The Puzzle Place (partially found PBS puppet series; 1994-1998)
The Puzzle Place logo.
Status: Partially Found
The Puzzle Place was an edutainment puppet show that initially ran from 1994-1998 on PBS with 75 episodes and 6 out-of-print VHS compilations.
Concept
The show utilized the talents of Jim Henson Company puppeteers such as Noel MacNeal of Bear in the Big Blue House fame, Carmen Osbahr, the puppeteer for Rosita from Sesame Street, and even Matt Vogel and Peter Linz, known best as the originators of Constantine the Frog and Walter in the latest string of Muppet films. Vogel also took over the role of Count Von Count on Sesame Street after Jerry Nelson's passing.
The show tackled all manner of difficult topics such as racism, sexism, handicaps, death, etc. and promoted diversity, open communication, and compassion. The production and writing quality were especially high for a puppeteering show that was never directly connected to the CTW.
Copyrights
Currently, PBS doesn't hold the rights to it, and chances are no one ever will. Lancit Media, which was the proprietor of the show itself and all merchandise pertaining to it, went through many financial restraints in its short-lived run and inevitably went under. In order to ever release these episodes on any format, one would need to renew the rights, which is a money-consuming prospect for a show as inconsequential to the public at large.
Pilot
According to a KCET article written in 2014, there was a pilot aired in 1994 titled The Puzzle Works or Puzzleworks.[1] There are two found videos so far that confirm this fact.[2][3] Before this point, a lot of write-ups were done for the show under the name of The Puzzle Factory, which was apparently changed to avoid copyright issues with a toy company of a similar name. Besides that, nothing else is mentioned about the pilot.[4]
While it's unknown if the pilot had different characters, one write-up calls one of the characters Jamal "Jammin" Waters and has a Hispanic character called Victor Melendez. In another article from later on, characters have different first and last names (those being Max Olafsen, Leon Devon, Jazzy Silver, Skye Blazing Star).[5]
Availability
All six of the out-of-print VHS compilations (as well as an extra clip created for a special VHS in a series called Kids for Character) were sought out online and ripped by the currently defunct Dailymotion user TheRedBaron1985.
Currently, just around half of the 75 stand-alone episodes have been found through some collective efforts and dumb luck. Apart from that, there are 9 complete episodes in the VHS compilations and 4 of them (Cute Is As Cute Does, Going By The Book, Rip Van Wrinkle, and Deck the Halls) haven't been found in a stand-alone format, making it about 30 full episodes and 45 episodes yet to be found. The Kids in Character clip shows part of S1E31 Finders Keepers. S2E04 Oldies but Goodies & S2E06 Yellow Belt have had two excerpts found, but in unsubtitled Portuguese, of all things.
VHS Compilations
- Tuned In (S1E10 Spud Buds & S1E14 Cute Is as Cute Does)
- Rock Dreams (S1E18 Mad Music Magic & S1E08 Rock Dreams)
- Rip Van Wrinkle (S1E17 Going by the Book & S1E03 Rip Van Wrinkle)
- Deck the Halls (S2E01 Deck the Halls & Unknown)
- Sing-Along Songs (Unknown)
- Accentuate the Positive (S1E06 Rudy One & S1E04 Accentuate the Positive)
Episode List
Season 1
| # | Episode Title | Air Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Tippy Woo | January 16, 1995 | Lost |
| 02 | Train Driving Kids | January 17, 1995 | Lost |
| 03 | Rip Van Wrinkle | January 18, 1995 | Found |
| 04 | Accentuate the Positive | January 19, 1995 | Found |
| 05 | Gotta Dance | January 20, 1995 | Found |
| 06 | Rudy One | January 23, 1995 | Found |
| 07 | Butterfingers | January 24, 1995 | Found |
| 08 | Rock Dreams | January 25, 1995 | Found |
| 09 | Roamantics | January 26, 1995 | Lost |
| 10 | Spud Buds | January 27, 1995 | Found |
| 11 | Different Drummer | January 30, 1995 | Found |
| 12 | I Love Kiki | January 31, 1995 | Found |
| 13 | True Colors | February 1, 1995 | Found |
| 14 | Cute is as Cute Does | February 2, 1995 | Found |
| 15 | Leon's Pizza | February 3, 1995 | Found |
| 16 | Real Heroes | February 6, 1995 | Lost |
| 17 | Going by the Book | February 7, 1995 | Found |
| 18 | Mad Music Magic | February 8, 1995 | Found |
| 19 | Party of One | February 9, 1995 | Lost |
| 20 | Dancing Dragon | February 10, 1995 | Found |
| 21 | Picture Perfect | February 13, 1995 | Found |
| 22 | Maiden Voyages | February 14, 1995 | Lost |
| 23 | Donuts and Dithering | February 15, 1995 | Partially Found |
| 24 | Bully for Jody | February 16, 1995 | Found |
| 25 | Ben's Bad Hair Day | February 17, 1995 | Partially Found |
| 26 | All Weather Friends | February 20, 1995 | Found (LQ) |
| 27 | Bread and Matzoh | February 21, 1995 | Found |
| 28 | Owning it | February 22, 1995 | Partially Found |
| 29 | Baffled Ben | February 23, 1995 | Partially Found |
| 30 | Practice Makes Perfect | February 24, 1995 | Found |
| 31 | Finders Keepers (1 | 2) | February 27, 1995 | Partially Found |
| 32 | You Say Potato | February 28, 1995 | Found |
| 33 | At the End of our Rope | March 1, 1995 | Lost |
| 34 | Just Kidding | March 2, 1995 | Partially Found (in English, that is--full in Portuguese) |
| 35 | Everything in its Place | March 3, 1995 | Lost |
| 36 | Big Boys Don't Cry | March 6, 1995 | Found |
| 37 | Here's to the Winners | March 7, 1995 | Found |
| 38 | A World of Difference | March 8, 1995 | Partially Found |
| 39 | Willing and Able | March 9, 1995 | Partially Found |
| 40 | It's Magic | March 10, 1995 | Partially Found |
Season 2
| # | Episode Title | Air Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Deck the Halls | January 15, 1996 | Found |
| 02 | Dressing up is Hard to do | January 16, 1996 | Found |
| 03 | One Way | January 17, 1996 | Found |
| 04 | Oldies But Goodies | January 18, 1996 | Partially Found |
| 05 | Helping Hands | January 19, 1996 | Found |
| 06 | Yellow Belt | January 22, 1996 | Partially Found |
| 07 | The Mystery of the Fabulous Hat | January 23, 1996 | Found |
| 08 | How Much is that Doggie in the Window? | January 24, 1996 | Lost |
| 09 | The New Adventures of Julie Woo | January 25, 1996 | Partially Found |
| 10 | We Three Kings | January 26th, 2019 | Found |
| 11 | Hello, Maggie | January 29, 1996 | Found |
| 12 | Off the Track | January 30, 1996 | Lost |
| 13 | Beautiful Doll | January 31, 1996 | Found |
| 14 | Tattle Tales | February 1, 1996 | Lost |
| 15 | Those Ears, Those Eyes | February 2, 1996 | Lost |
| 16 | That's Weird | February 5, 1996 | Found |
| 17 | The Ballad of Davy Cricket | February 6, 1996 | Found |
| 18 | Little Leon, Big Ben | February 7, 1996 | Lost |
| 19 | I Scream, You Scream | February 8, 1996 | Found |
| 20 | Skye's Coat | February 9, 1996 | Lost |
| 21 | It's Mine | February 12, 1996 | Found |
| 22 | One Big, Happy Family | February 13, 1996 | Lost |
| 23 | Leon Grows up | February 14, 1996 | Found |
| 24 | Cowpokes | February 15, 1996 | Lost |
| 25 | Hurricane Julie | February 16, 1996 | Lost |
Season 3
| # | Episode Title | Air Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Family Fun | October 19, 1998 | Lost |
| 02 | Anything She can do | October 20, 1998 | Lost |
| 03 | You Don't Match | October 21, 1998 | Lost |
| 04 | To Have and Have Not | October 26, 1998 | Lost |
| 05 | Fiesta Follies | October 27, 1998 | Lost |
| 06 | Between You and Me | October 28, 1998 | Lost |
| 07 | A Star is Burned | October 29, 1998 | Lost |
| 08 | Spooky | October 30, 1998 | Found |
| 09 | Up! | December 3, 1998 | Lost |
| 10 | I'm Talking to You | December 4, 1998 | Found |
References
- ↑ A 2014 KCET article on a pilot titled Puzzleworks to be added to the January 1995 lineup. Retrieved 13 Apr '15
- ↑ The first pilot episode of The Puzzle Place (formerly called The Puzzle Works. Retrieved 14 Aug '19
- ↑ The second pilot episode of The Puzzle Place (formerly called The Puzzle Works. Retrieved 14 Aug '19
- ↑ An LA Times article on an early version of The Puzzle Place titled The Puzzle Factory. Retrieved 13 Apr '15
- ↑ A Washington Post article on The Puzzle Place's pilot, which said that the characters had different names than in the final version. Retrieved 13 Apr '15