PBS 45 & 49

Note the “portly dog whose eyebrows float considerably north of his head, and whose ears express deep shades of embarrassment and pride.” That's Ruff Ruffman!

I Love Ruff Ruffman

Watch Fetch With Ruff Ruffman weekdays at 11 a.m. on PBS 45 & 49

I really like some kids’ shows — PBS’s Sesame Street and Wordgirl and the Saturday morning network series Dragon, based on the children’s book series by Dav Pilkey (who, by the way, used to be a Kent resident).

However, I LOVE Fetch With Ruff Ruffman. Never mind that I often get confused and call it Ruff With Fetch Fetchman.

In Ruff Ruffman you’ll find a character that invokes the comedic sensibilities of Rodney Dangerfield and Phil Hartman, commingled in a hilarious animated dog full of neuroses and one-liners. And talk about emotional range. In every episode, Ruff swings from exhilaration to terror, self-aggrandizement to shame.

Joanna Weiss of the New York Times wrote, “Ruff is a refreshingly flawed lead character, manic and egomaniacal; he gives one of the kids bonus points for saying ‘Ruff Ruffman’ a lot. He's a would-be mogul who specializes in bungles and half-baked cover-ups, a portly dog whose eyebrows float considerably north of his head, and whose ears express deep shades of embarrassment and pride.”

Oh, that’s the Ruff Ruffman I love!

In fact, Ruff is so hilarious, so lovable and so watchable (is that a word?) that I think he should be the host of the PBS Kids program breaks. I’ve been pushing Ruff’s agenda on this matter, thus far with no success. But don’t worry, Ruff — I don’t give up easily. For instance, I’ve been trying to talk our programmer into acquiring broadcast rights for Northern Exposure for over 10 years and I think I’m getting closer.

All this Ruff adoration aside, the show has great educational content. Part game show, part reality TV and part spoof, Fetch features real kids, real challenges and real science. Ruff is the animated mastermind who commissions a team of “fetchers” to solve scientific problems, which always have to do with Ruff’s personal problems or grand ambitions. Targeting 6- to 10-year-olds — and a few 47-year-olds such as myself — the series is spontaneous, unscripted and full of twists.

“It’s all about problem solving, teamwork, science and me, Ruff Ruffman,” says Ruff. Right on, Ruffy!

You must take a look at Fetch. Check out a video clip of the show or visit the Web site.

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Lisa Martinez, PBS 45 & 49’s Vice President of Marketing & Development

As vice president of marketing and development, I oversee private sector fund-raising, including membership, underwriting and grants; external communications including publications, the Web site, community outreach, public relations and press relations; and promotional and fund-raising events.

I’ve been with PBS 45 & 49 for over 20 years, joining the station in 1985 as an intern. I worked in communications for the first 18 years and was then promoted to my current position in 2004. I'm a member of the North Central Ohio Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and my civic involvement includes volunteer work for the Main Street Kent revitalization project and the Portage County Board of Elections.

I grew up in Canton, Ohio, graduated from GlenOak High School, went to The Ohio State University for a week and returned home because my dorm room was shaped like a piece of pie. (Who can live like that?) So I enrolled at Kent State, where I declared many majors, from advertising to secondary education, all the while taking the literature courses I really loved. Eventually I admitted I was an English major and earned both a B.A. and M.A. from KSU. I taught Freshman English as a part-timer at KSU over the years, until it dawned on me that grading papers is among my least favorite things to do. But I'm still in love with Kent after all these years. It's a unique place — small enough to be a town (a very non-suburban one) but big enough to allow for a bit of city anonymity.