Wayside | |
---|---|
Also known as | Wayside School |
Created by | Louis Sachar (books) |
Developed by | John Derevlany |
Written by | John Derevlany |
Directed by | Riccardo Durante |
Voices of |
Michael Cera Mark Rendall Denise Oliver Lisa Ng Martin Villafana Kathleen Laskey Kedar Brown Sergio Di Zio Jayne Eastwood |
Theme music composer | James Robertson |
Opening theme | "Fly by the Wayside", performed by Skye Sweetnam |
Ending theme | "Fly by the Wayside" (instrumental) |
Composer(s) | Scott Bucsis |
Country of origin | United States Canada |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 26 (and 1 pilot) (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Scott Dyer Doug Murphy Lin Oliver |
Running time | 22 minutes |
Production company(s) | Nelvana |
Release | |
Original network |
Teletoon Nickelodeon Toons.TV |
Original release | November 19, 2005 | – January 15, 2008
Wayside (also known as Wayside School) is a Canadian-American animated comedy television series developed by John Derevlany for Teletoon and Nickelodeon. The series centres on Todd, a transfer student who attends Wayside, an offbeat 30-story elementary school. It is loosely based on the Wayside School books by Louis Sachar, although several elements differ between the two works.
Derevlany conceived Wayside in 2003, leading to an hour-long television special pilot titled Wayside: The Movie that aired in 2005. Teletoon greenlit two seasons of Wayside consisting of thirteen half-hour episodes each, and they aired from 2007 to 2008; the series also aired briefly on Nickelodeon during this time. Reruns of the show had also aired on Nicktoons Network from June 25, 2007 until it was removed from U.S. Television completely on April 5, 2010. The show currently airs on YTV.
Wayside received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its clever and off-beat humour, though some criticized its differences with the Wayside School book series. The series was nominated for a "Best TV Series for Children" at the 2008 Cartoons on the Bay award ceremony. The pilot episode and the first season are both available on DVD.
Wayside takes place in the fictional Wayside School, an unusual Escher-esque 30-story elementary school. The school had been accidentally built "sideways", with one classroom in each of the 30 stories instead of 30 classrooms on one floor. Like in the books, there are actually 29 floors in the school; the imaginary 19th floor is inhabited by the imaginary Miss Zarves. The series revolves around a new student at the school, named Todd, and his adventures adapting to life as a student at the top floor of Wayside School.