The Big Comfy Couch
Encyclopedia
The Big Comfy Couch is a Canadian children's television series
Children's television series
Children's television series, are commercial television programs designed for, and marketed to children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run in the early evening, for the children that go to school...

 about Loonette the Clown and her doll Molly, who solve everyday problems on their "Big Comfy Couch". It aired from 1992 until early 2006. Re-runs of the show are still being aired on Treehouse TV
Treehouse TV
Treehouse TV is a Canadian English language cable television specialty channel with programming targeted towards preschoolers that was launched on October 17, 1997. Its name comes from YTV's old children's programming block, The Treehouse...

. It was produced by Cheryl Wagner
Cheryl Wagner
Cheryl Wagner, the creator of The Big Comfy Couch, is a Gemini Award and Emmy award- winning Canadian children’s television writer, showrunner and producer who began her career as a performer in both theatre and on the screen...

 and Robert Mills, directed
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...

 by Wayne Moss and Mills. It premiered on March 2, 1992 in Canada and in 1995 in the USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 on public television stations across the country. There is also a Spanish version of the show titled, "El Sofa de mi Imaginacion". It also aired in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 on GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...

's kids block.

The show's format revolves around Loonette the Clown, who lives with her doll Molly on the eponymous Big Comfy Couch. Episodes are generally focused on a theme or a lesson. For example, Season 3's episode "Full of Life" explored the concepts of "full" and "empty", while "Sticks and Stones" dealt with name-calling and teasing.

Original Show

Each episode contains several common elements. Early in each episode, Loonette performs an exercise routine she calls the "Clock Rug Stretch", often extended, sometimes short to save time for other surprises, fast if she's in a hurry and normal when she comes back, or in a floppy way; and toward the end, she performs a high-speed clean-up routine called the "Ten-Second Tidy". If, however, there is no mess made, then it is called the "Ten-Second Untidy, Tidy" (where Loonette has to make a mess and then clean up afterward). If the mess was already cleaned up, then it is called the "Ten-Second Silly" (where Loonette has to be silly for 10 seconds). If Loonette did not make a mess but Molly did, then Molly has to do the "Ten-Second Tidy" with Loonette's help.

Other oft-repeated elements include reading a story to Molly, who sometimes either chooses a story to hear, gives Loonette a book and glasses (often by holding the book and wearing reading glasses), or turning on the lights for Loonette; visits to various places in "Clowntown", songs that emphasize the episode's lessons or themes, and a trip to Granny Garbanzo's garden. Here she encounters Snicklefritz (full name being Snickle-Gustav-Amadeus-Fritz), Granny Garbanzo's cat; Major Bedhead, the local mail-delivery clown, who travels on a unicycle; and of course, Granny Garbanzo herself. The conversation with Granny Garbanzo is often used as the episode's "teachable moment", where Granny offers Loonette advice or lessons, often with the help of Major Bedhead, who delivers gifts and messages from Auntie Macassar or Uncle Chester. Both were black (possibly for the purposes of diversity). All episodes end with Loonette and Molly having a nap and sometimes reminding the viewers to remember the rules on today's episode.

In season 7, Loonette and Molly play the Dream Game and Molly gives out the letter that the dream starts with and provide what they will be dreaming about. In season 6, Loonette and Molly play the Doll School Game where Molly learns the alphabet as well as numbers (mainly 1-10). A similar element used in seasons 1-5 is the Alphabet Game, where a certain letter is shown on a giant alphabet block and Loonette uses certain words beginning with that letter and also makes the letter's shape with her body to get the viewers to guess the letter.

Along with the lessons and problem solving sequences, the show also emphasized imaginative play. These episodes often take place in the context of a "visit to Clowntown", with sites such as Granny Garbanzo's "Cabbage Club Cooking School" and Major Bedhead's "Clown Chi Mojo Dojo and Dancing School". Additionally, Loonette is gifted in the art of classical dance and runs "Miss Loonette's Dance Academy". In early episodes, Loonette was too young to visit Clowntown alone, but in later seasons, she makes frequent trips to Clowntown, and volunteers at the "Clowndergarten", where she teaches "little clowns" (played by young children) games, songs, and stories. This imaginative play was also demonstrated through dress-up games and through Loonette's dollhouse, in which she imagined the adventures of "The Foley Family". Shown first as a doll-sized family, in Loonette's imagination they would become a family of regular-sized clowns, whose actions were shown in high speed and with a musical background in the style of old silent movies. The Foleys (a mother, father and son) did not speak. Early in the first season, Molly had discovered "The Dust Bunnies". However, Loonette didn't believe that there are dust bunnies under the couch.

Remake 1

The show was originally produced by Radical Sheep Productions
Radical Sheep Productions
Radical Sheep Productions is a Canadian children's television series production company. Radical Sheep's most popular production is The Big Comfy Couch....

 and Owl Television, then Canadian children's television network YTV and WITF-TV
WITF-TV
WITF-TV is a Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station available on digital channel 36 , based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. WITF broadcasts throughout the Susquehanna Valley viewing area, and is a sister station to the area's NPR member station, WITF-FM...

 Harrisburg, with a run of 65 episodes. In 2002, 13 new episodes were produced with Benny Smart, an American children's television production company, Tadpole TV and Treehouse TV
Treehouse TV
Treehouse TV is a Canadian English language cable television specialty channel with programming targeted towards preschoolers that was launched on October 17, 1997. Its name comes from YTV's old children's programming block, The Treehouse...

, a companion channel of YTV, and Nashville Public Television.

Remake 2

Radical Sheep Productions
Radical Sheep Productions
Radical Sheep Productions is a Canadian children's television series production company. Radical Sheep's most popular production is The Big Comfy Couch....

, and Amity Entertainment in association with Treehouse TV
Treehouse TV
Treehouse TV is a Canadian English language cable television specialty channel with programming targeted towards preschoolers that was launched on October 17, 1997. Its name comes from YTV's old children's programming block, The Treehouse...

 and Nashville Public Television, produced 22 additional episodes, which debuted on American Public Television
American Public Television
American Public Television is the largest syndicator of programming for public television stations in the United States.-History:...

 in 2006.

Loonette

Loonette the Clown is the lead character, portrayed by Alyson Court
Alyson Court
Alyson Stephanie Court is a Canadian actress who first appeared in the 1985 children's film Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird, and played summer camper Dawn in the animated film Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation the following year...

 from 1993-2002 and Ramona Gilmour-Darling
Ramona Gilmour-Darling
Ramona Gilmour-Darling is a Canadian actor, singer, and dancer. In 2006, she began portraying Loonette the Clown on the Canadian children's television series The Big Comfy Couch, which airs in Canada on Treehouse and on various PBS stations in the United States...

 from 2003-2006. She is a young clown living with her dolly, Molly, on the eponymous Big Comfy Couch, an oversized couch.

She frequently reads stories to Molly, always performs a Clock Rug Stretch, and likes to visit her Granny Garbanzo. Auntie Macassar (or more recently, her Uncle Chester) frequently sends Loonette postcards which Major Bedhead delivers on his unicycle (similar to Reba the Mail Lady from Pee-wee's Playhouse). Loonette is gifted in the art of classical dance and runs "Miss Loonette's Dance Academy". Another gift she possesses is the unusual ability to clean just about any mess up in ten seconds, which she calls the "Ten Second Tidy". (In reality, the video's action was sped up during post-production of an episode).

Originally, Loonette was too young to visit Clowntown, but starting from 2006, Loonette makes frequent (adult supervised) trips to Clowntown to visit Granny Garbanzo's "Cabbage Club Cooking School" and Major Bedhead's "Clown Chi Mojo Dojo and Dancing School". The trips to this second location indicates that she practices martial arts.

Molly

Molly is Loonette's doll
Doll
A doll is a model of a human being, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have traditionally been used in magic and religious rituals throughout the world, and traditional dolls made of materials like clay and wood are found in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. The earliest documented dolls...

y. Loonette found her in a barrel
Barrel
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container, traditionally made of vertical wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. Traditionally, the barrel was a standard size of measure referring to a set capacity or weight of a given commodity. A small barrel is called a keg.For example, a...

 with a sign marked "Free to a good home", and adopted
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...

 her. She is puppetered by Bob Stutt
Bob Stutt
Bob Stutt is a Canadian puppeteer/writer, who has starred in various children's television programs throughout his career.He has appeared in the following television series:* Canadian Sesame Street – Basil...

.

Molly wears a blue dress (sometimes a yellow one, and a light green one in the books), and occasionally wears bunny
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...

 pajamas
Pajamas
Pajamas, also spelled pyjamas , can refer to several related types of clothing. The original paijama are loose, lightweight trousers fitted with drawstring waistbands and worn in South and West Asia by both sexes...

. She believes that dust bunnies
Dust bunny
Dust bunnies , also called dust mice, are small clumps of dust that form under furniture and in corners that are not cleaned regularly. They are made of hair, lint, dead skin, spider web, dust, and sometimes light rubbish and debris, and are held together by static electricity and felt-like...

 really exist, despite Loonette's disbelief; and her favorite food is doughnut
Doughnut
A doughnut or donut is a fried dough food and is popular in many countries and prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty outlets...

s. She only speaks by cartoon bubbles, and usually answers Loonette's yes-no question
Yes-no question
In linguistics, a yes–no question, formally known as a polar question, is a question whose expected answer is either "yes" or "no". Formally, they present an exclusive disjunction, a pair of alternatives of which only one is acceptable. In English, such questions can be formed in both positive...

s by either nodding or shaking her head. The two lounge around the couch all day, with the exception of the "Clock Rug Stretch" and daily adventure, sometimes involving Granny or Major Bedhead, a postal service
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...

 employee who also plays bit part
Bit part
A bit part is a supporting acting role with at least one line of dialogue . In British television, bit parts are referred to as under sixes...

s. Each day includes a few songs and a story (which, when told by Loonette, involves her wearing huge yellow reading glasses and holding a blue storybook); and is concluded with "The Ten-Second Tidy", and a nice nap.

Additional Characters

  • Fuzzy and Wuzzy (puppeteered by Bob Stutt and Rob Mills
    Rob Mills
    Rob Mills is an Australian singer best known as one of the finalists from Australian Idol 2003. He was a co-host on the late-night quiz show The Mint as well as a regular singer on the game show The Singing Bee both on the Nine Network...

    ): Dust bunnies who live under the Big Comfy Couch. Only Molly knows of their existence.
  • Foley Family (Fred Stinson, Jani Lauzon
    Jani Lauzon
    Jani Lauzon is a Canadian puppeteer and musician of Métis heritage from East Kootenay, British Columbia, Canada. She is a three time Juno Award Nominee with Muppet Show credits that include additional puppetry on Follow That Bird, performing on The Jim Henson Hour, and the character Dip in the...

     and Suzanne Merriam) A very silly family who lives inside of Loonette's dollhouse. Note: One of the dustbunnies appeared inside the dollhouse in an episode.
  • Granny Garbanzo (Grindl Kuchirka) Loonette's grandmother in which she loves Loonette very much. Even Molly too! She comes from the old country and has an accent. Granny also likes growing in her garden and she lives inside a wagon with Snicklefritz, her cat.
  • Snicklefritz (puppeteered by Bob Stutt): Granny Garbanzo's scallywag cat.
  • Major Bedhead (Fred Stinson): The local clown courier who makes deliveries to Loonette from her Auntie Macassar and Uncle Chester.
  • Wobbly (Gary Parmer): A close friend who lives in Clown Town. Appears in 2 episodes in season 2 only.
  • Auntie Macassar (Taborah Johnson
    Taborah Johnson
    Taborah Johnson , also known as Tabby Johnson, is a Canadian singer and actor. She is the sister of actor Clark Johnson and rock and jazz singer Molly Johnson....

    ): Loonette's travelling aunt who likes to make an entrance whenever she visits.
  • Uncle Chester (Edward Knuckles): Loonette's travelling uncle who appears in the future seasons.

Reruns and other original channels

The series aired on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

 for a certain amount of time, and reruns can be seen on Treehouse TV
Treehouse TV
Treehouse TV is a Canadian English language cable television specialty channel with programming targeted towards preschoolers that was launched on October 17, 1997. Its name comes from YTV's old children's programming block, The Treehouse...

.

Merchandise

Additional items for kids, like coloring pages, can be found on the Big Comfy Couch website. Episodes also can be seen on video on demand in some cable and satellite systems on Studio 4 Kids, as well as in short-form on Studio4kids.tv. Other merchandise for kids also includes VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

's, DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

's, coloring books, stuffed plush dolls, puzzles, and life size dolls (example: Loonette).

Episodes

Season 1 - 1992
  • 100 - Get Ready To Clown Around (Originally released as a promo by Blockbuster)
  • 101 - Pie in the Sky
  • 102 - Pinch To Grow an Inch
  • 103 - All Aboard for Bed
  • 104 - Knit One Twirl Too
  • 105 - Upsey Downsey Day
  • 106 - Flippy Floppy Fun
  • 107 - Something's Fishy Around Here
  • 108 - Scrub-a-Dub
  • 109 - Red Light, Green Light
  • 110 - Gesundheit
  • 111 - Ping Pong Polka
  • 112 - Funny Faces
  • 113 - Snug as a Bug


Season 2 - 1993
  • 201 - Babs in Toyland
  • 202 - 1-2-3 Dizzy Dizzy Me
  • 203 - Wobbly
  • 204 - Jump Start
  • 205 - This Little Piggy
  • 206 - Juggling the Jitters
  • 207 - Hoopla
  • 208 - Wrong Side of the Couch
  • 209 - I Feel Good
  • 210 - Boomerang
  • 211 - Rude-I-Culous
  • 212 - Make It Snappy
  • 213 - Feast of Fools


Season 3 - 1994
  • 301 - Give Yer Head a Shake
  • 302 - It’s About Time
  • 303 - Clownus Interruptus (Wait Your Turn)
  • 304 - Why?
  • 305 - Monkey See Monkey Do
  • 306 - Sticks and Stones
  • 307 - Horsing Around
  • 308 - All Over and Under
  • 309 - Pants on Fire
  • 310 - All Fall Down
  • 311 - Traveling Papers
  • 312 - Hiccups
  • 313 - Full of Life


Season 4 - 1995
  • 401 - Backwards!
  • 402 - Picky Eaters
  • 403 - Forty Winks
  • 404 - Swing-a-Ling
  • 405 - Spare Some Change
  • 406 - Stuck in the Muck
  • 407 - Gimme Gimme Never Gets
  • 408 - One Step at a Time
  • 409 - Enough Already!
  • 410 - Where Do Clowns Come From?
  • 411 - Are You Ready for School?
  • 412 - Hit Parade
  • 413 - Comfy and Joy (Christmas Special)


Season 5 - 1996
  • 501 - Bad Hair Day
  • 502 - Clownvitations
  • 503 - Nothing To Do
  • 504 - The Big Brain Drain
  • 505 - One Potato Two Potato
  • 506 - Earth to Loonette
  • 507 - Lettuce, Turnip and Pea
  • 508 - Time for Molly
  • 509 - Gizmo Shmizmo
  • 510 - Clothes Make the Clown
  • 511 - Don't Tell
  • 512 - You're a Gem!
  • 513 - See Ya in My Dreams


Season 6 - 2002
  • 601 - Clowning in the Rain
  • 602 - Lost and Clowned
  • 603 - Button Up!
  • 604 - Scaredy Cat!
  • 605 - It’s the Thought that Counts
  • 606 - Growing Pains
  • 607 - Donut Let It Get You Down
  • 608 - Fancy Dancer
  • 609 - The Big Bang Boom
  • 610 - Ain't It Amazing, Gracie?
  • 611 - Between the Covers
  • 612 - Going Up
  • 613 - Cool It!


Season 7 - 2006
  • 701 - Apple of My Eye
  • 702 - Dat's Da Law!
  • 703 - Fibberish Gibberish
  • 704 - Slow Down, Clown!
  • 705 - Floppy!
  • 706 - Clown with a Frown
  • 707 - Rub-A-Dub
  • 708 - Upside Down Clown
  • 709 - The Clown Promise
  • 710 - Lost & Found Clowns
  • 711 - Phony Baloney
  • 712 - Ready, Steady, Go!
  • 713 - Happy Mirthday, Granny!
  • 714 - Popcorn-Y
  • 715 - Peek-a-Boo!
  • 716 - Ouch!
  • 717 - Big Blow Hard
  • 718 - Shh, Shh, Shh, Quiet!
  • 719 - Freeze, Please!
  • 720 - Clown in the Round
  • 721 - Molly's Bellybutton
  • 722 - Just Purrfect

Home video

Time-Life Video
Time-Life
Time–Life is a creator and direct marketer of books, music, video/DVD, and multimedia products. Its products are sold throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia through television, print, retail, the Internet, telemarketing, and direct sales....

 was the main distributor for releasing the Big Comfy Couch series under Time-Life Video's children's label Time-Life Kids. VHS releases are also released by Goldhil Video.

The Big Comfy Couch on DVD

The Big Comfy Couch has 5 DVDs featuring the new season starring Ramona Gilmour-Darling. The DVDs and VHS tapes that feature Alyson Court are no longer made, but can be found in certain websites such as Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...

.
  • The Big Comfy Couch: Clown in the Round (Nov. 7 2006)
  • The Big Comfy Couch: Cooking Up Fun (Nov. 7, 2006)
  • The Big Comfy Couch: Let's Have a Party (Feb. 6, 2007)
  • The Big Comfy Couch: Wiggling and Giggling (Feb. 6, 2007)
  • The Big Comfy Couch: Upside Down Clown (April 15, 2008)

Loonette and Molly Live Theatrical Tour

In 2007, a live theatrical production entitled Molly's Fool Moon Festival toured in Canada. The show included Loonette the Clown, Molly, Granny Garbanzo, Major Bedhead and others.

The production was produced by Koba Entertainment, and presented by Paquin Entertainment Group.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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