Villa Alegre (TV series)

Villa Alegre (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbiʎa aˈleɣɾe], Happy Village) is a children's television show and the first national bilingual (Spanish/English) program in the United States. It was produced by Bilingual Children's Television as its inaugural project on the company's founding in 1970.Villa Alegre debuted on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) public television in 1973 and ran there until funding disputes ended the project in 1980. The show was also seen in syndication on commercial stations in some markets, on at least a weekly basis.

Villa Alegre was the creation of Dr. Rene Cardenas, who served as president of Bilingual Children's Television and Executive Producer. Other producers included Moctesuma Esparza, who worked on only the first season, and David Ochoa.

The show won a Peabody Award among other honors.

Villa Alegre centered on life in a whimsical bilingual (Spanish and English) village. The program had an upbeat, catchy salsa-flavored theme song, which ended with adults and kids shouting "¡Villa Alegre!" The educational series was set up to teach English to Latino kids and Spanish to the Anglos. It featured various educational subjects (such as mathematics and science) and life lessons, in addition to Hispanic culture. The executive producer was Claudio Guzman, and the head writer was Barbara Chain. Her son Michael Chain was a staff writer. He also composed much of the specialty music for episodes.

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