Kidstime (Sunday mornings title) Kidstime Express (weekday afternoons title) was a local children's television show broadcast by WTXX Channel 20 (now WCCT-TV) in Waterbury,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

in the 1980s and early 1990s. It was originally hosted by Mike Imfeld and his

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...

companions with his cohost being T.X. Critter, operated by puppeteer Don Wunderlee T.X was the yellow precursor to ALF created by the

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from ...

, Paul Fusco, a few years before the hit NBC TV show of the same name. At some point, Imfeld was replaced by Mike Mozart. Mozart was then later replaced by Lauren DeLisa, who remained the host until the show was canceled in 1993.

Difference between ''Kidstime'' and ''Kidstime Express''

The difference between ''Kidstime'' and ''Kidstime Express'' was in both duration and time slot. ''Kidstime'' was a Sunday morning TV show, and ''Kidstime Express'' was a weekday afternoon collection of thirty-second spots played between toy commercials that aired along with cartoon episodes of ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, suc ...

'', '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'', '' He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'', '' Thundercats'', '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', ''

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The Real Ghostbusters ''The Real Ghostbusters'' is an American animated television series, a spin-off/sequel of the 1984 comedy film ''Ghostbusters''. The series ran from September 13, 1986, to October 5, 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television and DI ...

'', ''

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'', '' Muppet Babies'', ''

The Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and in ...

'', ''

Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears ''Adventures of the Gummi Bears'' is an American animated television series, created by Disney CEO Michael Eisner, produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, and distributed by Buena Vista Television. The series, loosely inspired by the gummy ...

'', '' Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers'', '' Silver Hawks'', '' Inspector Gadget'', '' Heathcliff'', '' Dennis The Menace'', ''

The Littles ''The Littles'' is a series of children's novels by American author John Peterson, the first of which was published in 1967. Sixteen years later, Peterson's books were adapted into ''The Littles'', an animated series by DIC Entertainment. The t ...

'', ''

M.A.S.K. M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand) is a media franchise created by Kenner. The main premise revolved around the fight between the titular protagonist underground task force and the criminal organization V.E.N.O.M. (Vicious Evil Network o ...

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The Care Bears Care Bears are multi-colored bears, originally painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. In 1983, the characters were turned into plush teddy bears. The characters headlined their own televisi ...

'', '' Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling'', ''

Popples Popples is a toy and television franchise created by Those Characters From Cleveland (TCFC), a subsidiary of American Greetings. Popples resemble brightly colored marsupial teddy bears with long tails ending in a pom-pom. Each Popple character ...

'', ''

The Get Along Gang ''The Get Along Gang'' is a group of characters created in 1983 by Tony Byrd, Tom Jacobs, Ralph Shaffer, Linda Edwards, Muriel Fahrion, and Mark Spangler for American Greetings' toy design and licensing division, "Those Characters from Cleveland" ( ...

'', ''

Denver The Last Dinosaur ''Denver, the Last Dinosaur'' is TV an animated series produced by World Events Productions and . It was nationally syndicated throughout the United States in 1988 with reruns airing until 1990. In the show, a dinosaur hatches from a petrified egg ...

'', ''

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'', '' ALF: The Animated Series'', '' The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin'', '' COPS'', and '' The Super Mario Bros Super Show''.

Television audience participation

Children watching the show at home were encouraged to send in artwork, photographs, and safety tips that would be selectively chosen to be shown or announced on the air. One regular segment was "Funny Face Time" where a picture of a child viewer making a funny face that was sent to the TV station would be shown on the screen. All children whose submissions appeared on the show were given prizes, such as

Wiffle Ball Wiffle ball, a team sport developed in 1953 in Fairfield, Connecticut, is a scaled back variation of baseball designed for playing in a confined space. The sport is played using a perforated light-weight plastic ball and a long hollow plastic b ...

and Bat Sets which were and still are manufactured in Connecticut.

Live appearances

T.X. Critter (animated by puppeteer Don Wunderlee)also made live appearances, appearing at least once at Lake Compounce amusement park in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and Southington, Connecticut. Commercials for other amusement parks were frequently shown while Kidstime was on the air, among them ads for

Quassy Amusement Park Quassy Amusement Park is an amusement and waterpark in Middlebury, Connecticut, and is one of only 11 trolley parks still operating in the United States. It has 20 rides on its . Quassy consists of a full-fledged amusement park plus a waterpark ...

in Middlebury, Connecticut, and

Catskill Game Farm Catskill Game Farm Inc. was a family owned petting zoo in the town of Catskill, New York, United States, which operated from 1933 to 2006. The Game Farm closed permanently on Columbus Day October 9, 2006, after seventy-three years of operation. ...

in Catskill,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. T.X. also appeared at the Greater Hartford Fair, the "Kid'rific" Children's Fair in downtown Hartford, the Wadsworth Atheneum art museum, the

Connecticut Trolley Museum The Connecticut Trolley Museum, founded in October 1940, is the oldest incorporated museum dedicated to electric railroading in the United States. The museum is located in East Windsor, Connecticut and is open to the public April through December. ...

in East Windsor, the

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

Apple Harvest Festival, the Connecticut International Auto Show at the

Hartford Civic Center Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

(now

XL Center The XL Center (originally known as the Hartford Civic Center) is a multi-purpose arena and convention center located in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Owned by the City of Hartford, it is managed by the quasi-public Capital Region Development ...

), and

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after East J ...

Elementary School.

Other notable staff / cast members

Jim Henson Productions puppeteer Lisa Buckley created and puppeteered puppets for Kidstime from 1984 to 1986 when the show was entitled ''JJ, TX & Friends'' and later changed to ''Kidstime''. The "JJ" in the original title referred to host J.J. Conlon and during his tenure there was a live studio audience and a second puppet on the show named Zeet. When Fusco left the show to work on ALF, Don Wunderlee a CT Punch and Judy puppeteer replaced him as the animator and voice of T.X. Critter.

Kids Club

The show had a "Kids Club" fan club and children would be sent a membership card after joining. One benefit of joining the club was free admission to T.X. Critter's live performances. In October 1983, the fan club had nearly 1,500 members.

Christmas Special

''Kidstime'' also had at least one Christmas special, airing on December 23, 1986.

References

{{Reflist Local children's television programming in the United States American television shows featuring puppetry Waterbury, Connecticut Connecticut culture