Cappelli & Company

Cappelli & Company was an American children's television series created by and featuring Frank Cappelli, a songwriter and composer for children. The show ran for four seasons, from 1989 to 1992, and originated at WTAE-TV, the ABC affiliate in Pittsburgh. After strong critical and ratings success in that market, the series was distributed by WTAE's parent company, Hearst Television, to its other stations nationwide. These included WCVB in Boston, WDTN in Dayton, KMBC in Kansas City, WISN in Milwaukee, and WBAL in Baltimore, many of which continued airing the show into the late 1990s.

Each episode combined musical segments, puppets, montages, in-studio sing-alongs with a live child audience, and human interest pieces. Cappelli typically appeared in most musical segments, which were filmed away from the main set and featured his original songs—ranging from playful tunes like "Brusha-Brusha Brush Your Teeth" to more sentimental ones like "Lindsay's Bakery." Children often acted out the stories of these songs, and other adult actors occasionally joined. In the studio, Cappelli led sing-alongs on his acoustic guitar, sometimes with guest performers. One human interest segment per episode offered a behind-the-scenes look, such as how candy was made, similar to the "Picture Picture" segment on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

The show's success on Hearst stations led Nickelodeon to pick up reruns for its Nick Jr. weekday morning lineup, airing from April 5, 1993, to June 10, 1994. After production ended in 1992, Hearst stations continued running the show once a week on Saturday mornings. WTAE aired it the longest, finally removing it from its Saturday schedule in fall 2003 after a 14-year run—the last 10 of which were entirely reruns. Most other Hearst stations stopped carrying the program by the late 1990s, and stations acquired later through the merger with Argyle Television never aired it.

During its broadcast and cable run, Cappelli & Company won two Emmys for quality children's programming and two national Gabriel Awards for children's television. Frank Cappelli also signed with A&M Records as a national recording artist, releasing six audio cassettes and two video cassettes based partly on the series. Both the audio and video releases received multiple Parent Choice Awards.