Shining Time Station

Shining Time Station is a children's television series jointly created by British television producer Britt Allcroft and American television producer Rick Siggelkow. The series was produced by Quality Family Entertainment (the American branch of The Britt Allcroft Company), in association with Catalyst Entertainment in seasons 2 and 3, for New York City's PBS station WNET, and was originally taped in New York City during its first season and in Toronto during the rest of its run. It incorporated sequences from the British television show Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, which was in turn based on the books of The Railway Series written by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry. The series aired on PBS from January 29, 1989, until June 11, 1993, with four hour-long "Family Specials" premiering in primetime throughout 1995. Reruns continued to air on PBS until June 11, 1998. Shining Time Station reruns aired on Fox Family from 1998 to 1999, and on Nick Jr. from June to August 2000 to promote the theatrical release of Thomas and the Magic Railroad. The series also aired on Canadian television networks such as APTN and SCN. Elements from the show were incorporated into the 2000 film Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

The initial 1989 season featured a cast that included Ringo Starr as Mr. Conductor, Didi Conn as Stacy Jones, Brian O'Connor as Horace Schemer, Leonard Jackson as Harry Cupper, Jason Woliner as Matt Jones and Nicole Leach as Tanya Cupper. The show was retooled for the second (1991) and third (1993) seasons, with only Conn and O'Connor reprising their prior roles. George Carlin replaced Starr as Mr. Conductor, while Erica Luttrell, Ari Magder, Danielle Marcot, and Tom Jackson joined the primary cast in newly created roles. In addition to the three main seasons, a Christmas special featuring the original cast, aired in 1990, and four "family specials" aired in 1995 featuring the second cast. Providing the musical numbers for the show was "The Jukebox Band", a group of puppets. In 1996, only Carlin appeared in a spin-off series called Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales, which featured only six episodes with five Thomas stories and one music video each. The station interior was kept for the spin-off.

Background
After the success of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends in the United Kingdom, Britt Allcroft and her production company teamed up with PBS station WNET in New York City to produce and distribute the sitcom-esque Shining Time Station, every episode of which would include a couple of episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. The series starred Ringo Starr, George Carlin, Didi Conn, Brian O'Connor, and the Flexitoon Puppets. Ringo Starr, who had already been providing the narration for the British series, agreed to extend the role to include the on-screen character called Mr. Conductor in Shining Time Station. He left the show after its initial season to focus on his musical career and was replaced by George Carlin.

Shining Time Station received critical acclaim. In a review for Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker states that, compared to the faster paced Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, "'Shining Time Station' wants to slow things down. It's an old-fashioned show that creates a gentle, lulling atmosphere to convince children that life is fun and that trains are the way to travel." It was a ratings success as well. In its first season, the show averaged a 0.9 Nielsen rating, translating to about 1.2 million viewers on average. At the peak of its popularity, the show brought in up to 7.5 million viewers per week.

Overview
The Shining Time Station is a fictional train station on the Indian Valley Railroad in an unknown part of the United States. It is managed by Stacy Jones. Its workshop is run in the first season by Harry Cupper, and thereafter by Billy Twofeathers. A local named Horace Schemer, simply referred to as Schemer, runs the station's arcade and serves as the series' comic relief. He often comes up with tricks and schemes (hence his surname) to get his ways, although they usually backfire on him as a result of his foolishness. The narrative is driven by regular and incidental visitors to the station.

Mr. Conductor is a tiny man who lives in a signal house inside the station's mural and tells the stories taken from Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends to the kids. He also introduces songs to the kids in The Anything Tunnel. Sometimes, he may present a magic bubble to the kids that has the song inside as a way of introducing it. On occasion, the kids may look through a film viewer to see the song or film.

Main

 * Ringo Starr as Mr. Conductor (Season 1–Christmas special), a 20-centimetre tall conductor with a magic whistle that helps him teleport away.
 * Didi Conn as Stacy Jones (entire series), the kindhearted station master and aunt to Matt and Dan
 * Leonard Jackson as Henry "Harry" Cupper (Season 1–Christmas special and Family Special 3), an engineer and grandfather of Tanya and Kara
 * Nicole Leach as Tanya Cupper (main season 1 and Christmas special; guest season 2), Harry's granddaughter and Kara's cousin
 * Brian O'Connor as Horace Schemer (entire series), the proprietor of the station's arcade.
 * Jason Woliner as Matthew "Matt" Jones (Main season 1 and Christmas special; guest season 2), Stacy's nephew who visits the station
 * George Carlin as Mr. Conductor (seasons 2–3 and Family Specials), the first Mr. Conductor's cousin
 * Tom Jackson as Billy Twofeathers (seasons 2–3 and Family Specials), the engineer who replaced Harry after he left and Kit's uncle
 * Erica Luttrell as Kara Cupper (seasons 2–3 and Family Specials), Harry's granddaughter and Tanya's cousin
 * Ari Magder as Daniel "Dan" Jones (seasons 2–3 and Family Specials), Stacy's nephew and Matt's cousin
 * Danielle Marcot – Becky (recurring season 2; main season 3 and Family Specials), a local girl who is friends with Dan and Kara

Christmas Special cast (1990)

 * Ardon Bess as Tucker Cooper, Harry's cousin who helps out
 * Lloyd Bridges as Mr. Nicholas, a mysterious man who visits the station
 * Judy Marshak as Claire, a friend of Stacy's and Vickie's mother
 * Rachel Miner as Vickie, a mean little girl

Recurring

 * Jerome Dempsey as Mayor Osgood Bob Flopdinger (entire series), the mayor of the town of Shining Time
 * Mart Hulswit as Mr. J.B. King, Esq. (entire series), the superintendent of the Indian Valley Railroad, where Shining Time is located
 * Bobo Lewis as Midge Smoot (entire series), the town's gossip and a friend of Stacy and Ginny
 * Jonathan Shapiro as Schemee (seasons 2–3 and Family Specials), Schemer's nephew
 * Gerard Parkes as Barton Winslow (seasons 2–3), the proprietor of the town's general store
 * Barbara Hamilton as Ginny Johnson (seasons 2–3 and Family Specials), a farmer and friend of all
 * Aurelio Padrón as Felix Perez (seasons 2–3 and Family Specials), a bus driver
 * Bucky Hill as Kit Twofeathers (Family Specials), Billy's nephew

Special Guests

 * Ed Begley Jr. as Ned Kincaid and Ned Kincaid's Great-Grandson (Once Upon a Time)
 * Jack Klugman as Max Okowsky (Second Chances)
 * Teri Garr as Sister Conductor (One of the Family)
 * Jeannette Charles as The Queen (Queen for a Day)

The Jukebox Band

 * Steve Horelick – Composer and Music Producer
 * Jonathan Freeman – Tito Swing The Piano Man
 * Olga Marin – Didi The Drummer
 * Wayne White – Tex The Guitarist (1989)
 * Alan Semok – Tex The Guitarist (1990–1995)
 * Craig Marin – Rex The Guitarist
 * Peter Baird/Alan Semok/Vaneese Thomas – Grace The Bass Player (1989)
 * Peter Baird/Kenny Miele – Grace The Bass Player (1990–1995)

The songs were arranged and performed by Steve Horelick with Larry Wolf. They featured vocal performances by Rory Dodd, Vaneese Thomas, Emily Bindinger and Jonathan Freeman.

Segments
The intro to each episode consists of the main theme song of the show, played to footage of the Union Pacific Steam Locomotive 844 and the credits of the series' characters. Only the first verse is sung for the beginning theme. The closing credits contain more shots of the Union Pacific 844, in addition to the full Shining Time Station theme song. For the Christmas special "'Tis A Gift" the footage used for the opening and closing sequences were filmed at the Grand Canyon Railway in Williams, Arizona and features their locomotive #18.
 * Flexitoons Puppets & Marionettes – The Jukebox Band – the show's station band that performs a song inside the jukebox. They consist of pianist Tito Swing, drummer Didi, guitarists Tex and Rex (who control the guitar together), and bass guitarist Grace Bass. JJ Silvers is the manager of The Jukebox Band.
 * Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends – Storytellers, Ringo Starr and George Carlin.
 * The Anything Tunnel – Inside the anything tunnel, which is the tunnel on the station mural, there is a song with a cartoon, a stop motion clip, or a live action one. Sometimes instead of the anything tunnel, Mr. Conductor would show a magic bubble or one of the kids looks through a film viewer.

Season 1 (1989)
Mr. Conductor: Ringo Starr

Christmas Special (1990)
Mr. Conductor: Ringo Starr

Season 2 (1991)
Mr. Conductor: George Carlin

Season 3 (1993)
Mr. Conductor: George Carlin

Family Specials (1995)
Mr. Conductor: George Carlin

Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales (1996)
Mr. Conductor: George Carlin

VHS
Several VHS releases (except for 'Tis a Gift, Shining Time Station Singsongs, Schemer Presents: The World According to Me, The Jukebox Band: A Day in the Life, and The Jukebox Band: Lullaby) featured new wraparounds, presenting the episode as the main feature at the "Shining Time Drive-In Movie Theater", complete with in-universe commercials. These videos also featured "Schemer Presents!", bonus educational sketches starring Schemer, following the episode. The model drive-in scenes are sampled from the art film "Easy Living", by Chip Lord & Mickey McGowan.
 * 'Tis a Gift
 * Sweet and Sour
 * Stacy Cleans Up
 * Schemer Alone
 * Bully for Mr. Conductor
 * Becky Makes a Wish
 * Billy's Party
 * Schemer's Special Club
 * Mr. Conductor's Evil Twin
 * Shining Time Station Singsongs
 * Schemer Presents: The World According to Me
 * The Jukebox Band: A Day in the Life
 * The Jukebox Band: Lullaby

Books

 * A book, titled This Old Band, was written by Britt Allcroft and Rick Siggelkow. It featured the Juke Box Band and was published by Quality Family Entertainment in 1994.