Shining Time Station is an American children's television series jointly created by British television producer Britt Allcroft and Rick Siggelkow. The series was produced by The Britt Allcroft Company (now Gullane Entertainment, a subsidiary of HiT Entertainment) and Quality Family Entertainment in New York City for New York City's PBS station WNET, and was originally taped in New York City and later in Toronto. It incorporated sequences from the British television show Thomas & Friends, which was in turn based on a series of books that had been written by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry. The series aired on PBS from January 29, 1989 until June 11, 1993, and then continued on the network in reruns until June 11, 1998. It aired on Fox Family from 1998 to 1999. It also aired on Nick Jr. in 2000 and on Canadian television networks such as APTN and SCN. Elements from the show were incorporated into the Thomas and Friends film Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
Video Shining Time Station
Background
After the success of Thomas & Friends in the United Kingdom, Britt Allcroft and her production company teamed up with PBS station WNET in New York City to produce and distribute the sitcom-esque Shining Time Station, every episode of which would include a couple of episodes of Thomas & Friends. The series starred Ringo Starr, George Carlin, Didi Conn, Brian O'Connor, and The Flexitoon Puppets. Ringo Starr, who had already been providing the voice of the storyteller for the British series, agreed to extend the role to include the on-screen character called Mr. Conductor in Shining Time Station. He later left the show and was replaced by George Carlin.
Shining Time Station received critical acclaim. In a review for Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker states that, compared to the faster paced Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, "'Shining Time Station' wants to slow things down. It's an old-fashioned show that creates a gentle, lulling atmosphere to convince children that life is fun and that trains are the way to travel." It was a ratings success as well. In its first season, the show averaged a 0.9 Nielsen rating, translating to about 1.2 million viewers on average. At the peak of its popularity, the show brought in up to 7.5 million viewers per week.
Maps Shining Time Station
Overview
The Shining Time Station is a train station on the Indian Valley Railroad. It is managed by Stacy Jones. Its workshop is run in the first season by Harry Cupper, and thereafter by Billy Twofeathers. A local named Horace Schemer, simply referred to as Schemer, runs the station's arcade and serves as the series's comic relief. The narrative is driven by regular and incidental visitors to the station.
Mr. Conductor is a tiny man who lives in a signal house inside the station's mural and tells the stories taken from Thomas & Friends to the kids. He also introduces songs to the kids in The Anything Tunnel. Sometimes, he may present a magic bubble to the kids that has the song inside as a way of introducing it. On occasion, the kids may look through a film viewer to see the song or film.
Cast
Series regulars (1989-1995)
- Didi Conn - Stacy Jones
- Brian O'Connor - Horace Schemer
Season 1 regulars (1989)
- Ringo Starr - Mr. Conductor
- Leonard Jackson - Henry "Harry" Cupper
- Jason Woliner - Matthew "Matt" Jones
- Nicole Leach - Tanya Cupper
Christmas Special characters (1990)
- Ringo Starr - Mr. Conductor
- Didi Conn - Stacy Jones
- Brian O'Connor - Horace Schemer
- Jason Woliner - Matthew "Matt" Jones
- Nicole Leach - Tanya Cupper
- Ardon Bess - Cooper (Harry's cousin)
- Lloyd Bridges - Mr. Nicholas
- Judy Marshak - Claire
- Rachel Miner - Vickie
Seasons 2-3 regulars (1991-1993)
- George Carlin - Mr. Conductor
- Erica Luttrell - Kara Cupper
- Ari Magder - Daniel "Dan" Jones
- Danielle Marcot - Becky
- Tom Jackson - Billy Twofeathers
Recurring characters (full series; 1989-1995)
- Jerome Dempsey - Mayor Osgood Bob Flopdinger
- Mart Hulswit - Mr. J.B. King, Esq.
- Bobo Lewis - Midge Smoot
Recurring characters (Seasons 2-3; 1991-1993)
- Jason Woliner - Matthew "Matt" Jones (Season 2 only)
- Nicole Leach - Tanya Cupper (Season 2 only)
- Jonathan Shapiro - Schemee
- Gerard Parkes - Barton Winslow
- Barbara Hamilton - Ginny Johnson
- Aurelio Padrón - Felix Perez
- George Carlin - Mr. Conductor's Evil Twin
1995 Family Specials characters
- George Carlin - Mr. Conductor
- Didi Conn - Stacy Jones
- Tom Jackson - Billy Twofeathers
- Erica Luttrell - Kara Cupper
- Danielle Marcot - Becky
- Brian Edward O'Connor - Horace Schemer
- Barbara Hamilton - Ginny Johnson
- Bobo Lewis - Midge Smoot
- Jerome Dempsey - Mayor Osgood Bob Flopdinger
- Mart Hulswit - Mr. J.B. King, Esq.
- Bucky Hill - Kit Twofeathers
- Ari Magder - Daniel "Dan" Jones (Once Upon a Time and Second Chances only)
- Jonathan Shapiro - Schemee (Second Chances and One of the Family only)
- Aurelio Pardón - Felix Perez (Second Chances and Queen for a Day only)
- Leonard Jackson - Henry "Harry" Cupper (One of the Family only)
- Teri Garr - Sister Conductor (One of the Family only)
- Jeannette Charles - The Queen (Queen for a Day only)
The Jukebox Band
- Jonathan Freeman - Tito Swing
- Olga Marin - Didi
- Wayne White - Tex (1989)
- Alan Semok - Tex (1990-1995)
- Craig Marin - Rex
- Peter Baird/Alan Semok/Vaneese Thomas - Grace the Bass (1989)
- Peter Baird/Kenny Miele - Grace the Bass (1990-1995)
Their songs were produced by Steve Horelick and arranged by Horelick and Larry Wolf.
Segments
- Flexitoons Puppets & Marionettes - The Jukebox Band - the show's station band that performs a song inside the jukebox. They consist of pianist Tito Swing, drummer Didi, guitarists Tex and Rex (who control the guitar together), and bass guitarist Grace Bass. JJ Silvers is the manager of The Jukebox Band.
- Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends - Storytellers, Ringo Starr and George Carlin
- The Anything Tunnel- Inside the anything tunnel, which is the tunnel on the station mural, there is a song with a cartoon, a stop motion clip, or a live action clip. Sometimes instead of the anything tunnel, Mr. Conductor would show a magic bubble or one of the kids look through a film viewer.
Episodes
Series overview
Season 1 (1989)
- Season 1 consists of 20 episodes.
Mr. Conductor: Ringo Starr
Christmas special (1990)
Mr. Conductor: Ringo Starr
Season 2 (1991)
- Season 2 consists of 20 episodes.
- Jason Woliner and Nicole Leach reprise their Season 1 main roles for two episodes.
Mr. Conductor: George Carlin
Season 3 (1993)
- Didi Conn has a haircut starting with this season.
- Starting with this season, Danielle Marcot was added to the opening credits.
- This season consisted of 25 episodes.
Mr. Conductor: George Carlin
TV Family Specials (1995)
Mr. Conductor: George Carlin
Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales (1996)
Mr. Conductor: George Carlin
Merchandise
VHS
The beginning of each VHS copy of Shining Time Station (except for Shining Time Station Singsongs, Schemer Presents: The World According to Me, The Jukebox Band: A Day in the Life, and The Jukebox Band: Lullaby) featured a model scale of a typical 1950's drive-in movie theater called the "Shining Time Drive In Movie Theater" with parody commercials before the episode started. Then, after the episode of Shining Time station was shown, a short segment known as "Schemer Presents" was shown. Each segment featured Schemer and he taught the viewers how to do something and have someone help him. Afterwards, the announcer wishes everyone a safe drive home. The Drive-In segments were created by Chip Lord & Mickey McGowan.
- 'Tis a Gift
- Sweet and Sour
- Stacy Cleans Up
- Schemer Alone
- Bully for Mr. Conductor
- Becky Makes a Wish
- Billy's Party
- Schemer's Special Club
- Mr. Conductor's Evil Twin
- Shining Time Station Singsongs
- Schemer Presents: The World According to Me
- The Jukebox Band: A Day in the Life
- The Jukebox Band: Lullaby
Books
- A book, titled This Old Band, was written by Britt Allcroft and Rick Siggelkow. It featured the Juke Box Band and was published by Quality Family Entertainment in 1994.
References
External links
- Shining Time Station on IMDb
- Shining Time Station at TV.com
- Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
See also
- Thomas & Friends
- Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales
- Storytime with Thomas
- Noddy, a similar series also created by Rick Siggelkow.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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