The Big Comfy Couch

As with many children's shows, the series had a number of staple elements. All episodes end with Loonette and Molly thanking the viewers and bidding farewell, often with a reminder of the day's lesson, as they settle in for a nap. After Loonette and Molly go to sleep, the sun (from the intro) sets, then a large crescent moon with a clown nose rises above the starry background behind the couch and the credits then roll over a lullaby version of the theme song. The closing credits normally end with Loonette doing an reenactment of "Hey Diddle Diddle". ==Characters==

Main • Loonette (portrayed by Alyson Court in seasons 1–6 and Ramona Gilmour-Darling in season 7) is the freckled-faced female lead of the series. She is a young clown living with her doll, Molly, in their house, on the enormous Big Comfy Couch, an oversized green floral couch. Loonette is gifted in the art of classical dance and runs Miss Loonette's Dance Academy. Another gift she possesses is the very unusual skill to clean just about any mess up in just ten seconds, which she calls the Ten Second Tidy. Initially, Loonette was too young to visit Clowntown by herself, but starting in season 7, Loonette makes frequent trips to Clowntown to visit Granny's Cabbage Club Cooking School and Major Bedhead's Clown Chi Dojo and Dancing School. • Molly (performed by Bob Stutt) is Loonette's living doll. Loonette found her in a barrel with a sign marked "Free to a good home", and adopted her. Molly only speaks via cartoon bubbles, and usually answers Loonette's yes or no questions by either nodding or shaking her head. Additional • Fuzzy (performed by Bob Stutt) and Wuzzy (performed by Robert Mills) are twin dust bunnies who live under the Big Comfy Couch. Only Molly is aware of their existence, much to Loonette's annoyance, and she always does her best to protect them so she can play with them. • The Foley Family, Andy (portrayed by Fred Stinson), Jim (portrayed by Jani Lauzon), and Eileen (portrayed by Jackie Harris in seasons 1–2 and Suzanne Merriam in seasons 3–5) are a family who live inside of Loonette's dollhouse. They do not speak, and only communicate with their methods of slapstick and distinguishing sounds. • Granny Garbanzo (portrayed by Grindl Kuchirka) is Loonette's Romanian-accented grandmother and neighbor who loves her and Molly dearly. Her name is derived from the garbanzo bean. • Snicklefritz (performed by Bob Stutt) is Granny's mischievous cat. He likes to play lots of pranks on the others and sometimes tries to get out of getting flea-baths. The character's name is derived from "snicklefritz", a German slang word for a child. • Major Bedhead (portrayed by Fred Stinson) is a courier who makes deliveries to people all over Clowntown. He usually makes his deliveries while riding a unicycle though sometimes he will ride something else such as a little car or a bicycle. • Auntie Macassar (portrayed by Taborah Johnson) is Loonette's travelling aunt who likes to make an entrance whenever she visits. Her name is a pun on the word "antimacassar". • Wobbly (portrayed by Gary Farmer) is a close friend of Granny's who lives in Clowntown as a traveling repairman. • Uncle Chester (portrayed by Edward Knuckles) is Loonette's travelling uncle who appears in the show's last two seasons replacing Auntie Macassar. ==Production==

The show was originally produced by Radical Sheep Productions with what would later be known as Owl Television or Owl Communications (the publishers of Owl Magazine), then Canadian children's television network YTV with a run of 65 episodes. They were presented in the United States by Benny Smart, a US children's television production company backed by Ernest creator John Cherry, in conjunction with WITF-TV Harrisburg. In 2001, Tadpole Kids, who purchased the series' U.S. rights from Hollywood Ventures Corporation, commissioned 13 more episodes presented alongside Nashville Public Television. Radical Sheep Productions and Amity Entertainment, in association with Treehouse TV; a sister channel of YTV, and Nashville Public Television, produced 22 additional episodes focusing on preventing childhood obesity, which debuted on public television stations in 2006. From 1992 to 2002, the show was filmed at Wallace Avenue Studios in Toronto, and in 2006, it was filmed at Toronto's Studio City. ==Broadcast and syndication==

In the U.S., the series was syndicated by American Public Television to public television stations in that country, most of which were affiliated with PBS, starting on January 9, 1995, and ending in February 2007, with reruns airing as late as April 30, 2009 on some stations. In Canada, the series was shown on YTV from 1993 to 1997 and on Treehouse TV from 1997 until it stopped broadcasting on February 27, 2011. The show also airs on BTV in Botswana. As of 2023, all episodes can be viewed and streamed on Amazon Prime, Vudu, Tubi, the FilmRise app, and YouTube. From September 1, 1997, to 2001, the French-language dub was aired on Canal Famille in Quebec and on TF1 in France. In the Middle East, the show was also dubbed in Hebrew (which aired on the Hop! Channel in Israel) and Turkish (which aired on TRT 1 and Yumurcak TV in Turkey). The Spanish-language dub aired on Nickelodeon, MGM Channel, Unicable, Canal 5, and Galavisión in Latin America and La Primera in Spain. ==Episodes==

Season 1 (1993) This season was produced in 1992. The episodes were first aired in 1993. Season 2 (1994) This season was produced in 1993. Season 3 (1994) Season 4 (1995) Season 5 (1996) Season 6 (2002) Due to Court's pregnancy during production, she was unable to film any new Clock Rug segments. Instead, archival footage from seasons 3-5 was used. Season 7 (2006) Ramona Gilmour-Darling replaces Court in the role of Loonette. ==Home media==

Time-Life Video was the main home media distributor for the Big Comfy Couch, releasing the series under Time-Life Video's children's label, Time-Life Kids. VHS releases were also released on May 10, 2000, by Goldhil Video. The Big Comfy Couch has five DVDs featuring Ramona Gilmour-Darling. The DVDs and VHS tapes that feature Alyson Court are now out of print, but can be found on certain websites such as Amazon.com. On July 30, 2013, TGG Direct released the first two seasons on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. Seasons 3–7 were released on August 6, 2013. Each set comes with a bonus disc featuring a premiere episode of the following season. The Season 7 set, however, has a bonus disc of the premiere episode of the first season. ==Merchandise and other media==

Throughout the years, several merchandise has been sold under the show's banner such as videotapes, DVDs, books, dolls, toys and puzzles. • Fuzzy Wuzzy Fun - Released April 1, 2015, this app features the dust bunnies Fuzzy and Wuzzy playing hide and seek. The objective for the player is to help them find each other by navigating through paths. • Clock Rug Time - Released May 18, 2015, this app features Loonette and her clock rug stretch routine. Loonette can set the time for the player in both analog and digital. This app can also be used as an alarm clock. The app can also display the weather and temperature based on location. • '''Molly's Big Day''' - Released May 17, 2016, this app focuses on Molly and her big first day in Clowndergarten with the use of activities for the player. This Hour Has 22 Minutes On the October 18, 2016 episode of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, in a segment discussing the 2016 clown sightings, Loonette made an appearance as the show's "clown correspondent." This marked the character's first television appearance in a decade since the show's finale in 2006 and the first time Alyson Court had portrayed Loonette on TV since her departure in 2002. Tours The Big Comfy Couch has had a few live shows at Londonderry Mall in Edmonton, Alberta and sometimes in Calgary and rarely in Regina, Saskatchewan. There was a tour through South Western Ontario in 2001. Loonette and Molly Live Theatrical Tour In 2005, a live theatrical production entitled ''Molly's Fool Moon Festival'' toured in Canada. The show included Loonette, Molly, Granny Garbanzo, Major Bedhead and others. The show was produced by Koba Entertainment and presented by Paquin Entertainment Group. The production starred a variety of Canadian actors such as Laura Kolisnyk, Andrew Nolan, Daniel J. Craig, Alexandra Herzog, Dawn Johnson, and others. ==References==