''Birdz'' is an

animated television series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

created by Larry Jacobs, who later worked on ''

Cyberchase ''Cyberchase'' is an educational animated sci-fi children's television series that airs on PBS Kids. The series centers around three children from Earth: Jackie, Matt, and Inez, who are brought into Cyberspace, a digital universe, in order to p ...

''. It was produced by

Nelvana Limited Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. (; previously known as Nelvana Limited, sometimes known as Nelvana Animation and simply Nelvana or Nelvana Communications) is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment company owned by Corus Entertainment. Founded ...

in association with

CBS Television CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

and STVE. The show was first aired on October 3, 1998, on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

with the final episode's airing on January 2, 1999. Later, it was shown in Scotland in 2001, aired on

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...

and

Grampian TV Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and now named STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isles, Western Isles, Highlands (except Fort William and ...

(now ''STV North'') - now both known as STV. The show was returned from 2015 as part of the "''Weans' World''" block on

STV Glasgow STV Glasgow was a British local television station serving Glasgow and surrounding areas. The station was owned and operated by STV Group plc in partnership with Glasgow Caledonian University. The channel was closed on Sunday 23 April 2017 a ...

and

STV Edinburgh STV Edinburgh was a British local television channel based in Edinburgh which launched on 12 January 2015. It was owned and operated by STV Group plc in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University. The channel was closed on Sunday 23 April 20 ...

Plot

The show is about an anthropomorphic 13-year-old bird named Eddie Storkowitz, who films his everyday life in aspiration of becoming a

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

. His family includes his father, Morty, who is a psychiatrist; mother Betty, an artist; college-age older sister Steffy; and baby sister Abby. Several episodes focus on Eddie's class, which includes an owl named Olivia, a robin named Spring, a turkey named Tommy, a woodpecker named Gregory, and a bat named Sleepy, plus teacher Miss Finch and principal Mr. Pip.

Theme music

The song "

Surfin' Bird "Surfin' Bird" is a song performed by American surf rock band The Trashmen, containing the repetitive lyric "the bird is the word". It has been covered many times. It is a combination of two R&B hits by The Rivingtons: " Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" and "Th ...

" by

the Trashmen The Trashmen were an American rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, in 1962. The original line-up of the group featured guitarists Tony Andreason and Dal Winslow, bassist Bob Reed, and drummer Steve Wahrer. Along with Col ...

was covered as a theme song for the series.

Cancellation

The show's creator Larry Jacobs thought that the show received poor ratings because it aired after the news in most markets.

Cast and characters

Susan Roman Susan Roman (born April 17) is a Canadian voice actress and voice director, best known for voice acting the role of Lita/Sailor Jupiter in the Canada DiC (and later Cloverway/CWi) dub of the anime, ''Sailor Moon''. She is one of the few voice ...

as Eddie * David Huband as Morty * Sally Cahill as Betty *

Stephanie Morgenstern Stephanie Morgenstern is a Canadian actress, filmmaker, and screenwriter for television and film. She has worked extensively on stage, film, and television in both English and French. Her most widely seen feature film credits have been '' The S ...

as Steffy *

Alison Sealy-Smith Alison Sealy-Smith (born 1959) is a Barbados-born Canadian actress best known for her role as Storm in various Marvel animated TV series. Early life and education Sealy-Smith was born in Bridgetown, Barbados and raised in Toronto. She attended ...

as Abby *

Jill Frappier Jill Frappier (born October 7, 1944) is a British-Canadian voice actress. Frappier was born in Lord Louis Mountbatten's stately home, Broadlands, in Romsey, England. She moved to Canada in 1967 to work as a British hostess at the British pavil ...

as Miss Finch *

Len Carlson Len Carlson (September 2, 1937 – January 26, 2006) was a Canadian voice actor who has voiced various characters on many animated television series from the 1960s onward, an occasional live-action TV actor, and a Kraft Canada TV pitchman dur ...

as Mr. Pip *

Chris Wiggins Christopher John Wiggins (January 13, 1931 – February 19, 2017) was an English-born Canadian actor. Career He started out as a banker in his home country before he began his acting career in Canada, where he moved in 1952. Wiggins is probably ...

as Officer Pigeon * Richard Binsley as Mr. Nuthatch * Ruby Smith-Merovitz as Spring *

Karen Bernstein Karen Bernstein is a Canadian retired voice actress. She is best known to many in North America as the original voice of Sailor Mercury in the Canadian dubbing of the first two seasons of '' Sailor Moon''. She was replaced by Liza Balkan. Bernst ...

as Olivia * Adam Reid as Tommy *

Julie Lemieux Julie Lemieux (born December 4, 1962) is a Canadian voice actress. Career Lemieux has provided the voice for characters such as Sammy Tsukino in '' Sailor Moon'', young Darien Shields in '' Sailor Moon R: The Movie'', and Peruru in '' Sailor Moo ...

as Sleepy * Rick Jones as Gregory

Episodes

Telecast and home media

The show was first introduced in October 1998 on

's Saturday morning lineup with repeats until Spring 1999. In the 2000s, the show was also aired on the

Omni Broadcasting Network The Omni Broadcasting Network was a small over-the-air broadcast television network in the United States (not to be confused with the Canadian broadcast system Omni Television). The company's motto was "Less Edge and More Entertaining". Omni's ...

. Later, it was shown in Scotland in 2001, aired on

and

(now ''STV North'') - now both known as STV. The show was returned from 2015 as part of the "''Weans' World''" block on

and

. In the late 1990s, Alliance Atlantis released videotapes of the show. In 2019, the show has begun being uploaded to Corus' Retro Rerun YouTube channel. As of 2022, the show is now streaming on

Tubi Tubi is an American over-the-top content platform and ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox Corporation. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In January 2021, Tubi reached 33 million monthly ...

References

External links

* {{Children's programming on CBS in the 1990s 1998 Canadian television series debuts 1999 Canadian television series endings 1990s Canadian animated television series Animated television series about birds Canadian children's animated comedy television series CBS original programming CTV Television Network original programming English-language television shows Television series by Nelvana Television series by STV Studios