Villa Alegre (TV series)
A bilingual village teaching Spanish and English.
Villa Alegre (Happy Village) is a children's television series that was the first national bilingual (Spanish/English) program in the United States. It debuted on PBS in 1973 and ran until 1981, with additional syndication on commercial stations. The show was created by Dr. Rene Cardenas and produced by Bilingual Children's Television.
Quick Facts
- First aired
- 1973
- Last aired
- 1981
- Network
- PBS
- Creator
- Dr. Rene Cardenas
- Production company
- Bilingual Children's Television
- Awards
- Peabody Award
Facts from the source article.
Description
The series was set in a whimsical bilingual village and featured an upbeat salsa-flavored theme song ending with shouts of "¡Villa Alegre!" It aimed to teach each language to native speakers of the other, covering subjects like mathematics, science, and life lessons alongside Hispanic culture. Executive producer was Claudio Guzman, head writer Barbara Chain, and her son Michael Chain composed much of the specialty music.
Performers
Kenia Hernandez Cueto played child actress/singer Maria. Carmen Zapata starred as Doña Luz, the mayor, for nine seasons. Marisela appeared in her youth, and Linda Dangcil played Elena. Alejandro Rey directed the show. Nono Arsu played Felipe in the first and second seasons, and Darryl Henriques played Mimo in those seasons. Steve Franken and Hal Smith were regulars.
More in First-run Syndicated Children's Television Series
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