''Make a Wish'' is an American children's television series which ran on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

from 1971 to 1976. Produced by

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

, it was hosted by musician

Tom Chapin Tom Chapin (born March 13, 1945) is an American musician, entertainer, singer-songwriter, and storyteller. Chapin is known for the song " Happy Birthday", released in 1989 in his ''Moonboat'' album. It takes its melody from "Love Unspoken", a so ...

and created and produced by Lester Cooper. It replaced ''

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

'', a similar series for children also produced by ABC News since 1962. Each episode of the series, broadcast on Sunday mornings, focused on a particular theme. One episode, for instance, was about snakes, and another was about motorcycles. Chapin would introduce the topic in much the same manner: "I think a snake is what I'll be. Imagine all the possibilities." After that there would be a sort of free association presentation on the theme featuring stock footage, animation and Chapin's music and voiceover commentary. The quick-cutting, free-association, stream-of-consciousness style of the show caused Chapin, years later during a talk show appearance, to jokingly describe ''Make a Wish'' as "a show for six-year old speed freaks". The series won a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

for Best Children's Series in 1971. Some songs performed on the show were written by Tom's brother,

Harry Chapin Harold Forster Chapin (; December 7, 1942 – July 16, 1981) was an American singer-songwriter, philanthropist, and hunger activist best known for his folk rock and pop rock songs. He achieved worldwide success in the 1970s. Chapin, a Grammy ...

. General composer of the show was Bernard Green, who also wrote the music to the title song "Make a Wish," with lyrics by Cooper, sung by Chapin. In 1976, ''Make a Wish'' was replaced with ''

Animals, Animals, Animals ''Animals, Animals, Animals'' is a 1976–1981 educational television series on ABC about animals. The program, produced by ABC News with animated segments produced by Al Brodax, was hosted by Hal Linden.''Watching Wildlife'' By Cynthia Chris. Pa ...

'' which featured much the same frantic visual-overload style, coupled with folk-style songs.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Make A Wish (Tv Series) Peabody Award-winning television programs 1970s American children's television series American children's education television series American Broadcasting Company original programming ABC News 1971 American television series debuts 1976 American television series endings