Animal Crack-Ups is an ABC game show which aired in primetime from August 8 to September 12, 1987, after which it aired on Saturday mornings from September 12, 1987, to December 30, 1989, and again from June 2 to September 1, 1990.[1] It was produced by ABC Productions in association with Vin Di Bona Productions (both companies also produce America's Funniest Home Videos) and hosted by Alan Thicke, who was on Growing Pains at the time. The program was based on a Japanese Tokyo Broadcasting System Television series, Wakuwaku Dōbutsu Land (わくわく動物ランド).
| Animal Crack-Ups | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Game Show |
| Based on | Wakuwaku Dōbutsu Land |
| Written by | Todd Thicke |
| Presented by | Alan Thicke |
| Voices of | Susan Blu |
| Theme music composer |
|
| Ending theme | "Animals Are Just Like People Too" by Alan Thicke |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Vin Di Bona |
| Producers | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | August 8, 1987 – September 1, 1990 |
The show's theme song was "Animals Are Just Like People Too", created by Thickovit music (Alan and Todd Thicke and Gary Pickus).[2]
Gameplay
editFour celebrities competed. Host Thicke introduced a video clip about an animal; at some point, the video was paused and Thicke asked a question about the clip. The celebrities give their answers, after which the remainder of the clip was played, revealing the answer.
Any celebrities giving the correct answer received a point; score was kept by placing a stuffed animal (a monkey in the first season, a hedgehog in later seasons) in front of the celebrity's podium. Co-host Debbie Bartlett provided the stuffed animals. The celeb with the most toy animals/points won the game and $2,500 for their favorite animal charity. If a tie occurred, the money was split between the charities.
On segues to two commercial breaks, a hedgehog puppet named "Reggie the Hedgie" (voiced by Susan Blu, performed by Lisa Sturz) gave animal facts to the home viewers and read home-viewer mail.
International versions
edit| Country | Name | Host(s) | TV station | Year aired |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Japan (original version)
|
わくわく動物ランド Wakuwaku Dōbutsu Land |
Various | TBS Television | 1983–1992 |
 Argentina
|
Waku Waku | Héctor Larrea | Azul Televisión/Canal 9 | 1999–2000 |
 Brazil
|
TV Animal | Angélica Eliana Gugu Liberato Beto Marden Roberta Peporine |
SBT | 1988–1992 1995–1996 2009–2010 |
 Chile
|
Maravillozoo | Javier Miranda (1995-1999) Paulina Nin (2000) Antonio Vodanovic (2001-2002) |
Canal 13 | 1995–2002 |
 Netherlands
|
Waku Waku | Rob Fruithof (1988-1996) Sybrand Niessen (1996-2000) Paula Udondek (2000-2001) Sosha Duysker (2022-) |
Nederland 1 NPO Zapp (NPO 3) |
1988–2001 2022– |
 Portugal
|
Arca de Noé | Fialho Gouveia Ana do Carmo Carlos Alberto Moniz |
RTP2 RTP1 |
1990–1993 1994–1995 |
 Spain
|
Waku Waku Jimanji Kanana |
Consuelo Barlanga Nuria Roca Rosa García Caro |
TVE-1 La 1 |
1989–1991; 1998–2001 2003 |
References
edit- ^ Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. pp. 24–25. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ Library of Congress. "Animals are just like people too : Theme from Animal crack-ups." Copyright registration PAu001011105.
External links
edit- Vin Di Bona Productions
- Animal Crack-Ups at IMDb
- Clip of the show's theme song with scenes of animals
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