DefunctTV: The History of Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman

Kids who grew up without cable understand how important PBS kids GO was. We all looked forward to it after school

I used to love this show. I was pretty sick as a kid and I remember spending a few days in the hospital and missing a few episodes of Fetch. My mom emailed PBS and told them how much I loved the show and they sent me a care package with a note from Ruff Ruffman. It made me feel so special. This is still a comfort show for me.

i loved this show because it talked to you not like a kid but as someone who knows and understands sarcasm and humor

i want a “where are they now” of some of the cast especially the original. i was in the 3rd grade when this came out and always dreamed of being casted.

hearing somebody say “viewers like you” and not following it up with “thank you” just feels...wrong

The fact that canonically the show only exists because PBS somehow accidentally hired a D O G is amazing

God I really didn't appreciate how creatively unique this show was as a kid. The amount of expression and energy in what is literally just a game show framing device is amazing.

There was a point in time growing up where my family didn't have cable. I simply cannot put into words how hard Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman carried me for two years. The days where my brother would hog out Xbox all day and I had nothing else to do, I could always rely on the show to entertain me, or the games on the website. I lived vicariously through the kids, solving the puzzles along with them and choosing my favorite contestants. I remember being so excited when Jay won as I'd been rooting for him the entire season. Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman will always have a special place in my heart and I'll always look back on my time with PBS fondly due to this one show. Jim Conroy did a kickass job voicing all these characters and making Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman an experience to remember.

"Kids, do me a favor- If a viking in a purple duck boat ever shows up at your house? Just... just go back inside." -Ruff Ruffman

So this time, the prize actually was the friends they made along the way

Fetch with Ruff Ruffman was MY SHOW. I genuinely loved it so much as a kid and grew up with it. I learned so much and adored every minute of it. As a kid I didn't always know when "new seasons" would appear, but I would always watch when I knew about them. The show is genuinely so incredible, and it disappoints me so much that there's never been a revival of the show. I always thought that one of the coolest things that could ever happen in my life would be doing this show. It seems like genuinely a life changing experience. To this day it has left an impression on me, and it makes me sad it hasn't returned.

As a huge Zoom fan I was devastated when it was cancelled, but Fetch with Ruff Ruffman really rekindled the magic from that show for me and gave me a new cast of kids to look up to. The season 1 cast has a special place in my childhood memories.

“yeah, i don’t cry that easi-“ fetch with ruff-ruff man immediate sobbing in the corner

"But is that all the points a dog can give?" "NOOOOOO" "What time is it?" "BONE-US POINTS!!!!!"

The sheer quality of this show is really heartwarming

I clicked on this video fearing that there would be hidden controversies, scandals, and just ugly and dark truths behind the show- just like lots of other childhood gems. Glad to know this isn’t the case.

"But Zoom was failing to capture children's attention." Online teachers everywhere: Sigh~

"Many of the young cast members knew that the true prize of each season was not the karate trophies or the helmets of victory, but rather the opportunity to be on the show itself and to meet their fellow contestants." So the real prize really WAS the friends they made along the way.

I remember being an awkward 9 year old and crying because when I learned I couldn’t audition for Fetch because I didn’t live in Boston. I wish that TV like this still existed.

I learned so much from this show. Literally years after watching it I still remembered the things I learned like carbon dating, buoyancy, how a lever works, and so much more. This show will forever hold a place in my heart