"Burps, Butts and Bones"
Sphere Media announced the first commission for its original kids’ factual series "Burps, Butts and Bones" – working title. Kirsten Hurd, commissioning editor for TVOKids at Canadian public broadcaster TVO, has ordered 26 episodes of the hybrid live-action/animation series about weird and wonderful bodies, aimed at six- to nine-year-olds. The series was created by collaborating producers, Karen Hawes and Kim Saltarski with Andrea Griffith, Sphere Media Kids and Family’s vice-president of content and development exec producing and playing a pivotal role in developing the show in partnership with TVOkids.
Every week, Bones — a freewheeling CGI animated medical skeleton — records a video ‘bodcast’, conveniently named ‘Bodies with Bones’, in which he addresses an urgent body-related question posed by a real-life kid. After providing a concise and comical ‘101’ about the bodily topic at hand, Bones unleashes his squad of intrepid kid reporters, the B Team, to find out more. Throughout each fast-paced 11-minute episode, ‘Weird but True’ pop-up graphics share odd and outrageous snack-facts about amazing human bodies.
This latest order reflects Sphere Media’s concerted push into kids’ live action, which has delivered a string of successes in recent years, including "Gabby’s Farm", a pre-school series set the world of farming and agriculture; "It’s My Party!", which invites young viewers to the world’s greatest parties, from Diwali and Kwanzaa to Hanukkah and Oshogatsu; "Backyard Beats", which fuses music and crafting; and, most recently "Project Rube", an unscripted series focused on science, technology, engineering and maths.
"With its hybrid structure and brilliant concept, 'Burps, Butts and Bones' hits all the marks of a TVOkids show; it will entertain and educate our audience!” said Kirsten Hurd, Commissioning Editor, TVOkids. “It’s a comedy-led, funny-first celebration of our bodies, that will encourage curiosity, demystify bodily functions and normalize body diversity. The key message is clear: our bodies are beautiful, fascinating, amazing, and unique.”
Marlo Miazga was appointed head of Sphere’s Kids and Family banner in 2023, adding responsibility for the new unit to her role as president of unscripted and documentaries, enabling the departments to collaborate more closely. “We are seeing hybrid shows as the next big swing in kids’ entertainment. When we restructured our kids’ factual, scripted and animation units, our aim was to bring together Sphere’s creative teams to allow for a cross-pollination of ideas, energy and resources,” said Miazga. “This new commission is proof that the right corporate scaffolding not only makes business easier, but can also unleash creativity and create new opportunities. As a hybrid, 'Burps, Butts and Bones' is the perfect complement to our robust animation division. This show is, of course, entertaining and informative but, above all in our world of disinformation and looks-based stereotyping, it’s timely.’