''Peg + Cat'' is an animated

children's television series 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 ...

based on the children's picture book "The Chicken Problem", which was published in 2012. The series, which featured the

voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

Hayley Faith Negrin Hayley Faith Negrin (born April 9, 2003) is an American actress, best known for her voice work on the PBS Kids television series ''Peg + Cat''. Born in New York City, Negrin now resides in Weston, Connecticut, with her family. A performer sin ...

and

Dwayne Hill Dwayne Hill (born June 5, 1966) is a Canadian voice actor. In 2009, he was nominated for two Gemini awards, one in the solo category for '' Grossology'', the other, which he won, was for best ensemble in '' Atomic Betty''. Overall, he has voiced ...

, was created by

Billy Aronson Billy Aronson is an American playwright and writer, who originated the concept of the rock opera ''Rent'', which was based on Puccini's opera ''La bohème''.Jones, Kenneth (2011)Rent, With Andy Mientus, Fabio Monteiro, Halle Morse, Begins at Pion ...

and

Jennifer Oxley Jennifer Oxley is an American author, illustrator, television writer/director, and songwriter. She is the co-creator of the PBS children's program ''Peg + Cat''. She was the creative director of '' Wonder Pets!'' and ''3rd & Bird'', as well as the ...

and produced by

Fred Rogers Productions Fred Rogers Productions is an American non-profit organization specializing in children's programming for public television in the United States. The organization was started by Fred Rogers and was initially renamed in his honor to The Fred Roger ...

and

9 Story Media Group 9 Story Media Group Inc. (formerly known as 9 Story Entertainment) is a Canadian children's television series, children's media production company and international distributor founded by Vincent "Vince" Commisso, Steve Jarosz, and Blake Tohana o ...

. It debuted on most

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

stations on October 7, 2013, as part of the revamped

PBS Kids PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Instead, ...

brand, and aired 63 episodes through April 23, 2018. In Canada the show is broadcast on

Treehouse TV Treehouse TV is a Canadian English-language specialty channel for preschoolers aged 2 to 5 that was launched in 1997. Its name comes from YTV's former preschool block, " The Treehouse". The channel is owned by YTV Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of ...

. The show is targeted to children 3 to 5 years old. The goal is to "inspire preschoolers’ natural curiosity about math and help them develop new skills and strategies for solving problems creatively in their daily lives." In keeping with the math theme, the animation is presented as if it were drawn on

graph paper Graph paper, coordinate paper, grid paper, or squared paper is writing paper that is printed with fine lines making up a regular grid. The lines are often used as guides for plotting graphs of functions or experimental data and drawing curves. I ...

. On March 3, 2015, PBS Kids renewed ''Peg + Cat'' for a second season, which started on April 4, 2016. On March 28, 2016, a one-hour two-part film aired on PBS Kids. This new film, titled ''Peg + Cat Save the World'', focused on the duo being called upon by the President of the United States (voiced by

Sandra Oh Sandra Miju Oh (born July 20, 1971) is a Canadian–American actress. She is best known for her starring roles as Rita Wu on the HBO comedy '' Arliss'' (1996–2002), Dr. Cristina Yang on the ABC medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2005� ...

), to prevent a global disaster. On March 14, 2016, PBS Kids released the first part of the film on its

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel.

Characters

*Peg – The main character, together with her talking cat, Cat. She is a young girl who wears a red hat and blue dress. She explains the situation in each episode directly to the "camera", announces when they have "a big problem", and reasons out solutions to math-related problems. During songs, she pulls out a

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

and plays it. She has a special blue

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

hidden under her hat. Her favorite crayon is "little bluey". She is voiced by

. *Cat – An

indigo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...

cat whose best friend is Peg. He loves circles and accompanies Peg on her adventures. Cat often inspires Peg to realize a solution to a problem without being aware of it himself. Often helps to calm Peg when she is "totally freaking out". He was inspired by Jennifer Oxley's pet cat. He is voiced by

. *Ramone – A boy who shows up to help Peg and Cat with their math problems. He is voiced by Thamela Mpumlwana in season 1 and Jaiden Lewis in season 2. *Pig – A pig who is usually silent except when he sings in a rich operatic

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

. His favorite shape is the triangle. Voiced by Tommy Wazelle. *Neighbor Ladies – A female African American character named Viv and a female Asian American character named Connie that appear in several episodes. They often accidentally add to Peg and Cat's problems by trying to be nice. Viv is voiced by Angela Teek and Connie is voiced by

Jean Yoon Jean Yoon (born May 4, 1962) is an American-born Canadian actress and writer of Korean descent. Yoon is best known for originating the role of family matriarch Umma in the 2011 play ''Kim's Convenience'' and in the award-winning CBC Television ...

. *100 Chickens – Chickens who play and live on farm and travel to space with Pig, Peg, and Cat. Voiced by Rob Morrison and Carys Casucci. *The Pirates and their parrot – A quarrelsome quartet of pirates who live on an island. They like to sing in four-part harmony but sing "really bad" when they get cranky. They have had a sleepover with Peg and Cat. Voiced by Rob Morrison. *Big Mouth – A blue, furry, horned space monster who likes to eat things that are little and yellow. *Richard – A

space alien Extraterrestrial life, colloquially referred to as alien life, is life that may occur outside Earth and which did not originate on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected, although efforts are underway. Such life might ...

from the purple planet who plays with Peg and Cat in space. He often cries during tense situations. Voiced by Christian DiStefano. *The Teens – Three cool older kids who love pizza and texting on their phones, but can't stand getting dirt on their clothes. Tessa (voiced by

Addison Holley Addison Holley (born May 18, 2000) is a Canadian actress who has had starring roles in several television series. Holley was born in Burlington, Ontario. In 2016, she was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Child ...

) is thirteen, Mora (voiced by

Annick Obonsawin Annick Obonsawin (born October 12, 1983) is a First Nations Abenaki Canadian actress. Biography Obonsawin has played roles in many children's shows such as Inez in ''Cyberchase'' and Skunk in '' Franklin''. She also played Slappy the Dummy in ...

) is fourteen, and Jesse (voiced by Gabriel Giammaria) is fifteen. *Giants – Peg and Cat's big friends who live up the beanstalk in Fairy Tale Land. In ''The Giant Problem'' Peg and Cat think that the Giants are going to eat them. Voiced by Bryce Kulak (Giant) and Shoshana Sperling (Giantess). *Mermaid – A swimming damsel who lives in the Magical Forest. The Pig stole her Golden Pyramid's in ''The Golden Pyramid Problem''. She is voiced by

Emilie-Claire Barlow Emilie-Claire Barlow (born 6 June 1976) is a Canadian singer, arranger, record producer, and voice actress. She has released several albums on her label, Empress Music Group, and has voiced characters for animated television series. She performs ...

. * The Three Bears,

The Three Pigs ''The Three Pigs'' is a children's picture book that was written and illustrated by David Wiesner. Published in 2001 by Houghton Mifflin/Clarion, the book is based on the traditional tale of the ''Three Little Pigs'', though in this story they s ...

The Three Billy Goats Gruff "Three Billy Goats Gruff" ( no, De tre bukkene Bruse) is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their ''Norske Folkeeventyr'', first published between 1841 and 1844. It has an Aarne-Thompson type of 122 ...

- Nine Friends of Peg and Cat that get into bands like The Electric Eleven. Voiced by Kevin Brathwite (Papa Bear), Angela Teek (Mama Bear), Phatt Al (Baby Bear), and Rob Morrison (Three Little Pigs and Three Billy Goats Gruff). *The Blockettes – Five dancers that dance in the Radio City Music Hall. Voiced by Allie Hughes, Jennifer Wallis, and

Katie Griffin Katie Griffin (born January 14, 1973) is a Canadian actress and singer. She has had roles in several television movies and feature films. In cartoons, her best-known roles include the voices of Sailor Mars in the original English Canadian dub o ...

. *Mac – A gruff-voiced man who works various jobs in different episodes. Voiced by Kevin Del Aguila. *Peg's Mom – Voiced by Alison Jutzi. * The Seven Dwarves - Voiced by Rob Morrison. *Dragon – A mythical creature who lives in the Magical Forest. *

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

– A famous music composer who has problems writing music. Voiced by Rob Morrison *

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

– The first president of the United States. Voiced by Kyle McDonald. *

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

– A famous scientist. Voiced by John Stocker. *Flat Woman – A supervillainess who likes to make things flat. Voiced by

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 ...

. *Baby Fox – A young little fox who likes building his block tower and stays with Mrs. Sheep. *

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

– Two young lovers from William Shakespeare's stage play of the same name. *''

Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of herbivore, herbivorous Chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine Ceratopsidae, ceratopsid dinosaur that first appeared during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 68 m ...

'' - An adult blue dinosaur who talks. Randomly says "Horn!" during conversation. *Baby '' T. rex'' - A baby dinosaur with a voracious appetite who can't talk but instead shrieks. Seen frequently with Triceratops. *

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

- Peg + Cat's Queen of the Nile friend, along with her pet camel "Epidermis". Voiced by Patience Mpumlwana. *

Marie Curie Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie ( , , ; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first ...

- Voiced by

Linda Ballantyne Linda Anne Ballantyne (born October 24, 1964) is a Canadian voice actress, who is best known for voicing the title role of Serena Tsukino/Sailor Moon in the second half of the original English version of ''Sailor Moon''. Early life Ballantyne ...

. *Roxanne - A pink French cat. Voiced by Paula McNeil *Grandmom and Granddad - Peg's grandparents who are obsessed with the 1960s. Voiced respectfully by Judy Marshack and Jim Codrington. *The President of the United States - Voiced by

. *Robin Hood - A robin loosely based on the British folklore hero of the same name. *Aki - A ninja in training. Voiced by Mika Shimozato. *

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop si ...

- A famous jazz singer.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2013–15)

Season 2 (2016–18)

Critical reception

''Peg + Cat'' has received generally positive reviews from television critics and parents of young children. Ryan Berenz of ''Channel Guide Magazine'' wrote, "Problem solved: PEG + CAT equals fun!"

Awards

''Peg + Cat'' has won seven

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

s: Outstanding Pre-School Children's Animated Program, Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program (

), Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation (Jennifer Oxley, production designer), Outstanding Writing in a Pre-School Animated Program (includes ''Peg + Cat'' co-creators

and Jennifer Oxley, Kevin Del Aguila, Dustin Ferrer, David Steven Cohen, Qui Nguyen, and writers), and Outstanding Music Direction and Composition (Steven Rebollido, music supervisor; J. Walter Hawkes, music director; and Martin Erskine and D. D. Jackson, composers).

Merchandise

In late 2016,

and

signed a deal with the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

-based toy manufacturer Imports Dragon to create an assortment of plush, arts-and-crafts sets, games and wooden puzzles based on the ''Peg + Cat'' characters. The toys join numerous books from

Candlewick Press Candlewick Press, established in 1992 and located in Somerville, Massachusetts, is part of the Walker Books group. The logo depicting a bear carrying a candle is based on Walker Books's original logo. Sebastian Walker launched Walker Books fro ...

, as well as

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

s from PBS Distribution in the U.S., eOne in Canada, ABC Commercial in Australia and Sony Music in Germany.

References

External links

* * {{Former PBS Kids shows 2013 American television series debuts 2013 Canadian television series debuts 2018 American television series endings 2018 Canadian television series endings 2010s American animated television series 2010s Canadian animated television series 2010s preschool education television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated fantasy television series American flash animated television series American preschool education television series American television shows based on children's books Animated preschool education television series Animated television series about cats Animated television series about children Canadian children's animated adventure television series Canadian children's animated fantasy television series Canadian flash animated television series Canadian preschool education television series Canadian television shows based on children's books English-language television shows Mathematics education television series Daytime Emmy Award winners PBS Kids shows PBS original programming Television series by 9 Story Media Group