Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman: Difference between revisions

Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman
File:Fetchlogo ruff vm.gif Show Main Title (kids are not included)
Genre	Child's Game show
Created by	Kate Taylor
Developed by	WGBH
Written by	Glen Berger Jim Conroy
Directed by	Clifford Saito Adam Dalley Joe Truesdell Peter Lyons Wayne Simpson Dean Raymond Robert V. Lange Chris Whitbeck
Starring	Jim Conroy Noah Ellis Taylor Garrson Khalil Mathews Brian McGoff Julia Garcia Anna Sheridan Madison Bader ("Madi") William Erickson ("Willie") Bridget O'Sullivan Rosario Michales Michael O'Donnell ("Mike") Nina Wadekar Demetrius John ("DJ") Harsha Amaravadi Jay Brosnan Samuel Blumenfeld ("Sam") Noel Um Samantha Boucher ("Sammy") Isaac Bean Talia Patapoutian Sterling Singletary Liza Giangrande Brian Conry Bethany Owens Shreya Vishwanathan
Voices of	Jim Conroy
Theme music composer	Terry Tompkins, Rocco Gagliese, Steve D'Angelo for Eggplant LLC
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	80 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Kate Taylor
Producers	Paul Serafini Marcy Gunther Eric Handler
Production locations	Boston, Massachusetts
Editors	Arnie Harchik Jessica Rueter Andrews Lisa Wolf Kathyrn Farrelly Alan Grazioso Jennifer Lorenz Joe Headrick Arnie Harchik John Warren Mark Geffen Maureen Barillaro Karen Silverstein
Camera setup	Mark C. Helton Dan Lang Stephen McCarthy Multi-camera (For Studio Segaments)
Running time	30 minutes
Production company	WGBH-TV
Original release
Network	PBS Kids
Release	May 29, 2006 (2006-05-29) – present

FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman is a children's television series on PBS during the PBS Kids GO! block of educational programming. It is a game show/reality show parody that is hosted by an animated anthropomorphic dog who dispenses challenges to the show's real-life contestants. Premiering on May 29, 2006, the show has since completed four seasons, with a fifth season coming in 2010. In June 2008, the series received its first Emmy for Best Original Song for its theme.

Production

Fetch is produced at WGBH Studios in Boston. The challenges are filmed mostly in Boston and various other parts of the USA, depending on the challenges. Seasons are filmed about a year before they air. Season four began this show in High Definition (HD) in 2009. Production for season 5 is in post production at this time. Ruff's lines are the only lines that are scripted out, though depending on the situation he will sometimes ad-lib an answer to a question from a FETCHer. Auditions for season 6 took place on January 9 & 10, 2010. The studio segments are shot with Jim Conroy talking into a camera with the contestants. The animated parts are done by Global Mechanic.

Cast and crew

With the exception of Blossom and Chet, who don't speak, all character voices are provided by Jim Conroy. The contestants are not professional actors and are real children who actually do the activities . They range in age from 10 to 14.

Synopsis

FETCH! is a reality-based game show where young contestants take on various challenges to gain points. During these challenges, the contestants must complete a variety of tasks assigned to them ahead of time (and on the fly) by Ruff and surrogates, depending on the situation. There is also an educational component, as contestants often must learn something (i.e. Astronomy, Carpentry, Food Science, Biology, etc.) in order to complete the task.

Not all contestants leave the studio each episode to complete tasks. As determined usually by the Fetch 3000, the contestants who remain behind in the studio participate in the "Half-Time Quiz Show", in which Ruff asks them questions based on the activities of the contestants out on challenges (see below). Once the contestants complete the activities in the field to the best of their abilities, they return to the studio and Ruff tallies their points. A prize is awarded to the contestant with the most points. At the end of the season, a final point tally is conducted, with the winner of the tally being declared winner of that season and wins the "Grand Prize".

Prizes are not always desirable, and sometimes the prize holder winds up with a "booby prize"; for example, in Good Dancing and Bad Teeth, Anna and Brian had to dance a waltz in the studio. During the first season the contestant had the choice of keeping the prize, or giving it to a fellow contestant. From (Season 2-5) there are two unknown prizes from which the winner chooses one. Usually, the chosen prize is "mailed" to the mailbox in Studio G, although occasionally large prizes are hidden elsewhere on the set. In one season two episode Rosario gave his prize to Nina, and in a season 4 episode, Sterling returned his prize to the mailbox.

Points

Out on challenges, contestants have the potential to earn up to 100 points. The contestants in the studio have a chance to win a maximum of 50 points in the Half-Time Quiz Show in which they have to answer 10 questions about events during the challenges. Each question is worth 5 points. They have a total of 60 seconds (for Season 1 and 2 it was 90 seconds but it usually varies by wide amounts of time) to answer all the questions. They can pass on the question and return to it if time permits. Usually, there is also a Fetch Fairness Guarantee, which states that every contestant will have had an equal number of challenges (usually 13) and quiz shows (usually 6) before the final episode. Additionally, there are between 5 and 10 "Bone-us" points (sometimes 15 or 20 points) available for one or two (sometimes even four)stand-out contestants. On rare occasions, such as an episode with a colonial theme, there is the possibility to earn more than 100 points (outside of any bonuses). In Season 4, contestants are able to have 1/2 points (i.e. 215½ points)

Characters

Main article: List of FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman characters

• Ruff Ruffman (voiced by Jim Conroy) is the host of the show. He doesn't like cats, or at least thinks that dogs are superior to them in most ways. He has a crush on Charlene. Ruff grouses about his contract to produce a reality TV program, and the stresses of running one. He loves all food, American-Chinese take-out in particular. His physical appearance features "eyebrows that hover mysteriously above his head". Ruff has many relatives and ancestors, all with a similar physical appearance to him, and he has five other brothers and sisters besides Scruff and Roxy. According to the episode Ruff Bounces Back, Ruff is a mutt and is proud of it. At the end of season 4, Ruff mentions about his mom and dad, stating that they had vanished when he was a pup, but Jerry the parrot explains that they're still alive, implying that that will be the storyline for season 5.

• Blossom, whose full name is Princess Blossom Pepperdoodle Von Yum Yum is a cat and was Ruff's intern for Season 2. She is usually simply called "Blossom". Quite serious, she is usually seen taking notes on her laptop. She has never spoken, but only makes strange squeaking sounds to get Ruff's attention. She was promoted to supervisor in Season 3. Ruff didn't enjoy Blossom's company at first, but eventually forms a close bond with her. Despite all of the hijinks that Ruff puts her through, she continues to be loyal to Ruff and the show, particularly when she decided to 'work' for Harriet Hackensack so she could find out the reason for her misocyny (hatred for dogs). In "Don't like Fencing? Try Fencing!", Blossom is shown watching Design Squad (and also shows that she is a fan of Nate from the show).
• Grandma Ruffman, also voiced by Conroy, is Ruff Ruffman's stubborn grandmother who appeared in eleven episodes so far: Grandma Ruffman's Recipe for Success, The Small Fork Is For Dessert (Unless You're a Dolphin), Tape Loops and Loop-the-Loops, There's Food Safety and Then There's Food Safety, Socket to Me, The People vs. Grandma Ruffman, the FETCH! with Scruff Ruffman Finale, Season Four is Cancelled, Is It a Bird? Is It a Plane? It's... Ruffmanman!, Ruff Needs His Herring Checked, Gearing Up for Getting Ruff's Goat, and How to Really Train Your Dog. Like Ruff, she is also pretentious, and animated in Macromedia Flash. As a writer, she attempted to market her products on her grandson's show, and as a grandmother, she constantly fusses about insignificant things, such as Ruff's manners and other FETCHers staying behind in the studio. However, she cares for Ruff, going as far as to retrieve the stolen Fetch 3000 Scruff stole in the premiere of Season 4.

Episodes

Main article: List of FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman episodes

As of April 10, 2010, 80 episodes have aired over 4 seasons.

Season		Episodes	Season premiere	Season finale	Year filmed	Winner	Season DVD
	1	20	May 29, 2006	June 29, 2006	2005	Anna	TBA
	2	20	May 28, 2007	June 28, 2007	2006	Mike	TBA
	3	20	September 29, 2008	October 30, 2008	2007	Jay	TBA
	4	20	September 14, 2009	October 15, 2009	2008	Liza	TBA
	5	20	October 4, 2010	November 4, 2010	2009	TBA	TBA

New episodes

New episodes air Mondays through Thursdays, but specific air times vary for each individual PBS station. Monday's episode is usually repeated on Friday, unless another program has been scheduled for Friday. In some markets, the show airs on weekends.

Auditions

To try out for FETCH!, potential contestants are required to be between the ages of 9 and 13 and be able to live in the greater Boston area over the summer, during school vacations, and a few weekends during the school year. FETCHers must be able to be filmed without missing school. Auditions usually take place in early January in Boston. Maura Tighe Casting handles this process.

Funding

• National Science Foundation Where Discoveries Begin (2006–10)
• The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations Dedicated to strengthening America's future through education (2006)
• Corporation for Public Broadcasting A private Corporation funded by the American people (2009–10)
• Arby's (2006–07)
• Greendog Clothes for Kids @ Macy's (2006–2008)
• Chuck E. Cheese's (2009–10)
• Contributions to your PBS stations from "Viewers Like You" (2006–10)

In seasons 1–3, Ruff would announce the funding through the FETCH 3000. In season 4 and 5 he would do it on a projector.

External links

• Official website
• Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com
• FETCH casting website