The Magic Garden (TV series)
| The Magic Garden | |
|---|---|
Paula (Left) and Carole (Right), hosts of The Magic Garden
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| Created by | Carole Demas and Paula Janis |
| Starring | Carole Demas Paula Janis |
| Theme music composer | Carole Demas and Paula Janis |
| Opening theme | “The Hello Song” |
| Composer(s) | Alton Alexander, George Kayatta |
| Country of origin | United States (1972–1984) |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 12 |
| No. of episodes | 52 plus one holiday special |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | WPIX studios, New York City |
| Camera setup | multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | WPIX-TV |
| Release | |
| Original network | WPIX-11 |
| Original release | March 6, 1972 – September 14, 1984 |
The Magic Garden is a live-action children's television program that aired Mondays through Thursdays from March 6, 1972, to September 14, 1984, on WPIX-11 in the New York City metropolitan area. Produced and broadcast in the world's largest television market, the show became popular with millions of children. As characterized by The New York Times, The Magic Garden "was a cheerful, low-budget, inadvertently psychedelic half-hour show in which Ms. Janis and Ms. Demas sat on giant toadstools, spoke to flowers, sang songs and told stories."
Carole and Paula, the main characters and hosts of the show, sing several songs throughout each episode, often accompanied by Paula's acoustic guitar. The show takes place entirely within the Magic Garden, a colorful set that includes the Magic Tree, which lowers various objects from its branches. Also found throughout the garden are swings, a stone path, a shed, and the Chuckle Patch, a giggling bed of flowers that grows leaves with jokes on one side and the punch line on the other. Many conversations take place at a low stone wall with Sherlock (a mischievous squirrel puppet with a love for peanuts) and Flapper (a colorful bird who was a later addition to the characters in the garden). Stories are often acted out using costumes and props provided by the Story Box. In addition to songs, games, and jokes, the characters provide life lessons for viewers, and extend personal greetings to members of their television audience—for example: "Hello, Judy. Hello, Jeffrey."
The show aired on WPIX at various times during the day on weekdays but only 4 days a week Monday through Thursday from 1971 through 1984. At some points, it led out of morning cartoons, leading into religious programming. After 1975, it aired afternoons, leading out of religious and public affairs shows into the afternoon cartoons. On Fridays until 1981, in place of Magic Garden, another children's show produced at WPIX called Joya's Fun School aired in its time slot.
The hosts Carole Demas and Paula Janis, who had met as students at Brooklyn's Midwood High School, and later became New York City school teachers, helped to develop the show. In 1971, Demas (having worked in television and on the professional stage, and in rehearsal for her starring role in Grease on Broadway) was invited by WPIX to host an early-afternoon cartoon program. During the audition, Demas suggested an alternative idea. Asking Janis to come with her to a second audition, Demas and Janis presented a slower-paced show designed to avoid overstimulating young children's developing brains. After being hired, the two women spent the next year developing The Magic Garden, with the help of former Muppets puppeteer Cary Antebi, who created Sherlock. Many of the folk songs featured on the show came from material that Demas and Janis had created as schoolteachers.
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