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Raggs is a live-action/animated television series for children about five dogs that form a Ragtime band called The Raggs Band. There are 196 half hour episodes and 200 original songs in multiple languages. It was originally produced in Sydney, Australia, with additional production in the United States in English and Spanish. It was first broadcast in Australia on the Seven Network on January 2, 2006. In 2014, The Raggs Band reunited to record 20 classic kid's songs.
Raggs aired in the U.S. and Canada on Smile, Qubo, V-me, and Telemundo. It aired in Latin America on FETV Canal-Panama, RTV-Ecuador, Canal Dos-El Salvador, Guest Choice Cable-Dominican Republic and Corporación Televicentro-Honduras. Raggs began broadcasting on SABC 2 in South Africa on May 7, 2018.
Raggs
In 2005, Steedman and her company, Raggs LLC, entered into a co-production relationship with Southern Star International (now Endemol Australia) to produce the Raggs series for the Seven Network in Sydney, Australia. Production began in 2005 using Autodesk Maya at the ABC Studios in Sydney, and the first episode of Series 1 began airing daily at 9 am on Seven in January 2006. Series 1 consisted of 65 half hours episodes. Raggs quickly garnered strong ratings and, within a few months of airing, Seven ordered Series 2, an additional 65 episodes. In 2007, Seven ordered Series 3, also 65 episodes, bringing the total to 195 original half hours by 2009. Each episode featured original Raggs’ music, written and produced in the U.S. by Concentrix Music and Sound Design, requiring over 200 original songs for the 195 half hours of shows.
In March 2007, Telemundo, the NBC-owned Spanish language network, and V-me, the public Spanish Language network owned by PBS and by its own company V-me Media Inc., licensed 144 episodes of Raggs in Spanish.
Southern Star distributed Raggs to several countries including Singapore, Bulgaria, South Africa and India. In the U.S., Steedman worked to establish Raggs on public television. KQED San Francisco signed on as the presenting station in association with American Public Television, and Raggs began airing on public TV stations in 2007 in select markets and in 2008 nationwide.
In January 2010, Steedman reacquired Southern Star's distribution and licensing rights under Blue Socks Media LLC. Blue Sock Media LLC, completing a complete consolidation of the worldwide assets, later purchased Raggs LLC. Steedman continues to head Blue Socks Media in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Raggs characters are used at Grand Palladium family-friendly resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico to host the kids program, "Play at Palladium with Raggs." Features include a live show, disco party, and character breakfast.
The crew included screenwriter Mark Valenti ( Rugrats, Hey Arnold!, Totally Spies!), lighting designer Alan Adelman (75+ episodes of Great Performances, Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards), music producers Fred and Becky Story (Concentrix Music & Sound), costume designer "Greyseal", and choreographer Hardin Minor (National Dance Institute).
The DVD earned 3.5 out of 4 stars from Suite 101 Family Entertainment film critic Nicholas Moreau, tied for the highest ever rating for an independently produced DVD. The music from the tour was later released as a Compact disc album.
In Australia, the Raggs Band performed at Westfield Malls, and was one of two children's acts to perform on Carols in the Domain, a nationally televised live musical show.
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