Gerbert (partially found original and secular episodes of Christian puppet TV series; 1988-1991)
Gerbert is an American Christian-themed children's television series produced by Brad Smith and created by Andy Holmes about a chicken-nugget-shaped puppet child that teaches life lessons to children.[1]
The Gerbert series was produced jointly by HSH Educational Media and CBN in 1987. Brad Smith and his brother Chris Christian owned HSH Educational Media. Chris Christian and Brad Smith served as the executive producers for all of the Gerbert television shows. Gerbert's TV show debuted on CBN Cable Network, later renamed CBN Family Channel and The Family Channel. The first shows were taped in Virginia Beach and all other shows were taped in Irving, Texas.[2][3]
Broadcast
The show aired on the Freeform channel (which has now rebranded to the Christian Broadcasting Network) from February 15th, 1988, to December 25th, 1991, for 50 episodes. The show was distributed as a direct-to-video series in various shopping and bookstores. In its first season, it was Christian-themed, however, a secular version, without religious content, was syndicated to public television stations such as PBS from 1993 to 1997. The series also aired in the late 2000s on KidMango.
The show aired reruns on the Smile network until the series was pulled off the air in 2019. Internationally, it was also broadcast on the Australian Christian Channel in Australia. It is currently unknown if it has aired since then.
Episode List
Season One
# | Title | secular version Availability | Christian version Availability | Original air date |
Pilot | "In the World Around Us" | n/a | Found | June 7, 1987 |
1 | "Surprise Party" / "Love Your Neighbor as Yourself" | Found | Lost | May 1, 1988 |
2 | "A Clean Sweep" / "Created for Good Works" | Lost | Found | May 7, 1988 |
3 | "The Lost Coin" / "Lost and Found" | Lost | Lost | May 14, 1988 |
4 | "The Cat's Meow" | Found | Lost | May 21, 1988 |
5 | "Things Are Looking Up" / "Little Ones to Him Belong" | Lost | Found | May 28, 1988 |
6 | "Hop to It" | Lost | Lost | June 4, 1988 |
7 | "I'm All Right" / "The Doctor" | Lost | Found | June 11, 1988 |
8 | "Some Days Are Like That" / "God Knows My Feelings" | Lost | Found | June 18, 1988 |
9 | "Forever Friends" | Lost | Found | June 25, 1988 |
10 | "Gerbert Saves His Money" / "Saving Treasures" | Lost | Lost | July 2, 1988 |
11 | "Look Before You Leap" / "Safe in His Arms" | Lost | Lost | July 9, 1988 |
12 | "Forgive and Forget" | Lost | Found | July 16, 1988 |
13 | "Miles Get Married" / "Wedding Bell Blues" | Lost | Lost | July 23, 1988 |
Season Two
# | Title | secular version Availability | Christian version Availability | Original air date |
14 | "Rainy Day" | Lost | Lost | April 3, 1989 |
15 | "The Crush" | Lost | Lost | April 4, 1989 |
16 | "Why Do People Quit Liking Each Other" / "Loyalty Conflicts" | Lost | Lost | April 5, 1989 |
17 | "Broken Promises" | Lost | Lost | April 6, 1989 |
18 | "Roary" | Lost | Lost | April 7, 1989 |
19 | "Overcoming Evil by Doing Good" / "Peer Pressure" | Lost | Lost | May 22, 1989 |
20 | "Jealousy" | Lost | Lost | May 23, 1989 |
21 | "Listening Is Loving" / "Listening Skills" | Lost | Found | May 24, 1989 |
22 | "Little White Lies" | Lost | Lost | May 25, 1989 |
23 | "Boredom" | Lost | Lost | May 26, 1989 |
24 | "Adoption" / "Before My First Day Began" | Lost | Lost | May 29, 1989 |
25 | "Too Much Change" / "Integrity" | Lost | Lost | May 30, 1989 |
26 | "Wrongfully Blamed" | Found | Lost | May 31, 1989 |
Season Three
# | Title | secular version Availability | Christian version Availability | Original air date |
27 | "Dreamboat" | Lost | Lost | May 6, 1991 |
28 | "Starlight" | Lost | Lost | May 7, 1991 |
29 | "Being Franklin" | Found | Lost | May 8, 1991 |
30 | "Word Is Worth a Thousand Pictures" | Lost | Lost | May 9, 1991 |
31 | "Big Dreams" | Lost | Lost | May 10, 1991 |
32 | "Pranksters" | Lost | Lost | May 13, 1991 |
33 | "The Garden" | Lost | Lost | May 14, 1991 |
34 | "Medicine Isn't Candy" | Lost | Lost | May 15, 1991 |
35 | "Try It, You'll Like It" | Lost | Lost | May 16, 1991 |
36 | "Giddy Up Pony" | Lost | Lost | May 17, 1991 |
37 | "TV and Me" | Lost | Lost | May 20, 1991 |
38 | "New Beginnings" | Lost | Lost | June 10, 1991 |
39 | "If E'er the Twain Should Meet" | Lost | Lost | June 11, 1991 |
40 | "The Little Star That Twinkled" | Lost | Lost | June 12, 1991 |
41 | "A Lesson Long Overdue" | Lost | Lost | June 13, 1991 |
42 | "Bubble Trouble" | Lost | Lost | June 14, 1991 |
43 | "Thanks, but No Thanks" | Lost | Lost | July 8, 1991 |
44 | "Manners Manor" | Lost | Lost | July 9, 1991 |
45 | "Be Yourself" | Lost | Lost | July 10, 1991 |
46 | "How Much Is That Froggie in the Window" | Lost | Lost | July 11, 1991 |
47 | "Fables on the Table" | Lost | Lost | July 12, 1991 |
48 | "Art From the Heart" | Lost | Lost | September 18, 1991 |
49 | "Fitness Follies" | Lost | Lost | October 17, 1991 |
50 | "The Gift of Giving" | Lost | Found | December 25, 1991 |