In our third annual ‘Dream Block’ poll, KidScreen asked leading programmers and distributors of children’s television programming to take a look at shows from around the world and identify their ‘Dream Two-Hour Children’s Block.’

Rugrats

Klasky Csupo/Nickelodeon

The Simpsons

Gracie Films/Twentieth Century Fox Television/Film Roman

Arthur

Cinar Films/WGBH Boston

Animaniacs

Warner Bros. Television Animation/Amblin Entertainment

Goosebumps

Scholastic Productions/Protocol Entertainment

The Little Lulu Show

Cinar Films/

Golden Books Family Entertainment

Popular

Mechanics for Kids

SDA Productions

Round the Twist

Australian Children’s Television Foundation

Scholastic’s The Magic

School Bus

Scholastic Productions/Nelvana

Our poll representatives:

Tom Ascheim, general manager, Noggin, New York, New York

Loredana Cunti, VP of sales, children’s programming, PolyGram Television International, London, England

Sebastian Debertin, head of acquisitions and co-productions, Kinderkanal, Erfurt, Germany

André de Semlyen, head of acquisitions, TPS Jeunesse/Teletoon, Paris, France

Eric Eggleton, VP of programming and production, Discovery Kids, U.S., Bethesda, Maryland

David Ferguson, VP, Cinar Europe/managing director, FilmFair, London, England

Iris Hod, senior VP of programming, Noga Communications, Tel Aviv, Israel

Anna Home, OBE, chair, The Nursery Channel, London, England

Lisa Hryniewicz, president, Salsa Distribution, Paris, France

Virginia Lumsden, acting commissioning editor, ABC Children’s TV, Gore Hill, Australia

Adrian Mills, creative head, children’s, youth and daytime, CBC Television, Toronto, Canada

Peter Moss, VP of programming and production, YTV Canada, Toronto, Canada

Lisa Olfman, co-founder and president, Portfolio Entertainment, Toronto, Canada

Catherine Payne, deputy head of television, Southern Star Sales, North Sydney, Australia

Dea Connick Perez, VP of programming, Cartoon Network U.S., Atlanta, Georgia

Theresa Plummer-Andrews, head of acquisitions and co-productions, BBC Children’s, London, England

Rick Rodriguez, VP of programming, Discovery Kids Latin America, Miami, Florida

Ryan Shiotani, director of scheduling and acquisitions, Discovery Kids Latin America, Miami, Florida

Taran Swan, general manager, Nickelodeon Latin America, Miami Beach, Florida

Heinz Thym, head of international acquisitions and sales, CLT-UFA International, Luxembourg

Process:

The ‘Dream Block’ was determined by a simple consensus. We specified that the target audience was children age six to 11, and that the block would appear on whatever day of the week attracts the largest children’s audience. Once the results were in, the shows that were mentioned most often made the ‘Dream Block.’ In this year’s ‘Dream Block,’ Rugrats, The Simpsons and Arthur received the most votes, respectively, while the remaining six shows all vied for a spot in the block, each garnering an equal number of votes.

Special award

to the series that received the most votes overall

Rugrats

Klasky Csupo/Nickelodeon

For the second year in a row, Rugrats was the show that received the highest number of votes. Here are some of the reasons why this show was chosen our poll participants:

‘Brilliant scripts, great characters, works on all levels for all age ranges.’

‘Characters and situations that children can relate to emotionally and that refer to their everyday life, such as Tommy standing up to his sister. Very powerful for kids.’

‘Clever writing that appeals to adults and kids-[the] Mother’s Day special was a wonderfully moving story. The show deals with very serious issues that kids face without being an `issue’ series, and does not preach to kids. It is fun, colorful and endearing.’

‘Well written, clever, humorous, never loses its edge.’

Comments from our participants:

‘Arthur has a unique visual style and good stories with important lessons, yet it’s fun.’

‘Kids love to be scared, but not horrified. Goosebumps is a modern-day classic that constantly performs well, without violence and overt gore.’

‘Goosebumps provides children with the `scariness’ that they love. It is extremely well made-high production value. Very, very popular.’

‘The Little Lulu Show appeals to kids and parents. Isn’t that the more efficient way to keep the TV set on?’

‘Round the Twist presents great stories with a twist in each tale. It demonstrates that strong storytelling can engage the imagination of a child as well as any special effects can.’

‘The Simpsons is irreverent, funny and very current. The characters are so strong they now define the stories.’