On January 31st, 2020, the Parents’ Choice Awards Advisory Board announced that Apple’s “Ghostwriter,” “Helpsters” and “Snoopy In Space” have been selected as 2020 Parents’ Choice Gold Award winners. All three series premiered globally on November 1, and are now streaming exclusively on Apple TV+.
“Helpsters” is called “positive, colorful, tuneful and educational,” by the Parents’ Choice Foundation. The live-action preschool series follows Cody and the Helpsters, a team of vibrant monsters who love to solve problems. From the makers of “Sesame Street,” the series is recommended for 3- to 5-year-olds. Preschoolers will discover the power of teamwork with the engaging and encouraging Helpsters, while absorbing important lessons in pre-coding skills, self-confidence, collaboration, effective communication, and much more. “Helpsters” is created by Emmy Award-winning and Parents’ Choice Gold Medal-winning Tim McKeon (“Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends: Destination Imagination,” “Odd Squad”), who is also showrunner of the series, and is executive produced by McKeon and creative executive Kay Wilson Stallings.
A re-imagining of Sesame Workshop’s 1992 series that the whole family can enjoy, Apple’s “Ghostwriter” is now a Parents’ Choice Gold Award winner. The Parents’ Choice Foundation hails that each episode will leave viewers “wanting more” and that each story illustrates “friendship, problem-solving, reading and family respect.” The series is executive produced by the multi-Emmy Award-winning Sinking Ship Entertainment (“Odd Squad,” “Endlings,” “Dino Dana”) and Emmy Award-nominated Andrew Orenstein (“Everyone Hates Chris,” “Malcolm in the Middle”); and directed by Academy Award-winning Luke Matheny (“God of Love,” “Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street,” “Here We Are”). “Ghostwriter" is recommended for 6- to 11-year-olds. Each episode story arc is grouped around literature, featuring classics and new works commissioned from popular authors like D.J. MacHale and Kwame Alexander.
Apple’s premiere series from its exclusive partnership with WildBrain, majority owner of Peanuts Worldwide, “Snoopy in Space” is a Parents’ Choice Gold Award-winning Apple original for kids that features astronaut Snoopy. In partnership with Peanuts Worldwide, the series is designed to inspire a passion for space exploration and STEM among the next generation of students. The Parents’ Choice Foundation notes in its review of the series that it "retains the charm of the earliest animated programs featuring Charles Schulz’s legendary Peanuts gang while also making the most of 21st century subject matter.”
In addition to the Parents’ Choice Awards, Apple’s Award-winning original kids series have received multiple honors to date, including a prestigious Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding for “Snoopy in Space,” as well as a Directors Guild Award for “Ghostwriter” director Luke Matheny.
The Parents’ Choice Foundation recognizes excellence in the entertainment and advertising industries by awarding its Seal of Approval. Established in 1978 as a 501c3, Parents’ Choice Foundation is the nation’s oldest nonprofit guide to quality children’s media and toys. Best known for the Parents’ Choice Awards program, the Parents’ Choice Award Seals are the Foundation’s internationally recognized and respected icons of quality.
