''Sid the Science Kid'', also known as ''Jim Henson's Sid the Science Kid'', is an American children's animated educational television series produced by

The Jim Henson Company The Jim Henson Company, Inc., formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc. (commonly referred to as Henson), is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is kn ...

in association 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 ...

affiliate

KCET KCET (channel 28) is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOC ...

, that aired on

PBS Kids PBS Kids (stylized as PBS KIDS) is the branding used for nationally distributed children's programming carried by the U.S. public television network PBS. The brand encompasses a daytime block of children's programming carried daily by most PBS ...

from September 1, 2008 to November 15, 2012. The show is created using

digital puppetry Digital puppetry is the manipulation and performance of digitally animated 2D or 3D figures and objects in a virtual environment that are rendered in real-time by computers. It is most commonly used in filmmaking and television production but has ...

. Each character required two puppeteers working in concert, one performing the face and mouth using a remote manipulator or Waldo, and the other performing the body using performance capture. Development began in early 2007 under the original working title of "What's the Big Idea?" and with the title-character being originally named Josh. In the fall of 2007, the show was retitled "Sid the Science Kid" and the original Josh was renamed to become the title-character. In mid-November 2007, the title-character was altered and, by the end of the month, Gerald, May and Gabriella joined the series as main characters, bringing the total to four. In early December 2007, Susie joined the character list as the only adult, bringing the total to five. Production began in January 2008 with 40 half-hour episodes (in addition to a special) being ordered for the first season as a two-year on-air commitment.Brandolution named licensing agent for US. and Canada for The Jim Henson Company's newest preschool series "Sid the Science Kid"
On May 17, 2010, the series was renewed for a second season with 20 episodes (in addition to six specials) that premiered on June 21, 2010, with the "No School Sing-Along Special" and later aired the season's first episode on October 4, 2010. 66 episodes were produced. Reruns of the show later aired on PBS Kids Sprout from March 25, 2013 (the same day as the premiere of the series finale movie) to October 3, 2014. It was the last PBS show added to Sprout's lineup before

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...

(via its acquisition by

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

) took full ownership of the network in November 2013. Further reruns continued on the PBS Kids Channel through June 25, 2023.

Premise

The main character in the show is Sid, an "inquisitive youngster" who uses comedy to tackle questions kids have about basic scientific principles and why things work the way they do. He tries to answer questions and solve problems with the help of his classmates (May, Gerald, and Gabriela), Teacher Susie, and his family (his mother Alice, his father Mort, his Grandma Rose and his baby brother Zeke). In "Hello Doggie," Sid's Grandma adopts a dog from the

animal shelter An animal shelter or pound is a place where stray, lost, abandoned or surrendered animals – mostly dogs and cats – are housed. The word "pound" has its origins in the animal pounds of the agricultural communities, where stray livestock w ...

(which she names Philbert – voiced by Bruce Lanoil, performance captured by Daisy the dog). The conceptual content of Sid is based in national science learning standards, cognitive learning theory, and on the preschool science curriculum, Preschool Pathways to Science. In Season 1, each week's episodes are built around a single scientific topic or concept. The first week (episodes 1 – 5) focuses on scientific tools and concepts (such as charts, observation, estimation, and measuring). The second week (episodes 6 – 10) focuses on changes and transformation (including decay, growth, freezing and melting, and the effects of heat). The third week (episodes 11 – 15) focuses on the senses (including touch, smell, sight, taste, and hearing). The fourth week (episodes 16 – 20) focuses on health (including brushing teeth, eating good-tasting food, sneezing and exercise). The fifth week (episodes 21 – 25) focuses on simple machines (including wheels, inclined planes, levers and pulleys). The sixth week (episodes 26 – 30) focuses on backyard science (including animal communication, animal homes, dirt and leaves). The seventh week (episodes 31 – 35) focuses on weather (including rain, sunblock, temperature and wind). The eighth week (episodes 36 – 40) focuses on the human body (including digestion, muscles, lungs and bones). The Friday shows are designed to review, reinforce and summarize the central concept of the week.

Characters

Main

* Sid (puppeteers Misty Rosas (body) and Drew Massey (voice and face)) always wished about being a scientist when he grows up. Sid is the most practical character on the show and is often portrayed as a very supportive friend and leading scientist in his group. He ponders many questions every day while at his school, sometimes after thinking of them the night before. His special item is a toy microphone with four different colored buttons. When pressed, the blue button plays the recorded laughter of people, the yellow button plays the recorded applause, the red button makes a cow noise, and the white button records echoes. Sid's mother is of

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

descent and mainly does research as noted in every episode and his father grew up

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

as noted in the

Hanukkah Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd ce ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

Kwanzaa Kwanzaa () is an annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast called ''Karamu'', usually on the sixth day. It was created by activist Maulana Karenga based on African harvest fe ...

episode. He is five years old. * Gabriela Córdova (puppeteers John Munro Cameron (body) and

Alice Dinnean Alice Dinnean (born May 23, 1969) is an American puppeteer, writer and voice actress who works at The Jim Henson Company. Dinnean has performed on many children's television shows such as '' The Puzzle Place'', ''Sesame Street'', ''Big Bag'', '' ...

(voice and face)) is one of Sid's best friends. Unlike her friends, Gabriela is the most sensible character and often comes up with the best jokes during Good Laughternoon. She is Mexican, has an older brother named Mateo, and is the most authoritative figure of the quartet, often being second-in-command of the group activities. She likes playing Pretend, always opting to be a "mommy" parent. She sometimes has playdates with Sid after school. She can speak in both English and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

. * Gerald (puppeteers Alon Williams (body) and Victor Yerrid (voice and face)) is one of Sid's best friends. Although often a straggler at the start of Rug Time, he is very enthusiastic, rambunctious, imaginative, and known for his creative entrances into the school, during which he often pretends to be something other than himself. He is Scandinavian, has a dog called Chester, and is perhaps the most vivid character of the group, often being the life and soul of activities. A running gag is that he is always trying to be funny, but almost never succeeds. * May (puppeteers Dana Michael Woods (body) and Julianne Buescher (voice and face)) is one of Sid's best friends; she is known for her friendliness and politeness, and is considerably smarter than her other three friends. She is Asian, has a cat named Mooshu, and wears glasses due to nearsightedness, which is proven in the episode "Grandma's Glasses" when she has trouble seeing the eye chart. She is the friendliest of the four, characterized by her charm and courtesy.

Supporting

* Susie, called "Teacher Susie" by Sid before "Rug Time", (performance captured by Sonya Leslie and voiced by Donna Kimball), is the teacher at Sid's school. She begins the day with "Rug Time", where she calls her students over to sit in a circle and ask them if they have anything to share with the class. Usually, the theme that gets everyone's attention is what was discussed during "Sid's Survey", and what Sid was thinking about earlier in the day. She demonstrates the experiments with her class each school day, following Sid's main question theme during ''Super Fab Lab''; she also sings a song about the episode's topic before she sends Sid and his friends home. * Mort (performance captured by John Munro Cameron and voiced by Victor Yerrid) is Sid and Zeke's father, Alice's husband and Rose's son. He works in construction and often relates Sid's observations to his work experiences. In the holiday special, it's revealed that he has a sister named Irene who lives in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. * Alice (performance captured by Sonya Leslie and voiced by Alice Dinnean) is Sid and Zeke's mother, Mort's wife and Rose's daughter-in-law. She is a website designer and children's computer game developer. She also frequently searches the web to help Sid find information about his questions before dropping him off for school. * Zeke (performance captured by Alon Williams and voiced by Donna Kimball) is Sid's baby brother, Mort and Alice's younger son and Rose's younger grandson. He is almost one year old, doesn't know anything yet, and is mostly shown sitting at the kitchen table in a high chair. * Rose (performance captured by Dana Michael Woods and voiced by Julianne Buescher) is Sid and Zeke's paternal grandmother, Mort and Irene's mother, and Alice's mother-in-law. She likes to tell Sid stories about herself when she was younger while driving Sid home from school. She has a dog named Philbert. * Dr. Rosalinda Córdova (performance captured by Michelan Sisti and voiced by

America Ferrera America Georgina Ferrera (; born April 18, 1984) is an American actress, director and television producer. She has received List of awards and nominations received by America Ferrera, numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golde ...

) is Gabriela's mother and marine biologist from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Her job is working at the Science Center that Sid and his friends often visit during some episodes of Season 2. She helps to explain the various exhibits at the center and how they relate to the school lessons Sid and his friends are having. She is fluent in both English and Spanish. * Philbert (performance captured by Daisy and voiced by Bruce Lanoil) is a purple

Great Dane The Great Dane is a German list of dog breeds, breed of large mastiff-sighthound, which descends from hunting dogs of the Middle Ages used to hunt bears, wild boar, and deer. They were also used as guardian dogs of German nobility. It is one o ...

who is who was adopted by Grandma in the episode "Hello Doggie" and helps Sid in his investigation of animal communication. Philbert was also featured in several other episode of the show, including "How Did My Dog Do That?" where he helps Sid learn about the different skeletal systems.

Episodes

''Sid the Science Kid: The Movie'' (2013)

''Sid the Science Kid: The Movie'' is an animated film premiered on

on (the same day that reruns of the show were added to sister network, PBS Kids Sprout). It featured the original voice cast of the series alongside special guest voice

Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and television shows since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future (franchise), ''B ...

as Dr. Bonanodon. In the film, Sid and his friends enter a contest and win a trip to a new science museum in town. Sid and Gabriela win the contest and are allowed inside the museum before it officially opens to the public. Along the way, they meet some new friends; such as Yang Yang, Niu Niu, and BobbyBot. However, BobbyBot malfunctions, causing the museum to be in total chaos and havoc, putting the grand opening of the museum in jeopardy. It's up to Sid and his friends to save the museum before it opens up. This also serves as the series finale of ''Sid the Science Kid''.

Awards

"Save the Stump!" won in the Children's Programming category Saturday at the 26th Genesis Awards, presented by the Humane Society of the United States. Additionally, the series has received a total of six Daytime Emmy Award nominations and a TCA Award nomination.

References

External links

PBS Kids' ''Sid the Science Kid'' website
* * {{Hasbro 2000s American animated comedy television series 2010s American animated comedy television series 2000s American children's comedy television series 2010s American children's comedy television series 2000s preschool education television series 2010s preschool education television series 2008 American animated television series debuts 2013 American television series endings American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated musical television series American computer-animated television series American preschool education television series American television shows featuring puppetry American television series with live action and animation Animated preschool education television series Animated television series about children Elementary school television series American English-language television shows PBS Kids shows PBS animated television series Science education television series Television series by The Jim Henson Company