Curious George (TV series)

Curious George is an American animated children's television family comedy series based on the children's book series of the same name which features Jeff Bennett as the voice of The Man with the Yellow Hat. Frank Welker, who voiced George in the 2006 feature film, returns as the voice of him.[2] The show premiered on PBS Kids on September 4, 2006, and originally ended after nine seasons on April 1, 2015 before returning in 2018. The series takes place in the same continuity as the 2006 film of the same name, although some of the characters including the Bloomsberry family, Maggie, and Ivan are not present.

This article is about the television series shown from 2006. For the 1980s television series, see Curious George (1980s TV series).
Curious George
GenreAdventure
Comedy
Family
Based on
Developed byJoe Fallon
Directed by
  • Scott Heming
  • Frank Marino
  • Cathy Malkasian
  • Jeff McGrath
Voices of
Narrated by
Theme music composer
  • Rocco Gagliese
  • Steve D'Angelo
  • Terry Tompkins
Opening theme"Like Curious George!" by Dr. John
Ending theme"Like Curious George!" (instrumental)
ComposerNick Nolan
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons15
No. of episodes198 (202 segments + 3 specials) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
EditorKirk Demorest
Camera setupJaclyn Brick
Running time23 minutes (11 minutes per segment)
Production companiesUniversal Animation Studios
Imagine Entertainment (seasons 1–9, 14–present)
WGBH Boston (seasons 1–12)
Universal 1440 Entertainment (season 10–15)
Animation servicesToon City (seasons 1–9)
DQ Entertainment Limited (season 1)
Sunwoo Entertainment (season 1)
Brilliant Animation Studios (seasons 10–11)
BV Animation Studio (seasons 10–11)
Oasis Animation[1] (season 12–15)
DistributorNBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network
Picture format
Original releaseSeptember 4, 2006 (2006-09-04) –
present
Chronology
Preceded byCurious George (1980s TV series)

On September 3, 2018, season 10 premiered on Family Jr. in Canada. Seasons 10-13 debuted on NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock in the United States when it launched in July 2020.[3] Seasons 1-9 of Curious George are available to stream for Peacock Premium subscribers since September 20, 2020, which is also available to stream on Hulu.[4] Season 10 of Curious George premiered on PBS on October 5, 2020.[5]

Curious George is a production of Universal 1440 Entertainment (Universal Studios Family Productions before 2013[6]), Imagine Entertainment, and WGBH-TV (WGBH Kids) (before Season 13),[7] and animated by Toon City.[8] Each episode has two animated segments per half hour episode, and a short live-action segment after each.

The live-action shorts illustrate and explain various concepts in math and science, and shows a class with kids engaging in experiments, that teach the math or science concept featured in the previous story. This was shown for Seasons 1–9 during its first runs. They were removed from re-runs starting after season 10, and future airings of older episodes also remove them.

Settings
  • City: George and the Man live in an apartment in the city. The Doorman keeps a pigeon coop on the roof and is the guardian of Hundley, his dachshund dog. The apartment is near the Endless Park, the museum where Professor Wiseman works, and the zoo. Chef Pisghetti's restaurant is nearby, as are a donut shop, Dulson's Toy Store, Mabel's Department Store (a parody of Macy's and its erstwhile competitor Gimbels), the supermarket, and the pet shop. These are recurring locations.
  • Country: George and the Man vacation in a small house in the country. The house is near Lake Wanasink, a stream, and a river that eventually flows past the city and to the ocean. George is friends there with five-year-old Allie and the teenage paperboy, Bill.

Characters
Main article: List of Curious George characters
  • Curious George (voiced by Frank Welker) is a tailless monkey who is the protagonist of the show. He is excessively curious and often causes unintentional problems. He is used as the "teachable" character in the show, and he is the one to whom new concepts are explained in detail by the other characters. He is written as having the mind of a young child.
  • The Man in the Yellow Hat (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is the man who first befriended George and also acts as a father figure to him. He does not wear his hat at home but wears it when going in public.

Episodes
Main article: List of Curious George episodes

The setting for most episodes is either the city, where George lives in an apartment building with the Man in the Yellow Hat, or the country, where they share a small house near a lake called Lake Wanasinklake. This allows George to mirror the experiences of kids who live in an urban environment and those who live on farms and in suburbs. A few episodes take place in alternate but familiar settings, like an airport or a train station.

SeasonSegmentsEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast airedNetwork
16030September 4, 2006February 23, 2007PBS Kids
24020September 3, 2007April 22, 2008
32211September 1, 2008April 22, 2009
4189September 8, 2009June 14, 2010
52010September 6, 2010May 6, 2011
62010September 3, 2011April 20, 2012
7126December 3, 2012April 24, 2013
SpecialsNovember 25, 2009October 28, 2013
8126February 10, 2014May 21, 2014
9126October 28, 2014April 1, 2015
102815September 3, 2018 (2018-09-03)December 10, 2018 (2018-12-10)Family Jr.
112915May 6, 2019 (2019-05-06)August 12, 2019 (2019-08-12)
122915February 3, 2020 (2020-02-03)February 21, 2020 (2020-02-21)
133015July 15, 2020 (2020-07-15)December 11, 2020 (2020-12-11)Peacock
142915October 21, 2021 (2021-10-21)
152915March 17, 2022 (2022-03-17)

Broadcast

The show premiered on PBS through PBS Kids in the United States in 2006 and Family Jr. in Canada in 2015. Season 10 premiered on PBS and the series made its debut on the PBS Kids 24/7 channel the same day. All seasons are available on Peacock with the first 9 seasons exclusive to Peacock Premium and Hulu.

Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas, an animated television film, was released on November 25, 2009. It was distributed by PBS and produced by Imagine Entertainment and Universal Animation Studios. The film is a holiday television special featuring George, as featured in the TV series. The film is part of the show as well. It is shown every Christmas season on PBS Kids.

Awards

Emmy Award

References
  1. "Oasis Animation Employer Profile". Animation World Network (AWN). Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  2. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 143. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  3. "NBCUNIVERSAL UNVEILS PEACOCK, A FREE PREMIUM AD-SUPPORTED STREAMING SERVICE WITH SUBSCRIPTION TIERS". NBCUNIVERSAL MEDIA. 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  4. "Curious George New Movie, TV Series Seasons Streaming Free on Peacock". Variety. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
  5. @ItsPeebs (2020-08-20). "Beginning October 5, 2020, Season 10 of Curious George will debut on PBS! 5 "new" episodes will air that week. These episodes are already available on Peacock" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. "Curious George - Program Summary". PBS. Archived from the original on October 31, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  7. "Curious George - Program Summary". PBS. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  8. "Curious George - TV Credits". PBS. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
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