British preschool television series
The Paz Show (also known asPaz the Penguin stylizedPAZ) is a British-American live action/animatedpreschool television series that debuted on February 24, 2003 onDiscovery Kids andTLC in the United States. It also aired onITV in the United Kingdom. The series is a co-production between British studioKing Rollo Films,Egmont Imagination (Season 1)/Telescreen BV (Season 2), andDiscovery Communications in association withDiscovery Kids. The series was based on a series of books written and illustrated by Mary Murphy.
Between the series' cancellation and October 8, 2010, the series continued to rerun on theReady Set Learn! block.
Cast and characters
[edit]- Tim Lagasse as Paz, a playful little penguin with an American accent who is the main character of the series. He is a fuzzy five-year-old penguin, is as optimistic as he is curious, it is not unusual for Paz, in his enthusiasm, to encounter a few roadblocks on his way to adventure, but he sometimes has his mother, Big Penguin, his grandfather, Pappy, and his friends to encourage him on the way. He is occasionally seen playing his trumpeter in a few episodes, his trumpetar is an orangekazoo-like instrument withsitar strings, when played, it plays a similar tune matching the series instrumentals. Starting from 2003, he starred as the mascot of theReady Set Learn! block until 2010 when the Discovery Kids channel relaunched as the Hub Network. He has a black coat and feet, a white face and a belly, and a yellow chest and a beak.
- Rebecca Nagan as Big Penguin, Paz's loving single mother who works as anarchitect. She seems to speak in a British accent in a few episodes. Paz's father is never shown in the series. She has a similar appearance as Paz, only to have a yellow lining around her stomach. Starting fromLocket, she has been shown wearing a bronzelocket that she had inherited from her own mother with a photo of her son in it.
- Anton Rodgers as Pappy, amacaroni penguin as Paz's grandfather and Big Penguin's possible father who is a retired explorer. Pappy lives alone in colorful house that resembles a Mediterranean house which was revealed to have location-themed rooms inSenses besides his bedroom and guest room which were only shown inI Can't Sleep. The episode,Fun With Pappy reveals that Pappy resembled Paz when he was his age while currently resembling his own grandfather. Pappy is somewhat pretty talented at playing thetuba, and occasionally plays songs for Paz and his friends. He is an elder penguin with a pair of yellow crests that matches the big spot on his chest and sometimes appears with a red vest jacket and a blue and red explorer helmet.
- Margot Caroni as Pig, a sassy pig with an Italian accent. She is shown to be very talented at playing the violin inBand Wagon and great attap-dancing inRight Moves.
- Charlotte Bellamy as Rabbit, an outgoing rabbit with a British accent. She is highly energetic and likes to drum on trash can lids. She has a little sister named Carrot. She is white with an orange right ear and a tail.
- Liam McMahon as Dog, a shy dog with an Irish accent and yellow orange fur. Despite appearing in a few initial episodes, Dog seems to be Paz's new neighbor inNew Dog on the Block. He wears a magenta collar and is often seen playing amaraca on his tail.
One-time appearing characters
[edit]- Maria Darling as Adelie, Paz's imaginaryAntarctic friend who appears inHere We Go!. She lives in Paz'sSouth Polefantasy world. Her role was to help Paz find his sled in the snow. When they have found the lost sled which was found on top of a whale'sblowhole, they go for a little swim in the whale'sfrozen lake before retrieving it from the whale. Adelie was last seen riding on the sled with Paz, before saying goodbye to him as he concludes his fantasy.
- Colin McFarlane as the frog, a boastful amphibian who appears inThe Great Race. Paz challenges him to a race, which he is certain that he can win because he is the fastest racer in the world. He ends up losing after stopping to pose for a painting, proving that being the fastest does not always guarantee victory.
- Tabitha St. Germain as the ostrich, a neighbor who appears inMemory Jewel.
- Season 1: 52 episodes - 24 February 2003 - 23 February 2004
- Season 2: 28 episodes - 13 May - 25 November 2006
Season 1 (2003-2004)
- 1. The Right Moves - 24 February 2003
- 2. Big Top - 3 March 2003
- 3. Seesaw - 10 March 2003
- 4. Kite Flight - 17 March 2003
- 5. On Ice - 24 March 2003
- 6. Too Little - 31 March 2003
- 7. Here We Go - 7 April 2003
- 8. Paz Gets A Job - 14 April 2003
- 9. Not Tired - 21 April 2003
- 10. Little Penguin’s Treasure Map - 28 April 2003
- 11. Paz’s Red Scooter - 5 May 2003
- 12. Our Fine’s Feathered Friend - 12 May 2003
- 13. Spiders - 19 May 2003
- 14. Spring Has Sprung - 26 May 2003
- 15. Memory Jeweler - 2 June 2003
- 16. Seaworthy - 9 June 2003
- 17. The Big Egg - 16 June 2003
- 18. Hopping Mad - 23 June 2003
- 19. The Big Box - 30 June 2003
- 20. Brave Old World - 7 July 2003
- 21. Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off - 14 July 2003
- 22. One’s Company - 21 July 2003
- 23. The Play’s The Thing - 28 July 2003
- 24. The Case Of The Missing Voice - 4 August 2003
- 25. In The Dark - 11 August 2003
- 26. Food For Thought - 18 August 2003
- 27. Band Wagon - 25 August 2003
- 28. Am I Blue? - 1 September 2003
- 29. My Senses - 8 September 2003
- 30. Sick In Bed - 15 September 2003
Paz was announced on May 25, 2001, when Danish production divisionEgmont Imagination was developing its animated production state and had partnered with British animation studioKing Rollo Films to produce a pre-school television seriesLittle Penguin based on the book series by Irish author Mary Murphy with Egmont Imagination would handle distribution to the series.[1]
One year later on September 9, 2002, Egmont Imagination and British animation studio King Rollo Films had commsionned the series toDiscovery's children television networkDiscovery Kids and fellow channelTLC to broadcast the adaptation of Mary Murphy's book series now entitledThe Paz Show for the latter's Ready to Learn block.[2]
In March 2003, Dutch children's production & distribution outfitTelescreen acquired Egmont Imagination's programming catalouge fromEgmont Group including the upcoming television seriesLittle Penguin with Telescreen taking over production & development for the series including distribution rights.[3]
Awards and nominations
[edit]
