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Sidthesciencekid-logo
Premiere September 1, 2008
Finale March 25, 2013
Network PBS
Seasons 2
Episodes 68
SidsFamily

Sid with his parents, brother and grandma.

Sid the Science Kid is a preschool television series produced by The Jim Henson Company in association with KCET Los Angeles. The show features real-time computer-generated puppets, using the Henson Digital Performance System. Production began in the fall of 2007 with 42 half-hour episodes of Sid the Science Kid having been ordered. The series debuted on PBS Kids on September 1, 2008,[1] with a two-year on-air commitment.[2]

The main character in the show is Sid, an "inquisitive youngster" who uses comedy to tackle questions kids have about basic scientific principals 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), his teacher (Susie), his parents (Mort, and Alice), his Grandma and even his baby brother (Zeke).

Two DVDs of the show, The Bug Club and Change Happens, were released in August 2009[3]; with more DVDs following in 2009 and 2010.[4] In August 2009, the first ten episodes of season one were added to The iTunes Store.

The series ended on March 25, 2013 after two seasons and 68 episodes.

Content and Structure[]

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.[5]

Each week's episodes are built around a single scientific theme or concept, such as scientific tools and concepts, changes and transformation, the senses, and health. The Friday shows are designed to review, reinforce and summarize the central concept of the week.

One recurring segment, "Good Laughternoon", features the kids opening panels in a brightly-colored playground structure and telling jokes. The format and set borrow heavily from the closing "joke wall" of Rolan and Martin's Laugh-In, but for a pre-school audience. Other recurring segment include The Sid Survey, Rug Time, The Super Fab Lab, Susie sings, and Sid's "super-duper-schmoper" big idea. On rare occasions, Sid invites a friend over, mainly Gabriela, to play with him, such as in the episodes The Rolie Polie, My Ice Pops!, A Brush With Teeth, and Home Tweet Home.

History and Development[]

Sid the Science Kid was developed by Halle Stanford and Jim Lewis. The initial concept was to create a show to teach science concepts to pre-school kids. The series went into production in the fall of 2007.

Jim Lewis discussed his role in the creation of Sid the Science Kid in a 2008 interview, stating:

I was the first guy in. I worked with an executive at Henson, someone I've worked with for years, Halle Stanford. They had an idea there for a science program – basically a pre-science, I forget what the exact term was, but it was to teach science concepts to pre-school kids... My involvement in that was I helped developed the show. I basically got it up to the point where it was sold to KCET, which is the public television station in Los Angeles... When they actually wanted to go into production, I realized I'm too old for this, I don't want to be a show runner – it's a lot of work. So I found someone that Halle and I had both worked with, Bradley Zweig, an enormously talented writer whose worked on a variety of things, I'm sure you can look up on imdb. He's very funny and has just the right sensibility and he's a lot younger than me, and more willing to work brutal hours for the 18-months it takes to do that kind of thing. And he ran the show and executive produced it with Brian and Lisa and Halle. And I wrote a few scripts, you know, and I feel part of it's my baby – but they deserve all the credit.[6]


The original working title for the series was "What's the Big Idea?" and the central character, Sid, was originally named Josh.[7]

Sid's personality was originally based on executive producer Halle Stanford's son Max.[8]

The initial conceptual designs for the characters were completed by Elanna Allen, while Creature Shop Creative Supervisor Peter Brooke ensured that the original concepts and designs were translated into the 3D world of the Henson Digital Performance Studio. Brooke sculpted detailed maquettes of the characters to help translate the designs into three dimentions.

Cast[]

Episodes[]

Tools and Measurement

#
Episode Topic Air date
101 The Sticker Chart Documentations September 1, 2008
102 The Rolie Polie Observation September 2, 2008
103 Enough With the Seashells! Estimation September 3, 2008
104 The Whale Episode Measurement September 4, 2008
105 Super Science Tools Tools and Measurement Review September 5, 2008

Transformation and Change

#
Episode Topic Air date
106 My Mushy Banana Decay September 8, 2008
107 My Shrinking Shoes Growth September 9, 2008
108 My Ice Pops! Change Caused by Cold September 10, 2008
109 The Perfect Pancake! Change Caused by Heat September 11, 2008
110 No More Changes! Transformation and Change Review September 12, 2008

Senses

#
Episode Topic Air date
111 The Itchy Tag Texture September 22, 2008
112 What's That Smell? Smell September 23, 2008
113 Grandma's Glasses Sight September 24, 2008
114 Too Much Noise! Hearing September 25, 2008
115 All My Senses Senses Review September 26, 2008

Health

#
Episode Topic Air date
116 A Brush With Teeth Dental Hygiene October 20, 2008
117 I Want Cake Nutrition October 21, 2008
118 The Big Sneeze Germs October 22, 2008
119 Must See TV Exercise October 23, 2008
120 Sid's Health Day Health Review October 24, 2008

Simple Machines

#
Episode Topic Air date
121 The Broken Wheel Wheels February 9, 2009
122 My Slide Inclined Planes February 10, 2009
123 Sid's Amazing Invention Levers February 11, 2009
124 The Tree House Pulleys February 12, 2009
125 Climb, Ignatz, Climb Simple Machines Review February 13, 2009

Backyard Science

#
Episode Topic Air date
126 Hello Doggie Animal Communication February 16, 2009
127 Home Tweet Home Animal and Insect Habitats February 17, 2009
128 The Dirt on Dirt Dirt February 18, 2009
129 Don't Forget the Leaves Leaves February 19, 2009
130 The Bug Club Backyard Science Review February 20, 2009

Human Body

#
Episode Topic Air date
131 Special Mom Day Meal Digestion May 4, 2009
132 I Have Muscles Where? Muscles May 5, 2009
133 Sid's Amazing Lungs Lungs May 6, 2009
134 How Did My Dog Do That? Bones May 7, 2009
135 Now That's Using Your Brain Human Body Review May 8, 2009

Weather

#
Episode Topic Air date
136 Sid's Rainy Play Date Rain September 14, 2009
137 Special Sunny Dad Day Sun September 15, 2009
138 Sid's Holiday Adventure Temperature September 16, 2009
139 The Wind Did It Wind September 17, 2009
140 Sid the Weatherman Weather Review September 18, 2009

Specials

#
Title Topic

Air date

141 Getting A Shot: You Can Do It! Vaccinations October 26, 2009
201 No School Sing-Along Special! Sing-Along June 21, 2010

Force and Motion

#
Title Topic Air date
202 Slide to the Side! Friction October 4, 2010
203 That's the Way the Ball Bounces Elasticity October 5, 2010
204 Ignatz's Inertia Inertia October 6, 2010
205 Sid's Super Kick! Force October 7, 2010

Light and Shadows

#
Title Topic Air date
206 Let There Be Light Light November 8, 2010
207 Discovering Darkness Darkness November 9, 2010
208 Shadow Smile Shadows November 10, 2010
209 A Rainbow Every Day Rainbow November 11, 2010

Environmental Systems

#
Title Topic Air date
210 Where Did The Water Go? Water April 18, 2011
211 Clean Air Air April 19, 2011
212 Redused Robot Recycling April 20, 2011
213 Save The Stump Habitats April 21 2011

Special

#
Title Topic Air date
214 Sid’s Backyard Campout! Camping June 20, 2011
215 Halloween Spooky Science Special  Halloween
216 I Want to Be a Scientist Biology/Robotics/Chemistry/Astronaut

Awards and Honors[]

In 2009, Sid the Science Kid was awarded the Parents' Choice Award and was called "Recommended Television for the spring of 2009" by the organization.

In May 2009, Sid the Science Kid ws nominated at the 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in two categories - "Outstanding Children's Animated Program" and "Outstanding Achievement in Main Title & Graphic Design".

The series was nominated by the Television Critics Association for a TCA Award in "Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming."

Crew[]

For full credits, see the Sid the Science Kid credits on the Henson Digital Performance System Wiki.

Merchandise[]

For more coverage, see the Sid the Science Kid merchandise category on the Henson Digital Performance System Wiki.

Albums[]

Sid the Science Kid - Soundtrack

Music from the series was first released on May 4, 2009 as an Amazon.com exclusive. Sid the Science Kid: Soundtrack - Volume 1 features 18 original songs from the first half of the series. The albums was released both on CD and for digital download.

Album titles

Videos[]

Sid the Science Kid - Bug Club

DVDs of the series are being released by the Jim Henson Company and NCircle Entertainment. Single-disc collections of four similar themed episodes are being released. Starting in August 2009, full episodes of Sid the Science Kid became available for purchase and downloading via the iTunes Store.

DVD titles

Books[]

HarperCollins Children's Books and The Jim Henson Company are releasing a series of books based on the program. The first titles hit book stores in December 2009.[4]

Book titles

Toys[]

In February 2009 The Jim Henson Company appointed Hasbro, Inc. the master toy and game licensee for Sid the Science Kid. The four-year license grants Hasbro the rights to introduce an array of Sid the Science Kid products. Hasbro's line of Sid the Science Kid toys and games is slated to debut at retailers in the fall of 2009.[9] The first set of toys, a series of mini plus dolls and the Talkin' Sid plush doll were released in November 2009.

iPhone App[]

In fall 2009 the Jim Henson Company released an iPhone application of Sid's microphone. The apps design and audio effects replicate the functions of the microphone Sid has on the show. On the iPhone, users can record their own voices, or other sounds, for up to 20 seconds and then play them back. The Sid's Microphone app was developed by Stevo Brock from Sunset Magicwerks in partnership with PBS and The Jim Henson Company. The app was released as a free download.

Movie[]

On March 26, 2012, The Jim Henson Company announced a Sid The Science Kid movie featuring Christopher Lloyd.[10] It was released on March 2013. The movie also served as the series finale.

Sources[]

External Links[]

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