Network: CTV Television Network
Broadcast Run: 1984 to 1995
Broadcast Medium: Television
The Canadian Young Naturalist Foundation formed the Owl Children’s Trust in 1975, and in 1976 it launched Owl Magazine, a science and nature discovery magazine, which quickly gained a circulation of 25,000 and continued to grow. Eventually, in 1985, a TV series based on the magazine was launched as a co-production of the CBC and PBS, with involvement by the National Audubon Society.
The television series patterned its content on the magazine, with many wildlife features, as well as handy tips on such diverse subjects making your own go-cart, or creating a periscope out of a milk carton. The Hoot Club acknowledged exceptional efforts by young people in such fields as fund raising to protect tropical rain forests, and working to prevent the extinction of the peregrine falcon.
60 episodes of the series were produced, of which approximately half played on the CBC. The series moved to CTV in the fall of 1990, where the balance of the originals and repeats of the entire series continued to appear in the network schedule on weekends for over a decade. It was included in the network’s 2004-2005 schedule announced in June 2004.
Written by Pip Wedge – June, 2004