Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks
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Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks is a Children's television series, animated using Computer-generated imagery, and broadcast in the United States on PBS Kids, in Ireland on RTÉ Two, as part of The Den, in Australia on ABC 2, in Ontario on TVOKids and in the UK on BBC Two, where it is also translated into Gaelic for viewers watching BBC2 Scotland.
The Show
One of the main differences between Jakers! and most other children's shows is that it takes place in two different settings, in two different time periods. In the present time, Piggley Winks lives in the USA and tells stories of his childhood in rural Ireland to his two grandchildren. As such, the viewers have the opportunity to see him as a child, playing with his friends and going to school, and as a grandfather. Also, the show transports the viewers from the modern times to the rural zone in the mid 50's. All characters are anthropomorphic animals (Piggley and all his family, for example, are pigs), although there are normal, non-anthropomorphic animals in the show as well.
The Past
Piggley Winks (here voiced by actress Maile Flanagan), aged 8, lived with his parents Padrig (Charlie Adler) and Elly (Russi Taylor) and his younger sister Molly (Tara Strong) in Raloo Farm in Ireland, during the 50's. His best friends are Dannan O'Mallard, the duck (also voiced by Tara Strong), who lives in a hut by a pond, with her rarely seen grandmother; and Fernando Toro, the bull (also voiced by Russi Taylor), also known as Ferny, who lives with his father, the Spanish blacksmith Don Toro (Fernando Escandon) in the village of Tara. Piggley lives his everyday life in the farm as a normal kid, going to school, helping his parents, taking care of his sister, and having all sorts of adventures and misadventures, almost always followed by his friends. He has always had interest in stories and legends, and his fertile mind and mischievous spirit put him in many unpredictable situations, like believing fairies turned Ferny in to a bug, trying to breed a supposed Dragon's egg, using the Salmon of Knowledge to pass the school exam, and even trying to capture the legendary Fir Darrig.
Each story also features a "subplot" featuring Wiley, the sheep (Mel Brooks), who is the only character in the series who's neither anthropomorphic nor a "normal" farm animal. Being the only sheep in the flock who can talk, he believes he is their "natural leader", and tries to get the other sheep to do all kinds of things (singing, racing, playing sports, acting, etc.), without varying degrees of success.
The Present
In the present time, Piggley (here voiced by Peadar Lamb) lives in the US with his three grandchildren, the twins Sean and Seamus (Nika Futterman) and their older sister Meg (Melissa Disney), as well as their parents - though we only ever see their mother (Piggly's daughter) (Russi Taylor), often called simply Mom, but whose name is revealed to be Kiara in a later episode. Whenever the kids have a problem, Piggley tells them one of his childhood stories as a lesson. Even though he is a good storyteller, at times he's known to exaggerate to the point that even the grand-children are able to tell.
Other Characters
The show also features a high number of secondary characters, who appear in certain episodes.
Mr. Hornsby (Charlie Adler) is the teacher, also secretly known as "Homework Hornsby" among some of the students;
Among the students are Fergal O'Hopper, Piggley's neighbour. He's an artist and likes making sculptures with his father. He's Molly's best friend, and specially admires Ferny;
Hector McBadger (Pamela Adlon) most times acts like a bully, playing practical jokes in his classmates. But secretly, he really likes animals and knows a lot about them;
Miss Nanny (Susan Silo) runs a shop in town and she owns a cat.
Gosford Gaynor often competes with Dannan to be the smartest in the class. Millie Pelly has for some time been Ferny's secret crush, and vice versa.
External Links
| Barney & Friends | The Berenstain Bears *| Between the Lions | Boohbah | Caillou | Clifford the Big Red Dog* | Clifford's Puppy Days | Curious George | Dragon Tales | George Shrinks* | It's a Big Big World | Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks | Jay Jay: The Jet Plane | Mister Rogers' Neighborhood* | Reading Rainbow | Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat* | Sesame Street | Teletubbies* | Zoboomafoo* | |
| PBS Kids GO! programs: Arthur* | Cyberchase | Dragonfly TV | FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman¹ | Maya & Miguel | Postcards from Buster* | ZOOM¹ | |
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* No new episodes are being produced, yet many major PBS stations televise air reruns
List does not include shows from networks airing PBS Kids shows but not funded directly from PBS such as KLCS shows. |
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