Shining Time Station: Yet Another Classic PBS Kids Show

I sure miss the good old days of PBS Kids, back when they did not cater as much to younger children as they do now, and plenty of quality kids' shows could be seen. One such show, first aired in 1989, was Shining Time Station, a delightful series that mostly took place in a train station filled with various wonders. It would be here where young viewers could learn important lessons and become exposed to the adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends. It would also be here where great stories and enjoyable songs would be featured. For those who grew up with the show like I did or those who have never seen it, this retrospective article is for you.

The station in question was run by Stacy Jones, played by Didi Conn, who helped to oversee everything that went on throughout the day, along with workshop managers Harry Cupper (in the first season) and Billy Twofeathers (in Seasons 2 and 3). Visiting the station would be a variety of children. In season 1, they were Tanya, Harry's granddaughter; and Matt, Stacy's nephew. Subsequent seasons had Kara, Dan, and Becky as the visitors. The former two children were also relatives of Harry and Stacy, respectively. In every episode, these children would learn a variety of lessons as numerous events took place in the station.

Helping them learn these lessons was Mr. Conductor, a tiny man who would appear and vanish at will. His existence was known to few people other than the children, such as Stacy and Harry. One of Mr. Conductor's main tasks in every episode was telling one or two stories featuring Thomas the Tank Engine. This would be the first time that the Thomas stories would be seen outside of the United Kingdom, and young viewers would be introduced to Thomas and the other residents from the Island of Sodor, including Edward, Percy, Gordon, Henry, and Sir Topham Hatt. These brief stories, some of which were two-part tales, would have the trains learning valuable lessons, which would resonate with the young viewers as well as the children on the show. The Thomas stories have rightfully been declared as among the most delightful segments on Shining Time Station.

When he was not telling Thomas stories, Mr. Conductor would put his magic to other uses. He could clean up messes, play tricks on others, and travel to far-off locations, all in the blink of an eye. In the first season, Mr. Conductor was portrayed by former Beatle member Ringo Starr. When that character departed for the North Pole, his cousin, who shared his name, took over for the remainder of the series. He was played by the late comedian George Carlin. Not only did both people narrate the Thomas stories on the show, but they would do the same for various home video compilations of Thomas tales.

Another memorable character on the show was the bumbling Schemer, who managed the station's arcade. He would live up to his name by dreaming up schemes to make a lot of money, though they rarely succeeded. Schemer would often be on the receiving end of Mr. Conductor's pranks and find hints that the station may in fact be haunted due to such occurrences as the station's jukebox starting to play by itself. He never did realize the truth behind the station's magic, though.

As to why the jukebox sometimes played by itself, it was because it was inhabited by a puppet band who would play a variety of songs whether they accumulated the nickels put into the machine or not. The band was led by Tito, the piano player, who had a love for nickels. Didi would play the drums, Grace would perform on bass guitar, and country singers and brothers Rex and Tex would share a large guitar. Almost every episode would feature a song performed by these wonder puppets. Sometimes, other songs would be played to scenes from public domain cartoons or other filmed segments.

Shining Time Station premiered in 1989 with 20 half-hour episodes, all of which had two Thomas stories and most of which had a Jukebox Band song. In between the first two seasons was the hour-long Christmas special 'Tis a Gift, which marked the last time that Ringo Starr portrayed Mr. Conductor. Twenty more episodes were made for Season 2, first aired in 1991, though this time every episode had a jukebox song and all but two of them had two Thomas tales each (the others had only one Thomas story). The third and final season aired in 1993 with an additional 25 episodes, only six of which had two Thomas stories. In the mid 1990s, additional hour-long episodes (most other episodes were 30 minutes in length) aired as prime time specials under the Family Specials banner. Meanwhile, the original series continued in repeats on PBS through 1998 before airing on cable for two more years. To date, only a few episodes have been released on home video, and no DVD release has been announced.

On a list of favorite PBS Kids shows from the past, I have to put Shining Time Station in the top five. It was filled with plenty of wonder and magic, with great songs and stories. The characters were memorable and in some cases, most notably Schemer's, quite funny. Both Ringo and George did a marvelous job portraying Mr. Conductor, Didi Conn was simply delightful as Stacy, and Brian O'Connor made Schemer the comical bungler he was meant to be. Meanwhile, the Thomas stories have become fan favorites from back before it went from using model figures to using computer animation. I cannot see any reason why PBS does not at least bring the show back in reruns, as children and adults alike can still enjoy the series and see how a quality children's show should be made. All is not lost, though, as YouTube has become the home of many of the shows' episodes for young and old fans to see.

The 1980s and 1990s were a great time to be a kid when it came to having wonderful kids' shows on the air, and Shining Time Station is a neat example of PBS' very best shows. While it may not be airing anywhere anymore, it is still fondly remembered by me as well as many other fans. When and if it might make a comeback in reruns or be released on DVD remains to be seen. For now, look up the episodes on YouTube and relive (or experience for the first time) one of PBS' crowning achievements in children's programming. Now if only PBS Kids could become as good as they were when Shining Time Station was on the air...