“Wishbone ”Creators Thought the Show Was 'Doomed' When PBS Asked for 40 Episodes at Once

Angela AndaloroWed, May 27, 2026 at 8:57 PM UTC

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Soccer as Wishbone in "What's the Story, Wishbone?"
Credit: Novel Tails -

Wishbone was a PBS series that told stories from classic literature using a Jack Russell terrier to appeal to young viewers from 1995 to 1997

What's the Story, Wishbone? features cast, writers and creators sharing the story behind the ambitious production

Creator Rick Duffield recalls what it was like to rally the team to make 40 episodes of the show for Wishbone's first season

The creators of Wishbone never imagined that their ambitious series would reach as many viewers as it did.

The beloved PBS series, which followed a small dog with a big imagination as he brought classic literature to life, is the subject of a new documentary, What's the Story, Wishbone? The team behind the PBS series, which aired from 1995 to 1997, appears in the documentary, recalling how the ambitious idea turned into a living, breathing production that had the support of the network.

Creator Rick Duffield began by wanting to create a show that could be about kids from any neighborhood across the country. He later began incorporating the elements of reimagining literary stories and eventually having a dog at the heart of it all.

Bringing that town to life would be an undertaking. Once there was an interest in the show, the crew decided to build a town instead of using sets.

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Wishbone on set
Credit: Novel Tails

Writer Stephanie Simpson recalled, “We built a little town. To pull that off, we'd have to create our own little Hollywood in North Texas. I remember going out into this big piece of land where there was nothing. I mean, nothing but trees. It was just a completely undeveloped, wild piece of land.”

“We converted 50,000 square feet of industrial warehouse space into a pair of sound stages to accommodate our interior sets, and Chris Henry, our production designer, adapted 10 acres of property into a working backlot for all of our exteriors," Duffield explained.

Getting the town prepared and finding the perfect cast took a lot of hard work, but nothing prepared them for when it was time to shoot the show. The team quickly discovered that wrangling child actors and a dog was going to be tougher than they thought. Further, the pace they needed to maintain to film the season's episodes made it briefly seem impossible.

One of the dog trainers on set, Brian Turin, shared, "There was a lot of things that we did on Wishbone that I had never done before. So we were constantly prepping for the next episode, getting props, you know, teaching the dog different behaviors, different wardrobe. So every week was a new adventure on the show.”

Larry Brantley in "What's the Story, Wishbone?"
Credit: Novel Tails

Duffield acknowledged that "The pace was daunting," adding, "There was no time. It was, 'Get it done, get it done,' to the best of our ability, and then move on."

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Larry Brantley, who voiced Wishbone, recalled, "You have to bear in mind that in the beginning, I was contracted for five episodes, so I thought that was the length and breadth of my responsibility, right? 'We're gonna do this for five shows, and then I'll move on, and I'll have a great experience behind me.' "

The 40-episode order would allow PBS to air a new show every day of the week. This was the model for children's programming at the time.

"And then we were on the fifth episode, and I think it was lunch on a Friday, and that was when Rick Duffield and Betty Buckley stood up at lunch on a Friday and announced that PBS had ordered 35 more shows for a total of 40 episodes in a calendar year.”

"What's the Story, Wishbone?" poster
Credit: Novel Tails

Duffield was just as nervous to announce that to the cast and crew as he was when he found it out themselves. He recalls feeling like, "What was I thinking?"

"This show was made on the fly. We made it up as we went along. So, okay, we're gonna do 40 of these. When do they want them? Well, they want all of them at once because they're gonna strip it. So we couldn't make five and send them five and do the next five. They needed all 40 at once," he explained.

"We all had the same question, which was, how are we gonna do this? How are we gonna pull this off?"

While they made it happen for season 1, season 2 presented questions and challenges. Duffield recalled, "The intention with the programming at the time is what they call strip, a children's show, and it's just like a cartoon script. It's every day. 40 shows in eight weeks. That meant that every day a new Wishbone show was gonna air."

"And when I heard that, I knew our show was doomed. The people that were in charge of the marketing and the broadcasting failed to see there was gonna be a staying power with this audience that could be appointment viewing," he continued. "There was not financial payback that they were looking for between our financiers, our studio, and PBS. They just didn't wanna invest in giving it more time. I think if they'd given it more time, it would've been phenomenally successful.”

What's the Story, Wishbone? will debut on public television stations May 27 through June 9, 2026. The film will be available on TVOD/Digital across all platforms where you can rent or buy movies in North America on June 10, 2026, directly following broadcast. Find the film in your market or your preferred platform at www.whatsthestorywishbone.com and follow the film on Instagram: @thewishbonedocumentary.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”