Pinwheel | |
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Genre | |
Created by | Vivian Horner[2] |
Directed by |
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Starring |
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Voices of |
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Opening theme | "Welcome to Pinwheel House" (1977–1979) "Pinwheel Theme" |
Ending theme | "Goodbye from Pinwheel House" (1977–1979) "Pinwheel Theme" |
Composer | George James |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 5 |
No. of episodes | 260 |
Production | |
Executive producers | Vivian Horner Lois Fortune |
Producer | Sandy Kavanaugh[3] |
Production locations | Columbus, Ohio (1977–79) New York City (1979–84) |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Production companies | Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment QUBE (1977–79) |
Original release | |
Network |
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Release | December 1, 1977 1984 | –
Related | |
Eureeka's Castle | |
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Pinwheel is an American children's television series that was the first show to air on the then-rebranded Nickelodeon, as well as the first to appear on its Nick Jr. block along reruns until 1990. The show was aimed at preschoolers aged 3–5.[1] It was created by Vivian Horner,[2] an educator who spent her earlier career at the Children's Television Workshop, the company behind PBS's Sesame Street.[4] The show was geared to the "short attention span of preschoolers,"[1] with each episode divided into short, self-contained segments including songs, skits, and animations from all over the world.
The series is set in a boarding house called Pinwheel House, which is powered by a pinwheel on the roof. The house's residents are a mix of live-action humans and puppets. Most of the show's songs are set to music in the style of a wind-up music box.
Pinwheel premiered on December 1, 1977, on Channel C-3 of QUBE's local cable system in Columbus, Ohio. In April 1979, Channel C-3 expanded into a national television network, now rebranded Nickelodeon. Pinwheel continued to air on the network until 1990, and exclusively during the then-new Nick Jr. block starting in 1988. It was gradually phased out in favor of another preschool series, Eureeka's Castle.[5] The Los Angeles Times called Eureeka's Castle a successor series to Pinwheel.[6]
Nickelodeon was the brainchild of Dr. Vivian Horner of WACCI, who created 'Pinwheel' for pre-schoolers while at the MSO's Qube system in Columbus, Ohio.