TORONTO – TVO will soon premiere a new children's series, Hi Opie!, about a 5-year-old who navigates his way through the struggles and successes of kindergarten for the first time.
Hi Opie! is a TVO developed (marblemedia-produced) live-action series, teaching preschoolers kindergarten readiness skills, helping to ease their transition from home to school, says the public broadcaster’s release. The show features Opie, a custom-built puppet created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, as he interacts with new real kid friends, gets to know his teachers and discovers a whole new world, all while learning important life lessons.
Targeted to ages 3-5, preschoolers and their families can tune in to watch the sweet and lovable Opie as he overcomes challenges and works toward a positive resolution at school. For example, in Opie The Special Helper, Opie gets chosen as the classroom's Special Helper and learns about sharing when he forgets to split his responsibilities with another classmate; or in Opie's Gotta Go he doesn't want to miss the lesson on making a glow-in-the-dark comet, but he's really "gotta go".
Kids can get a sneak peek of episodes on tvokids.com from August 18-22 and on TVO August 25 at 7 a.m. and 12 p.m. ET, August 29 at 7 a.m. ET. The series premieres on September 1, 2014 and will air daily Monday to Friday at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. In addition to the on-air broadcasts, families can play along with Opie in his virtual interactive classroom at tvokids.com/games/hiopie.
"This fall marks the implementation of full-day kindergarten province-wide and Hi Opie! provides kids the skills they need to make a successful transition into school, for the first time," said Pat Ellingson, creative head of children's and parents' media, TVO.
The series will also premiere on September 1, 2014 on Citytv Saskatchewan (Saskatchewan) at 9 a.m. CST and on Knowledge Network (British Columbia) at 11:50 a.m. PT. Hi Opie! is produced with the financial participation of the Shaw Rocket Fund, Canada Media Fund and The Bell Fund.
Photo courtesy TVO by Christopher Wahl
