This article is about television programs, not book series in children's literature.

Children's television series are commercial television programs designed for, and marketed to children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run in the early evening, for the children that go to school. The purpose of the shows is mainly to entertain and sometimes to educate.

History[link]

Children's television is nearly as old as television itself, with early examples including shows such as Blue Peter, Play School, Captain Tugg, The Magic Roundabout, Howdy Doody, Ivor the Engine, Clangers, Noggin the Nog, Flower Pot Men, The Singing Ringing Tree, TUGS, Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood . In the United States, early children's television was often a marketing branch of a larger corporate product, such as Disney, and it rarely contained any educational elements (for instance, The Magic Clown, a popular early children's program, was primarily an advertisement for Bonomo's Turkish taffy product). This practice continued, albeit in a much toned-down manner, through the 1980s in the United States, when the Federal Communications Commission prohibited tie-in advertising on broadcast television (it does not apply to cable, which is out of the reach of the FCC's content regulations). Though there is some debate on the intended audience, later non-educational children's television programs included the science fiction programmes of Irwin Allen (most notably Lost in Space^{[citation needed]}), the fantasy series of Sid and Marty Krofft, and the extensive cartoon empire of Hanna-Barbera.

In the United States, from the 1960s through approximately the 1990s, children's programming was primarily concentrated on the Saturday morning cartoon block. All three of the major television networks carried Saturday morning cartoons and various other children's programming during this time. While most shows had short, 13-week runs, others could last for decades (an example is Scooby-Doo, which ran on a near-continuous basis in numerous incarnations from 1969 until 1991). A combination of factors led to the collapse of Saturday morning cartoons; some include the near concurrent entries of Cartoon Network, Fox Kids and Nickelodeon (with its Nicktoons) into the animated market in 1992 with cartoons in non-traditional time slots, the implementation of the Children's Television Act educational television mandate in 1996, and a general erosion of sponsorship base and viewership for broadcast programs. These factors, however, were a boon to animation studios in Canada, where subsidies for Canadian content were aids to the continued production of animated series there (particularly the newly in-demand educational series).

Many children's programs also have a large adult following,^{[citation needed]} sometimes due to perceived quality and educational value,^{[citation needed]} and sometimes among adults who watched the shows as children or with their own children and now have a nostalgic emotional connection (an example is the continuing popularity of programming from Nickelodeon, which prompted the network to launch The '90s Are All That, a late-night block featuring reruns of 1990s Nickelodeon shows). The relatively low-cost nature of much early children's programming has given it a campy reputation, which is a second source of entertainment for adults who, as children, were unaware of the medium's limitations.

Demographics[link]

Since the mid 1980s, there have been teen comedies and teen dramas such as in the UK; Byker Grove (1989-2006) and Grange Hill (1978-2008) and that are geared toward older children (typically between the ages of 12 and 15).

Channels[link]

In the US there are three main children's commercial television channels, with each channel operating a number of secondary services:

• Nickelodeon which gained popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s. Its target audience ranges from preschoolers to adults. It has aired a large variety of different programming ranging from educational programming, original animated programming (Nicktoons), live-action sitcoms, game shows, talk shows, dramas and sketch comedies and a late night classic programming block aimed for family, teens and adults (Nick at Nite).
  • Nickelodeon operates three digital channels separate from the main feed: Nick Jr., a channel devoted to preschool programming; TeenNick, aimed at teenagers with mostly live-action programs (which includes a two hour 1990s block in late night); and Nicktoons, which primarily (although not exclusively) runs animated programming.

Nick was the first channel devoted to children's programming and remains the most popular of the three.

• The Cartoon Network which gained popularity in the early to mid-1990s, originally only airing classic animation from the archives of Time Warner (which includes productions of Turner Broadcasting, Warner Bros., MGM and Hanna-Barbera). It later began airing its own original animated programming similar to Nickelodeon's. Like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network has a wide range of demographics ranging from preschool to adults. It is credited with the helping the American Animation Renaissance in the 1990s, bringing animation back into popularity and bringing in many different styles of animation as possible. It also brought anime into prominence in late 1990s with its Toonami action block and aired late night programming such as the Midnight Run, ToonHeads and Space Ghost Coast to Coast which was more popular with older audiences and lead way for the creation of its young adult late night block Adult Swim in 2001.
  • Cartoon Network has only one digital channel, Boomerang, which focuses on Time Warner's archival animated programming and some other classic cartoons.

• The Disney Channel which gained its popularity in the mid-1990s. It aired programming ranging from classic Disney films and animated shorts and original programming aimed at family. In 1997 it switched to cable and changed its style with airing preschool educational programming in the morning, children's entertainment in the afternoon and airing teen sitcoms, dramas, original movies and music videos during evening and classic Disney films and shorts at late night. In 2002, its revamped again dropping its classic Disney library. Its content has primarily drifted to live-action sitcoms aimed at younger girls.
  • Disney Channel has two digital channels: Disney Junior, which launched in 2012 and features preschool programming, and Disney XD, which caters primarily to boys. ABC Family, which predated the other channels, is operated somewhat separately from the Disney Channel, but its programming (which targets teenagers with more dramatic programming) is often seen as a continuation of the Disney synergy. Unlike the other channels, Disney Channel does not have an outlet for its archive programming (Toon Disney was shut down in 2009 to create Disney XD).

• The Hub is the newest children's television channel. The channel, which was created after the dissolution of Discovery Kids, features extensive programming tie-ins to Hasbro products (Hasbro holds a partial stake in the network), similar to the programming model of 1980s Saturday morning cartoons. Its programming is a mix of original (mostly animated) series, reruns of mostly action-oriented cartoons, movies, and a block of family-friendly sitcoms in the evenings. The Hub does not have the extensive cable reach or cultural impact as the other three channels. Being a digital channel itself (specifically of Discovery Channel), The Hub has no digital channels under it.

Under current mandates, all broadcast stations in the United States, including digital subchannels, must show a minimum of three hours per week of educational children's programming, regardless of the station's format. The transition to digital television has allowed for the debut of whole digital subchannels that air children's programming 24/7; examples include PBS Kids Sprout, qubo, and Smile of a Child TV.

In Canada there is YTV, Nickelodeon, Teletoon, Family, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Treehouse TV, Teletoon Retro, BBC Kids, and Cartoon Network.

In the UK there is CBBC, CBeebies, CITV, Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior, Nick Jr., POP, Tiny Pop, Cartoonito, Disney Cinemagic, Pop Girl and Kix!.

In Australia there is ABC3, KidsCo, Disney Channel, Cbeebies, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., and Cartoon Network.

In Japan there is NHK Educational TV, Kids Station, Disney XD, Nickelodeon (Now under a block on Animax known as "Nick Time") and Cartoon Network. It should be noted that Cartoon Network's age demographic is getting to more older viewers with shows like Regular Show, Adventure Time, and others.

See also[link]

• CBBC
• CBeebies
• PBS Kids
• List of local children's television series (United States)
• Saturday morning cartoon for an in-depth history of children's television in the United States

External links[link]

• Children's Television, online exhibition from screenonline, a website of the British Film Institute
• The 1950s–2000s Week-By-Week - includes listings and factoids for local/national children's shows.
• The future of children's digital television - an interview with Gloria Tristani

Dara Ó Briain
Ó Briain in Dublin, Ireland, in 2007
Born	(1972-02-04) 4 February 1972 (age 40) Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland
Medium	Stand up, Television
Nationality	Irish
Years active	1998 - present
Genres	Observational comedy
Influences	Eddie Izzard Paul Merton Lewis Black[1]
Spouse	Susan (2006-present)
Notable works and roles	Echo Island Don't Feed The Gondolas (1998-2000) The Panel (2003-2006) Mock the Week (2005-present) Turn Back Time (2006) The Apprentice: You're Fired! (2010-present) Stargazing Live (2011-present)

Dara Ó Briain (Irish pronunciation: [ˈd̪ˠaɾˠə oː ˈbʲɾʲiənʲ], born 4 February 1972) is an Irish stand-up comedian and television presenter, noted for hosting topical panel shows such as The Panel, Mock the Week and Dara O Briain: School of Hard Sums .

He has also featured on Don't Feed the Gondolas, Have I Got News For You, QI, The Apprentice: You're Fired! and Stargazing Live. The Irish Independent described him as "Terry Wogan's heir apparent as Britain's 'favourite Irishman'".^[2] Writing for The Evening Standard, Bruce Dessau noted that "If you don’t laugh at Ó Briain, check your pulse, you must be dead."^[3]

Since January 2006, Ó Briain has taken part in the BBC Three Men in a Boat series, with Rory McGrath and Griff Rhys Jones. The series, broadcast in a pair of episodes around new year in 2006 and then every year since 2008, has consistently had around 3 million viewers.

In 2007, he was voted the 42nd greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups and again in the updated 2010 list as the 16th greatest stand-up comic.

Early life[link]

Ó Briain was born in 1972, in Bray, County Wicklow, and attended Coláiste Eoin secondary school, a Gaelcholáiste on Dublin's southside. He attended University College, Dublin (U.C.D.), where he studied mathematics and theoretical physics. In 2008, he remarked: "I haven't written it into my act, but it occasionally comes through. I could come on with a chalkboard and say: 'Now you're all going to pay attention.'"^[4] While a student there, he was both the auditor of the Literary and Historical Society (the university's oldest debating society) and the co-founder and co-editor of The University Observer college newspaper. In 1994, he won the Irish Times National Debating Championship and The Irish Times/Gael Linn National Irish language debating championship; he is fluent in Irish, and speaks to his father only in Irish.^[5]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

After leaving college, Ó Briain began working at RTÉ as a children's TV presenter. At this time he also began performing his first stand-up gigs on the Irish comedy circuit.^[6] He admitted, "I did the trip from Dublin to Donegal to play to six people; then I turned round and drove home again. I did about three or four years playing to a lot of bad rooms, but learning as I went. It's not bad when someone gives you £40 for standing up and telling jokes. I remember thinking: 'This is the life.'"^[4] Ó Briain spent three years as a presenter on the bilingual (Irish and English) language children's programme Echo Island but came to prominence as a team captain on the topical panel show Don't Feed The Gondolas (1998–2000) hosted by Seán Moncrieff. Ó Briain also hosted RTÉ family entertainment gameshow It's A Family Affair.^[7]

Stand-up comedy[link]

Ó Briain's stand up career internationally took off around this time as he began to tour heavily, performing across Europe, Asia, Australia and North America, with gigs in Dubai, Paris, Adelaide, Shanghai and New York City. He was a regular at the Kilkenny Cat Laughs and the Edinburgh Festival, as well as making one notable appearance at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal in 2002 where he was offered a prestigious gala show because of his performances at the Irish showcase. Around this time Ó Briain presented the weekend mainstream game show It's a Family Affair for RTÉ. It was the first time he worked with former Channel 4 commissioning editor Séamus Cassidy. They later set up the production company Happy Endings Productions, and together they produced (and Ó Briain presented) the chat show Buried Alive (2003) and most famously in Ireland The Panel (2003–2006).

In 2005, Ó Briain's show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe was the biggest selling solo comedy show of the festival.^[8]

Ó Briain conducted his third tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland in early 2006. This included shows at the Theatre Royal, in London as well as 9 nights in Dublin at Vicar Street. His second night in the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London was recorded for his first live DVD. His fourth multinational tour followed in late 2007, which as he says in his routine has "no title" but was almost entitled "You Had to Be There".

He performed new tours across the UK and Ireland in 2008, 2010 and 2012. His 2010 tour played for 150 dates, to over 225,000 people, including 37 nights in Vicar St. in Dublin, 9 nights at the Hammersmith Apollo in London and a first date in Dubai. Each of those three tours have been recorded for DVD, and the 2012 tour, entitled 'Craic Dealer', will similarly be recorded during his shows at the Edinburgh Playhouse in May 2012.

On March 12, 2011, Dara set a new Guinness World Records title with Jack Whitehall and Jon Richardson, for hosting the 'Highest stand up comedy gig in the world', on a British Airways flight in support of Comic Relief.^[9][10]

In 2011, Ó Briain also took part in two shows of the 16-date Uncaged Monkeys tour with names such as Professor Brian Cox, Robin Ince, Ben Goldacre, Simon Singh and Chris Addison.

Panel shows[link]

The Panel was hosted by Ó Briain. Three times nominated for the Best Entertainment show IFTA (Irish Film and Television Award) the show has a rotating cast of panelists, usually drawn from the world of Irish comedy, discussing the events of the week and interviewing guests. The most regular panelists have been Colin Murphy, Ed Byrne, Neil Delamere and Andrew Maxwell.

Around 2002, with his profile rising across in the UK due to his one-man shows at the Edinburgh fringe festival, Ó Briain began to make appearances on UK television shows such as Bring Me the Head of Light Entertainment (a Channel 5 production) and Never Mind the Buzzcocks. At the start of 2003, he hosted the second series of BBC Scotland's Live Floor Show.^[11] His big break in UK television came in 2003 when he appeared as a guest panelist on the popular news quiz, Have I Got News for You, subsequently making several appearances as guest host of the show.^[12]

He was nominated in 2003 at the Chortle Comedy Awards for Live Comedy in the categories Best Compère and Best Headline Act (which he would go on to win). In 2004, he won the Best Headliner award again, as well as being nominated for Best Full-length Show. Since 2005, he has been the host of the comedy panel game Mock the Week on BBC Two, a blend between Have I Got News for You and Whose Line Is It Anyway?. He is a relatively frequent panelist on QI, and wrote about Ireland in the QI series E annual, and appears occasionally on Just a Minute on BBC Radio 4. He has also appeared in and hosted the stand-up show Live at the Apollo.

Ó Briain starred in the BBC Radio show about "the world according to science". Episode 1 of "Infinite Monkey Cage" began on 30 November 2009 on Radio 4 at 16:30 GMT.

In 2010, Ó Briain hosted The Sixth series of The Apprentice: You're Fired! and appeared twice on the Sky1 show, A League of Their Own. He also presented the seventh series in 2011.

From 3 to 5 January 2011, Ó Briain and Professor Brian Cox presented Stargazing Live on BBC Two, three programmmes based at the Jodrell Bank Observatory, scheduled to coincide with the conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus, a partial solar eclipse, and the Quadrantid meteor shower.^[13] The two presenters hosted a second series of three hour-long programmes, plus follow-up 30 minute shows called Stargazing Live: Back to Earth, from 16 to 18 January 2012, also on BBC Two.

Chat shows and writing[link]

Since 2006, Ó Briain has starred in the BBC's Three Men in a Boat series, alongside Griff Rhys Jones and Rory McGrath. The series has included the trio rowing the River Thames, as in the 1889 novel of the same name, sailing from London to the Isle of Wight for a sail boat race, borrowing numerous vessels to make their way from Plymouth to the Isles of Scilly. In 2009, the three took to the Irish canals and rivers on a trip from Dublin to Limerick. In 2010, they explored the Isles of Scotland. Other notable television work includes hosting the BBC sitcom writing competition "Last Laugh".

On 14 September 2005, he appeared as a guest on Room 101, where he got rid of children's television presenters (originating from his co-presenters on Echo Island) and once-in-a-lifetime experiences (he was given a once-in-a-lifetime experience on the show, by being the second guest, the first being former host Nick Hancock, to pull the lever that opens the chute to Room 101), banter, Gillian McKeith (host of You Are What You Eat) and magicians.

Ó Briain has also been an extensive newspaper columnist, with pieces published in many national papers in both the UK and Ireland, from The Sunday Times to The Daily Telegraph. On 9 August 2006, he hosted the first edition of his new celebrity chat show, Turn Back Time.^[6]

Ó Briain released his first book on 1 October 2009, the book is entitled Tickling the English and is about what he perceives it means to be English. As part of its promotion he has stated that he is a great fan of English culture and a student of English history, his favourite periods being the Gin Craze and the civil war.^[14] In a review of Tickling the English Ó Briain was described as Sir Terry Wogan's heir apparent as Britain's "favourite Irishman".^[2]

Ó Briain has hosted the British Academy Video Games Awards since 2009. The awards were streamed live for the first time in 2010 at BAFTA.org and again in 2011 and once more in 2012, when a highlights show was also shown on Challenge.^[15][16]

Personal life[link]

Ó Briain married his wife Susan, a surgeon, in 2006^[17] and they have a daughter,^[18] born in 2008. O'Briain says that his daughter was born during his Dara O'Briain Talks Funny Tour in 2008. He was best man at fellow comedian Ed Byrne's wedding; Byrne later returned the favour.^[19] He describes himself as looking like "one of Tony Soprano's henchmen", and admits that, "living in London I probably only get recognised about once a day. And that's okay by me. I'm not a celebrity. And I certainly don't see myself as one."^[20]

Ó Briain has said he sees himself as an atheist, but "ethnically Catholic": "I'm staunchly atheist, I simply don’t believe in God. But I'm still Catholic, of course.^[21] Catholicism has a much broader reach than just the religion. I'm technically Catholic, it's the box you have to tick on the census form: 'Don't believe in God, but I do still hate Rangers.'"^[22]

His surname is the original Irish form of O'Brien. He admitted, "My dad was involved in the Irish language movement and changed it. Even Irish people are now confused by it".^[20]

He is a keen Arsenal F.C. fan.^[23]

In his stand-up show, he's been known to note that he's "a gamer, and proud to be a gamer", stating his favourite games include the Metal Gear Solid series.^[24]

Ó Briain was one of fifteen members of a racing greyhound syndicate for several years.^[25] The December 2009 transmission of Three Men Go To Ireland featured their dog Snip Nua who, by the time of transmission, had been put down following injuries sustained in a race. Ó Briain was so upset about the death that he and his fellow syndicate members immediately disbanded the syndicate permanently.^[25] In early 2010 a series of small demonstrations were held outside some of Ó Briain's tour venues, urging him to publicly denounce the sport of greyhound racing due to the dog's death.^[26][27]

Stand-Up DVDs[link]

See also[link]

• Auditors of the Literary and Historical Society (University College Dublin)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dara Ó Briain

• Official website
• Dara Ó Briain at the Internet Movie Database
• Dara Ó Briain on Chortle