Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman

Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman
Genre	Child's Game show
Created by	Kate Taylor
Written by	Glen Berger Jim Conroy
Directed by	Clifford Saito Adam Dalley Joe Truesdell Peter Lyons Wayne Simpson Dean Raymond Robert V. Lange Chris Whitbeck
Starring	Jim Conroy as Ruff Ruffman Noah Ellis Taylor Garrson Khalil Mathews Brian McGoff Julia Garcia Anna Sheridan Madison Bader ("Madi") William Erickson ("Willie") Bridget O'Sullivan Rosario Michales Michael O'Donnell ("Mike") Nina Wadekar Demetrius John ("DJ") Harsha Jay Brosnan Samuel Blumenfeld ("Sam") Noel Samantha Rameriz ("Sammy")
Voices of	Jim Conroy
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	100 (60 aired) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Kate Taylor
Producers	Paul Serafini Marcy Gunther Eric Handler
Production locations	Boston, MA (mostly shot there)
Editors	Arnie Harchik Jessica Rueter Andrews Lisa Wolf Kathyrn Farrelly Alan Grazioso Jennifer Lorenz Joe Headrick Arnie Harchik John Warren Mark Geffen Maureen Barillaro Karen Silverstein
Camera setup	Mark C. Helton Dan Lang Stephen McCarthy
Running time	30 minutes
Production company	WGBH-TV
Original release
Network	PBS Kids
Release	May 29, 2006 – present

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, and is now airing Season 4 which started on September 14, 2009 with a sneak peek at the season on September 11, 2009. The show's opening theme received an Emmy for best original song in June 2008.

Production

Fetch is produced at WGBH Studios in Boston. The challenges are filmed mostly in Boston and various other parts of the USA, depending on the challenges. Seasons are filmed about a year before they air. Season 5 auditions were held in January 2009 and is now in production. Production should wrap within the next few weeks for season 5. Ruff's lines are the only lines that are scripted out.

Cast and crew

With the exception of Blossom and Chet, who don't speak, all character voices are provided by Jim Conroy.

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 usually 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 and wins the "Grand Prize".

Prizes are not always desirable, and sometimes the prize holder winds up with a "booby prize"; for example, 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. From Season 2 onward, there are two unknown prizes from which the winner chooses one. Usually, the chosen prize is "mailed" to the mailbox in Studio G, although occasionally large prizes are hidden elsewhere on the set. In one season two episode Rosario gave his prize to Nina.

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 60 seconds (for Season 1 it was 90 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 (sometimes 15 or 20 points) available for one or two (sometimes even four)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). One time Season 4 contestants earned 62.5 points.

Animated characters

Main characters

• Ruff Ruffman (voiced by Jim Conroy) is the host of the show. He doesn't like cats, or at least thinks that dogs are superior to them in most ways. He has a crush on 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 many relatives and ancestors, all with a similar physical appearance to him, and he has five other brothers and sisters besides Scruff and Roxy.
• Blossom, whose full name is Princess Blossom Pepper Doodle Von Yum Yum is a cat and was Ruff's intern for Season 2. She is usually simply called "Blossom". Quite serious, she is usually seen taking notes on her laptop. She has never spoken, but only makes strange squeaking sounds to get Ruff's attention. She was promoted to supervisor in Season 3. Ruff didn't enjoy Blossom's company at first, but eventually forms a close bond with her. Despite all of the hi-jinx that Ruff puts her through, she continues to be loyal to Ruff and the show, particuarly when she decided to 'work' for Harriet Hackensack so she could find out the reason for her misogyny. In "Don't like Fencing? Try Fencing!", Blossom is shown watching Design Squad (and also shows that she is a fan of Nate from the show)
• Grandma Ruffman, also voiced by Conroy, is Ruff Ruffman's stubborn grandmother who appeared in eight episodes so far: 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, the FETCH! with Scruff Ruffman Finale, and Season Four is Cancelled. 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 fusses about insignificant things, such as Ruff's manners and other FETCHers staying behind in the studio. However, she cares for Ruff, going as far as to retrieve the stolen Fetch 3000 Scruff stole in the premire of Season 4.
• 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 onward, 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.
• 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. On the first episode of Season 4 Murray quits because he stole a valuable sled from Mrs. Hackensack and replaced himself with Tank.
• 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 some episodes) and his general body appearance resembles a computer mouse. He is capable of doing feats that one would normally consider impossible, such as completing an obstacle course in seconds and building a jet engine that runs solely on milkshakes. Like Blossom, Ruff didn't like Chet at first, but was friends with him eventually. Chet's major flaw is taking things the wrong way, some of them indirectly causing challenges for the FETCHers (one example is when Ruff said to "Blow it up", when he was talking about an image for the projector, Chet meant it was to literally blow it up. Another example is when Ruff tells Chet to "Burn it," referring to trashing his wet kibble, Chet puts it in a building on fire)
• Tank is Ruff's new technical worker, replacing Murray after he quits. He is a real bulldog who wears a FETCH! shirt and sometimes radio earmuffs. Though it doesn't seem like it at first, Tank has proven to be a reliable worker; Ruff says that he has Tank because "he's a brusier (hard worker), and looks good in a T-shirt". A running gag is whenever Ruff calls on Tank, he usually just smiles and pants at the camera, while Ruff replies "Hello? Anyone home in there?".

Supporting characters

• Charlene is Ruff's unrequited love interest. She is a poodle who is only seen in a heart-shaped picture that Ruff periodically pulls out, as well as a newspaper in Season 4's first episode.
• 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 and selling it on the internet so that he could pay for luge lessons to remove a curse from the Ruffman ancestry. Season 4's first episode also showed a possible reason for Scruff's criminal antics: to "win glory for the Ruffmans" his way. It is also revealed in that same episode that he cares for his brother, seeing that he had kept photos of him and Ruff taped amongst the prison cell walls. Also, he and Ruff both team up to finish the World Luge Championship which--despite both ending in last place--made them famous for being the first all canine luge team (helping lift the 1000 year sled curse on the Ruffmans and helped Harriet Hackensack like dogs once more).
• Ruffael Ruffmanowitz is Ruff's great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather. He was only seen in photographs in a 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. The FETCH 100 is a possible reference to Colossus, the first "true" computer ever made.
• Great Uncle McRuffmantosh is Ruff's great uncle who has a beard and speaks with an exaggerated Scottish accent. He has appeared in the episodes The Mystery of DogTopia and Catlantis, The DogVinci Code, Arrgh - All Me Eggs Are Cracked!, and Season Four is Cancelled. He is usually worried about the FETCHers going on potentially dangerous missions and is a believer in legends, monsters, and curses. In the episodes, he usually finds clues for treasure related challenges. His name is a possible pun on the Macintosh computers. At the end of the second episode of Season 4 Uncle McRuffmantosh is on the hunt for the Helmet of Victory.
• 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, in How to Get Dogs and Doggerel in Better Shape when he tries to win Charlene's love, and in Just Call Him "Spot" when he tricks Ruff into drawing spots on himself with permanent marker. Season 4's first episode showed a picture of Spot, showing him with a much better physical appearance than Ruff. His name is a possible pun on Sputnik.
• Helga is Ruff's cousin, 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 episode Dog of the Rings to sends the FETCHers to Wing's Castle portrayed as LARPers. He also briefly appears in the beginning of the Season 3 Finale, changing all of the passwords of the Fetch 3000 so that Scruff can run the show instead of Ruff (however, he says he wouldn't have done it if Scruff hadn't "promised him the Scepter of Wogganot", which was nothing more than a toilet brush). He also briefly appeared again in Season 4's first episode telling his uncle to luge. Due to his braces, it is hard to understand what he's saying (An example being what Ruff heard as "Ring Goblet" was Glen actually saying "Wing Goblet")
• Jerry is Grandma Ruffman's parrot friend who is a master at checkers. He often mocks Ruff of his situations.
• Ruf Ruffmanis Ruff's Swedish rock star/environmentalist cousin.He speaks with a Swedish accent and sometimes uses Swedish phrases or sayings.He is seen in Episode #407,when he has a concert booked in South Carolina,but he needs a "green" place to stay,so the Fetchers go build him one,while the others are learning how to play rock.
• Bluff is another of Ruff's cousins. According to Ruff's Voicemail, Bluff likes to play Crazy 8's with his friends. His only appearance so far is in When Home is a House of Cards in Season 3.
• 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. He appeared in the middle of Season 4's first episode to attack Ruff's doghouse boat because he was bored and Ruff refused to give him Jerry. He told Ruff that he recently acquired the internet so that he doesn't have to be shoutin' from his ship; in response Ruff told him to visit his website, which he does so, allowing Ruff, Blossom, and Chet to lose him. Also He appears in season 4 opener.
• 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.
• Mrs. Hackensack is the new owner of Ruff's network company which she has recently bought at the start of Season 4. She dislikes Murray for stealing her valuable sled Rosebud.

Animated settings or things

• The FETCH 3000 is Ruff's personal supercomputer that aids him in running the show. It is occasionally subject to breakdowns and malfunctions in the earlier seasons, but they become less frequent in the later seasons. It can transform into a multitude of machines, shrink into a small cube when not in use, and is semi-sentient, capable of acting on it's own.
• Ruff's doghouse, while not a character, should be noted in that it's actual size is debatable. The first episode of Season 1 has Ruff say that his doghouse is about 6 feet, but later episodes have Ruff's doghouse the size of a truck at the least, especially in Season 4, when the modified doghouse boat is compared to Blackmuzzle's ship.

Episodes

Main article: List of FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman episodes

As of September 18, 2009, 60 episodes have aired over 3 seasons, with the 4th season currently airing.

Season		Episodes	Season premiere	Season finale	Year filmed	Winner	Season DVD
	1	20	May 29, 2006	June 29, 2006	2005	Anna	TBA
	2	20	May 28, 2007	June 28, 2007	2006	Mike	TBA
	3	20	September 29, 2008	October 30, 2008	2007	Jay	TBA
	4	20	September 14, 2009	October 15, 2009	2008	TBA	TBA
	5	TBA	2010	TBA	filming	TBA	TBA

New episodes

New episodes air Mondays through Thursdays, but specific air times vary for each individual PBS station. Monday's episode is usually repeated on Friday, unless another program has been scheduled for Friday. In some markets, the show airs on weekends.

DVDS

FETCH! DVDS could be released in the near future.

Auditions

To try out for FETCH!, potential contestants are required to be between the ages of 10 and 14 and be able to live in the greater Boston area over the summer, during school vacations, and a few weekends during the school year. FETCHers must be able to be filmed without missing school.

Funding

• National Science Foundation (2006-present)
• The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations (2006)
• Arby's (2006-07)
• Greendog Clothes for Kids @ Macy's (2006-2008)
• Rainforest Cafe {2009-present}
• Corporation for Public Broadcasting (2009-present)
• Viewers Like You (2006-present)

External links

• FETCH! official website
• Fetch! Official Website: Season 3 Cast
• Fetch! Official Website: Season 2 Cast
• Fetch! Official Website: Season 1 Cast
• The Fetch Scoop
• FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com
• FETCH casting website