Wishbone is a half-hour live-action children's television show that was produced from 1995 to 1998 and broadcast on PBS Kids. The show's title character is a Jack Russell Terrier. Wishbone lives with his owner Joe Talbot in the fictional town of Oakdale, Texas. He daydreams about being the lead character of stories from classic literature. He was known as "the little dog with a big imagination". Only the viewers and the characters in his daydreams can hear Wishbone speak. The characters from his daydreams see Wishbone as whichever famous character he is currently portraying and not as a dog. The show won four Daytime Emmys, a Peabody Award, and honors from the Television Critics Association. Wishbone's exterior shots were filmed on the backlot of Lyrick Studios's teen division Big Feats! Entertainment in Allen, Texas, and its interior shots were filmed on a sound stage in a 50,000 square foot warehouse in Plano, Texas. Additional scenes were filmed in Grapevine, Texas.
This show garnered particular praise for refusing to bowdlerize many of the sadder or more unpleasant aspects of the source works, which usually enjoyed a fairly faithful retelling in the fantasy sequences.
The show also inspired several book series. Altogether, there are more than fifty books featuring Wishbone, which were published even after the TV series ended production. Reruns of the show continued to air on some PBS affiliates. In 2006, when a PBS Kids Go! digital channel was announced, PBS planned to air Wishbone on the channel. However, when the digital channel was canceled, Wishbone returned in reruns on the PBS national program service. Wishbone clips came to the PBS Kids Go! website. The return to PBS lasted a short time, though some PBS affiliates continued to air Wishbone until their license to do so ran out. The show continued to air in reruns until August 31, 2001.
Wishbone bark to the future part 1
Episodes
A standard episode of Wishbone consists of an opening scene, introducing Wishbone's and his family's current situation (for example, Arbor Day planting a tree, or Joe catching a lunch lady trying to donate food to a homeless shelter). When one of the main characters decides to get involved in the noble act, Wishbone flashes to a famous work of literature it reminds him of, usually with him playing the lead role, in costume. Wishbone may not play the lead role if the character is difficult to relate to (he plays Sancho Panza in Don Quixote) or is female (in the show's "Joan of Arc" episode, he plays Louis de Conte). By the end of both stories, the real-life situation usually follows the work of literature closely (such as the King saving Robin Hood at the last minute, and the Principal saving Joe at the last minute). The last 2 minutes of nearly every episode feature Wishbone narrating some background description of how the episode was made, such as showing how stunts were done, how costumes were made, or how the visual effects were created.
The series also featured a clip show episode called "Picks of the Litter".
Main characters
Wishbone: A well-read dog who sees parallels between classic literature and the dilemmas he and his human friends face every day. Wishbone is a male tri-color Jack Russell Terrier (white with brown and black markings), who lives with the Talbots at their home on Forest Avenue in Oakdale. In his normal contemporary life, his voice is only heard by those watching the program, and not by anyone he is around. Sometimes people say things that seem to coincidentally repeat or answer what he just said. He often laments: "No one ever listens to the dog." In the classic literature stories in which he imagines himself, the other characters can hear him and they perceive him as the human character he is imagining himself to be. Soccer the dog was the trained dog portraying Wishbone, while his thoughts are voiced by Larry Brantley. Coincidentally, one Wishbone episode involves Wishbone trying out for a part in a dog food commercial where his "lines" are read by Larry Brantley himself, which seems to confuse Wishbone.
Joe Talbot: Wishbone's teen-aged owner, the only child of Steve and Ellen Talbot. Joe has brown hair and a great interest in sports, particularly basketball. He is a player on the Sequoyah Middle School basketball team. His best friends are Samantha Kepler and David Barnes. His father Steve, a basketball coach, died from a rare blood disease when Joe was six years old. Portrayed by Jordan Wall.
David Barnes: Joe and Sam's best friend from school. He lives with his parents, Nathan and Ruth Barnes, and his younger sister, Emily. David aspires to be a scientist. Portrayed by Adam Springfield.
Samantha "Sam" Kepler: Joe and David's best friend from their school and Joe's next door neighbor. Her father, Walter Kepler owns and runs the local pizzeria, Pepper Pete's. She has long blonde hair and is the most outgoing and adventurous of the three friends. She is allergic to coconuts. Her parents are divorced. Portrayed by Christie Abbott.
Ellen Talbot: Joe's widowed mother, who, like him, has dark brown hair. She works as the reference librarian at Henderson Memorial Library in Oakdale. Portrayed by Mary Chris Wall, who is the real-life mother of "Joe" (Jordan Wall).
Wanda Gilmore: The Talbots' slightly eccentric next-door neighbor. Wanda is the owner of the Oakdale Chronicle newspaper and president of the local Historical Society, as well as a volunteer in other different venues. She is a very friendly and cheerful person but hates it when Wishbone digs up her flower beds and therefore finds him a nuisance at times (although she reconciles with him in a later episode "A Fleabitten Bargain"). She has a crush on Joe's teacher, Bob Pruitt, and is in a steady relationship with him. Portrayed by Angee Hughes.
Other characters
Robin: Joe, David and Sam's friend. She loves playing basketball. Portrayed by Codie Brooks.
Damont Jones: Oakdale's bully, always up to no good, who usually causes trouble with his friend Curtis. Wishbone loathes Damont to the point of doing some comedic harm to him especially during Oakdale's Halloween scavenger hunt. In one of the final episodes, an older and wiser Damont tentatively apologizes to Joe for his previous unfriendly attitude, and it is implied that they make peace and starts having a good friendship with him afterwards. Portrayed by Joe Duffield.
Jimmy Kidd: Damont's obnoxious cousin. He appears in the second season of this series. Portrayed by Jarrad Kritzstein.
Emily Barnes: David's mischievous little sister who is often seen with her friend Tina; a running gag seems to involve an adult telling Emily and Tina to be good, to which they reply in unison "we will", before giggling insincerely and being bad. Emily also has an overt affinity for Wishbone; in one episode, she had him for show and tell, but she wanted to keep him for herself until Joe, David, and Sam came to get him back. Portrayed by Jazmine McGill.
Amanda Hollings: Samantha's academic rival who always tries to prove she is smarter than Samantha. Portrayed by Elena Hurst.
Mr. Bob Pruitt: Joe, David and Sam's English teacher, who has a genuine love of the subject, and is very encouraging of his students, teaching them how to express themselves through written works. Later, Bob becomes a love interest of Wanda and enters a relationship with her. Portrayed by Rick Perkins.
Walter Kepler: Samantha's dad and a former friend of Joe's dad, Steve Talbot. He owns and operates Pepper Pete's Pizzeria in the later episodes. Portrayed by Bob Reed.
Nathaniel Bobelesky: A geeky kid who is terrible at sports but is still friends with Joe, David, and Sam. After he shows a natural talent for swiftly catching things, Sam helps Nathaniel become a hockey goalie, which earns him the respect of several players, including Damont. Portrayed by Justin Reese.
Homer Vincent: David's maternal uncle. He is the storyteller of traditional African folklore. He appears in the first season episode "Bark That Bark". Portrayed by Akin Babatunde.
Lee Natonabah: A Native American who is a college professor in Dances with Dogs. The actor appeared as Dan Bloodgood the mailman in the show's second season.
Travis del Rio: Oakdale's Sports and Games store owner. He only appears in the second season of this series. Portrayed by Julio Cedillo.
Melina Finch: Travis del Rio's niece and Marcus Finch's sister. She only appears in the second season of this series. Portrayed by Mikaila Enriquez.
Marcus Finch: Travis del Rio's nephew and Melina Finch's brother. He only appears in the second season of this series. Portrayed by Paul English, Jr.
Mr. King: A real-estate developer who is an occasional antagonist of Joe and Sam.
Cast
Soccer, also Slugger, Shiner, Phoebe, and Bear as Wishbone
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences First Honor Roll of Children's Programming, 1999
George Foster Peabody Award, 1998
Emmy Award - Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design, 1997
Emmy Award - Costume Design/Styling, 1997
Emmy Award - Graphics and Title Design, 1997
Emmy Award - Costume Design/Styling, 1996
Emmy Award Nominations, 1998, "WISHBONE's Dog Days of the West"
Directing in a Children's Special
Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design
Main Title Design
Costume Design/Styling
Television Critics Association - Best Children's Show, 1996 and 1997
Other
Only a handful of the Wishbone episodes have been released to VHS and DVD. There were also a few computer games in 1996, such as Wishbone Activity Center and Wishbone and the Amazing Odyssey. Wishbone has also inspired several book series: Wishbone Classics, Wishbone Mysteries, and The Adventures of Wishbone, which is similar to the TV series.
On February 15, 2011, Lionsgate released the Wishbone DVD, The Little Dog With a Big Imagination.
In 2004, Hit Entertainment released 4 DVDS with trailers of other HiT titles in the main menu section. Those DVDs were: "Hot Diggety Dawg", "The Impawsible Dream", "The Hunchdog of Notre-Dame", & "Paw Prints of Thieves".
