Time Warp Trio

infobox_television
show_name = Time Warp Trio


caption = DVD cover
format = Animated series
runtime = 22 mintutes
creator =
starring = Mark Rendall
Darren Frost
Scott McCord
Sarah Gadon (replaced by Tajja Isen)
Sunday Muse
Laurie Elliot
Max Baker
country = USA
network = NBC (2005-2006)
Discovery Kids (2005-)
first_aired = July 9, 2005
last_aired = July 15, 2006
(Discovery Kids)
September 2, 2006 (NBC)
status = On Hiatus
num_episodes = 26

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"Time Warp Trio" is an animated television series, based on a series of children's books written by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith. Produced by Soup 2 Nuts in association with WGBH Boston, the show airs on Discovery Kids but also aired in a two-hour Discovery Kids block on NBC until September 2, 2006. The show still airs daily on the Discovery Kids Channel in the USA, and on CBBC in the United Kingdom

Plot

When Joe receives a book from his uncle on his 10th birthday, he has no idea what is in store for him and his two best friends Sam and Fred. Every time they open this book - known as "The Book" - it transports them through time into different time periods, causing them to get into dangerous situations. Whether they like it or not, they have to find the book in the time period they're in while trying to stay alive.

The boys learn how to use "The Book" throughout the series, but end up warping by triggering the book accidentally. Their great-granddaughters from the 22nd century know how to use "The Book" at will, although they sometimes trigger it accidentally as well. Samantha has a pocket-watch that belonged to Sam that can go back in time and to the future, although it has been known to break a couple of times and not go into the future even if stuck in the past.

Later in the series, Joe's evil uncle, Mad Jack, tries several attempts to capture the children with his crafty tricks. Whether it's stranding the boys in Antarctica, or trying to make their new home China, either way Mad Jack can be ruthless when it comes to "The Book". The time warp trio consists of three boys and their future descendants.

Characters

* Joe - Joe is an up-and-coming magician and the owner of "The Book". His talent for magic helps the trio in tough situations, but his tricks can also lead to some hilarious mishaps. As the leader of the group, Joe often has to settle disputes between Fred and Sam. He also has an amazing ability to talk his way out of trouble, which is why he hates to be outsmarted! According to Freddi and Jodie, Joe will fight his uncle, Mad Jack, in a great battle that will determine the fate of time itself.

* Sam - Sam uses book smarts, calculations and research to get himself, along with Fred and Joe, out of harm's way. Even though his ideas and expansive knowledge of history help the group escape several scary situations, he still worries that the gift of knowledge makes him a bit of a nerd. Sam is also very wary of Time Travel, and he's convinced their doom is imminent every time they open "The Book". According to Freddi, Sam will invent something important in the future, but she won't tell him what (she almost does, but "The Book" takes her back to her own time before she does; she said to Sam "You're going to figure out a way to..."). Sam is lactose intolerant.

* Fred - A 10-year old sports fan who isn't the brightest bulb on the chandelier. He has a big brother who bullies Fred and messes with his video games. His stupidity often ends up getting the gang in trouble, and always wants to persuade his two other friends, Joe and Sam, to travel somewhere via "The Book" where they can gain riches, glory or credit for something in a time period they didn't do. Even though he leaps before he looks, Fred uses it as an advantage to fight enemies and save the trio from trouble or death. At the beginning of an episode when Joe or Jodie are talking about how they got where they are, they mostly blame it on Fred.

* Joe the Magnificent - Joe's maternal uncle who is a magician, but not so great. He gave his nephew "The Book" (which he couldn't use either)Fact|date=February 2007. Seconds after Joe received The Book, his uncle vanished. He has other means of travelling through time, though seems to suffer from the same lack of control over these methods as he did over "The Book".

*Mad Jack - Joe the Magnificent's evil brother who is intent on getting his hands on "The Book" so that he can rule all of Time and Space. He recently faced a showdown with his nephew Joe and tried to get "The Book" (he never succeeds). Mad Jack does not appear in the book series.

* Joe's Mom - Joe and Anna's mom; Joe the Magnificent and Mad Jack's sister.

* Anna - Joe's younger sister, a very annoying girl in Joe's opinion. She often travels with the boys or uses "The Book" without permission, to Joe's anger. However, Anna is a very skilled warper herself and can handle "The Book" a little better than her brother!

* Jodie, Samantha and Freddi - Joe, Sam and Fred's great-granddaughters from 100 years in the future. When Fred, Sam, and Joe travel to the future, they met the girls because they had found a note in "The Book" that told them to meet the boys under Roosevelt's Statue in the park, which understandably shocks the guys. Jodie is a third level warper and does not like being taken out of her comfort zone. Samantha is a bit clumsy and has a robot cat. Freddi is very nice, but her selflessness sometimes causes problems. They live in the year 2105 (though in the books they lived in 2095). They occasionally are seen in the same time and place as their great-grandfathers. They are the only ones in the world (in their time at least) who can control "The Book" at will, although they also often trigger it accidentally. The girls also have a pocket-watch that used to belong to Sam that has been/will be modified to time travel as well.

Adventures

The Original Books
# Book 1, KNIGHTS OF THE KITCHEN TABLE
# Book 2, THE NOT-SO-JOLLY ROGER
# Book 3, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE GOOFY
# Book 4, YOUR MOTHER WAS A NEANDERTHAL
# Book 5, 2095
# Book 6, TUT, TUT
# Book 7, SUMMER READING IS KILLING ME
# Book 8, IT'S ALL GREEK TO ME
# Book 9, SEE YOU LATER, GLADIATOR
# Book 10, SAM SAMURAI
# Book 11, HEY KID, WANT TO BUY A BRIDGE
# Book 12, VIKING IT AND LIKING IT
# Book 13, ME OH MAYA
# Book 14, DA WILD, DA CRAZY, DA VINCI
# Book 15, OH SAY, I CAN'T SEE
# Book 16, MARCO? POLO! Time Warp Trio episodes
# The Not-So-Jolly Roger - The boys' first adventure with the book where they accidentally join the crew of the pirate, Blackbeard.
# 2105 - The boys warp 100 years into the future and meet... their great-granddaughters. "(First appearances of Jodie, Samantha and Freddi.)"
# You Can't, But Genghis Khan - When Sam throws a Mongolian menu into The Book, the boys almost get turned into roadkill and meet the boy who will grow up to become Genghis Khan.
# Tut, Tut - Anna warps the boys back to Ancient Egypt, where they meet a Pharoah and find themselves almost being mummified.
# Sam Samurai - The boys warp back to Japan and get involved in a battle. The girls turn up just in time to save their lives, but then Sam and Samantha get separated from the others when "The Book" warps them away.
# See You Later,Gladiator - The boys warp to ancient Rome and are almost forced to fight a gladiator.
# Lewis and Clark... and Jodie, Freddi and Samantha The girls accidentally warp into 1800 wilderness.
# Viking it and Liking it - The boys help Leif Erickson discover America.
# Hey Kid,Want to Buy a Bridge? - The boys warp back in time to when the Brooklyn bridge gets built to help Sam make an invention.
# Able Was I Ere I Saw Elba - When Joe accidentally says a palindrome, he and Fred, along with Samantha, accidentally change history by having Napoleon win the Battle of Waterloo, as they discover on returning to the present which is radically different from how they left it; America is now called New France and everyone speaks French. The boys must return to the past to ensure that history takes its proper course.
# The Seven Blunders of the World - A weird man steals "The Book" and plots to rule the world with it. However, someone else also has the same plans... "(First appearance of Mad Jack.)"
# Jinga All the Way - When Fred stabs "The Book", he, Sam and Jodie warp to Africa while Joe, Freddi and Samantha warp to Italy.
# Birdman or Birdbrain? - Samantha, Fred and Freddi warp to Easter Island when the contents of "The Book" become a strange language.
# Dude, Where's My Karma? - Fred and Sam intervene when Mad Jack tries to kill Joe's ancestor so he will never be born.
# My Big Fat Greek Olympics - Fred accidentally warps himself and Samantha to the Greek Olympics.
# Wushu Were Here - Fred, Joe and Anna warp to China to find a way to free Sam, who has become trapped inside "The Book".
# What's So Great About Peter? - Fred convinces Sam and Samantha to go back in time to Russia to look for a family fortune.
# The Caveman Catastrophe - On a visit to the Stone Age, Sam, Fred, and Jodie get turned into Neanderthals after accidentally changing events there. The only way for them to return to normal is to discover the reason behind the change and ensure that history is set straight.
# Nightmare on Joe's Street - Frankenstein's Monster gets unleashed in Joe's kitchen after the creature mysteriously turns up in the hall closet, while a quest to the past by Joe, Sam and Jodie to find Mary Shelley results in Count Dracula turning up as well!
# Breaking the Codex - The kids have to save Leonardo Da Vinci from Mad Jack.
# Break an Egg - Mad Jack attempts to trap the boys in Antarctica during Robert F. Scott's 1911 expedition.
# The High and the Flighty - Jodie, Samantha and Freddi warp back in time to try to find out what happened to Amelia Earhart, and try to prevent her disappearance. However, Freddi inadvertently "becomes" the reason behind Miss Earhart's vanishing (and thus a part of established history), and the girls learn that some things are just meant to be.
# Harem Scare'em - The kids warp to the Ottoman Empire to find the Time Map.
# Plaid to the Bone - Joe, Jodie and Anna are forced to help a castle from an invasion.

Production

On July 15, 2006, "Time Warp Trio" aired the last first-run episode of the season on the Discovery Kids Channel. A marathon was held on this day, which was also made up of six other first-run episodes. On September 2, 2006, "Time Warp Trio" aired its last first-run episode of the season on NBC, which was also the ending of the "Discovery Kids on NBC" block. No new episodes of "Time Warp Trio" have been aired since then, and the official website hasn't reported if any new episodes will be airing at all. Despite this, TV.com blogs state that a movie and new season is expected, it appears that the show is on hiatus. Members of the Time Warp Trio at TV.com forums have been asking people in WGBH, Soup2Nuts and PBS about if and when a second season would be produced and aired, but only got a non-committed response.

Petition

Second season of Time Warp Trio TV show at http://www.petitiononline.com

Television Series Credits

* Based on the Time Warp Trio book seriesWritten by Jon Scieszka
Illustrated by Lane Smith

For WGBH and Soup 2 Nuts
* Executive ProducersCarol Greenwald
Dorothea Gillim

* ProducersJacqui Deegan
Patrick Downie
David Trexler

* Head WritersKathy Waugh
Peter K. Hirsch

* DirectorsDavid SanAngelo

* ConsultantsJon Scieszka
Lane Smith

* Associate ProducerMarcy Goldberg Sacks

* Production CoordinatorRegan G. Toews

* Production AssistantsDanielle Gillis
Piper Freeman

* CastJoe - Mark Rendall
Fred - Scott McCord
Sam - Darren Frost
Jodie - Sarah Gaddon (2005), Tajja Isen (2006)
Freddi - Sunday Muse
Samantha - Laurie Elliot

* Voice ProductionStudio 306

* Director of AnimationAndre Lyman

* Art DirectorMark Usher

* Assistant DirectorPhil Andrews

* Video EditorsDebbie Corona
Jonas Cox
Evan Sussman

* Visual EffectsEvan Sussman

* Coordinating Producer/Business DirectorPaul Higgins

* Executive in Charge of Production for Soup2NutsJohn Worth Lynn Jr.

* Theme Song Performed ByRiddlin' Kids

* Scoring ByEggplant Productions, Inc.
* Series DevelopmentPierre Valette
* Content AdvisorPaul Ringel
* Educational ConsultantKaren Hill Scott, Ed.D.
* WGBH Special ThanksEvie KintzerKaren Baseman

For Discovery Kids

* Executive ProducersMartha Ripp
Jim Rapsas

* Associate ProducerPamela Ross

* Production ManagerCarolyn Dodd

* Special ThanksMarjorie Kaplan
Jennifer Williams
Janell Coles
Karen Baratz
Sophie Legg
Daniel Legg

External links

* [http://kids.discovery.com/fansites/timewarptrio/timewarptrio.html Discovery Kids: Time Warp Trio]
* [http://timewarptrio.com Time Warp Trio home]
* [http://www.tv.com/time-warp-trio/show/29474/summary.html TV.com: Time Warp Trio]