Coming Attraction: 'Odd Squad' on PBS Kids

"Odd Squad" on PBS Kids

There aren't many kid shows on air, I'm guessing, that got their inspiration from movies like Airplane and The Naked Gun, but that's going to change once Odd Squad makes its debut on PBS Kids this fall. November 26, to be exact!

Last month, I had the chance to attend the PBS Annual Meeting in San Francisco, along with other PBS VIP bloggers. As always, it was such an enlightening experience. I'm such a fan of the network, as well as all of the educational entertainment and tools they offer kids and their parents.

And when they introduced the creators of Odd Squad, I knew they had another winner.

Odd Squad is a live-action, math-based show that has pint-sized investigators checking out strange phenomena -- a unicorn destroying the New York Public Library -- on a daily basis. The kid agents use problem-solving skills to figure out all the wacky oddness happening all around them.

And the best part is that they do it with humor.

The show is geared toward kids ages 5-8 and features two agents, Olive and Otto, who want to get to the bottom of problems, but each in their own way. Add to that a sassy (and perhaps overworked) Ms. O, who likes to raise her voice (it's actually totally cute) while making time to play with Popsicle sticks.

"Odd Squad" creators Tim McKeon, left, and Adam Peltzman

Creators Tim McKeon, who has a young son of his own, and Adam Peltzman know a thing or two about animated kids' comedy. While McKeon worked on the animated show Adventure Time, Peltzman wrote for The Backyardigans. They're pros in the kid biz.

While one of their main concerns -- besides offering up educational-based programming -- was to create a definitive line between "silly and scary," -- well, that and no aliens -- they also wanted kids and parents to know that they were OK with failure.

What?! In 2014?!

"I'm a big fan of failure," McKeon said at the conference. "Failure is just the need to re-examine effort."

Basically, failure helps children (and adults, for that matter) to see what works and what doesn't work. That doesn't mean giving up. It means trying a different approach.

And what better way to strengthen kids' resilience than to help them see that not everyone gets everything right on the first try.

Actually, thinking about it ... what would be the fun in that?

Stay tuned for Odd Squad on November 26!