Pappyland is an American half-hour children's television series written by Jon Nappa and broadcast on WCNY-TV in Syracuse, New York and PBS stations from 1993-1999. Thereafter, the show was moved to TLC and began airing new episodes on its Ready Set Learn! block from September 30, 1996 until 1997, with reruns airing until February 21, 2003.

Production

The show starred cartoonist-artist Michael Cariglio as Pappy Drew-It, an artist/49er-type character who lived in a house very reminiscent of Pee-wee's Playhouse. The show takes place in the title location of Pappyland, a magical world with many different creatures and people. More than 30 half-hour episodes were written by children's writer Eric J. Roberts, who also served as executive producer. Children's author Benette Whitmore wrote 35 episodes and introduced the character, DoodleBug. More than half of the show was shot on bluescreen.

Format

During each half-hour segment, Pappy and other characters danced like Michael Jackson, sang, and taught life lessons, in addition to other children's television fare, but the main focus of the show was watching Pappy draw pictures. The camera was positioned directly above his paper, and he would carefully explain the purpose of each technique used. The purpose was for children viewers to be able to follow along with Pappy and create the same image as he did. A selection of viewers who sent in their artwork had their drawing shown during the "Hall of Frames" segment near the end of the show and the closing credits. The show was distributed for broadcast on public television by WCNY in Syracuse, New York; it was produced by the non-profit Craftsman & Scribes Creative Workshop and Creative Media Solutions TV, also based in Syracuse, New York. Writer for 35 episodes was Benette Whitmore. Home viewers were asked to mail their drawings to a post office box in Syracuse. Years later, Michael Cariglio hosted Inspiration Station on Smile of a Child TV. Pappyland is now available on DVD. The series can be viewed on digital streaming device Roku's Family TV channel.

Characters

Episodes

Season 1 (1993)

Season 2 (1994)

Season 3 (1995)

Season 4 (1996)

Season 5 (1997)

Pap's ArtVentures

A sequel series continuing the character of Pappy and his adventures with his pals and kids on the show. It debuted on Oct. 22, 2019 on Michael Cariglio's YouTube channel.

Songs