Before Social Media (2000-2005)
Clifford: the Big Red Dog (2000-2003)
Clifford the Big Red Dog was an animated educational children's television series, based upon Norman Bridwell's children's book series of the same name. Produced by Scholastic Productions, it originally aired on PBS Kids from September 4, 2000, to February 25, 2003. The stories in the series take place on Birdwell Island is a small island somewhere near a city and is the home of many Clifford characters. The Howards and Clifford moved there after Clifford grew too big to stay in the city, since it would have plenty of room for a creature as unnaturally large as Clifford to live and grow larger.
John Ritter voices Clifford in all episodes, that aired on PBS. By the time the last of the 65 half-hour episodes were completed, Ritter was back on ABC's prime time schedule with the series Eight Simple Rules to Dating My Teenage Daughter. His death in 2003 prevented future episodes of Clifford the Big Red Dog. However, other characters have reprised some of their roles for the Ready to Learn PBS Kids PSAs.
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In 2003, Clifford's Puppy Days debuted on PBS and focused on the adventures of Clifford during his puppy days before he became a big red dog and moving to Birdwell Island. The series ended in February 2006. In 2019, a reboot of Clifford: the Big Red Dog was released with starring Adam Sanders as the new voice of Clifford. In 2021, a film on the character of Clifford was released by Paramount Pictures.
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Liberty Kids (2002-2003)
Liberty’s Kids is an animated educational historical fiction television series produced by DIC Entertainment, originally broadcast on PBS Kids from September 2, 2002 to April 4, 2003. Its purpose is to teach its viewers about the origins of the United States through dramatic surrounding that cover the major events in the Revolutionary War. The series contains a segment known as "The Liberty News Network" or LNN that cover the major aspects of each episode, guess the mystery figure and comparisons of daily life between 18th century and the early 21st century.
Celebrity voices such as Walter Cronkite (as Benjamin Franklin), Sylvester Stallone (as Paul Revere), Ben Stiller (as Thomas Jefferson), Billy Crystal (as John Adams), Annette Benning (as Abigail Adams), Dustin Hoffman (as Benedict Arnold), Arnold Schwarzenegger (as Baron von Steuben), Liam Neeson (as John Paul Jones), and Whoopi Goldberg (as Deborah Sampson) add credence to the series.
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The series received two Daytime Emmy nominations, in 2003 and 2004, both for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program (Walter Cronkite, playing Benjamin Franklin).
Postcards from Buster (2003-2008; 2012)
Postcards from Buster is an animated children's television series containing both live action and animation that originally aired on This program is a spin-off of the Arthur TV series. It ran on PBS from 2003 to 2012.
Postcards from Buster centered on Buster traveling to different places around North America and worldwide, usually in the United States but also in the Caribbean, Canada and other places, with his father, who is a pilot for a band of musicians. In each episode, Buster meets children in the location, who show him views of their real-life families and global culture.
The sequences with Buster are animated, while the portions featuring the children are live-action (viewed from the viewpoint of Buster's video camcorder). After each location, Buster sends to Arthur a "video postcard" video tape summarizing what he's done and who he's met in each location.
The children and their families that appeared on the series are meant to be multicultural and diverse, and range from a community in China or India to a Mestizo family in Texas.
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