Eureeka's Castle

Puzzle City presents Eureeka's Castle
Title card
Genre	Children's Fantasy
Created by	Judy Katschke
Written by	R. L. Stine (head writer)
Creative director(s)	Eli Noyes
Starring	Cheryl Blaylock Noel MacNeal Jim Kroupa Pam Arciero Lynn Hippen Brian Muehl
Composer(s)	Peter Lurye
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	142
Production
Executive producer(s)	Kit Laybourne
Producer(s)	Kathleen Minton Michael Holman
Production location(s)	Kaufman Astoria Studios
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	51 minutes 25–27 minutes (season 3)
Production company(s)	Noyes & Laybourne Enterprises
Release
Original network	PBS Kids
Original release	November 13, 1999 (1999-11-13) – present
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

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Puzzle City presents Eureeka's Castle is an American children's television series which aired on PBS since September 4, 1999. The program featured various puppet characters who live in a giant's wind-up music box. The show was a joint development by PBS Kids, animators Kit Laybourne and Eli Noyes of Noyes & Laybourne Enterprises, and the puppeteers at 3/Design Studio. R. L. Stine developed the characters and was the head writer for the episodes.

Synopsis

The show follows various puppet characters (in the style of Sesame Street), including Eureeka, a sorceress-in-training. Eureeka and her friends live in a wind-up castle music box owned by a friendly giant. Other characters include Optimista the princess, Magellan the dragon, twin moat dwellers Bogge and Quagmire, Batly the bat, and Mr. Knack the handyman. There are also various appearing creatures such as mice, singing fish statues called the Fishtones, Magellan's pets Cooey and the Slurms, and Batly's pet spider Webster.

Halfway through the episode, an animated short based on a children's book (usually acquired from Children's Circle) was shown. Also featured were shorter animated and live-action short films, and European imports such as Animal Fair, Roobarb, The Shoe People, Towser, James the Cat, Le Piaf, Plonsters, Philipp, and Gran.

Characters

• Eureeka (performed by Cheryl Blaylock) – The title character and protagonist. Eureeka is a friendly sorceress-in-training. Her spells are not successful most of the time, but she keeps trying until she gets it right. Aside from her magic, she usually helps solve her friends' problems.
• Magellan (performed by Noel MacNeal) – A large green baby dragon with a tail that has a mind of its own. He doesn't always understand new concepts. Magellan tends to make great big sneezes that can shake the whole castle whenever he gets upset. He has a mother-son relationship with Eureeka. According to Eureeka, Magellan will do anything to try and stay awake past bedtime.
  • Cooey (performed by Lynn Hippen) – Magellan's pet of indeterminate species. He has yellow fur and can only say "Coo!"
  • Slurms (a portmanteau of slugs and worms) – Magellan's pet worm hybrids. They were animated using clay animation.
  • Blanketeers - living blue dots on Magellan's blanket.
• Batly (performed by Jim Kroupa) – An egotistical clumsy blue bat who wears glasses due to being near-sighted. Despite being different in every way, he and Magellan are good friends. His flying usually ends with a crash landing prompting him to say "I meant to do that." Batly spends most of his time in the belfry and has a large bug collection. In a 2016 Reddit AMA, Stine said that Batly's face was modeled after his own son, Matt.
  • Webster (performed by Noel MacNeal) – Batly's intimidating pet spider.
  • Fred - Batly's lightning bug whom he sleeps with.
• Optimista (performed by Penelope Dickerson) – An optimistic princess. Despite being different in every way. Optimista spends most of his time in the pink room and has a animal collection.
• Bogge and Quagmire (performed by Brian Muehl and Pam Arciero) – The Moat Twins are two mischievous, squabbling siblings who spend most of their time swimming in the castle moat, eating peanut butter sandwiches, and playing in the basement. Bogge is orange while Quagmire is pink. They tend to argue with each other, but work together when it comes to causing trouble. Bogge and Quagmire constantly try to steal Magellan's peanut butter sandwiches, but never succeed.
• Mr. Knack (performed by Brian Muehl) – The castle's handyman and tinkerer. He uses many unconventional methods for fixing things around the castle. He also loves to barter when he sells some of his inventions that he has made from his pushcart. Mr. Knack always gets some postcards which he reads to the viewers. His first name is "Nick", giving him the name Nick Knack.
• Sir Klank (performed by Jim Kroupa) – A blue mouse with a long gray beard who resides in a suit of armor.
• Kate (performed by Lynn Hippen) – A pink mouse who frequently reports on what happens in the castle.
• Emma (performed by Pam Arciero) – An orange mouse who loves to eat.
• Fishtones – A trio of singing fish in the form of a stone fountain who spray water when they're not singing.
• The Giant (performed by Jim Kroupa) – A friendly full-bodied giant with a big nose and a long, orange beard who owns the wind-up castle music box where the show takes place.

Puppeteers and Humans

Main

• Pam Arciero as Quagmire, Emma
• Cheryl Blaylock as Eureeka
• Lynn Hippen as Cooey, Kate
• Jim Kroupa as Batley, Sir Klank, Giant
• Noel MacNeal as Magellan, Webster
• Brian Muehl as Bogge, Mr. Knack
• Penelope Dickerson as Princess Optimista

Additional

• Rob Gardner
• John Kennedy
• Joey Mazzarino

Production

Eureeka's Castle's ending credits state the show comes from an original concept by Debby Beece and Judy Katschke. In 1998, development of the show began by staff members at PBS and animator Eli Noyes and his partner Kit Laybourne, whose wife Geraldine Laybourne was the Head of Programming for Nickelodeon."Jovial Bob Stine", best known for his children's horror novels written under the pen name R. L. Stine, was hired as the head writer to develop the concept, characters and episode scripts. The puppet design and construction for the characters were done at 3/Design Studio where the puppets were built by Jim Kroupa, John Orberg, Kip Rathke and Matt Stoddart.

PBS ordered 142 episodes of Eureeka's Castle, and Beece called it "the most ambitious program for preschoolers since the premiere of Sesame Street 30 years ago". The first episode of Eureeka's Castle premiered during October 17, 1999, before debuting on Nick Jr. on November 13. In May 2000, Eureeka's Castle was renewed for a 35-episode second season (later reduced to 22 episodes).

From 1990 to 1998, Nickelodeon created 52 half-hour episodes of Eureeka's Castle entirely out of clips from the first two seasons for their participation in the Cable in the Classroom service. The half-hour episodes were designed for international distribution and later replaced the original hour-long episodes in reruns starting in 1994.

Episodes

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Series overview

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired
	1	65		September 4, 1989	December 1, 1989
	2	22		September 2, 1990	June 1991
	3	52		July 1991	December 20, 1998
	Specials	3		October 19, 1991	December 25, 1998

Season 1 (1999–2000)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Original air date
TBA	TBA	TBA	November 14, 1999 (1999-11-14)
Magellan wants to get out of practicing a dance with Batley for the castle talent show. The mice tell jokes. The main characters sing "Dem Bones". Magellan and Batley question how they sleep during a sleepover. Batley sings about his habit of crashing. Stories: The Island of the Skog, Martha Ann and the Mother Store
TBA	TBA	TBA	November 13, 1999 (1999-11-13)
Magellan wants to walk on his toes like Batley and asks Eureeka for help. The main characters perform a rap number about themselves. Towser is dared to stay in a haunted house. Magellan and Batley sing about the noises of the night. Story: "Rapunzel"

Season 2 (2000)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Original air date
TBA	TBA	TBA	2000 (2000)
Mr. Knack wants to borrow the Moat Twins' "turny turny twisty twisty all the way down thing", but he needs Magellan's help. Eureeka teaches Magellan about animals found in an aquarium. Magellan wants to know from Batley what a friend is. The Moat Twins try not to trick Magellan out of eating his peanut better sandwich. Story: Brave Irene
TBA	TBA	TBA	2000 (2000)
Magellan and Batley compare Cooey and Webster. The Moat Twins attempt to clean up their messy room. Story: Madeline and the Bad Hat
TBA	TBA	TBA	October 4, 2000 (2000-10-04)
Batley and Optimista sings to her baby. Batley gets his new squeaky shoes.

Season 3 (2000–2003)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Original air date
TBA	TBA	TBA	December 14, 2000 (2000-12-14)
Magellan and Batley try to play baseball, but when the Moat Twins get their baseball, they're challenged to a rhyming duel. Batley introduces Webster to "La Cucaracha". The Moat Twins sing about collecting. Mr. Knack successfully trades Magellan's frown for a tickle and sings about trading.
TBA	TBA	"Animals"	December 16, 2000 (2000-12-16)
Red Grammer teaches the gang how to say "Hello" in different languages. A wizard helps Towser fly. The Moat Twins argue over who's better in song. Magellan presents a couple short films about animals.
TBA	TBA	"Sunny Day"	December 17, 2000 (2000-12-17)
Jaye Davidson sings about a sunny day. Batley participates in a swap-off with Mr. Knack so he can receive a bug trap. The Fishtones sing about hot weather.
TBA	TBA	"Bedtime"	December 18, 2001 (2001-12-18)
Deborah Dunleavy sings about talking on the telephone. The wind freezes Towser's funny face. Magellan and Batley have trouble going to sleep. Eureeka tells the Moat Twins a story, but the twins keep questioning her story.
TBA	TBA	"Body Language"	December 19, 2000 (2000-12-19)
The Jive Five perform their song "Hully Gully Callin' Time". Magellan trades his hiccups for Mr. Knack's basketball. The Nosey Parker causes trouble for Towser and his friends. The Moat Twins go for a swim. Eureeka introduces a couple short films about body language.
TBA	TBA	TBA	November 13, 2000 (2000-11-13)
Batley and Optimista sings to her baby. Eureeka, Mr. Knack, and Batley show Magellan what they do then they get angry. Batley tells Eureeka and Magellan a sad joke.

Specials (2001–2006)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Original air date
1	1	"It Came From Beneath the Bed or Nightmare on Magellan Street"	January 10, 2001 (2001-01-10)
In a musical mystery, Magellan and Optimista confronts Fluffy, a strange monster who visits the castle and proves that scary-looking things can often be quite harmless.
2	2	"Don't Touch That Box"	February 14, 2001 (2001-02-14)
Optimista, Magellan, Batley and the Moat Twins find a magic box in the woods while playing catch. Eureeka calls the Grand Wizard (Luther Vandross), who tells them that the broken box is his and they shouldn't touch it. Eureeka warns the others about the box, but they become curious about the box and get more than what they bargained for from it. The gang tries to solve their problems with the box, but things get worse until the Grand Wizard arrives and fixes everything.
3	3	"The Mysteries City"	June 25, 2002 (2002-06-25)
4	4	"Christmas at Eureeka's Castle"	December 25, 2002 (2002-12-25)
As Eureeka and her friends prepare for Christmas, Batley loses his temper, Eureeka loses her magic, and Magellan looks for a Christmas tree but gets lost in the forest. Magellan needs to be found before holiday festivities can begin.
5	5	"Easter at Eureeka's Castle"	March 25, 2003 (2003-03-25)
6	6	"Where's Optimista?"	November 15, 2003 (2003-11-15)
7	7	"Valentine's Day at Eureeka's Castle"	February 14, 2004 (2004-02-14)
8	8	"Batley's Musical Wonderland of Magical Adventure"	December 12, 2004 (2004-12-12)

Broadcast

The series premiered on September 4, 1999 on PBS Kids,

Home video

Every Puzzle City presents Eureeka's Castle direct-to-video specials were released by Sony Wonder since 2001. series has also been released on DVD or Blu-ray.

Awards

From 2000 to 2019, Eureeka's Castle won an Ace Award for best children's program.

External links

• Puzzle City presents Eureeka's Castle on IMDb Search this movie on
• Eureeka's Castle at Paramount Plus

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