The Big Comfy Couch (French: Le Monde de Loonette, lit. 'The World of Loonette'), is a Canadian young children's prop comedy television series about a clown named Loonette and her doll Molly who solve everyday problems on their eponymous couch. It was produced by Cheryl Wagner and Robert Mills, directed by Wayne Moss, Robert Mills and Steve Wright. It premiered on March 2, 1993, in Canada and on January 9, 1995, in the United States on public television stations across the country, airing its final episode on December 29, 2006. The program was also broadcast on Treehouse TV from 1997 to 2011.
Contents
Premise
As with many children's shows, the series had a number of staple elements. Loonette performs a daily exercise routine she calls the Clock Rug Stretch. She also reads stories to Molly; has unusual encounters with the dust bunnies who live under the couch; sings themed songs; and visits different places in Clowntown.
When visiting Granny Garbanzo's garden, Loonette encounters the cat, Snicklefritz; Major Bedhead, who delivers mail via unicycle; and Granny herself. The conversation with Granny is typically the episode's teachable moment, in which she offers Loonette some wisdom. Major Bedhead often stops by with gifts and messages from Auntie Macassar (in seasons 1–5) or Uncle Chester (in seasons 6–7).
Loonette is a talented dancer and runs Miss Loonette's Dance Academy, where she dances with dolls and animals. Along with simple lessons and problem-solving, the show also emphasized imaginative play. From season 7, more fixtures of Clowntown are explored: Granny Garbanzo's Cabbage Club Cooking School; Major Bedhead's Clown Chi Dojo and Dancing School; and the Clowndergarten, where Loonette volunteers and helps teach. This imaginative play was also demonstrated through dress-up games and through Loonette's dollhouse, where imaginary sequences play out involving her doll family, the Foleys.
Towards the end of each show, Loonette performs a Ten-Second Tidy to clean up her belongings. All episodes end with Loonette and Molly thanking the viewers and bidding farewell, often with a reminder of the day's lesson, as they settle in for a nap. After Loonette and Molly go to sleep, the sun (from the intro) sets, then a large crescent moon with a clown nose rises above the starry background behind the couch and the credits then roll over a lullaby version of the theme song. The closing credits normally end with Loonette doing an reenactment of "Hey Diddle Diddle."
Characters
Main
Loonette (portrayed by Alyson Court in seasons 1–6 and Ramona Gilmour-Darling in season 7) is the freckled-faced female lead of the series. She is a young clown living with her doll, Molly, in their house, on the enormous Big Comfy Couch, an oversized green floral couch. Loonette is gifted in the art of classical dance and runs Miss Loonette's Dance Academy. Another gift she possesses is the very unusual skill to clean just about any mess up in just ten seconds, which she calls the Ten Second Tidy. Initially, Loonette was too young to visit Clowntown by herself, but starting in season 7, Loonette makes frequent trips to Clowntown to visit Granny's Cabbage Club Cooking School and Major Bedhead's Clown Chi Dojo and Dancing School.
Molly (performed by Bob Stutt) is Loonette's living doll. Loonette found her in a barrel with a sign marked "Free to a good home", and adopted her. Molly only speaks via cartoon bubbles, and usually answers Loonette's yes or no questions by either nodding or shaking her head.
Additional
Fuzzy (performed by Bob Stutt) and Wuzzy (performed by Robert Mills) are twin dust bunnies who live under the Big Comfy Couch. Only Molly is aware of their existence, much to Loonette's annoyance, and she always does her best to protect them so she can play with them.
The Foley Family, Andy (portrayed by Fred Stinson), Jim (portrayed by Jani Lauzon), and Eileen (portrayed by Jackie Harris in seasons 1–2 and Suzanne Merriam in seasons 3–5) are a family who live inside of Loonette's dollhouse. They do not speak, and only communicate with their methods of slapstick and distinguishing sounds.
Granny Garbanzo (portrayed by Grindl Kuchirka) is Loonette's Romanian-accented grandmother and neighbor who loves her and Molly dearly. Her name is derived from the garbanzo bean.
Snicklefritz (performed by Bob Stutt) is Granny's mischievous cat. He likes to play lots of pranks on the others and sometimes tries to get out of getting flea-baths. The character's name is derived from "snicklefritz", a German slang word for a child.
Major Bedhead (portrayed by Fred Stinson) is a courier who makes deliveries to people all over Clowntown. He usually makes his deliveries while riding a unicycle though sometimes he will ride something else such as a little car or a bicycle.
Auntie Macassar (portrayed by Taborah Johnson) is Loonette's travelling aunt who likes to make an entrance whenever she visits. Her name is a pun on the word "antimacassar".
Wobbly (portrayed by Gary Farmer) is a close friend of Granny's who lives in Clowntown as a traveling repairman.
Uncle Chester (portrayed by Edward Knuckles) is Loonette's travelling uncle who appears in the show's last two seasons replacing Auntie Macassar.
Production
The show was originally produced by Radical Sheep Productions with what would later be known as Owl Television or Owl Communications (the publishers of Owl Magazine), then Canadian children's television network YTV with a run of 65 episodes. The theme song was written and composed by JP Houston, but the energetic backing vocals were performed by a local Toronto Girl Guide troupe that volunteered for the recording session.
While it is most widely remembered for its extensive run on PBS stations across the United States, the series actually made its official U.S. television debut on TLC on March 2, 1993, as a cornerstone of the newly launched Ready Set Learn! preschool lineup. They were also presented in the United States by Benny Smart, a US children's television production company backed by Ernest creator John Cherry, in conjunction with WITF-TV Harrisburg. In 2001, Tadpole Kids, who purchased the series' U.S. rights from Hollywood Ventures Corporation, commissioned 13 more episodes presented alongside Nashville Public Television. Radical Sheep Productions and Amity Entertainment (which acquired Tadpole Entertainment in 2005 and what was left of it was restarted by the voice of the tadpole), in association with Treehouse TV; a sister channel of YTV, and Nashville Public Television, produced 22 additional episodes focusing on preventing childhood obesity, which debuted on public television stations in 2006.
From 1992 to 2002, the show was filmed at Wallace Avenue Studios in Toronto, and in 2006, it was filmed at Toronto's Studio City.
Broadcast and syndication
In the U.S., the series was syndicated by American Public Television to public television stations in that country, most of which were affiliated with PBS, starting on January 9, 1995, and ending in February 2007, with reruns airing as late as April 30, 2009 on some stations. In Canada, the series was shown on YTV from 1993 to 1997 and on Treehouse TV from 1997 until it stopped broadcasting on February 27, 2011. The show also airs on BTV in Botswana. As of 2023, all episodes can be viewed and streamed on Amazon Prime, Vudu, Tubi, the FilmRise app, and YouTube. From September 1, 1997, to 2001, the French-language dub was aired on Canal Famille in Quebec and on TF1 in France. In the Middle East, the show was also dubbed in Hebrew (which aired on the Hop! Channel in Israel) and Turkish (which aired on TRT 1 and Yumurcak TV in Turkey). The Spanish-language dub aired on Nickelodeon, MGM Channel, Unicable, Canal 5, and Galavisión in Latin America and La Primera in Spain.
Episodes
Season 1 (1993)
This season was produced in 1992. The episodes were first aired in 1993.
Season 2 (1994)
This season was produced in 1993.
Season 6 (2002)
Due to Court's pregnancy during production, she was unable to film any new Clock Rug segments. Instead, archival footage from seasons 3-5 was used.
Season 7 (2006)
Ramona Gilmour-Darling replaces Court in the role of Loonette.
Home media
Time-Life Video was the main home media distributor for the Big Comfy Couch, releasing the series under Time-Life Video's children's label, Time-Life Kids. VHS releases were also released on May 10, 2000, by Goldhil Video.
The Big Comfy Couch has five DVDs featuring Ramona Gilmour-Darling. The DVDs and VHS tapes that feature Alyson Court are now out of print, but can be found on certain websites such as Amazon.com.
On July 30, 2013, TGG Direct released the first two seasons on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. Seasons 3–7 were released on August 6, 2013. Each set comes with a bonus disc featuring a premiere episode of the following season. The Season 7 set, however, has a bonus disc of the premiere episode of the first season.
Merchandise and other media
Throughout the years, several merchandise has been sold under the show's banner such as videotapes, DVDs, books, dolls, toys and puzzles.
Album releases
Several albums of the original songs written by JP Houston and performed by the cast were released on August 9, 2005, by Time-Life, as well as Naxos Music.
App releases
In 2015 and 2016, Radical Sheep, in association with Sticky Brain Studios, released some apps based on the series.
Just Ask Molly - Released April 1, 2015, this app allows the player to ask Molly any question, and she can communicate to the player via her thought bubbles.
Fuzzy Wuzzy Fun - Released April 1, 2015, this app features the dust bunnies Fuzzy and Wuzzy playing hide and seek. The objective for the player is to help them find each other by navigating through paths.
Clock Rug Time - Released May 18, 2015, this app features Loonette and her clock rug stretch routine. Loonette can set the time for the player in both analog and digital. This app can also be used as an alarm clock. The app can also display the weather and temperature based on location.
Molly's Big Day - Released May 17, 2016, this app focuses on Molly and her big first day in Clowndergarten with the use of activities for the player.
This Hour Has 22 Minutes
On the October 18, 2016 episode of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, in a segment discussing the 2016 clown sightings, Loonette made an appearance as the show's "clown correspondent." This marked the character's first television appearance in a decade since the show's finale in 2006 and the first time Alyson Court had portrayed Loonette on TV since her departure in 2002.
Tours
The Big Comfy Couch has had a few live shows at Londonderry Mall in Edmonton, Alberta and sometimes in Calgary and rarely in Regina, Saskatchewan. There was a tour through South Western Ontario in 2001.
In 2005, a live theatrical production entitled Molly's Fool Moon Festival toured in Canada. The show included Loonette, Molly, Granny Garbanzo, Major Bedhead and others. The show was produced by Koba Entertainment and presented by Paquin Entertainment Group. The production starred a variety of Canadian actors such as Laura Kolisnyk, Andrew Nolan, Daniel J. Craig, Alexandra Herzog, Dawn Johnson, and others.