Adventures with Kanga Roddy (partially found PBS children's series; 1998-2000)
Tangle Bear, Chaka, and Kanga Roddy; three anthropomorphic characters from the series.
Status: Partially Found
Adventures with Kanga Roddy was a live-action children's television created by martial arts masters George Chung and Anthony Chan and executive produced by former San Francisco 49ers Joe Montana and Ronnie Lott for American Champion Entertainment and PeopleNet and broadcast on PBS via a distribution deal with KTEH.
Premise
Each episode of the Kanga Roddy series focuses on a group of children at a community center and their teachers, working on activities such as reading, physical fitness and arts and crafts. During these activities, the children encounter an ethical or social problem, which cause uneasiness or unhappiness among some of the children. The teachers suggest that the children seek help from their friend Uncle Pat, the proprietor of a rare bookstore, played by actor Pat Morita. Uncle Pat, with the assistance of his pet bookworm, Shakespeare, magically transports the children to the land of Hi-Yah where Kanga Roddy lives. Once in the land of Hi-Yah, Kanga Roddy and his friends help the children solve their problem by giving examples presented through songs. Kanga Roddy gets inspiration for a proper solution to the problem through flashbacks to lessons learned from his martial arts teacher Zatochi or parallels drawn from encounters with his buddy Tackle Bear. The children and the costumed cast present the answers in song and dance routines. When the children return to the community center, they review what they have learned with their teachers.
VHS Compilations
The series had the following VHS releases:[1]
- Honesty is the Best Policy (S1E9 'Honesty is the Best Policy')
- Daddy Doesn't Live Here Anymore (S2E11 'Daddy Doesn't Live Here Anymore')
- Please Don't Tease (S2E7 'Please Don't Tease')
- Adventures With Kanga Roddy Vol. 1 (S1E6 'Try, Try Again' & S1E3 'Facing your Fear')
- Adventures With Kanga Roddy Vol. 2 (S1E2 'Promises Promises' & S1E5 'Hard to be Humble')
- Adventures With Kanga Roddy Vol. 3 (S1E4 'I Like You Just The Way You Are' & S1E7 'Everybody Do Your Share')
Episode List
Season 1
| # | Episode Title | Original Air Date | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | It's Cool To Be Kind | April 12th, 1998 | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 2 | Promises, Promises | April 11th, 1998 | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 3 | Facing Your Fear | April 5th, 1998 | Found | On YouTube (poor quality). |
| 4 | I Like You Just The Way You Are | April 18th, 1998 | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 5 | It's So Hard To Be Humble | April 25th, 1998 | Partially Found | One minute song sequence found on YouTube. (YouTube video deleted) |
| 6 | Try, Try Again | April 4th, 1998 | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 7 | Everybody Do Your Share | April 19, 1998 | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 8 | Just Want To Be Me | April 26, 1998 | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 9 | Honesty Is The Best Policy | January 2, 1999 | Partially Found | 1 minute 20 second song sequence on YouTube. (YouTube video deleted) |
| 10 | Grandpa Is Cool | Unknown | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 11 | Equal As Can Be | January 9, 1999 | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 12 | We Are Family | January 3, 1999 | Found | On YouTube. |
| 13 | Sharing Can Be So Easy" | January 10th, 1999 | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
Season 2
| # | Episode Title | Original Air Date | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yummy, Yummy Food | unknown | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 2 | Sibling Rivalry | unknown | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 3 | Friends To the End | unknown | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 4 | Try To Remember | unknown | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 5 | I Want To Be Big | unknown | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 6 | Winning Isn't Everything | unknown | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 7 | Please Don't Tease | unknown | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 8 | Visit the Dentist | unknown | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 9 | The Music Lesson | unknown | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 10 | Be Flexible | unknown | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 11 | Daddy Doesn't Live Here Any More | July 1, 2000 | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 12 | Money Doesn't Grow On Trees | unknown | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
| 13 | A New Baby | July 8th, 2000 | Lost | No surviving footage or audio. |
Production
The show was created by martial arts masters George Chung and Anthony Chan who wanted to change the perception of the arts as form of violence and instead wanted to focus on the philosophical elements of martial arts (Honor, Integrity, etc.).[2] Initially 13 half-hour episodes of the Kanga Roddy series were produced. One month after its debut, KTEH ordered 26 additional episodes and two one-hour specials however only 13 additional episodes were produced.[3]
The final broadcast of Adventures with Kanga Roddy occurred March 31, 2001, with an airing of the episode 'We Are Family'; the following month, the show was dropped from KTEH's broadcast schedule.[4][5]
Gallery
Cast of the series.
Newspaper snipper of the series.
See Also
Bumpers
- Bookworm Bunch (partially found interstitials from PBS Kids channel block; 2000-2001)
- PBS Kids (partially lost schedule bumpers and interstitial material of TV channel block; 1999-present)
- PBS Kids Vote-A-Rama (lost bumpers of "Arthur" themed marathon; 2002)
- Someday School (partially found PBS Kids channel block; 1998-2000)
PBS
- Backyard Safari (partially found PBS children's educational series; 1997)
- Barney & Friends "Season 9" (partially found alternative version of PBS children's series; 2004-2005)
- Christmastime with Mister Rogers (found holiday TV special; 1977)
- Lamb Chop's Play-Along (partially lost PBS children's puppet series; 1992-1995)
- Mister Rogers' Neighborhood "Mister Rogers Talks About Conflict" (found episode arc of PBS children's educational series; 1983)
- The Puzzle Place (partially found PBS puppet series; 1994-1998)
- Reading Rainbow (found Johnny Kemp opening sequence for PBS children's educational series; 1999)
- Shining Time Station (found season one intro of PBS series; 1989-1990)
- Storytime (found PBS children's reading series; 1992-1998)
- Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? "Auld Lang Gone" (non-existent episode of PBS children's game show; 1992)
- Zoom (found pilot of revival of 1972 PBS children's series; 1995)
- Zoom (partially lost revival of PBS children's series; 1999-2005)
PBS Kids
- The Charlie Horse Music Pizza (partially lost PBS Kids "Lamb Chop's Play-Along" spin-off series; 1998-1999)
- Curious George (lost test pilot of PBS Kids animated series based on books; existence unconfirmed; 2004/2005)
- Cyberchase "The Poddleville Case" (found test pilot of PBS Kids educational animated series; 1999)
- Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (lost pitch pilot of PBS Kids animated musical series; 2006-2008)
- Dragon Tales "One Small Step for Cassie" and "Circle of Friends" (lost pilots of PBS Kids animated series; 1999)
- The Good Night Show with Melanie/Leo (partially found PBS Kids Sprout series; 2005-2006)
- The Good Night Show with Nina & Star (partially found PBS Kids Sprout series; 2006-2017)
- Jet Propulsion (partially found pitch pilot of "Ready Jet Go!" PBS Kids CGI-animated series; 2013)
- Kratts' Creatures (found PBS children's educational series; 1996)
- Make Way for Noddy (partially found PBS Kids version of British children's TV series; 2005)
- Molly of Denali (partially found pitch pilot of PBS Kids animated series; 2018)
- Nature Cat (lost pitch pilot of PBS Kids educational animated series; early 2010s)
- Peg + Cat (partially lost pitch pilot of PBS Kids educational animated series; 2011)
- Preschool Musical... On a Stick (partially lost PBS Kids Sprout "High School Musical" parody; 2008)
- Seven Little Monsters (found episodes of PBS Kids animated series; 2000-2004)
- Space Race (partially found PBS Kids web series; 2011)
- Super Why! (partially found British dub of PBS Kids CGI animated series; late 2000s-2010s)
- What's The Big Idea? (partially found pitch pilot of "Sid The Science Kid" PBS Kids CGI animated series; 2007)
- WordGirl (lost pitch pilot of PBS Kids educational animated series; existence unconfirmed; 2005)
- WordWorld (found test pilot of PBS Kids CGI animated educational series; 2005)
References
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20000817062233/http://www.kangaroddy.com/bazaar/videos.html
- ↑ https://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/morgue/listings/1998_Aug_21.WNDART21.html
- ↑ https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/containers/fix033/1034840/000114590601500002/body10sb.htm
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20010418064254/http://www.kteh.org/programs/monthly/mar01-25-31.html
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20010413020945/http://www.kteh.org/programs/monthly/apr01-1-7.html
External Links
- The IMDb page on Adam Adamant Lives! Retrieved 8 Jun '23
- The Wikipedia page on Adventures with Kanga Roddy Retrieved 8 Jun '23