''Big Blue Marble'' is a half-hour

children's television program Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

that was aired from 1974 to 1983 in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

including on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

television stations.

Overview

Distinctive content included stories about children around the world and a pen-pal club that encouraged intercultural communication. The name of the show referred to the appearance of

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

as a giant

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

, popularized by ''

The Blue Marble ''The Blue Marble'' is an image of Earth taken on December 7, 1972, from a distance of around from the planet's surface. Taken by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft on its way to the Moon, it is one of the most reproduced images in history ...

'', a famous photograph taken in December 1972 by the crew of '' Apollo 17''. Each episode featured a segment about the real life of a boy and a girl, one American, the other foreign. The show also had occasional stories about world ecology. In addition there was a weekly segment in which a singing

globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model glo ...

"Bluey" invited viewers to write

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

to the show, often requests for

pen pal Pen pals (or penpals, pen-pals, penfriends or pen friends) are people who regularly write to each other, particularly via postal mail. Pen pals are usually strangers whose relationship is based primarily, or even solely, on their exchange of let ...

s. The address to send the letters was in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Co ...

. The character was voiced by executive producer Robert Wiemer.

Production

The program was funded by ITT. Production personnel included creators Ken Snyder, Henry Fownes, and Robert Garrison, and later executive producer Robert Weimer, producer

Rick Berman Richard Keith Berman (born December 25, 1945) is an American television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as the executive producer of several of the '' Star Trek'' television series: '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', ...

(who later became producer for the '' Star Trek'' series), writers

Lynn Rogoff Lynn Rogoff is an American film and television producer, playwright, screenwriter, theatre director, and academic. She is best known for writing the 1979 Emmy Award winning documentary film ''No Maps on My Taps'' and the 1983 play ''Love, Ben L ...

and directors

Joe Napolitano Joseph Ralph Napolitano (November 22, 1948 – July 23, 2016) was an American television director who worked on multiple episodic series. He previously was a film assistant director. Career Napolitano's television credits include directing twelv ...

, Joseph Consentino, Tom Hurwitz, John McDonald, J.J. Linsalata, Pat Saunders, and

Ira Wohl Ira Wohl is an American documentary filmmaker. He is most noted for his 1979 film ''Best Boy'', which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 52nd Academy Awards.Paul Baillargeon Paul Baillargeon (born 1943) is a Canadian composer, known for his music for television shows. He contributed music to 41 episodes of Star Trek shows, and won the 2002 ASCAP Award (Top TV Series) for Enterprise, shared with the series' other reg ...

composed much of the series' music and recruited Wiemer's youngest daughter

Whitney Kershaw Whitney Kershaw (born April 10, 1962) is an American singer and actress, best known for her roles on television. Her most well known role was that of Merilee Gunderson during the first season of '' Major Dad'' in 1989 and 1990. Kershaw originate ...

to sing "Get Closer," the closing theme for the second half of the series' run. Weimer often rewarded staff members with the opportunity to pitch story ideas and direct segments of the series. As a result, many got their first chance to work in that capacity. Some children featured on the show who went on to high-profile careers include

Tisha Campbell Tisha Michelle Campbell (born October 13, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She made her screen debut appearing in the 1986 rock musical comedy film '' Little Shop of Horrors'', and later starred on the short-lived NBC musical comedy dra ...

(actress/singer),

France Joli France Joli () (born February 2, 1963) is a Canadian singer, best known for the disco classics " Come to Me" and "Gonna Get Over You". Teen stardom Born France Joly in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Joli grew up in Dorion. Her father was a hardwa ...

(Canadian disco singer) and

Kevin Clash Kevin Jeffrey Clash (born September 17, 1960) is an American puppeteer, director and producer known for puppeteering Elmo on ''Sesame Street'' from 1984 to 2012. He also performed puppets for ''Labyrinth'', ''Dinosaurs'', '' Oobi'', and various ...

(prominent Muppet performer of

Elmo Elmo is a red Muppet monster character on the long-running PBS/ HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street''. A furry red monster who has a falsetto voice and illeism, he hosts the last full five-minute segment (fifteen minutes prio ...

on ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...

''). Before they were well known, actors Sarah Jessica Parker and

Kelly Reno Kelly Reno (born June 19, 1966) is a former child actor, rancher, and trucker. At age 11, he was cast in the role of Alec Ramsey, the young boy who is marooned on a deserted island along with an Arabian horse, in '' The Black Stallion'' (based on ...

were featured in dramatic segments in the series. Each of the first 78 half-hour episodes produced during the original three years of production contained animated pieces sequences by Ron Campbell Films, Inc., executive produced and directed by Ron Campbell, written by Cliff Roberts. In 1974,

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

released an album of songs from the show, also titled ''Big Blue Marble'' (catalog no. SP-3401).

Broadcast

''Big Blue Marble'' was syndicated to television stations throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. C/F International was the most recent rights holder to the series; that company folded in 2008.

Awards

* Peabody Award (1975) * Emmy Awards (multiple)

References

External links

*
C/F International: Big Blue Marble

courtesy of C/F International

{{Authority control 1970s American children's television series 1980s American children's television series First-run syndicated television programs in the United States 1974 American television series debuts 1983 American television series endings Emmy Award-winning programs Peabody Award-winning television programs American children's education television series ITT Inc.