revival Blue's Clues & You! and her work on other popular children's ...
Nov 30, 2024•50 min
Join us as we speak to the talented director Scott Preston. From puppetry to reality, Scott has directed a wide range of television. Hear stories about his experiences working on shows like The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, Oobi and Between the Lions, as well as his work on Sesame Street. Plus, learn about his career directing talk shows and reality shows, including The Daily Show, The Rachael Ray Show, Kitchen Nightmares and The Emeril Lagasse Show. Scott shares insights into the challenges and...
Nov 27, 2024•45 min
Join us as we talk to the iconic Sonia Manzano, known by generations for her role as Fix-It Shop co-owner Maria Rodriguez on Sesame Street from 1971 to 2015. Hear stories about her time on the show, her experiences as a writer, and the impact of Sesame Street on her life and career. Sonia also discusses her memoir Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx, her role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and voicing Rosa Casagrande on Nickelodeon's The Loud House and The Casagrandes. P...
Nov 23, 2024•46 min
Join us as we talk to acclaimed composer Jeff Danna. From the scores of Silent Hill and The Boondock Saints to Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends and The Zula Patrol, Jeff shares stories and insights about his iconic work. He is also best known for collaborating with his brother Mychael on Disney/Pixar's The Good Dinosaur and Onward.
Nov 20, 2024•33 min
Join us as we speak with the incredibly talented puppeteer, Kristin Charney. From the iconic Muppets to characters on shows like Greg the Bunny and Crank Yankers, Kristin has had quite the career. Hear stories about her experiences working with The Muppets on both the 2011 film and the 2015 TV series. Learn about her work on the Henson digital puppetry series Frances, where she performed the title character. Plus, discover her contributions to films like Team America: World Police and Forgetting...
Nov 16, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Join us as we take a nostalgic journey with legendary children's TV creator and producer, Rick Siggelkow. Rick shares behind-the-scenes stories about bringing beloved franchises like Thomas the Tank Engine and Noddy to American audiences. From the magic of Shining Time Station and The Noddy Shop to creating series like Ace Lightning and Dinosapien, and even the 2016 reboot of Little People, Rick shares insights into his career with children's television. Special thanks to our guest co-host Ryan ...
Nov 13, 2024•1 hr 9 min
On Episode 265 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview TV creator and author Zachariah O'Hora and director and storyboard artist Lisa Whittick! Zachariah and Lisa have backgrounds in the children's world! Zachariah is an author and illustrator and Lisa is a storyboard artist and director! Recently, Zachariah created the upcoming PBS Kids series Carl the Collector, which Lisa directs! Carl the Collector focuses on Carl, an adventurous raccoon with autism, who enjoys collecting things and lov...
Nov 09, 2024•35 min
On Episode 264 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview composer, singer and voice actor Russ Velazquez! For many years, Russ was a singer and composer for a variety of projects under 4Kids Entertainment, including the highly successful animes Pokémon and One Piece, as well as composing and performing the theme songs for the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series and Sonic X, where he also lent his voice to a number of characters. In the children's world, Russ composed a number of songs fo...
Nov 06, 2024•1 hr 10 min
On Episode 263 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview TV, Broadway and film actor Kevin Chamberlin! Early on in Kevin's professional acting career, he appeared in projects such as Ghostwriter, Die Hard with a Vengeance and State of Mind. He is known by many for portraying the role of the family butler Bertram Winkle in the Disney Channel series Jessie, Dr. Fusion in the DCOM Teen Beach Movie and Flip on the Nickelodeon series The Really Loud House. Kevin is also best known for his work in ...
Nov 02, 2024•40 min
On Episode 262 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview voice actress and singer Gigi Abraham! Some of Gigi's voiceover roles include voicing the Hasbro toy TJ Bearytales and several projects for Sprout, including JB in Sprout's Wiggly Waffle and Halley in Astroblast! She also voiced Laura Carrot and Nicky the Pepper in VeggieTales and voiced characters for the Cocomelon franchise. Gigi has also provided voiceover for toys, DVDs, commercials and audiobooks!
Oct 30, 2024•2 hr 8 min
On Episode 261 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview puppeteer and actor Bruce Connelly! Throughout Bruce's career, he has acted and directed a wide variety of theatre productions. He is best known for being the current performer of Barkley on Sesame Street since 1993! In addition to performing Barkley on the show, he performed Barkley in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is also a background and assistant puppeteer on the show! Outside of Sesame Street, Bruce puppeteered in the Disney f...
Oct 26, 2024•2 hr 59 min
On Episode 260 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview puppeteer, photographer and editor Art Vega! For many years, Art puppeteered in various stage shows for Disney, including the Playhouse Disney and Disney Junior live shows! Since 2010, he has been a Muppet performer with The Muppets, where he got to work on The Muppets (2011), Muppets Most Wanted, The Muppets (ABC series), The Muppets Mayhem and various commercials. He was an assistant puppeteer on the Apple TV+ series Slumberkins and a...
Oct 23, 2024•31 min
On Episode 259 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview writer and TV creator Jymn Magon! Jymn is best known for his work with Disney, first starting out by producing their children's records. After Jymn moved to Disney's animated television division, he created Adventures of the Gummi Bears, co-created DuckTales and TaleSpin, wrote episodes of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Book of Pooh, Goof Troop and Disney's House of Mouse. In film, he is best known for writing the hit 1995 D...
Oct 19, 2024•1 hr 16 min
On Episode 258 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview puppeteer and diretor Raymond Carr! Early on in Raymond's career, he was an assistant puppeteer on the Icelandic series LazyTown. He is best known for performing the character Dunk in the Henson digital puppetry series Splash and Bubbles. Raymond also puppeteered on Moon and Me, WonderMore Kids, Earth to Ned, the revival of Crank Yankers and many more! He toured with Walking With Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular for several years and re...
Oct 16, 2024•1 hr 11 min
On Episode 257 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, writer Peter K. Hirsch returns to the show! Peter has written for a number of children's series, with most of his work being with PBS! His longest writing job was on Arthur, taking on the role of head writer later in the show's run. He also wrote episodes of Between the Lions, Lomax: The Hound of Music, Peep and the Big Wide World, Curious George, Martha Speaks and Octonauts and was head writer on Molly of Denali and Jessy & Nessy. Recently, Pet...
Oct 12, 2024•1 hr 14 min
On Episode 256 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview authors Barbara Irwin, Tony Buttino Sr. and Pam Johnson! Barbara, Tony and Pam recently wrote the book Creating Reading Rainbow: The Untold Story of a Beloved Children's Series, which covers the long-running PBS literacy series Reading Rainbow, which Tony also co-created! The new book talks about how Reading Rainbow first came to be, working with a public television station in Buffalo, the affect it had on millions of children's reading...
Oct 09, 2024•1 hr 5 min
On Episode 255 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview writer and playwright John Weidman! John's work in the theatre world consists of collaborating with the late Stephen Sondheim on several musicals, including Pacific Overtures, Assassins and Road Show and also worked with theatre director and choreographer Susan Stroman. He also wrote for the National Lampoon magazine. As a television writer, John wrote a number of episodes, inserts and segments for Sesame Street for several decades. Rec...
Oct 05, 2024•1 hr 22 min
On Episode 254 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview producer and writer Kristin Laskas Martin! Kristin's career in television began as a coordinator on the PBS series Great Performances and as a producer on the ABC soap opera All My Children. After transitioning into children's television, she was the Vice President of Production at Nickelodeon and produced the TV adaptation of The Baby-Sitter's Club. Most notably, Kristin co-created The Magic School Bus TV series, the long-running math ...
Oct 02, 2024•1 hr 18 min
On Episode 253 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview singer, songwriter and entertainer Willy Welch! For a number of years, Willy wrote dozens of songs for the long-running Barney franchise, with only some of his best known songs being I Put a Smile On, I Love to Read and Icy, Creamy Ice Cream! Outside of Barney, Willy is best known for his song Right Field, which was first recorded by folk group Peter, Paul and Mary. Willy also has his own musical act with his wife Willy called Wendy &am...
Sep 28, 2024•57 min
On Episode 252 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview producer and writer Lawrence S. Mirkin! Lawrence has produced a wide variety of shows, with some of his best known contributions being with The Jim Henson Company as a producer on the original Fraggle Rock series and The Jim Henson Hour. He also served as creative consultant on various Henson projects, including Labyrinth, The Witches, Muppet Babies and more. Outside of Henson, Lawrence wrote episodes of Groundling Marsh and The Noddy S...
Sep 25, 2024•2 hr 11 min
On Episode 251 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview musician and composer Joe Fiedler! Some of Joe's best known gigs in the music world include playing trombone for Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights and his collaborations with numerous artists and bands. In television, Joe was chief horn arranger in the reboot of The Electric Company and has been the arrangements music director for Sesame Street since 2009! During his time at Sesame Street, he composed the opening music for the segment...
Sep 21, 2024•1 hr 2 min
On Episode 250 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview twin actresses Maurie' and Mone't Chandler! Maurie' and Mone't got their start in acting on the film Crooklyn and the PBS series Wishbone. Continuing their work with PBS, they are best known for portraying the twin characters Ashley and Alissa from Season 3 to 5 of the long-running series Barney & Friends, as well as several Barney home videos! Aside from Barney, they acted in projects such as Sweet Justice, Dead Silent, Star, Inner...
Sep 18, 2024•54 min
On Episode 249 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview writer and author Eric Weiner! Some of Eric's earliest television writing gigs were on series such as Ghostwriter and Gullah Gullah Island. He is best known for co-creating the long-running Nick Jr. series Dora the Explorer, as well as voicing the character Scarecrow. He also co-created the Playhouse Disney series JoJo's Circus, served as executive producer on Little Einsteins, developed and wrote for the PBS series Cyberchase and wrote...
Sep 14, 2024•56 min
On Episode 248 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview singer and motivational speaker William Hung! In 2004, William gained fame for his audition on the singing competition series American Idol, where he sang Ricky Martin's hit song She Bangs. His appearance on Idol led to appearances on a variety of talk shows and commercials and he got the opportunity to record and release his own albums. Aside from the music business, William had a career in law and is currently a motivational speaker....
Sep 11, 2024•18 min
On Episode 247 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview producer, director and writer Benjamin Lehmann! Benjamin has worked for Sesame Street since 2000, which has won him dozens of Emmy awards. He produced many of their recurring segments, such as Elmo's World, Elmo the Musical, Abby's Flying Fairy School, Super Grover 2.0 and various home videos, specials and outreach projects. For several years, he was their executive producer and led the production and creative direction for Sesame Works...
Sep 07, 2024•52 min
