On April 29th, 1992,
four officers of the Los Angeles Police Department were acquitted
of charges of use of excessive force after being caught on videotape
for beating a black man named Rodney King. The acquittal was the breaking point
for the city of Los Angeles, long plagued by rising racial tensions, specifically
between white, black and Asian Americans. The ensuing riots, termed the L.A. race riots, lasted for over six days,
resulting in 63 deaths, over 2000 injuries and around one
billion dollars in property damage. Two months after the riots, Los Angeles
Mayor Tom Bradley announced the creation
of a new organization named Rebuild L.A., founded to repair the city
both physically and figuratively. The private organization solicited help
from dozens of major corporations, raising around 500 million dollars in the months
following the riots. Rebuild. L.A. was an unfocused and often unhelpful
attempt to mend the city, but it did feature a few creative approaches to tackling issues
related to racial inequality. One of these attempts was announced one year after the riots
took place on April 8th, 1993. It was reported that Rebuild L.A. was granting three point five million dollars to public television
station KCET Channel 28. In order for them to produce
a new preschool series to address issues related to race and culture,
the show was named The Puzzle Factory. Development on the puzzle factory
had begun two years earlier in 1991, when the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting decided to modify its approach to allocating funds
for the creation of programing. The CPB funded programs that were pitched
to them from show producers. However, they were now interested in focusing their funds more deliberately,
searching for a specific type of show rather than just sifting
through proposals. The CPB noticed two gaps
in their slate of children's programing diversity and problem
solving skill development. In response to this, the CPB offered
the largest grant ever for children show 4.5 million dollars,
tasking the Public Broadcasting Service with finding a new series than that. The requirements Lancit Media Productions, a studio famous
for producing the Emmy Award winning series Reading Rainbow, stepped up to the plate
with a pitch called the Puzzle Factory. The puzzle factory would feature
a culturally diverse cast of human puppets that would learn to solve problems and
recognize and celebrate their differences. Los Angeles PBS station KCET
signed on to produce the series. KCET President William Koban
explained that the show would operate to, quote,
teach kids the value of diversity, and the differences are to be celebrated. They are living in a multicultural world,
and they have to learn to accept their differences,
to be nonjudgmental and to be tolerant. On November 19th, 1991, it was announced
that the puzzle factory was awarded the four point five million dollar
grant from the CPB and KCET and Lancit set out to secure
the remainder of the show's budget, which was set at 10 million dollars
for a sixty five episode season. The show was originally set
to debut in the fall of 1993, but producers were not able to secure
more funding for nearly two years. It would not be until Rebuild L.A.'s contribution
that the show's budget would finally increase, reaching eight million dollars total. Utility provider Southern California
Edison funded Rebuild L.A. Contribution. Edison CEO John E.
Bryson explained that, quote, "We want to be the leader in showing that we can build
on the strengths of diversity." Rebuild L.A.'s co-chair
Barry Sanders believes that, quote, "The most effective way
to make a difference in race relations is to get to the youngest members
of society", adding that the national show was still related to Rebuild
L.A.'s mission because, quote, "The experiment in race
relations is uniquely L.A." By this point, The Puzzle Factory's proposed 10 million dollar budget
had increased to 13 million dollars in order to support an outreach program
to disperse supplemental materials to daycare centers,
where KCET and Lancit believed a significant portion of their audience
would be exposed to the series. This meant that The Puzzle Factory needed
to secure an additional five million dollars in funding quickly as the show
was set to debut in the winter of 1994. Coincidentally, at this time, conservative
members of Congress were making another in an endless series of attempts
to defund the Public Broadcasting Service. This time, the argument was that
PBS is failure to retain the merchandizing rights to hit series such as "Sesame Street"
and "Barney and Friends" had lost the millions of dollars
in revenue with this money, instead going to the small production houses
producing the series. Under pressure, PBS made efforts to secure profit sharing for merchandise
stemming from their new children's shows. And this effort began
with The Puzzle Factory. PBS pitched the series
to various companies, and they were able to secure seven licensing agreements for a total of eight
million dollars over three years. PBS was also given a three million dollar
advance from these companies, which allowed KCET and Lancit
to begin production on the show. The Puzzle Factory tapped many Sesame Street and Muppet performers
for its cast and crew. Kevin Clash, a Muppet performer best known
for puppeteering and Sesame Street's Elmo, was hired to build the series puppets and serve
as the show's creative consultant. The Puzzle Factory will be centered
around six kids, each with a different background that would be magically transported
to the puzzle themed hangout space. Julie Woo was a third generation
Chinese American girl from San Francisco. She was to be proud of her heritage,
empathetic to her friends, and always happy
to break into song. "Oh your tongue gets all scrambled.
Then your tongue gets all mangled." "Uh, Julie. Thank you, Julie." She was puppeteered
by Sesame Street performer Alice Dinnean, Kiki Flores was a first-generation
Mexican-American from San Antonio, Texas. Kiki was described as an outgoing
and inventive leader. "Hey, my name is Kiki and if you don't know,
I can speak to you in English. y también español." Kiki would be performed
by puppeteer Carmen Osbahr, best known for puppeteering
the character Rosita on Sesame Street. Ben Olafson was a boy of German
and Norwegian descent from Renner, South Dakota. Ben grew up without a father as his dad
passed away before the events of the show. He was to be puppeteer by Jim Martin,
known for his work on "The Great Space Coaster" and "Sesame Street". "Yeah, the kids at school make fun of me
because I wear glasses. So I don't want to have my picture
taken with me wearing glasses. Leon MacNeal was an African-American boy
from Manhattan's Upper West Side. Leon loved basketball,
hip-hop, science, and joking around. "Will there be good weather for the family
picnic on Sunday? Shake. Shake. Shake. Shake. Shake. Shake. Shake. It says outlook cloudy. Check with me later. Well, at least this time it's
a straight answer." Leon MacNeal was played by puppeteer Noel MacNeal, known for his work
on "Sesame Street" and "Eureka's Castle". Skye Nakaiye was an Apache boy from the White
Mountain Apache Reservation in Arizona. He had a deep respect for his culture
and a close relationship with his grandfather. "Oh, Leon, this is a
special Apache pollen pouch. Yeah, my my grandfather gave it to me. See all these little beads here. Those are all sewn on by hand. And the little bells at
the bottom are made out of tin. Skye was performed
by Sesame Street puppeteer Peter Linz. Finally, Jody Silver was a Jewish girl of
Lithuanian descent from Cincinnati, Ohio. Jody's parents were divorced
and she lived primarily with her father. "First, I was kind of mad at my dad.
That's why I didn't say anything, but then I thought, well, maybe Debbie's more important to him
than I am." "What?" Jody was puppeteer by "Pee Wee's Playhouse"
puppeteer Alison Mork. While the show was clearly well-intentioned on the issues of diversity and inclusion,
it was by no means perfect in its behind. Or more accurately,
under the scenes representation. While Kiki and Leon's puppeteers shared
the ethnic background of the characters they were portraying, other characters such as Julie and Skye
were performed by white puppeteers. The show's writers did consult
with a panel of experts to ensure that all of the details of each character's
cultural backgrounds was accurate. But the show could have done more to accurately represent
these members of its cast. "The Puzzle Factory", now renamed
to "The Puzzle Works", shot two pilots. The first saw Julie introducing all the
kids in the Puzzle Works Kitchen. "Oh, Hi. Welcome to the Puzzle Works.
We are so glad that you could have a chance
to come and share breakfast with us today. Leon and Jody explained that the
Puzzle Works is a special place all its own "A land of shadow and substance." "Leon." "What?" "It's a place where we hang out and share and have fun." The pilots were successful and the series began taping the first
40 episodes at KCET studios. Despite still being a couple million
dollars short of their funding goal, when asked by The Los Angeles
Times in the summer of 1994 whether the show was guaranteed
to obtain the remaining funds, KCET Vice President Stephen Kulczycki
said, quote, "Guarantee is a state of mind. We're going to get there"
a few months later. Kulczycki reported that KCET was so close
to finding more funds that he stated that, quote,
"I can feel it in my nostrils." Despite the confidence, The Puzzle Works
wrapped filming on its first 40 episodes without securing the funding
needed to film the remaining 25 that were acquired by the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting's grant. The decision was made to begin delivering
episodes to PBS stations in the hopes that the show would be received
well enough to secure the missing funds. The show was also renamed One Final Time
with the performers dubbing over mentions of the Puzzle Works
with the new title. On January 16th, 1995. The new show named The Puzzle Place premiered on PBS stations
throughout the country. "I know something." "Julie! "That I want to share." "Come along with me to find it," "Ben!" "It's everywhere." "The Puzzle Place. The Puzzle Place, we're going to the Puzzle Place." The first episode extended a short plot
found in the original Puzzle Works pilot Julie Woo is in the puzzle
place's basement talking with her teddybear
puppet, Tippy Woo. Julie laments the children
sometimes make fun of her last name and how it hurts her feelings. Her friends eventually find her and ask
her what she was talking about with Tippi. Julie explained that she was telling Tippi
that if his last name was going to be "Woo" the he should be ready
for other kids to make fun of it. Julie thought the other kids
wouldn't understand, but all of them shared their own examples
of how their names have been made fun of. "Oh, you mean like when people say to me, "Hey, Jodie, Silverware,
how's your knife and fork?" "Or like when they call me cloudy Skye
instead of just Skye." "Yeah" "You mean it happens to you guys, too." "Sure" Yeah" Julie appreciated her friend's sympathy, and the six started a song about how
you should be proud of your name. "My name says a lot about me." "My name makes me, me." "I got my name when I became
part of my family." This type of conflict was a trademark
of the puzzle place. The show touched on the issues of discrimination and prejudice
in a very personal and specific way. In another episode
also featured in the original pilot, Leon is invited to his friend
Jimmy's birthday party. But Jimmy's mother
does not want him to come. "Well, I could be wrong, Leon, but I don't think she wants you
to come to the party." " What? That's impossible. Hmm." After this, a series of clips from real
children were played with each describing their own experiences
with discrimination. "Some kids won't play me
just because I have dreads." "Sometimes I'll approach somebody and they're hearing and I start to. Converse with them,
but they find out I'm deaf and then they kind of walk away
and I get lonely and there I am by myself." as much as the
show helps kids navigate discrimination. It also helped them celebrate
their diversity in the 20th episode. Julie shared the Lunar New Year tradition
with her friends who are eager to learn
more about her culture. "You know, Julie's
showing us all about the Lunar New Year celebration." "and the good luck
that comes with the Dancing Dragon." In addition to the six
main characters, the show featured a dog and cat named Nuzzle
and Sizzle. Nuzzle and Sizzle inhabited The Puzzle Place and frequently observed or
paralleled the main story of the episode. The animals often spoke to one another,
but were quiet when around the show's human characters. "He called me a pretty cat, and a snooty patuttie." "No." "Yeah."
"Not a snooty patuttie." "Yeah. Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh. " It made me so mad. Sizzle was performed
by Alice Dinnean and Peter Linz perform Nuzzle in the first season.
In addition to Nuzzle and Sizzle, the Puzzle Place featured
the Piece Police. P.I.E.C.E. The four policemen did not have names,
but each had a distinct color orange, blue, green and purple. Their vocabulary was limited with the
peace, police only speaking in grumbles. <indistinct grumbling> As the first 40 episodes
made their way to PBS stations. Families and critics praised the show
and its powerful messages. One of the series creators, Cecily Truett,
spoke to the intent of the series. Quote, "The fundamental message of the show
is that we are all human beings. We are individuals. And we have things about us
that make a special. We are not just tipping our hats
to a political issue." A few critics of the show claimed
that the messages of tolerance were too politically correct or liberal
for a publicly funded show. Truett stated bluntly, quote,
"Anyone who says multicultural education is creating
conflict for children has their head in the sand." In episode 39, "Willing and Able" Skye introduced the gang to his friend Kyle O'Connor, a redheaded basketball playing
Irish American who used a wheelchair throughout the episode. Kyle educated his new friends at the Puzzle Place on his chair
and what it was like to use one. "Can you show it how it works, Kyle?" "Well, sure. No problem." "I just put my hands on the wheels here and I let my arms do the pushing." "Yeah, my wheelchair is built to be safe,
fast and flexible." The episode also featured live action
footage of other people that use wheelchairs, shopping, working, playing
sports and having fun in various ways. The episode also explained the many ways
vehicles and buildings could be built to be more accessible
to people with disabilities. While the first 40 episodes
aired, merchandise for the Puzzle Place began to hit store
shelves. Dolls, games, lunchboxes, electronic games, children's
clothing and videotapes went on sale. The puzzle place was a success,
but it still lacked the additional two million dollars in funding to complete
the 65 episode season. Despite this, the show went into
production on these 25 additional episodes based on the prospective
merchandise sales alone. This put intense pressure on KCET,
but they were still confident that they would be able
to secure the rest of the funds. It would not be until June of 1995,
nearly six months after the show went on the air, that the producers would
finally receive another contribution. This time, one million dollars
from Sears. With the new funds. "The Puzzle Place" push forward on
the remaining 25 episodes of season one, which many consider to be the series second season,
despite being part of the initial order. Luckily, in August of 1995,
IBM contributed two million dollars to the show, finally achieving and
surpassing the show's production budget. This was fortunate because
many of the puzzle place merchandise lines had failed as they were released
too soon after the show premiered. Not giving time for audiences
to get to know the characters before the merchandise hits store shelves. The cast and production team
remained unchanged for the final episodes of the initial order, with the exception
of Alison Mork leaving the show with puppeteer Stephanie D'Abruzzo
taking over the character of Jody Silver. Jim Martin also directed an episode of the
season and Noel MacNeal became a writer. The remaining episodes of Season
one continued the show's themes of multiculturalism and problem resolution
with the same passion and care as before. "If you like something, you should do it even if other people make fun of you." On January 15th, 1996,
the Puzzle Place began airing these new episodes, starting
with the holiday themed "Deck the Halls". The episode started with Leon in New York at an outside
skating rink waiting for his friends. He shared a video of New York's
many icons decorated for Christmas time. Leon then recalled a time that he and his friends set up a giant Christmas tree
back at the Puzzle Place. In the flashback, Julie, Kiki and Ben added candy canes
and ornaments to the Christmas tree. But Jody refrained as she did
not celebrate Christmas. "Jody, you don't seem very
excited about Christmas." "Well, we sort of don't do Christmas
at our house, Ben." "Oh... don't do Christmas, Jody!" This was a surprise to Ben, who knew
Jody was Jewish, but did not realize that meant she did not partake
in Christmas festivities. "Yeah, but Jodi, don't you feel left out?" "No. Well, maybe sometimes a little, but that still doesn't
make me want to celebrate Christmas." This made Ben sad
that his friend was missing out. Ben then found Jody's menorah and placed it
on the Christmas tree, believing that it would make her happy to have her
tradition merged with his. "Wow. Jody will be so happy. She'll feel like Christmas
is her holiday, too. Instead, Jody was upset as she discovered
her menorah was missing and then eventually told her
that he had put it on the Christmas tree. "I knew she'd be surprised" "Ben, how could you put my menorah
on a Christmas tree?" Jody became upset
and asked for Ben to take it down, explaining that the menorah significance
had nothing to do with Christmas. After listening, Ben apologized, and Skye noted how beautiful the menorah
looks with all the candles lit. Later on in the episode, everyone returned to the Christmas tree in their best clothes
for a holiday celebration. Leon arrived with a kinara, a candle holder used by his family
during the celebration of Kwanzaa. "You're carrying a menorah." "Ben, this is a kinara. A kinara is
an African-American candle holder. And you use it to celebrate
Kwanzaa." "Kwanzaa?" "Mm-hmm." "You mean there's another holiday
going on here?" At the end of the episode All the characters exchanged
gifts and reflected on the similarities between all of their celebrations.
With the conclusion of the flashback, Leon continued to wait for his friends
at the ice rink. After his friends arrived. they each had their own difficulties
mastering ice skates. "Hey, you guys!" Finally able to reveal
his surprise to his friends. Leon introduced Patti LaBelle, who hooked them up with hot chocolate and
initiated a round of holiday music. "Jingle... Jingle Bells." Noel MacNeal recalled the puppeteer's having to
lay on top of one another on sound blankets placed on the ice rink in order
to get the shots for this episode. Other episodes featuring
celebrity cameos included "Bully for Jody", in which Jody looked to actor
and comedian Sinbad for advice on dealing with a guy at school
who stole her lunch every day. "Well, there's this guy at school
who picks on me all the time. He steals my lunch every day,
and he scares me. "You know what? You do
have a problem there, Jody." Sinbad said he could offer
three recommendations to Jody. Option one was to talk with them,
which Jody was uncomfortable with. Option two was to avoid him, which she
also did not feel was the best option. Lastly, he offered option three,
which was to tell a grown up. Jody vowed to do that the next day. And Sinbad told her to call him
and let him know how it went. Though he also offered another option
if option three did not work. "Plan D is you can call Sinbad
and I'll talk to the bully. All right?" Another episode titled "Leon Grows Up"
featured Terrence T.C. Carson of the sitcom
"Living Single" giving advice to Leon. "You know, Leon, lots of groups
have these ceremonies to help boys become men and girls become women." "I know." "...but the ceremony alone
isn't enough to do the trick, man." What?! the show would also sometimes
feature guests from other PBS shows, like when Lynne Thigpen made an appearance as the chief from "Where in the World
Is Carmen San Diego?" These cameos most often appeared on
the Puzzle Places smart computer, Weebus. Webers, please call my cousin Mark. The new episodes of the Puzzle Place premiered on weekdays from January 15th
through February 16th, 1996. After this, PBS stations continued to air
the 30 minute episodes as reruns. The puzzle plays characters
also made appearances at public events, including the White House to support PBS
and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. and in the Rose Parade. A final season,
a puzzle place was ordered, but with a much smaller
commitment of 10 episodes. By the time the final season
began production in 1998, some of the performers had moved on
to other shows, such as Noel MacNeal, who began starring in Disney
Channel's "Bear in the Big Blue House". MacNeal continued to provide the voice for Leon with puppeteer Eric Jacobson
taking over the performance. Peter Linz, who also began puppeteering
"Bear in the Big Blue House", left the show as well and his character, Skye
was taken over by puppeteer Matt Vogel. I don't know what to say
or even how to say it. Stephanie D'Abruzzo began performing on
Nickelodeon's "Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss. So Jody's puppeteer was changed
once again with performer Terri Hardin taking over the role. The additional ten episodes
aired in late 1998 with the final episode
airing on December 4th, 1998. This would be the final episode
of The Puzzle Place. By this point, the show had expanded its mission to live shows and mall appearances,
which continued until around 1999. The show was also broadcast outside of the
US in numerous countries and languages. Reruns of the show continued
to air until 2000. The show received a few VHS releases
throughout its run, and home recordings have made their way to YouTube. But unfortunately,
half of the series has been lost, and there are no current plans
to make the series available, with many unsure who holds
the distribution rights to the show. The puzzle piece was a groundbreaking show
for children's entertainment. The show came about during and directly
because of a tipping point in the United States caused by a failure to address generations
of racial prejudice and discrimination. The Puzzle Place
stepped up to the challenge by teaching a generation
how to address the topic and many others. The show taught children to recognize their similarities
and celebrate their uniqueness, not just in broad strokes, but with ultra
specific and ultra-authentic conflict. The show admitted that navigating
race, ethnicity, religion, culture
and gender could be a complex puzzle, but one that could be solved
with kindness, understanding and love. And for many children
growing up with the show, they found hope and comfort
that no matter their background, there would always be a place where
they could be accepted and celebrated. "The Puzzle Place"
