My orange-skinned preschooler buddy has got himself a spinoff! Yes, Opie, who has been taking the fear out of kindergarten for kids and parents with Hey Opie! on TVO for the past couple of years, leaves school for a new series setting him at home.
Opie’s Home, debuting Tuesday at 10:50 a.m. on TVO, sends the friendly four-year-old—performed by Jordan Lockhart—home for the summer to spend time with his mom (Aisha Alfa), dad (Jim Annan), Gram (Claire Riley) and next door neighbour, Mr. Kabashio (Graham Greene).
TVO Kids, marblemedia and The Jim Henson Company have got educational and truly entertaining kids’ programming down pat and Opie’s Home is no exception. The first seven-minute instalment introduces trust and responsibility in an interesting way as Opie is allowed to handle his dad’s cell phone so he can take a “big boy” selfie. There are a few near-misses along the way—running on stairs with electronics in your hand isn’t the safest—but Opie is successful in landing “the funnest fun” selfie ever with some help from Snackasaurus. Episode 2 gets a little more serious, as kale smoothies don’t sound like fun at all to Opie and Gavin.
Opie’s Home airs Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:50 a.m. on TVO and anytime on TVOKids. The series will premiere later this fall across Canada on Knowledge Kids and CityTV Saskatchewan.
Images courtesy of TVO.
