Shining Time Station is a children's television series jointly created by British television producer Britt Allcroft and American television producer Rick Siggelkow. The series was produced by Quality Family Entertainment (the American branch of The Britt Allcroft Company), in association with Catalyst Entertainment in seasons 2 and 3, for New York City's PBS station WNET, and was originally taped in New York City during its first season and in Toronto during the rest of its run. It incorporated sequences from the British television show Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, which was in turn based on the books of The Railway Series written by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry.
The series aired on PBS from January 29, 1989, until June 11, 1993, with four hour-long "Family Specials" premiering in primetime throughout 1995. Reruns continued to air on PBS until June 11, 1998.[1][2]Shining Time Station reruns aired on Fox Family from 1998 to 1999, and on Nick Jr. from June to August 2000 to promote the theatrical release of Thomas and the Magic Railroad. The series also aired on Canadian television networks such as APTN and SCN. Elements from the show were incorporated into the 2000 film Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
The initial 1989 season featured a cast that included Ringo Starr as Mr. Conductor, Didi Conn as Stacy Jones, Brian O'Connor as Horace Schemer, Leonard Jackson as Harry Cupper, Jason Woliner as Matt Jones and Nicole Leach as Tanya Cupper. Following a Christmas special with the original cast, the show was retooled for the second (1991) and third (1993) seasons, with only Conn and O'Connor reprising their prior roles. George Carlin replaced Starr as Mr. Conductor, while Erica Luttrell, Ari Magder, Danielle Marcot, and Tom Jackson joined the primary cast in newly created roles. The series concluded with four "Family Specials", aired in 1995. Providing the musical numbers for the show was The Jukebox Band, a group of puppets.
In 1996, Carlin appeared in a spin-off series called Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales, which featured only six episodes with five Thomas stories and one music video each. The station interior was kept for the spin-off.
Background
After the success of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends in the United Kingdom, Britt Allcroft and her production company teamed up with PBS station WNET in New York City to produce and distribute the sitcom-esque Shining Time Station, every episode of which would include a couple of episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. The series starred Ringo Starr, George Carlin, Didi Conn, Brian O'Connor, and the Flexitoon Puppets.[3]Ringo Starr, who had already been providing the narration for the British series, agreed to extend the role to include the on-screen character called Mr. Conductor in Shining Time Station. He left the show after its initial season to focus on his musical career and was replaced by George Carlin.
Shining Time Station received critical acclaim. In a review for Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker states that, compared to the faster paced Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, "'Shining Time Station' wants to slow things down. It's an old-fashioned show that creates a gentle, lulling atmosphere to convince children that life is fun and that trains are the way to travel."[4] It was a ratings success as well. In its first season, the show averaged a 0.9 Nielsen rating, translating to about 1.2 million viewers on average. At the peak of its popularity, the show brought in up to 7.5 million viewers per week.[5]
Overview
The Shining Time Station is a fictional train station on the Indian Valley Railroad in an unknown part of the United States. It is managed by Stacy Jones. Its workshop is run in the first season by Harry Cupper, and thereafter by Billy Twofeathers. A local named Horace Schemer, simply referred to as Schemer, runs the station's arcade and serves as the series' comic relief. He often comes up with tricks and schemes (hence his surname) to get his ways, although they usually backfire on him as a result of his foolishness. The narrative is driven by regular and incidental visitors to the station.
Mr. Conductor is a tiny man who lives in a signal house inside the station's mural and tells the stories taken from Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends to the kids. He also introduces songs to the kids in the Anything Tunnel. Sometimes, he may present a magic bubble to the kids that has the song inside as a way of introducing it. On occasion, the kids may look through a film viewer to see the song or film.
Cast
Main
Didi Conn as Stacy Jones, the kindhearted station master and aunt to Matt and Dan
Brian O'Connor as Horace Schemer, the proprietor of the station's arcade
Ringo Starr as Mr. Conductor (season 1, Christmas special), a 20-centimetre tall conductor with a magic whistle that helps him teleport away
George Carlin as Mr. Conductor (seasons 2–3, family specials), the first Mr. Conductor's cousin
Leonard Jackson as Henry "Harry" Cupper (season 1, Christmas special, family special 3), an engineer and grandfather of Tanya and Kara
Nicole Leach as Tanya Cupper (main, season 1, Christmas special; guest, season 2), Harry's granddaughter and Kara's cousin
Jason Woliner as Matthew "Matt" Jones (main, season 1, Christmas special; guest, season 2), Stacy's nephew who visits the station
Tom Jackson as Billy Twofeathers (seasons 2–3, Family Specials), the engineer who replaced Harry after he left and Kit's uncle
Erica Luttrell as Kara Cupper (seasons 2–3, Family Specials), Harry's granddaughter and Tanya's cousin
Ari Magder as Daniel "Dan" Jones (seasons 2–3, Family Specials), Stacy's nephew and Matt's cousin
Danielle Marcot – Becky (recurring, season 2; main, season 3, Family Specials), a local girl who is friends with Dan and Kara
Recurring
Jerome Dempsey as Osgood Bob Flopdinger, the mayor of the town of Shining Time
Mart Hulswit as J.B. King, Esq., the superintendent of the Indian Valley Railroad
Wayne White (1989) and Alan Semok (1990–1995) as Tex, a guitarist
Craig Marin as Rex, a guitarist
Peter Baird (puppeteer, 1989–95), Alan Semok (puppeteer, 1989), Kenny Miele (puppeteer, 1990–95), and Vaneese Thomas (voice) as Grace, the bassist
The songs were arranged and performed by Steve Horelick with Larry Wolf. They featured vocal performances by Rory Dodd, Vaneese Thomas, Emily Bindinger and Jonathan Freeman.
Segments
The intro to each episode consists of the main theme song of the show, played to footage of the Union Pacific Steam Locomotive 844 and the credits of the series' characters. Only the first verse is sung for the beginning theme. The closing credits contain more shots of the Union Pacific 844, in addition to the full Shining Time Station theme song. For the Christmas special "'Tis A Gift", the footage used for the opening and closing sequences was filmed at the Grand Canyon Railway in Williams, Arizona and features their locomotive #18.
Flexitoons Puppets & Marionettes – The Jukebox Band – the show's station band that performs a song inside the jukebox. They consist of pianist Tito Swing, drummer Didi, guitarists Tex and Rex (who control the guitar together), and bass guitarist Grace Bass. JJ Silvers is the manager of The Jukebox Band.
The Anything Tunnel – Inside the tunnel on the station's mural is a song with a cartoon, a stop motion clip, or a live action one. Sometimes instead of the Anything Tunnel, Mr. Conductor would show a magic bubble or one of the kids would look through a film viewer.
Most VHS releases (the exceptions being "'Tis a Gift", "Shining Time Station Singsongs", "Schemer Presents: The World According to Me", and the two Jukebox Band videos) featured new wraparounds, presenting the episode as the main feature at the "Shining Time Drive-In Movie Theater", complete with in-universe commercials. These videos also featured "Schemer Presents!", bonus educational sketches starring Schemer, following the episode. The model drive-in scenes are sampled from the art film "Easy Living" by Chip Lord & Mickey McGowan.
"'Tis a Gift"
"Sweet and Sour"
"Stacy Cleans Up"
"Schemer Alone"
"Bully for Mr. Conductor"
"Becky Makes a Wish"
"Billy's Party"
"Schemer's Special Club"
"Mr. Conductor's Evil Twin"
"Shining Time Station Singsongs"
"Schemer Presents: The World According to Me"
"The Jukebox Band: A Day in the Life"
"The Jukebox Band: Lullaby"
Book
A book, titled This Old Band, was written by Britt Allcroft and Rick Siggelkow. It featured the Jukebox Band and was published by Quality Family Entertainment in 1994.
Music
Four cassettes were released featuring music from the series performed by the Jukebox Band:[6]
Sleepytime Singsongs (1993)
Rainy Day Singsongs (1993)
Rise and Shine Singsongs (1994)
Birthday Party Singsongs (1994)
All four featured dialogue linking the songs, including in-universe ads.
