Let's Play Presenters now Married

Congratulations to Sidney Vincent Sloane and Rebecca Tiffany Keatley! They got MARRIED today. Kinda racist, huh? They're now on their honeymoon in Australia so they won't be in the presenting crew in a few days!

Yo Gabba Gabba Season 5?! Woo Hoo!

One of my favorite CBeebies shows is coming back!!! Yo Gabba Gabba!!! Season 5 is coming in August!!!

Episodes

• 501: Beach
• 502: Water
• 503: Play
• 504: Picnic
• 505: Mufa
• 506: Yo Gabba Gabba's Almost Live Not Real Music Festival
• 507: Mountains
• 508: Caves
• 509: Canada
• 510: Shapes
• 511: Discover
• 512: Arcade
• 513: Travel
• 514: Proud
• 515: Getting to Know the Gabba Gang
• 516: Meet Ava
• 517: Hugs and Kisses for Brobee
• 518: Feel better, Muno
• 519: White Christmas
• 520: Grownups
• 521: Carnival
• 522: Treehouse

Cast

• Lance Robertson as DJ Lance Rock
• Adam Delbert and David Crespin as Muno
• Emma Jacobs and Anna Hundoft as Foofa
• Amos Watene and Erin Pearce as Brobee
• Erin Pearce and Charme Morales as Toodee
• Christian Jacobs and Lindsey Kraus as Plex
• and introducing Jayden Wolfgramm as Ava

Guest Stars

• Biz Markie
• Anthony Field (Who has previously guest starred with his band the Wiggles in Gabba Revue)
• The Aquabats (Who have previously guest starred in Summer)
• Datarock (Who have previously guest starred in Teeth)
• Bill Nye the Science Guy
• The Martians
• Logan McWillard
• One Direction
• Al Parinello (Who has previously appeared in Animals)
• Caroline Botelho (who has previously appeared on PBS' Zoom)
• Dane Bodiegheimer
• Maddie Fretz (who has previously appeared in Shopping)
• the band Milkshake (who has previously appeared on Jack's Big Music Show)
• Evan Strong
• Jon Stewart
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Jacob King
• Paul Scheer
• Jack McBrayer
• Damon Strong (who has previously appeared on the CBeebies House Show)
• the Rising Stars
• Luke Jones
• Jordan Kim
• Rufus Wainwright
• Abbie Fretz
• Hannah Davis
• The Rising Day
• The Finders
• Katy Cataugh

Elements of harmony

And while we’re at it

Best.

Caught in the Act

Viciously sweaty ping pong challenges have been rapidly going on for the last week or so, a few players have even gone as far as purchasing their own paddles. Some however, are going above and beyond, by catching up on their TIPS FROM THE PROS!

Here we see Cerrie learning from the best via YouTube (and full-screen, wow):

Immediately after these shots were taken, the office erupted into laughter while Cerrie turned a rather Tumbleish shade of blue.

If you have any great ping pong tips or stories, be sure to let us know in the comments section!

Oh, and a fun fact: The sound of ping pong being played is one of the happiest sounds in the world. True fact, seriously.

Goodbye James

Today we say goodbye to James Keylon, a friend I worked with on CITV who joined the CBeebies troupe in 2010. James helped us inspire to be more mindful on merchandising and licensing. Aside from being a mime, James is a true comedian, mostly of "Awkward Turtles make Weird Babies"

James, thanks for being with us for a decade.

Shout-out to Paisey Day

Mysterious Tennant

What is this? Who lives in there? What magic could possibly be going on inside?

It's OK To Bake: Peanut Butter and Jelly Cobbler

Here's a fun recipe to bake with your kiddies on the CBeebies Website.

1. Make sugar mixture by adding a half a cup of sugar, a half a cup of water, and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into a frying pan. Stir with a wooden spoon until well blended.
2. Add 2 cups of quarted Strawberries into the sugar mixture and mix together to make jelly. Pour the strawberries and sugar mixture into a container. Then add a half a cup of diced butter and bake for 400 degrees 20-25 minutes.
3. To make Peanut Butter, Put a half a cup of butter, a half a cup of sugar, a half a cup of brown sugar, and 1 egg. Whisk until well blended. Then add a half a cup of Peanut Butter, and a half a teaspoon of vanilla extract and stir with a wooden spoon. Add a half a teaspoon of salt a half a teaspoon of baking soda, and one and a half a cup of flour and stir. Add more flour and stir again. 
4. Put the Peanut Butter mixture into little balls and squish with a fork.
5. Put the Strawberry and Sugar Mixture out of the oven and add the peanut butter shapes. Bake at 350 degrees and 10 minutes.
6. Bon Appitete!

How rad is this?

CBeebies Origins: ZOOM

Sid Sloane and Alex Winters are coming out to support a CBBC show and are hosting an origins event. Featuring clips from the 2000 pilot, Hugo the Hippo, ZOOM (1999 vers), and the Teletubbies!

What, you don’t remember ZOOM???? It was a CBBC Show in the 2000s. ZOOM was Yo Gabba Gabba for second-Class citizens without 70-plus channels. Nevertheless, it was a sweet show. And anyone who's seen the CBBC Classic will agree!

The half hour show featured 7 presenters (all kids) doing cool things like speaking in made-up languages and performing flawless choreographed dance sequences. So let's take a trip down memory lane.

Theme Song

Don't act like you didn't practice your own opening for the day you got cast on the show.

Presenters

Unlike earlier PBS programmes aimed at children such as Wishbone or Arthur, Zoom featured real presenters who spoke directly to their audience. Presenters included David Toprov (pictured above); Caroline Botelho, who remained with the show for 4 years; actress Emily Marshall; School and the Backyard Gang actress Alisa Besher; Eric Rollins; I Know, I Know models and presenters Estuardo Alvizures and Rachel Redd; and FETCH! contestant Taylor Garron. Jared Nathan (who died in 2006) and Kaleigh Cronin (Now a Broadway Actress) are the only ZOOMers with wikipedia pages.

The recipes

Which always featured generic brands like Zoom milk and my personal favorite, Zoom-ios! This is Public Broadcasting Service, after all.

The casual but coordinating outfits

Every presenter wore these...the Hawaiian shirts, the striped polos, the pigtails, all in the same orange/blue color scheme.

Ubbi Dubbi

Like you ever knew what the hell they were saying. But still, Ubbi Dubbi made you feel like you were part of a secret club full of cool-albeit-questionable kids.

Fannee Doolee

Riddle me this: Who actually understood all of Fannee Doolee's ridiculous riddles?

How meta it was

Part of the intro literally says, "If you like what you see, turn off the TV and DO IT!" Wow. Just... wow. Fun Fact: The original series and the reboot themselves were both adapted from Playschool.

ZoomChat

Which was like Dear Abbey meets The View for grade-schoolers.

The Cup Game

Proving Anna Kendrick's Pitch Perfect character was definitely a PBS kid.

The Kooky Science Segment

Zoom Guest

They should've had MCR on this show... 

How Collaborative it was

You could send in your favorite recipes, your embarrassing stories, your questions, or even a play you wrote the Zoom presenters would perform on TV! WHAT.

The Fact that YOU Could Audition to be a Zoom Presenter

But convincing your parents to move to Boston was harder than you expected.