5/23/25, 12:31 PM The Puzzle Place (partially lost PBS puppet series; 1994-1998) - The Lost Media Wiki

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The Puzzle Place was an edutainment puppet show produced by KCET and Lancit Media that initially ran from 1994-1998 on PBS
with 75 episodes and 6 out-of-print VHS compilations.

Concept
The show utilized the talents of Jim Henson Company puppeteers such as Noel MacNeal of Bear in the Big Blue House fame,
Carmen Osbahr, the puppeteer for Rosita from Sesame Street, and even Matt Vogel and Peter Linz, known best as the
originators of Constantine the Frog and Walter in the Muppet films, respectively. Vogel is currently performing the roles of Kermit
the Frog, Big Bird, and The Count, among others.

The show tackled all manner of difficult topics such as racism, sexism, handicaps, death, etc. and promoted diversity, open
communication, and compassion. The production and writing quality were especially high for a puppeteering show that was
never directly connected to the CTW.

Copyrights
Currently, PBS doesn't hold the rights to it, and chances are no one ever will. Lancit Media, which was the proprietor of the show
itself and all merchandise pertaining to it, went through many financial restraints in its short-lived run and inevitably went under.
In order to ever release these episodes on any format, one would need to renew the rights, which is a money-consuming
prospect for a show as inconsequential to the public at large.

Pilot
According to a KCET article written in 2014, there was a pilot aired in 1994 titled The Puzzle Works or Puzzleworks.[1] There are two
found videos so far that confirm this fact.[2][3] Before this point, a lot of write-ups were done for the show under the name of The
Puzzle Factory, which was apparently changed to avoid copyright issues with a toy company of a similar name. Besides that,
nothing else is mentioned about the pilot.[4]

While it's unknown if the pilot had different characters, one write-up calls one of the characters Jamal "Jammin" Waters and has
a Hispanic character called Victor Melendez. In another article from, later on, characters have different first and last names
(those being Max Olafsen, Leon Devon, Jazzy Silver, Skye Blazing Star).[5]

Availability
All six of the out-of-print VHS compilations (as well as an extra clip created for a special VHS in a series called Kids for Character)
were sought out online and ripped by the currently defunct Dailymotion user TheRedBaron1985.

There are 9 complete episodes in the VHS compilations, and 2 of them (Cute Is As Cute Does & Going By The Book) haven't
been found in a stand-alone format.

As of 2025, not counting episodes only contained in the compilations, 52 of the 75 episodes have been fully found.

VHS Compilations
Tuned In (S1E10 Spud Buds & S1E14 Cute Is as Cute Does)
Rock Dreams (S1E18 Mad Music Magic & S1E08 Rock Dreams) ×
Rip Van Wrinkle (S1E17 Going by the Book & S1E03 Rip Van Wrinkle)
Deck the Halls (S2E01 Deck the Halls, extended)

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Sing-Along Songs (Unknown)

Accentuate the Positive (S1E06 Rudy One & S1E04 Accentuate the Positive)
Kids for Character (S1E31 Finders Keepers, excerpts only, w/ new footage recorded)

Episode List
Season 1
# Episode Title Air Date Status

1 Tippy Woo Jan 16, 1995 Found

2 Train Driving Kids Jan 17, 1995 Found (Nov 2024, improved transfer)

3 Rip Van Wrinkle Jan 18, 1995 Found

4 Accentuate the Positive Jan 19, 1995 Found

5 Gotta Dance Jan 20, 1995 Found

6 Rudy One Jan 23, 1995 Found

7 Butterfingers Jan 24, 1995 Found

8 Rock Dreams Jan 25, 1995 Found

9 Roamantics Jan 26, 1995 Found

10 Spud Buds Jan 27, 1995 Found

11 Different Drummer Jan 30, 1995 Found

12 I Love Kiki Jan 31, 1995 Found

13 True Colors Feb 1, 1995 Found

14 Cute is as Cute Does Feb 2, 1995 Found

15 Leon's Pizza Feb 3, 1995 Found

16 Real Heroes Feb 6, 1995 Found

17 Going by the Book Feb 7, 1995 Found

18 Mad Music Magic Feb 8, 1995 Found

19 Party of One Feb 9, 1995 Found

20 Dancing Dragon Feb 10, 1995 Found

21 Picture Perfect Feb 13, 1995 Found

22 Maiden Voyages Feb 14, 1995 Found

23 Donuts and Dithering Feb 15, 1995 Partially Found

24 Bully for Jody Feb 16, 1995 Found

25 Ben's Bad Hair Day Feb 17, 1995 Partially Found

26 All Weather Friends Feb 20, 1995 Found (LQ)

27 Bread and Matzoh Feb 21, 1995 Found

28 Owning it Feb 22, 1995 Partially Found

29 Baffled Ben (1 | 2) Feb 23, 1995 Partially Found

30 Practice Makes Perfect Feb 24, 1995 Found

31 Finders Keepers Feb 27, 1995 Found

×
32 You Say Potato Feb 28, 1995 Found

33 At the End of our Rope Mar 1, 1995 Partially Found (Bad Audio)

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34 Just Kidding Mar 2, 1995 Found (also in Portuguese)

35 Everything in its Place Mar 3, 1995 Found

36 Big Boys Don't Cry Mar 6, 1995 Found

37 Here's to the Winners Mar 7, 1995 Found

38 A World of Difference Mar 8, 1995 Found

39 Willing and Able Mar 9, 1995 Found

40 It's Magic Mar 10, 1995 Partially Found

Season 2
# Episode Title Air Date Status

Jan 15, Found (also as 30-minute Shortened TV Version (original, w/ no narration

1 Deck the Halls
1996 segments) 45-minute Shortened TV Version)

Jan 16,
2 Dressing up is Hard to do Found
1996

Jan 17,
3 One Way Found
1996

Jan 18,
4 Oldies But Goodies Partially Found
1996

Jan 19,
5 Helping Hands Found
1996

Jan 22,
6 Yellow Belt Partially Found
1996

The Mystery of the Fabulous Jan 23,

07 Found
Hat 1996

How Much is that Doggie in Jan 24,

08 Found
the Window? 1996

The New Adventures of Julie Jan 25,

09 Partially Found
Woo 1996

Jan 26,
10 We Three Kings Found
1996

Jan 29,
11 Hello, Maggie Found (now in HQ)
1996

Jan 30,
12 Off the Track Lost
1996

Jan 31,
13 Beautiful Doll Found
1996

Feb 1,
14 Tattle Tales Lost
1996

Feb 2,
15 Those Ears, Those Eyes Found
1996

Feb 5,
16 That's Weird Found
1996
×
Feb 6,
17 The Ballad of Davy Cricket Found
1996

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Feb 7,
18 Little Leon, Big Ben Found
1996

Feb 8,
19 I Scream, You Scream Found
1996

Feb 9,
20 Skye's Coat Found (also as Animated Segment Excerpt)
1996

Feb 12,
21 It's Mine Found
1996

Feb 13,
22 One Big, Happy Family Lost
1996

Feb 14,
23 Leon Grows up Found
1996

Feb 15,
24 Cowpokes Partially Found (Danish only)
1996

Feb 16,
25 Hurricane Julie Lost
1996

Season 3
# Episode Title Air Date Status

01 Family Fun Oct 19, 1998 Lost

02 Anything She can do Oct 20, 1998 Lost

03 You Don't Match Oct 21, 1998 Lost

04 To Have and Have Not Oct 26, 1998 Partially Found

05 Fiesta Follies Oct 27, 1998 Lost

06 Between You and Me Oct 28, 1998 Lost

07 A Star is Burned Oct 29, 1998 Found

08 Spooky Oct 30, 1998 Found

09 Up! Dec 3, 1998 Lost

10 I'm Talking to You Dec 4, 1998 Found

Gallery
DefunctTV: The History of The Puzzle Place

×
Defunctland's video on the subject.

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See Also
Bumpers
Bookworm Bunch (partially found interstitials from PBS Kids channel block; 2000-2001)
PBS Kids (partially lost schedule bumpers and interstitial material of TV channel block; 1999-present)
PBS Kids Vote-A-Rama (lost bumpers of "Arthur" themed marathon; 2002)
Someday School (partially found PBS Kids channel block; 1998-2000)

PBS
Adventures with Kanga Roddy (partially found PBS children's series; 1998-2000)
Backyard Safari (found PBS children's educational series; 1997)
Barney & Friends "Season 9" (partially found alternative version of PBS children's series; 2004-2005)
Christmastime with Mister Rogers (found holiday special of PBS children's educational series; 1977)
Feeling Good (lost PBS health series; 1974-1975)
Lamb Chop's Play-Along (partially lost PBS children's puppet series; 1992-1995)
Mister Rogers Talks About Conflict (found episode arc of PBS children's educational series; 1983)
Reading Rainbow (found Johnny Kemp opening sequence for PBS children's educational series; 1999)
Shining Time Station (found season one intro of PBS series; 1989-1990)
Springtime with Mister Rogers (found primetime special for PBS children's educational series; 1979)
Storytime (found PBS children's reading series; 1992-1998)
Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? "Auld Lang Gone" (non-existent episode of PBS children's game show; 1992)
Zoom (found pilot of revival of 1972 PBS children's series; 1995)
Zoom (partially lost revival of PBS children's series; 1999-2005)

PBS Kids
The Charlie Horse Music Pizza (partially lost PBS Kids "Lamb Chop's Play-Along" spin-off series; 1998-1999)
Curious George (lost test pilot of PBS Kids animated series based on books; existence unconfirmed; 2004/2005)
Cyberchase "The Poddleville Case" (found test pilot of PBS Kids educational animated series; 1999)
Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (lost pitch pilot of PBS Kids animated musical series; 2006-2008)
Dragon Tales "One Small Step for Cassie" and "Circle of Friends" (lost pilots of PBS Kids animated series; 1999)
Dragon Tales Live! (partially found footage of live stage shows; 2001-2006)
The Good Night Show with Melanie/Leo (partially found PBS Kids Sprout series; 2005-2006)
The Good Night Show with Nina & Star (partially found PBS Kids Sprout series; 2006-2017)
Jet Propulsion (partially found pitch pilot of "Ready Jet Go!" PBS Kids CGI-animated series; 2013)
Kratts' Creatures (found PBS children's educational series; 1996)
The Let's Go Show (partially found PBS Kids Sprout series; 2007-2008)
Make Way for Noddy (partially found PBS Kids version of British children's TV series; 2005)
Molly of Denali (partially found pitch pilot of PBS Kids animated series; 2018)
Nature Cat (lost pitch pilot of PBS Kids educational animated series; early 2010s)
Peg + Cat (partially lost pitch pilot of PBS Kids educational animated series; 2011)
Preschool Musical... On a Stick (partially lost PBS Kids Sprout "High School Musical" parody; 2008)
Seven Little Monsters (found episodes of PBS Kids animated series; 2000-2004)
Space Race (partially found PBS Kids web series; 2011)
The Sunny Side Up Show (partially found PBS Kids Sprout series; 2007-2017)
Super Why! (partially found British dub of PBS Kids CGI animated series; late 2000s-2010s)
Super Why! (lost second pitch pilot of PBS Kids CGI-animated series; 2004-2006)
What's The Big Idea? (non-existent pitch pilot of "Sid The Science Kid" PBS Kids CGI animated series; 2007)
WordGirl (lost pitch pilot of PBS Kids educational animated series; existence unconfirmed; 2005)
WordWorld (found test pilot of PBS Kids CGI animated educational series; 2005)

References
1. A 2014 KCET article on a pilot titled Puzzleworks to be added to the January 1995 lineup. Retrieved 13 Apr '15
2. The first pilot episode of The Puzzle Place (formerly called The Puzzle Works. Retrieved 14 Aug '19
3. The second pilot episode of The Puzzle Place (formerly called The Puzzle Works. Retrieved 14 Aug '19
×
4. An LA Times article on an early version of The Puzzle Place titled The Puzzle Factory. Retrieved 13 Apr '15
5. A Washington Post article on The Puzzle Place's pilot, which said that the characters had different names than in the final
version. Retrieved 13 Apr '15

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Categories:
Lost TV
Lost puppetry
Partially lost media

Up to 52 episodes found w/ full Willing and Able, Little Leon Big Ben, Deck the Halls (in two new
formats), Skye's Coat, How Much is that Doggie in the Window?, & A World of Difference!
HomeStarRunnerTron | Posted on May 23 at 6:35 am | Last edited on May 23 at 6:36 am

Thanks to users TimePodVHS (https://www.youtube.com/@TimePodVHS/videos) & taigabiome

(https://archive.org/details/@taigabiome), our joy is growin' like it's planted in The Greenhouse! All lucky-seven new uploads
have been added to the page.

Willing and Able (full): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-POC7Sku8g

Little Leon, Big Ben: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQOeFQTJzp0

Deck the Halls (30-minute): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xpCSC8cZ5o

Deck the Halls (45-minute): https://archive.org/details/m-02.58.40.700-03.35.55.733-puzzle-place

Skye's Coat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVNGi0Va8NA

How Much is that Doggie in the Window?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPHfvZEuI1M

A World of Difference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nzxMCNS8i0

HQ copy of Hello Maggie found, Train Drivin' Kids re-ripped!

HomeStarRunnerTron | Posted on Nov 21 at 11:31 am | Last edited on Nov 23 at 11:39 pm

Thanks to Dantecat sending an eBay listing for a nice, clean copy of Hello Maggie, we've now got a gorgeous new rip of the
episode available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1viqNDYGN9I The tape was initially found at a thrift store-- y'never know
what you might find if you keep your eyes peeled!

Just used my new setup to re-rip Train Driving Kids, as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYxiEQ2m_YA

Those Ears, Those Eyes found!

HomeStarRunnerTron | Posted on Nov 2 at 6:11 am

WOOHOO, crazy that it's only been a year since the big episode-drop, but subsequent finds have been popping up surprisingly
often. Brought to our attention by Dantecat, QueenofVHS bought and ripped a copy of Those Ears, Those Eyes listed on eBay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMT3sB4pLk8

Just Kidding found!

HomeStarRunnerTron | Posted on Jul 31 at 8:38 pm

Just in time for Puzzle Place archivist stalwart QueenofVHS' birthday, we've got ourselves a FULL copy of Just Kidding:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Vnb_XC64M

Incredible to see how far the community has come in scrounging up these lost episodes-- VHS warriors, all of you!
×
Tippy Woo found!
HomeStarRunnerTron | Posted on Apr 27 at 9:08 am | Last edited on Apr 27 at 9:08 am

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTrxmTPGPHA <-- FINALLY, the very first episode has been found in all its unedited
wonderment, thanks to the efforts of QueenofVHS & Satoshi9801.

Maiden Voyages found!

HomeStarRunnerTron | Posted on Apr 6 at 2:48 am | Last edited on Apr 6 at 3:13 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5pJnLDaq8I <-- Wow, this has been sitting on YouTube for six months and no one found it!
Full Maiden Voyages uploaded, a post-April Fools miracle! Also, just took the opportunity to add the tiny bit of To Have and Have
Not that was posted way back when.

Big batch of episodes added!

HomeStarRunnerTron | Posted on Oct 12 at 10:37 am

Hi-hi-- thanks to Dantecat and my dear friends Angelica & Athrylis, I was able to track down some new episodes, and have just
added them all to the list above. So now we have a full copy of Party of One, Real Heroes, Train Driving Kids, and Finders
Keepers. On-top of that, I also got a different copy of Roamantics, which contains extended scenes that weren't in the previous
upload... and what I THINK (according to the comments received) is a very small Sizzle-&-Nuzzle section of Baffled Ben. Next up,
I'm-a get those Puzzle Place soundtracks up before too much more time passes. Rock-rock on.

"Finders Keepers" Full Episode Found!

GrigioGuy | Posted on Jun 30 at 9:57 pm

https://kaltura.uga.edu/media/t/1_p13o1w3z

The Puzzle Place Search Group Discord Server

Skullzproductions | Posted on Mar 13 at 3:53 am

https://discord.gg/HSeEbEy2BU

if you wanna help look for The Puzzle Place then jump right in! :D

Skullzproductions | Posted on Mar 16 at 3:41 pm

just now a user in my server called Travzord6696 said something about Gonzo from The Muppets appearing in the
episode he doesn't know which one though but i'm considering this rumor as unconfirmed since we don't have the other half
of the episodes anyway

but if you guys still wanna join in the server to help with the search you can :-)

Who owns the rights to the Puzzle Place?

Ethan | Posted on Sep 26 at 8:10 pm

I've already posted this comment on Defunctland's video, but I will post here too so it doesn't get lost amongst the thousands of
comments. I initially commented that about 2.5 years ago, I tried reaching out to KCET to ask if they had the series as I wanted to
write a paper for a Children's Media Film class in college. They replied that I would have to pay a fee for them to search if
master copies exist. It seemed they weren't even sure who owned the rights. Given that I was a college student on a budget, I
didn't proceed. Someone replied (in a since deleted comment) that if master copies exist, they were mostly thrown in a closet
and "good luck if you need it later", and not organized like a library archive. Someone else replied (in an also now deleted
comment) that I should never have thought that KCET even owned the rights and that he anecdotally heard that the rights to all
non-HiT Entertainment/ WGBH/ WQED/ Houghton Mifflin PBS shows (with the exception of Carmen SanDiego, which is always in
control of whoever owns the games) were owned by PBS Atlanta (I actually happen to live in Atlanta). Does anyone else know if
that is true? I've thought about starting a GoFundMe to cover any costs related to rights and searching for master copies.

DefunctTV
Nickel Mickel | Posted on Aug 12 at 5:11 pm

There’s a video by Defunctland: https://youtu.be/2wnZzCLL1qs

Gotta Dance found!

HomeStarRunnerTron | Posted on Aug 6 at 12:24 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTyUwsOCSis Tah-dah-- just added it to the list! Huge thanks to Dantecat for bringing it to my
attention. Closer and closer every day to getting the entire first season!
×

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New episode found! Looks like we've got a brand-new archiver to watch out for...
HomeStarRunnerTron | Posted on Feb 21 at 3:40 am | Last edited on Oct 11 at 9:46 am

Leading up to this, Meredith Vintage had been posting a whole bunch of HUGE VHS dumps of old PBS content on her archive
channel (https://archive.org/details/@meredith_vintage) -- as of today, we've got a pretty insane 6-hour dump of PBS content on
one Lost Media Freak 2003... (https://archive.org/details/@lost_media_freak_2003) Took me stinkin' 6 hours to download the whole
thing to view, but just ripped the new episode from it (One Way) and added it here. Those promised soundtracks are going to
shared, it's been tough ripping the cassette, hahaha.

New links & 1 brand-new found episode! (+ other exciting finds...)

HomeStarRunnerTron | Posted on Aug 13 at 11:32 am

Hallo-- Agent DoubleOOP from YouTube here. Just replaced a whole bunch of dead links from Michael Sachs' terminated
YouTube channel. Sadly, I never downloaded any of that in time, and the Archive.org account that downloaded my Puzzle Place
playlist only took the first part of each episode. Tried to improve the quality of those, to soften that blow. Also, changed certain
links to link to higher-quality sources.

Besides that, I JUST received an episode in the mail from someone named Dantecat, along with the SUPER-rare show soundtracks
that were released on CD & cassette tape. Will rip ASAP and get back to y'all. : )

(Also, who knows why the pilot episodes weren't added to the actual page, but I just did that-- super-huge thank you, Pikop
Andropov!)

Two pilot episodes

Pikop Andropov | Posted on Jun 3 at 1:53 am | Last edited on Jun 3 at 1:49 pm

Two pilot episodes were posted 2 years ago on YouTube by user CDCB2. According to the second video description, there are
more pilots to be found.

Pilot #1: https://youtu.be/y3BWo68pu8c

Pilot #2: https://youtu.be/I1SCFKNoY4M

Another episode has been found!

Yumi Fujiwara | Posted on Jan 9 at 1:24 am

https://archive.org/details/PBSkids_201812

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