Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman

*Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman*
Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman
Created by	Kate Taylor
Starring	Jim Conroy as Ruff Ruffman
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	60 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	PBS Kids
Release	June 29, 2006 –; Present

Template:Infobox TV ratings FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman is a children's television series on PBS during the PBS Kids GO! block of educational programming. It is a game show/reality show parody that is hosted by an animated anthropomorphic dog who dispenses challenges to the show's real-life contestants. Premiering on May 29, 2006, the show has since completed three seasons. On May 23, 2008, PBS announced that FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman would premiere season three on September 29, 2008. In June 2008, FETCH! received its first Emmy win for best original song. ^[1]

Synopsis

FETCH! is a reality-based game show where young contestants take on various challenges to gain points. During these challenges, the contestants must complete a variety of tasks assigned to them ahead of time (and on the fly) by Ruff and surrogates, depending on the situation. There is also an educational component, as contestants often must learn something (i.e. Astronomy, Carpentry, Food Science, Biology, etc) in order to complete the task.

Not all contestants leave the studio each episode to complete tasks. As determined by the Fetch 3000, the contestants who remain behind in the studio participate in the "Half-Time Quiz Show", in which Ruff asks them questions based on the activities of the contestants out on challenges (see below). Once the contestants complete the activities in the field to the best of their abilities, they return to the studio and Ruff tallies their points. A prize is awarded to the contestant with the most points. At the end of the season, a final point tally is conducted, with the winner of the tally being declared winner of that season.

Prizes are not always desirable, and sometimes the prize holder winds up with a "booby prize"; in Good Dancing and Bad Teeth, Anna and Brian had to dance a waltz in the studio. During the first season the contestant had the choice of keeping the prize, or giving it to a fellow contestant. In Season 2 and 3, there are two unknown prizes from which the winner chooses one. Usually, the prize is "mailed" to the mailbox in Studio G, although occasionally large prizes are hidden elsewhere on the set.

Points

Out on challenges, contestants have the potential to earn up to 100 points. The contestants in the studio have a chance to win a maximum of 50 points in the Half-Time Quiz Show in which they have to answer 10 questions about events during the challenges. Each question is worth 5 points. They have a total of 90 seconds (for Season 3 it was reduced to 60 seconds) to answer all the questions, as well as a time limit on each question. They can pass on the question and return to it if time permits. Usually, there is also a Fetch Fairness Guarantee, which states that every contestant will have had an equal number of challenges (usually 13) and quiz shows (usually 6) before the final episode. Additionally, there are between 5 and 10 "Bone-us" points available for one or two stand-out contestants. On rare occasions, such as an episode with a colonial theme, there is the possibility to earn more than 100 points (outside of any bonuses).

Animated Characters

Main Characters

Ruff Ruffman

Ruff Ruffman (voiced by Jim Conroy) is the host of the show. He doesn't like cats. He has a crush on a poodle named Charlene. Ruff grouses about his contract to produce a reality TV program, and the stresses of running one. He loves all food, American-Chinese take-out in particular. His physical appearance features "eyebrows that hover mysteriously above his head". Ruff has trouble remembering Blossom's full name. Some rumors have it that Ruff has a crush on Blossom.

Blossom

Princess Blossom Pepper Doodle Von Yum Yum (a cat) is Ruff's intern for Season 2. Since Ruff has trouble remembering her full name, which is not surprising and the show would end automatically if uttered, as it has thirty-six letters, she is usually called simply "Blossom". Quite serious, she is usually seen taking notes on her laptop. She has never spoken on the show, but only makes strange squeaking sounds to get Ruff's attention.

Grandma Ruffman

Grandma Ruffman, also voiced by Conroy, is Ruff Ruffman's stubborn grandmother who appeared in seven episodes: Grandma Ruffman's Recipe for Success, The Small Fork Is For Dessert (Unless You're a Dolphin), Tape Loops and Loop-the-Loops, There's Food Safety and Then There's Food Safety, Socket to Me, The People vs. Grandma Ruffman, and the FETCH! with Scruff Ruffman Finale. Like Ruff, she is also pretentious, and animated in Macromedia Flash. As a writer, she attempted to market her products on her grandson's show, and as a grandmother, she constantly fussed about insignificant things, such as Ruff's manners and other FETCHers staying behind in the studio.

Henry

Henry is Ruff's boss. He is only mentioned when Ruff receives phone calls on the "Henry Hotline". Henry provides Ruff with the show's budget and oversees Ruff's spending. He also sent the intern Blossom, his niece's cat, to learn about producing for Season 2. In Season 3, Henry is mentioned less and less, probably because Blossom is now head of the network. It is possible that "Henry" is a reference to Henry Becton, Jr., the former President of WGBH, and currently Vice Chair of the WGBH Board of Trustees^[2].

Murray

Murray is one of Ruff's cousins. He runs the behind-the-scenes technical work, and is constantly blamed for minor problems regarding the show. Unlike the other animated animals, Murray is portrayed by a real basset hound, and sometimes appears in the kids' challenges. Like Ruff, he seems to enjoy being fussed over by the FETCHers.

Chet

Chet, a mouse, is Ruff's new intern. He first appears in When Home is a House of Cards in Season 3 while Ruff is looking for a new intern after Blossom gets promoted. He also doesn't speak and he doesn't seem to have any eyes or limbs either (this was mentioned by Ruff in one episode) and his general body appearance is a resemblance to a computer mouse.

Supporting Characters

Charlene is Ruff's unrequited love interest. She is only seen as a poodle in a heart-shaped picture that Ruff periodically pulls out.

Scruff Ruffman is Ruff's identical (but evil) twin brother. He steals artwork in the episode Scruff Ruffman At Large!, leading to one of the episode's challenges. He also stole the Grand Prize in Season 2, which was recovered by Blossom, and is an expert trapeze artist. He appears twice in Season 3, first in The Ol' Switcheroo, where he is in Ruff's basement, and then in the Finale, where he becomes a host along with Ruff. At the end of the episode, Scruff ends up stealing all of Ruff's stuff.

Ruffael Ruffmanowitz is Ruff's great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather. He was only seen in photographs in Season 1 episode, The Mystery of the Missing Thing in the Haunted Castle, and is said to be the dog of inventor John Hays Hammond, Jr.. He looks like Ruff, except with hair and a moustache like Albert Einstein's . He also invented the FETCH 100, a primitive version of the FETCH 3000, which unfortunately calculated that 3 plus 3 is 24, probably to fool Ruff into activating the device so Ruff suffers from it being in his house.

Great Uncle McRuffmantosh is Ruff's great uncle who has a beard and speaks with an exaggerated Scottish accent. He is shown in the Season 2 episode, The Mystery of DogTopia and Catlantis, where he helped Ruff by finding the coordinates for Dogtopia and Catlantis. He is very worried about the FETCHers going on potentially dangerous missions. In the Season 3 episode The DogVinci Code he finds a clue to help the FETCHers find out why the Mona Lisa is smiling. He also appears on Arrgh - All Me Eggs Are Cracked! when he discovers that a ghost ship and a treasure has been discovered.

Spot Spotnik is Ruff's rival. He is tan colored with brown spots in appearance and is mentioned in Send in the Clowns, when the kids build a water balloon launcher to get back at him, in You Lucky Dog when Ruff challenges him to a race, and in How to Get Dogs and Doggerel in Better Shape when he tries to win Charlene's love. In Season 3, the episode, Just Call Him "Spot" he tricks Ruff Ruffman by drawing spots on him with permanent marker.

Helga is a fashion designer from Europe. She is shown in the Season 2 episode Take Me Out to the Fashion Show. In that episode, she tells Ruff that if he can get a good enough fashion, she'll let him visit her. She, at first, is mad with his choice of clothes, until the end of the episode (when Ruff's outfit is based on the trash he was supposed to throw away).

Glen (aka Glendalf) is Ruff and Scruff's nephew. He wears braces and is obsessed with magic and fantasy, and makes his first appearance in Season 3 (he suggests a challenge to Ruff). He appears in Dog of the Rings and sends the FETCHers to Wing's Castle. He also briefly appears in the beginning of the Season 3 Finale Fetch! with Scruff Ruffman Finale, changing all of the passwords of the Fetch 3000 so that Scruff can run the show instead of Ruff.

Bluff is another of Ruff's cousins. Not much is known about his first appearance, which is in Season 3. He appears in When Home is a House of Cards.

Blackmuzzle is the most feared dog pirate of the seven seas. He appeared at the end of Arrgh - All Me Eggs Are Cracked! for pledging the show with his own loot. Strangely, he's a ghost but is animated as if he was still alive.

Roxy Ruffman is Ruff's sister. She is mentioned in Feeling Sheepish Ruff? where she has Ruff babysit her sheep.

Ms. Taylor is Ruff's owner. She never appears on the show, but can be heard occasionally calling Ruff to dinner.

External links

Episodes

Season	Episodes	First airdate	Last airdate
Season 1	20	May 29, 2006	June 29, 2006
Season 2	22	May 28, 2007	June 5, 2007
Season 3	20	September 29, 2008	October 30, 2008
Season 4	20	2009	2009

[1] ttp://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117987491.html?nav=news&categoryid=1983&cs=1

[2] ttp://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/about/management/becton.html

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