Kerwhizz
Encyclopedia
Kerwhizz is a British children's television game show
commissioned by Michael Carrington and aired on BBC One
. The series uses a mix of CGI
and live-action, and is targeted towards four to six-year-olds. Kerwhizz originally ran from 3 November 2008 to 11 May 2009. A new series began on CBeebies
on 7 March 2011, running on weekdays until 25 March. Re-runs of the new episodes continued except on bank holidays until 6 May.
All of the questions are multiple-choice, with the answers colour-coded red, green, yellow or blue (not coincidentally, these are the standard colours of the function buttons on TV remote controls). Once the question rounds are complete, the teams' pods are assembled around them and the respective mods are installed. The pods are then raised through the roof of the studio into the CGI race world. Each race world is a themed environment (the questions usually include clues to the theme) containing three, or occasionally four, zones, and each race comprises two laps (except in "The Deserted Desert Dash", which is a novelty race with no set route and a hidden finish line). All of the teams are likely to encounter unexpected setbacks and opportunities along the way, making the outcome of each race unpredictable.
Dr Aric Sigman refers to Kerwhizz as a perfect example of what television makers claim is educational, despite his insistence to the contrary. Sigman goes on to say that "the phrase 'educational television' was, of course, invented by people who make television", "to me it's an oxymoron.".
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
commissioned by Michael Carrington and aired on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
. The series uses a mix of CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
and live-action, and is targeted towards four to six-year-olds. Kerwhizz originally ran from 3 November 2008 to 11 May 2009. A new series began on CBeebies
CBeebies
CBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at children 6 years and under. It is used as a themed strand in the UK on terrestrial television, as a separate free-to-air domestic British channel and used for international varients supported by advertising, subscription or both...
on 7 March 2011, running on weekdays until 25 March. Re-runs of the new episodes continued except on bank holidays until 6 May.
Summary
The show is moderated by Kerwhizzitor (Jacob Scipio), the only regular live-action character. Three teams of CGI characters, each comprising a human child and a part-living, part-mechanical animal, must answer four rounds of questions, each featuring a regular 2-D animated character, to win a choice of pod mod for their respective racing pods. In addition, one round offers the chance to win a mystery mod. Each mod is an unconventional accessory that may or may not give its user a better chance of winning the race. The teams are cheered on by three groups of live-action children dressed in the teams' colours and waving team flags.All of the questions are multiple-choice, with the answers colour-coded red, green, yellow or blue (not coincidentally, these are the standard colours of the function buttons on TV remote controls). Once the question rounds are complete, the teams' pods are assembled around them and the respective mods are installed. The pods are then raised through the roof of the studio into the CGI race world. Each race world is a themed environment (the questions usually include clues to the theme) containing three, or occasionally four, zones, and each race comprises two laps (except in "The Deserted Desert Dash", which is a novelty race with no set route and a hidden finish line). All of the teams are likely to encounter unexpected setbacks and opportunities along the way, making the outcome of each race unpredictable.
Questionmaster
- Kerwhizzitor (Jacob Scipio) moderates the quiz, asks the questions, makes bad puns and rhymes and tries to keep the teams in order. In the race world sequences Kerwhizzitor commentates.
Contestants
- Team Ninki comprises Ninki (voice: Kriselle Basilio), a dark-skinned girl with ponytails and a mid-European accent (and a terrible singing voice); and Pip, a green-furred dog somewhat resembling a Scottish terrier with an extendable metal neck. Pip cannot speak, but can often shape his barks and growls into an approximation of words. Despite this Ninki sometimes fails to hear him when he gets a question right and offers her own wrong answer instead, causing him to growl in frustration. Team colour: yellow. Team logo: yellow star.
- Team Twist comprises Twist (voice: Alex Velleman), a highly confident, if not overconfident, blond boy with a fixation for style; and Snout (voice: Jermaine Woods, not credited on series 2) who resembles an orange-furred, two-legged wooly mammoth with a plastic trunk, and has a fixation of his own, with sprouts. In the episode "Planet Snout" the eponymous planet is revealed to be his homeworld and the origin of his vegetable obsession. It is also revealed that Snout has two nephews, Rocco and Ricco. Team colour: blue. Team logo: blue spiral.
- Team Kit comprises Kit (voice: Telka Donyai), a fair-skinned girl whose confidence in her abilities is as great as Twist's, occasionally causing some girl-boy rivalry between them; and Kaboodle (voice: Yasmin Garrad), who is basically a furry ball with a face, two conical plastic ears/antennae, and a springy conical plastic leg. She appears to be less mature than the other racers, and often requires emotional support from Kit. Team colour: pink. Team logo: pink lightning bolt.
Question hosts
These characters appear in the flash-animated question sequences. None of them speak, since the questions are all read by Kerwhizzitor. In many episodes they, or characters based on their designs, also appear in CGI form in the race world sequences, where they are much bigger than the human contestants.- Natterjack the toad presents two questions per episode based on picture recognition. A typical question might involve the teams identifying one of four pictures that is identical to one that Natterjack has drawn.
- Burping Herbert the burpasaur presents one question based on visual memory. This typically involves Herbert eating one of several objects and the teams having to choose which one it was from four alternatives.
- King Pong the skunk presents "Hunt the Skunk", in which he hides in or behind four objects in rapid succession. Pip, Snout and Kaboodle have to decide which object was his last hiding place in order to win the Mystery Mod. King Pong's appearance is always heralded by a smelly green vapour. Occasionally he is replaced by his relatives, such as the pirate Long Pong Silver (who smells even worse), or by Queen Pong or Princess Pong (who both smell very nice and produce fragrant pink vapour).
- Kat Kool the cat presents "Kat Kool's Sound Round", one question based on auditory memory. Typically Kat Kool or his band will play a tune, and the teams must then choose which of four alternative tunes matches.
Episodes
| Series | Episode | Title | Winner | Podmods | Original Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Vegetable Valley Alley | Twist | Gleaming Garden Snippers (Kit) Spade (Twist) Packet of Seeds (Ninki) Giant Sprout (Mystery, Twist) |
3 November 2008 |
| 1 | 2 | The Slip and Slide Snow Ride | Kit | Crampon Claws (kit) Supersonic Skis (Ninki) Expander Specs (Twist) Bobble Hat (Mystery, Ninki) |
10 November 2008 |
| 1 | 3 | Castle Kingdom | Ninki | Lance (Ninki) Sword of Plastic (Kit) Tur-bow (Twist) Egg (Mystery, Ninki) |
17 November 2008 |
| 1 | 4 | Bedroom Zoom | Kit | Mega Moonbeam Super Torch (Ninki) Shooting Star (Twist) Teddy Bear Tim (Kit) Giant Alarm Clock (Mystery, Twist) |
24 November 2008 |
| 1 | 5 | The Daring Dino Dash | Twist | Musical Conch Shell (Ninki) Diviner (Kit) Daffodactyl Flower (Twist) Scarf (Mystery, Twist) |
1 December 2008 |
| 1 | 6 | Hat-Trick Highway | Ninki | Future Ball (Ninki) Wonder Wand (Kit) Natterjoker (Twist) Corrector (Mystery, Twist) |
? |
| 1 | 7 | Funfair Freeway | Kit | ? | 8 December 2008 |
| 1 | 8 | The Great Space Race | Ninki | Keryptonite (Kit) Faster Feather Duster (Ninki) Comet Catcher Net (Twist) Time-Travelling Clock (Mystery, Kit) |
15 December 2008 |
| 1 | 9 | Bowling Alley Rally | Twist | Lucky Bowling Arm Charm (Ninki) Super Speakers (Twist) Quicker-Sticker Sticky Stuff (Ninki) Skittle Stopper (Mystery, not taken) |
5 January 2009 |
| 1 | 10 | The Ace Choc Chace Race | Ninki | Bubbler (Kit) Marshmallow Maker (Twist) Fruit-and-Nutter (Ninki) Gripper-Dipper (Mystery, Twist) |
12 January 2009 |
| 1 | 11 | Underwater Whizzway | Kit | Rusty Anchor (Kit) Plug (Twist) Fish Food (Ninki) Muncher Fish (Mystery, Kit) |
19 January 2009 |
| 1 | 12 | The Supershape Showdown | Twist | Prankstar (Ninki) Super-Springy Thingy (Twist) Totally Triangular Shape Cutter (Kit) Stumbling Block (Mystery, Kit) |
26 January 2009 |
| 1 | 13 | Egypt World | Ninki & Kit | Really Useful Relic (Ninki) Papyrus Password (Kit) Eat-My-Duster (Twist) Ancient, Light-reflecting Gem (Mystery, Kit) |
2 February 2009 |
| 1 | 14 | Supermarket Sprint | Ninki | Tip-Top Trolley Dodger (Twist) Label Enabler (Kit) Shopping Bag (Ninki) Cheap-at-Half-the-Price Super Stacker (Mystery, Twist) |
9 February 2009 |
| 1 | 15 | Goldfish Gulp | Twist | Big, Bouncy Bubble (Ninki) Propellor (Twist) Rubber Ring (Kit) Fishy Fin (Mystery, Twist) |
16 February 2009 |
| 1 | 16 | Whiffy World | Ninki | Super Socker (Twist) Super Sucker (Kit) Pongy Plunger (Ninki) Giant Pepper Pot (Mystery, Twist) |
23 February 2009 |
| 1 | 17 | Opposite World | Kit [NB slowest pod wins] |
Faster Blaster (Ninki) Goer Slower (Kit) Flashlight (Twist) Swapsie (Mystery, Ninki) |
? |
| 1 | 18 | Crazy Racy Golf | Twist | Right-On Cue (Twist) Putt-Putt-Putter (Kit) Plug Mod (Ninki) Mega Bouncing Ball (Mystery, not taken) |
? |
| 1 | 19 | Daredevil Dreamway | All | Sniffertron (Kit) Practical Pointer (Twist) Pip's Perfect Pod Mod (Ninki) Pod-in-a-Box (Mystery, Kit) |
? |
| 1 | 20 | The Fairy Tale Trail | Kit | One Wish (Kit) Two Wishes (Twist) Three Wishes (Ninki) Nattertoad (Mystery, Ninki) |
? |
| 1 | 21 | The Marvellous Musical Marathon | Ninki | Mega megaphone (Ninki) Cool Conductor (Kit) Super Speakers (Twist) Wonderhorn (Mystery, Ninki) |
? |
| 1 | 22 | Party Paradise | Kit | Food Finding Fork (Twist) Power Party Popper (Kit) Pressing Presser (Ninki) Parcel (Mystery, Twist) |
? |
| 1 | 23 | The Four Season Freeway | Twist | Nibbling Gnashers (Ninki) Brumbrella (Kit) Lead Guitar (Twist) Ticket to Boys for All Seasons concert (Mystery, Kit) |
? |
| 1 | 24 | The Super Ace Rainbow Race | Kit | Top Drawer-er (Kit) Fade-Away Vanishing Block (Twist) Splatt-er (Ninki) Colour-Me-Wonderful Paint Set (Mystery, Ninki) |
? |
| 1 | 25 | Moonlight Night Flight | Twist | Clouder-Outer (Ninki) Cool Cat's Eyes (Kit) Shooting Starburst Boost (Twist) Flight of Fireflies (Mystery, Kit) |
? |
| 1 | 26 | Fun Food Freeway | Ninki | Frisky Whisk (Ninki) Grater-Scraper (Twist) Cheese Board (Kit) Chef's Hat (Mystery, Kit) |
? |
| 2 | 1 | Building Block Rock | Kit | Brick Basher (Ninki) Dino Demolition Ball (Twist) Foghorn (Kit) Mega Cone (Mystery, Ninki) |
7 March 2011 |
| 2 | 2 | The Ker-razy Cave | Twist | Rockin' Rocket Boosters (Kit) Hyper Heater (Twist) Picky (Ninki) Superstar Night Light (Mystery, Twist) |
8 March 2011 |
| 2 | 3 | The Play Place Race | Ninki | Super Suckers (Twist), Big Wide Wedge (Kit), Blow-Up Bouncers (Ninki), De-tangler (Mystery Twist) |
9 March 2011 |
| 2 | 4 | Spooky Speedway | Twist | Bat Wings (Kit), Lending Hand (Ninki) Glower (Twist) Spooky Sheet (Mystery, Ninki) |
10 March 2011 |
| 2 | 5 | The Speedy Greedy Bake Race | Kit | Frisky Whisk (Kit) Getaway Tray (Twist) Icing Bag (Ninki) Dreamy Creamy Fondant Fancy (Mystery Not taken) |
11 March 2011 |
| 2 | 6 | Wild West World | Ninki | Sheriff's Badge (Ninki) Lasso (Twist) Burpalo Nickel (Kit) Cowboy Hat (Mystery, Kit) |
14 March 2011 |
| 2 | 7 | Overgrown Garden Getaway | Twist | Hopping-glad frog legs (Twist) Creaky-Squeaky Lawnmower (Kit) Long Stick (Ninki) Hairdressing Set (Mystery, Ninki) |
15 March 2011 |
| 2 | 8 | City Speedway | Kit | Beat Bop Baton (Kit) Subway Tickets (Twist) Big Onion (Ninki) Year's Supply of Popcorn (Mystery, Ninki) |
16 March 2011 |
| 2 | 9 | Giant Jungle Jetway | Ninki | Leaping Lizard Legs (Ninki) Frog's Tongue (Twist) Zapper (Kit) Rain Cloud (Mystery, Ninki) |
17 March-2011 |
| 2 | 10 | Arty Crafty Caper | Twist | Safety Scissors (Ninki) Super Sticker (Twist) Perfect Painter (Kit) Ball of Super String (Mystery, Twist) |
18 March 2011 |
| 2 | 11 | Treasure Island Trail | Kit | Hook (Twist) Main Sail (Ninki) Rope (Kit) Treasure Map (Mystery, Twist) |
21 March 2011 |
| 2 | 12 | The Toy Factory Track | Ninki | Quick and Slick Oil Can (Twist) Top Popper (Ninki) Spanner (Kit) Toy Model of Kerwhizzitor (Mystery not taken) "Thingamajig" (extra mystery item, Ninki) |
22 March-2011 |
| 2 | 13 | Planet Snout | Twist | Fantastic Fan (Kit) Which-Way Dish (Ninki) Pepper Pot (Twist) Sprout Recipe Book (Mystery not taken) |
23 March 2011 |
| 2 | 14 | The Zoom Around the Moon | Ninki [NB Kit drops out of race] |
Fiery Flare (Ninki) Force Field (Twist) Space Helmets (Kit) Super Duper Boosters (Mystery, Kit) |
24 March 2011 |
| 2 | 15 | The Deserted Desert Dash | All | Eye Spy (Ninki) Big Ears (Twist) Nifty Nose (Kit) Magic Lamp (Mystery, shared by all) [NB all teams score equal points and are allowed to choose Mods cooperatively] |
25 March 2011 |
Reception
British-based American psychologistPsychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
Dr Aric Sigman refers to Kerwhizz as a perfect example of what television makers claim is educational, despite his insistence to the contrary. Sigman goes on to say that "the phrase 'educational television' was, of course, invented by people who make television", "to me it's an oxymoron.".