Baby Races

Last updated
Baby Races
Genre Game show
Written byJoseph Neustein
Directed byGeorge Choderker
Presented by Fred Travalena
Narrated by Gene Wood
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes26
Production
Executive producerRobert Sherman
Running time30 minutes
Production companies
  • Robert Sherman Productions
  • Family Productions
Original release
Network The Family Channel
ReleaseSeptember 12, 1993 (1993-09-12) 
March 6, 1994 (1994-03-06)

Baby Races is an American game show that aired on the Family Channel from September 12, 1993, to March 6, 1994. After the last episode aired, the show went into reruns until August 27, 1994. It was hosted by Fred Travalena, and the announcer was Gene Wood. The executive producer was Robert Sherman. It was also filmed at the Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida (now Disney's Hollywood Studios).

Contents

Gameplay

The contestants on the show were young children who came with their parents to play in a series of events. [1] Two teams play on each show.

Events

Some of the events were:

Games were played in a 45-second time limit (with the exception that the first game, the only one where the children competed directly, sometimes lasted for 30 seconds), and each item in each game was worth one point (occasionally two), with each kid's last game being played for two points an item.

The toy store

At the end of the game, each child received a certificate showing his or her total score, and selected a prize from a "toy store" in front of a video wall. Participating adults also received prizes.

Critical reception

Evan Levine of the Houston Chronicle called the show "mostly silly". [2] Writing for the Chicago Tribune , criticized Travalena's hosting style as "lame" but thought that some of the stunts were "relatively creative". [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toilet humour</span> Type of off-colour humour dealing with defecation, urination and flatulence

Toilet humour, or potty or scatological humour, is a type of off-colour humour dealing with defecation, diarrhea, constipation, urination and flatulence, and to a lesser extent vomiting and other bodily functions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toy</span> Entertaining object primarily used by children

A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pets. Toys can provide utilitarian benefits, including physical exercise, cultural awareness, or academic education. Additionally, utilitarian objects, especially those which are no longer needed for their original purpose, can be used as toys. Examples include children building a fort with empty cereal boxes and tissue paper spools, or a toddler playing with a broken TV remote control. The term "toy" can also be used to refer to utilitarian objects purchased for enjoyment rather than need, or for expensive necessities for which a large fraction of the cost represents its ability to provide enjoyment to the owner, such as luxury cars, high-end motorcycles, gaming computers, and flagship smartphones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mr. Potato Head</span> American toy

Mr. Potato Head is an American toy brand consisting of a plastic model of a potato "head" to which a variety of plastic parts can attach — typically ears, eyes, shoes, hat, nose, pants and mouth.

<i>Figure It Out</i> American childrens panel game show

Figure It Out is an American children's panel game show that aired on Nickelodeon. The original series, hosted by Summer Sanders, ran for four seasons from July 7, 1997, to December 12, 1999. The show was revived in 2012, with Jeff Sutphen as host, with the revival airing from June 11, 2012, to July 16, 2013. The series was originally recorded at Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. The revival episodes were filmed on stage 19 at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles.

Poko is a Canadian stop motion children's television series about a young boy, his pet dog, and his toy monkey. Produced in Canada by The Halifax Film Company, Poko was created by Jeff Rosen, and began production in 2003 and ended in 2006 after three production cycles. Poko aired in Canada on CBC Television in the Kids' CBC programming block, and was broadcast in Turkey on Yumurcak TV until the channel closed in mid-June 2016. It was narrated by actor and dancer Cory Bowles. In Brazil, it was narrated by the frontman of Capital Inicial, Dinho Ouro Preto.

<i>Get the Picture</i> (game show) American childrens game show

Get the Picture is a children's game show that aired from March 18 to December 6, 1991, with repeats until March 13, 1993 on Nickelodeon. Hosted by Mike O'Malley, the show featured two teams answering questions and playing games for the opportunity to guess a hidden picture on a giant screen made up of 16 smaller screens. The show was recorded at Nickelodeon Studios in Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida. The program's theme music and game music was composed by Dan Vitco and Mark Schultz, and produced by Schultz. Its tagline is The Great Frame Game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ideal Toy Company</span> Defunct American toy company

Ideal Toy Company was an American toy company founded by Morris Michtom and his wife, Rose. During the post–World War II baby boom era, Ideal became the largest doll-making company in the United States. Their most popular dolls included Betsy Wetsy, Toni, Saucy Walker, Shirley Temple, Miss Revlon, Patti Playpal, Tammy, Thumbelina, Tiny Thumbelina, and Crissy. The company is also known for selling the Rubik's Cube.

Gator Golf is a children's miniature golfing game. It was released in 1994 by the American game company Milton Bradley. In the game, children take turns putting into the mouth of a motorized plastic alligator figure, which then flings the ball off its tail and spins around, creating a new challenge for the next player. Gator Golf's commercial tag line was "Gator Golf - what could be greater than playing a game of golf with a gator?" It was released again in 2008, then in 2009 under the "Elefun and Friends" banner. It was then re-released in 2019 by Goliath Games. The game was then re-released again in 2020 by Toy City in the UK and its name was "Gator Golfers".

Pick Your Brain is an American syndicated game show that featured children as contestants. The series ran on weekends for one year, debuting on September 18, 1993 and running until May 21, 1994. Pick Your Brain was created by Marc Summers, who also served as its host and executive producer. He was assisted by a giant robot named 2-XL, based on the Tiger Electronics toy of the same name and voiced by Greg Berg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Travalena</span> American comedian (1942–2009)

Frederick Albert Travalena III was an American entertainer, specializing in comedy and impressions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toy Story Mania!</span> Attraction type at Disney theme parks

Toy Story Midway Mania! is an interactive 4-D theme park attraction, located at three Disney theme parks: Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort, Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort and Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spin Master</span> Canadian toy and entertainment company

Spin Master Corp. is a Canadian multinational children's toy and entertainment company. Spin Master employs over 1,600 people globally with offices in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam.

When adults come into contact with infants, the adult often changes their persona in order to try to elicit a reaction from the infant, to teach them life lessons, or to physically stimulate them. They may simplify their speech to concise sentences or words for them to repeat, or speak in nonsensical phrases. They may make simple movements with their finger on objects for them to copy, or point to brand names/logos or people in family photos to see if they identify them. They may also choose to play one of various games, many of which are old favourites. While the parents or carers may or may not choose to do this on when alone with the child, when in the presence of guests the conversation tends to either divert completely to this type of interaction or at least have these forms of interaction take place as asides in the conversation. Sometimes the interaction is one-sided, with the adult taking satisfaction with their attempts, even though the infant does not react, or react without really understanding it. At other times, the interaction is two-sided, and both parties derive pleasure or other emotions from it. Some adults do not change at all when in the presence of other families' infants.

"Mind the Baby, Mr. Bean" is the tenth episode of the British television series Mr. Bean, produced by Tiger Television and Thames Television for Central Independent Television. It was originally scheduled for broadcast on 17 February 1993 on ITV, but following the murder of Kirkby toddler James Bulger on 12 February 1993, it was delayed for over a year until 25 April 1994.

<i>Disneys Animated Storybook</i> Interactive storybook video game series

Disney's Animated Storybook is a point-and-click adventure interactive storybook video game series based on Walt Disney feature animations and Pixar films that were released throughout the 1990s. They were published by Disney Interactive for personal computers for children ages four to eight years old. Starting from 1994, most of the entries in the series were developed by Media Station. They have the same plots as their respective films, though abridged due to the limited medium.

Japanizi "Going, Going, Gong!" ("ゴーイング、ゴーイング、ゴング!") is a Canadian children's physical game show with a Japanese motif where contestants compete with a teammate against other teams as they tackle obstacles and challenges to test their mental capabilities, strength, endurance, and smarts. The series first aired on YTV starting 5 November 2013 and in the United States on Disney XD as of 4 November 2013.

<i>School of Silence</i> British childrens television game show

School of Silence is a British children's TV series which airs on CBBC. The show ran from 2009 until 2013. In the show, a group of noisy children in a particular area of Britain are sent to the titular "School of Silence", where they must learn to be silent. The first season was presented by Barney Harwood, and the second season by Simon Greenall, as a narrator.

<i>Connie the Cow</i> Spanish-German childrens television series created by Josep Viciana

Connie the Cow is a children's television series created by Josep Viciana, and designed by Roman Rybakiewicz. It was produced by Spain-based studio Neptuno Films, and it aired on TV3 in Catalonia. In the United States, it aired on Noggin.

References

  1. 1 2 Jennifer Mangan. "MAKING POINTS KIDS TAKE AIM AT POOR, OLD DAD ON FAMILY CHANNEL'S 'BABY RACES'". September 8, 1993. Chicago Tribune. p. 7. ProQuest   283568240 . Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  2. "Baby Races' is mostly silly". Houston Chronicle. January 30, 1994. p. 5. ProQuest   295867767 . Retrieved May 13, 2022.