''The Big Comfy Couch'' (), is a Canadian children's prop comedy television series which is about a clown named Loonette and her doll Molly who solve everyday problems on their eponymous couch. It was produced by

Cheryl Wagner Cheryl Wagner, is a Canadian puppeteer, producer, director and writer, who is the creator of the TV series ''The Big Comfy Couch'', is a Gemini Award and Emmy award- winning Canadian children's television writer, showrunner and producer who began ...

and Robert Mills, directed by Wayne Moss, Robert Mills and Steve Wright. It premiered on March 2, 1993, in Canada and on January 9, 1995, in the United States on public television stations across the country, airing its final episode on December 29, 2006. The program was also broadcast on

Treehouse TV Treehouse TV (commonly known as Treehouse) is a Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary specialty channel that was launched in 1997. Its name comes from sister network YTV (Canadian TV channel), YTV's former programming b ...

from 1997 to 2011.

Premise

As with many children's shows, the series had a number of staple elements. Loonette performs a daily exercise routine she calls the Clock Rug Stretch. She also reads stories to Molly; has unusual encounters with the dust bunnies who live under the couch; sings themed songs; and visits different places in Clowntown. When visiting Granny Garbanzo's garden, Loonette encounters the cat, Snicklefritz; Major Bedhead, who delivers mail via unicycle; and Granny herself. The conversation with Granny is typically the episode's teachable moment, in which she offers Loonette some wisdom. Major Bedhead often stops by with gifts and messages from Auntie Macassar (in seasons 1-5) or Uncle Chester (in seasons 6-7). Loonette is a talented dancer and runs Miss Loonette's Dance Academy, where she dances with dolls and animals. Along with simple lessons and problem-solving, the show also emphasized imaginative play. From season 7, more fixtures of Clowntown are explored: Granny Garbanzo's Cabbage Club Cooking School; Major Bedhead's Clown Chi Dojo and Dancing School; and the Clowndergarten, where Loonette volunteers and helps teach. This imaginative play was also demonstrated through dress-up games and through Loonette's dollhouse, where imaginary sequences play out involving her doll family, the Foleys. Towards the end of each show, Loonette performs a Ten-Second Tidy to clean up her belongings."Pie in the Sky"
. ''The Big Comfy Couch''.

Radical Sheep Productions Radical Sheep Productions was a Canadian television production company known for producing series including '' The Next Step'', '' Stella and Sam'', and '' The Big Comfy Couch'', the latter a Gemini Award-winning series for preschoolers which pro ...

(studio).

FilmRise FilmRise is an American media company, headquartered in New York City, that operates a film and television studio and a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) network. As of November 2024, the FilmRise app has reported more than 31.5 milli ...

(YouTube channel distributor). Retrieved April 9, 2021. All episodes end with Loonette and Molly thanking the viewers and bidding farewell, often with a reminder of the day's lesson, as they settle in for a nap. The closing credits normally end with "And the clown jumped over the moon" (an allusion to

Hey Diddle Diddle "Hey Diddle Diddle" (also "Hi Diddle Diddle", "The Cat and the Fiddle", or "The Cow Jumped over the Moon") is an English nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19478. Lyrics and music A version of the rhyme is: Hey diddle did ...

), with only two exceptions being the episodes "Hiccups" (where Loonette hiccups midway in And the clown *hiccup* over the moon"the line), from season 3, and "Gesundheit" (where Loonette sneezes AH...AH...AH-CHOO!"instead of saying the line), from season 1.

Characters

Main

*Loonette (portrayed by

Alyson Court Alyson Stephanie Court (born November 9, 1973) is a Canadian actress. She began her career as a child actress, her first role was on '' Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird'' (1985) and later on she made her television debut in '' Mr. Dressup ...

in seasons 1–6 and Ramona Gilmour-Darling in season 7) is the freckled-faced female lead of the series. She is a young clown living with her doll, Molly, in their house, on the eponymous Big Comfy Couch, an oversized green floral couch. She frequently reads stories to Molly, always performs a Clock Rug Stretch, and likes to visit Granny Garbanzo. Auntie Macassar or Uncle Chester frequently send Loonette postcards and gifts by mail, which Major Bedhead delivers on his unicycle. Loonette is gifted in the art of classical dance and runs Miss Loonette's Dance Academy. Another gift she possesses is the very unusual skill to clean just about any mess up in just ten seconds, which she calls the Ten Second Tidy. Initially, Loonette was too young to visit Clowntown by herself, but starting in season 7, Loonette makes frequent trips to Clowntown to visit Granny's Cabbage Club Cooking School and Major Bedhead's Clown Chi Dojo and Dancing School. The trips to the first location help teach Loonette how to cook. The trips to this second location indicate that she practices martial arts. Loonette also takes Molly to Clowndergarten and helps out with the other young clowns. *Molly (performed by Bob Stutt) is Loonette's living doll. Loonette found her in a barrel with a sign marked "Free to a good home", and adopted her. She believes that dust bunnies really exist, despite Loonette's disbelief. Her favorite food is

donut A doughnut or donut () is a type of pastry made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and fran ...

s. Her hobbies include playing her fiddle and going fishing. She only speaks via cartoon bubbles, and usually answers Loonette's yes or no questions by either nodding or shaking her head.

Additional

*Fuzzy (performed by Bob Stutt) and Wuzzy (performed by Robert Mills) are twin

dust bunnies Dust bunnies (or dustbunnies) are small clumps of dust that form under furniture and in corners that are not cleaned regularly. They are made of hair, lint, flakes of dead skin, spider webs, dust, and sometimes light rubbish and debris and a ...

who live under the Big Comfy Couch. Only Molly is aware of their existence, much to Loonette's annoyance, and she always does her best to protect them so she can play with them. The two dust bunnies sometimes find things that get under the couch and when they do, they play with those objects and after a while, they throw it or push it back out from under the couch. Fuzzy has gray bunny ears, and Wuzzy has brown bunny ears. Both of them speak with high pitched voices. *The Foley Family, Andy (portrayed by Fred Stinson), Jim (portrayed by

Jani Lauzon Jani Lauzon (born September 29, 1959) is a Canadian director, and multidisciplinary performer from the East Kootenay region of British Columbia. For much of her career she believed her family to be Métis, and centered Métis themes in her wo ...

), and Eileen (portrayed by Jackie Harris in seasons 1–2 and Suzanne Merriam in seasons 3–5) are a very silly family who live inside of Loonette's dollhouse. They do not speak, and only communicate with their methods of slapstick and distinguishing sounds. *Granny Garbanzo (portrayed by Grindl Kuchirka) is Loonette's Ukrainian-accented grandmother and next-door neighbor who loves her and Molly dearly. She comes from the "old country". Granny also really likes growing things in her garden and she lives inside a gypsy wagon with Snicklefritz, her cat. Her name is derived from the

garbanzo bean The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae, cultivated for its edible seeds. Its different types are variously known as gram," Bengal gram, garbanzo, garbanzo bean, or Egypti ...

. In "Knit One, Twirl Two" and "Upside Down Clown", it's indirectly revealed that her given name is Donya. *Snicklefritz (performed by Bob Stutt) is Granny's mischievous cat. He likes to play lots of pranks on the others and sometimes tries to get out of getting flea-baths. The name
Snicklefritz
' comes fro
slang in German culture
*Major Bedhead (portrayed by Fred Stinson) is the local clown courier who makes deliveries to people all over Clowntown, including Loonette from her Auntie Macassar or Uncle Chester. He can be quite goofy at times and a bit clumsy. He also dislikes lying and being dishonest. He usually makes his deliveries while riding a

unicycle A unicycle is a vehicle that touches the ground with only one wheel. The most common variation has a frame with a saddle, and has a pedal-driven direct-drive. A two speed hub is commercially available for faster unicycling. Unicycling is prac ...

though sometimes he will ride something else such as a little car or a bicycle. *Auntie Macassar (portrayed by

Taborah Johnson Taborah Johnson, also known as Tabby Johnson, is a Canadian singer and actress. She is the sister of actor Clark Johnson and rock and jazz singer Molly Johnson. She began her career in the Toronto production of ''Hair'' as a teenager. She was su ...

) is Loonette's travelling aunt who likes to make an entrance whenever she visits. Her name is a pun on the word "

antimacassar An antimacassar is a small cloth placed over the backs or arms of chairs, or the head or cushions of a sofa, to prevent soiling of the permanent fabric underneath.Fleming, John & Hugh Honour. (1977) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Ar ...

". *Wobbly (portrayed by

Gary Farmer Gary Dale Farmer (born June 12, 1953) is a Canadian First Nations ( Cayuga) actor and musician. He is best known for his Independent Spirit Award-nominated roles in '' Powwow Highway'' (1989), ''Dead Man'' (1995) and '' Smoke Signals'' (1998). ...

) is a close friend of Granny's who lives in Clowntown as a traveling repairman. *Uncle Chester (portrayed by Edward Knuckles) is Loonette's travelling uncle who appears in the show's last two seasons replacing Auntie Macassar.

Production

The show was originally produced by

with what would later be known as Owl Communications (the publishers of Owl Magazine), then Canadian children's television network YTV with a run of 65 episodes. They were presented in the United States by Benny Smart, a US children's television production company backed by ''

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from the Germanic languages, Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious", often shortened to Ernie. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), ...

'' creator John Cherry, in conjunction with

WITF-TV WITF-TV (channel 33) is a PBS member television station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Susquehanna Valley region (Harrisburg– Lancaster–Lebanon–York). It is owned by WITF, Inc., alongside the area's NPR member, ...

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

. In 2001, Tadpole Kids, who purchased the series' U.S. rights from Hollywood Ventures Corporation, commissioned 13 more episodes presented alongside Nashville Public Television.

and Amity Entertainment, in association with

; a sister channel of YTV, and Nashville Public Television, produced 22 additional episodes focusing on preventing

childhood obesity Childhood obesity is a condition where excess adipose tissue, body fat negatively affects a child's health or well-being. As methods to determine body fat directly are difficult, the diagnosis of obesity is often based on Body mass index, BMI. ...

, which debuted on public television stations in 2006. From 1992 to 2002, the show was filmed at Wallace Avenue Studios in Toronto, and in 2006, it was filmed at Toronto's Studio City.

Broadcast and syndication

In the U.S., the series was syndicated by

American Public Television American Public Television (APT) is an American nonprofit organization and syndicator of programming for public television stations in the United States. It distributes public television programs nationwide for PBS member stations and indepen ...

to public television stations in that country, most of which were affiliated with

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

, starting on January 9, 1995, and ending in February 2007, with reruns airing as late as May 2009 on some stations. In Canada, the series was shown on YTV from 1993 to 1997 and on

from 1997 until it ceased broadcasting on February 27, 2011. The show also airs on BTV in

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

. As of 2023, all episodes can be viewed on

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

Vudu Fandango at Home (formerly known as Vudu) is an American digital video store and streaming service owned by Fandango Media, a joint-venture between NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery. The company offers transactional video on demand re ...

Tubi Tubi (stylized as tubi) is an American over-the-top ad-supported streaming television service owned by Fox Corporation since 2020. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In 2023, Tubi, Credible L ...

, the

app, and

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. From September 1, 1997, to 2001, the French-language dub was aired on

Canal Famille Vrak (stylized as VRΔK) was a Television in Canada, Canadian French language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Media. The channel primarily broadcast live-action programming aimed at 13-to-35 age group audiences. Launched i ...

in Quebec and on

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The show was also dubbed in Hebrew (which aired on the

Hop! Channel Hop! Channel (Hebrew: , ''Arutz Hop!'') is an Israeli children's television channel aimed entirely for preschool children. The channel caters for children between the ages of zero and seven years old, presenting programs specifically tailored fo ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

) and Turkish (which aired on

TRT 1 TRT 1 (''TRT One'') is the first Turkish national television channel, owned by state broadcaster TRT. It was officially launched on 31 January 1968 as a test broadcast, becoming regular by the early 1970s. It was the only channel Turkey until 15 ...

and

Yumurcak TV Yumurcak TV was a Turkish Free-to-air Children television channel owned and operated by Samanyolu Yayıncılık A.Ş. Launched on 25 June 2007, it was closed and had its license revoked by the Radio and Television Supreme Council on 19 July 2016 ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

). The Spanish language dub aired on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

, MGM Channel, Unicable, Canal 5, and

Galavisión Galavisión is an American Spanish-language pay television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. The network is unrelated to the earlier Mexican channel of the same name, though both broadcast Televisa-produced programming. As of February 20 ...

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

and La Primera in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Episodes

Season 1 (1993)

This season was produced in 1992.

Season 2 (1994)

This season was produced in 1993. A large painting of someone is now hanging on Loonette's wall to the upper right next to the couch and a fence and garden wall to Granny's garden is added. All Dance Academy shows are announced by Fred Stinson. Snicklefritz also debuts in this season. Auntie Macassar makes her in person debut in the season 2 finale.

Season 3 (1994)

The opening changes starting this season, and now features Snicklefritz and Auntie Macassar. Auntie Macassar now speaks in the postcards sent to Loonette. The Clock Rug gets a new redesign with darker colors, a new font for the numbers. The cuckoo theme for the Clock Rug is no longer used. Instead of this, a new clock rug stretch theme is added. Also, Granny's garden is redesigned with brighter green grass.

Season 4 (1995)

Season 5 (1996)

This was the final season of The Foley Family Gags, Miss Loonette's Dance Academy, The Alphabet Game, Auntie Macassar, and the original lullaby ending music theme. This was also the final season that the stories Loonette read were illustrated. The 3rd Clock Rug theme is no longer used.

Season 6 (2002)

The opening changes again with children's vocals re-recorded. This was the final season where Alyson Court plays the role of Loonette. The couch is redesigned and Auntie Macassar will no longer return, she's replaced by Uncle Chester that now sends the postcards to Loonette. The dust bunny music and the ending music have been changed in this season as well. Each episode features Molly attending Doll School with Loonette accompanying her (rotating between The Alphabet Song, counting to 10 or both). The stories that Loonette reads are now in live action which introduces a city for clowns called Clowntown. Even though the Foley Family gags have come to an end, in this season, the dollhouse was still seen on the set next to the couch. Miss Loonette's Dance Academy has also been discontinued for the rest of the series along with the Alphabet Game. Due to Court’s pregnancy during production, she was unable to film any new Clock Rug segments. Instead, archival footage from seasons 3-5 was used with the screen tinted red (to match Loonette’s baggier red clothes).

Season 7 (2006)

Ramona Gilmour-Darling replaces Court in the role of Loonette. The Clock Rug is now smaller with darker colours. Also in this season, Loonette and Molly visit places in Clowntown. Additionally, while Molly and Loonette are sleeping at the end of each episode prior to the credits, they play the dream game, dreaming about letters of the alphabet and what starts with that letter. Also the moon that rises up in the show's ending credits is larger and changed to yellow. The dollhouse of The Foley Family was removed. In addition, this season featured the fewest episodes with Loonette reading Molly a story.

Home media

Time-Life Video was the main home media distributor for the Big Comfy Couch, releasing the series under Time-Life Video's children's label, Time-Life Kids. VHS releases were also released on May 10, 2000, by Goldhil Video. The Big Comfy Couch has five DVDs featuring Ramona Gilmour-Darling. The DVDs and VHS tapes that feature Alyson Court are now out of print, but can be found on certain websites such as

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

. On July 30, 2013, TGG Direct released the first two seasons on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. Seasons 3-7 were released on August 6, 2013. Each set comes with a bonus disc featuring a premiere episode of the following season. The Season 7 set, however, has a bonus disc of the premiere episode of the first season.

Merchandise and other media

Throughout the years, several merchandise has been sold under the show's banner such as videotapes, DVDs, books, dolls, toys and puzzles.

Album releases

Several albums of the original songs written by JP Houston and performed by the cast were released on August 9, 2005, by Time-Life, as well as Naxos Music.

App releases

In 2015 and 2016, Radical Sheep, in association with Sticky Brain Studios, released some apps based on the series. * Just Ask Molly - Released April 1, 2015, this app allows the player to ask Molly any question, and she can communicate to the player via her thought bubbles. * Fuzzy Wuzzy Fun - Released April 1, 2015, this app features the dust bunnies Fuzzy and Wuzzy playing hide and seek. The objective for the player is to help them find each other by navigating through paths. * Clock Rug Time - Released May 18, 2015, this app features Loonette and her clock rug stretch routine. Loonette can set the time for the player in both analog and digital. This app can also be used as an alarm clock. The app can also display the weather and temperature based on location. * Molly's Big Day - Released May 17, 2016, this app focuses on Molly and her big first day in Clowndergarten with the use of activities for the player.

''This Hour Has 22 Minutes''

On the October 18, 2016 episode of ''

This Hour Has 22 Minutes ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' (commonly shortened to ''22 Minutes'' since 2009) is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics wi ...

'', in a segment discussing the

2016 clown sightings The 2016 clown sightings were reports of people disguised as evil clowns in incongruous settings, such as near forests and schools. The incidents were reported in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and subsequently in other ...

, Loonette made an appearance as the show's "clown correspondent.""Loonette on Creepy Clowns , 22 Minutes"
. ''

''.

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

Comedy (YouTube channel). Retrieved April 9, 2021. This marked the character's first television appearance in a decade since the show's finale in 2006 and the first time

had portrayed Loonette on TV since her departure in 2002.

Tours

''The Big Comfy Couch'' has had a few live shows at

Londonderry Mall Londonderry Mall is a shopping centre located in north Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It contains over 150 stores and services with nine major tenants. The mall opened in 1972 and has been expanded and renovated since. Londonderry Mall has many nota ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

and sometimes in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

and rarely in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina ( ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 Canadian census, ...

. There was a tour through South Western Ontario in 2001.

Loonette and Molly Live Theatrical Tour

In 2005, a live theatrical production entitled ''Molly's Fool Moon Festival'' toured in Canada. The show included Loonette, Molly, Granny Garbanzo, Major Bedhead and others. The show was produced by Koba Entertainment and presented by Paquin Entertainment Group. The production starred a variety of Canadian actors such as Laura Kolisnyk, Andrew Nolan, Daniel J. Craig, Alexandra Herzog, Dawn Johnson, and others.

References

External links

*
Big Comfy Couch Episode GuideBig Comfy Couch Full Episodes: Iowa Public Television

Big Comfy Couch: MSN TVBig Comfy Couch: AOL Television
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Comfy Couch, The 1990s Canadian children's television series 1990s Canadian comedy television series 2000s Canadian children's television series 2000s Canadian comedy television series 1990 Canadian television series debuts 2007 Canadian television series endings Canadian children's comedy television series First-run syndicated television shows in Canada PBS Kids shows Treehouse TV original programming YTV (Canadian TV channel) original programming Television shows filmed in Toronto Canadian television shows featuring puppetry Canadian English-language television shows Television series by Corus Entertainment Television shows about clowns Canadian preschool education television series 1990s preschool education television series 2000s preschool education television series Television series by Radical Sheep Productions