So the National Park Service had a program in the cafeteria seating area at work today. They had this singer who had a beautiful voice. She sounded like the chick from Cincinnati on The Puzzle Place. That brings me to this week’s moment in the Flashback Friday series: The Puzzle Place TV series.
How I first came across this moment? I was introduced to the series in January 1995, when it premiered on PBS.
What it meant to me then? I loved the diversity of the show. It seemed to represent all parts of the country and different backgrounds. You had Julie from San Francisco, representing Chinese-Americans. Kiki was holding it down for Mexican-Americans out of Alamo City. Ben was from the Great Plains and Leon was the black dude from New York City. You also had Skye from out of the Apache reservation in Arizona and of course, Jody. My favorite character amongst the 6 kids was Ben. He was always going with the flow but had a bit of a mean streak in him too. He was smart as hell too. I liked Nuzzle and Sizzle too because they did their own thing much to the chagrin of the kids. I enjoyed how every episode centered around a lesson in culture and how the kids navigated differences in coming together as a team.
What it means to me now? I haven’t seen the show since 2000. I wonder if the series is on DVD though because it would be a great piece to my library. I found a lot of educational value in it, particularly in how I learned about different parts of the country. It was one of the best PBS shows I’ve ever seen…real spit.
