Polka Dot Door

The BEST children's show for imagination, Polka Dot Door was a long-running children's television series produced and broadcast by TVOntario from 1971 until 1993. The show, which aired Monday to Friday, was set in a large playhouse. Each episode had two human hosts, always one man and one woman, although there were many different human hosts over the course of the series. The same pair would host the show for a week; the next week would bring a new pair of hosts.The hosts would lead children in songs and stories, and interact with stuffed animal characters Humpty, Dumpty, Marigold and Bear. (Minou, a French-Canadian stuffed cat, sometimes also appeared in later years.) They would often peer through the Polka Dot Door to witness a video of some sort, showing, for instance, how crayons are made. They would also visit Storytime Mouse, who would emerge from a tall clock to help the hosts tell the time. Often the show would feature the music director John Arpin as well as musicians such as Peter Appleyard, Jane Bunnett, and Henry Cuesta for a round of songs.