Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman

'Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman (sometimes shortened as Fetch!') is an American live-action/animated television series that was on PBS Kids Go!. It is a reality-game show that is hosted by an animated anthropomorphic dog named Ruff Ruffman who dispenses challenges to the show's real-life contestants. The series ran for five seasons and 100 episodes from May 29, 2006, to November 4, 2010, on PBS, with 30 contestants in that time. Although a sixth season was planned, with auditions taking place in January 2010, WGBH announced on June 14, 2010, that the series would end due to lack of funding. In June 2008, the series received its first Emmy for Best Original Song for its theme. It previously aired reruns on the 24 hour PBS Kids Channel.

Studio G set
Studio G is the studio for ''Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman''. Three segments of the show take place in the studio – the intro, halftime quiz show, and "Triumph Tally". In season 1, the contestants recognized that Studio G looked like a garage and asked Ruff why, which in the episode, really annoyed Ruff and told them it was not a garage and that it was "Studio G". Over the course of the show's five seasons, the studio changed. For season 1 and 2, the studio was relatively unaltered, but sizable changes were made to the studio for season 3. The television through which the contestants communicate with Ruff was changed to a more current flat screen TV, and Ruff's owner parked her car, a dusty Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, in the studio. A flamingo and trees as well as a "Studio G" sign and a "wall of fame" displaying past Fetch! contestant season winners were added to the studio in season 2. In season 4, a new remote control mailbox was placed on the TV Screen, which popped out when a challenge was in the mailbox. Season 5's major renovation occurred during the season finale – it became the Go Get It! studio (Studio P), and was a remodeled version of the Studio G set with new carpeting and pink chairs.

Synopsis
Fetch! is a reality-based game show where young contestants (ages 10–14) take on various challenges to gain points. During these challenges, the contestants must complete a variety of tasks assigned to them ahead of time (and on the fly) by Ruff and surrogates, depending on the situation. There is also an educational component, as contestants often must learn something (i.e. Astronomy, Carpentry, Engineering, Food Science, Biology, Physics, Mathematics, etc.) in order to complete the task.

Not all contestants leave the studio each episode to complete tasks. "As determined by the Fetch 3000"(according to Ruff), the contestants who remain behind in the studio participate in the "Half-Time Quiz Show", in which Ruff asks them up to ten questions with the limited time based on the activities of the contestants out on challenges. Out on challenges, contestants will have the potential to earn up to 100 points. The contestants in the studio will have a chance to win a maximum of 50 in the "Half-Time Quiz Show". The show has a Fetch Fairness Guarantee; that every contestant will "compete for the same number of points" through thirteen challenges and six "Half-time Quiz Shows" before the final episode. Additionally, Ruff assigns "Bone-us" points (usually 5 or 10, but sometimes 15 or 20) to the stand-out contestants. On rare occasions, there is the possibility to earn more than 100 points (outside of any bonuses). The record for most points earned in one episode was 125, by Brian, Noah, and Khalil in episode 5, season 1. In Season 4, contestants are able to have 1/2 points (i.e. 515​1⁄2 points). At the end of the season, a final point tally is conducted, with the winner of the tally being declared winner of that season to win the "Grand Prize" And Will Get A Poster And Be Put It On The Fetch Wall Of Fame.

Prizes are not always desirable, and sometimes the prize holder winds up with a "booby prize"; for example, in "Good Dancing and Bad Breath", Anna and Brian had to dance a waltz in the studio. During the first season, the contestant had the choice of keeping the prize or giving it to a fellow contestant But Only If They Had A another Person Otherwise they Have To take it. During the remaining four seasons, there are two unknown prizes between which the winner chooses Which Means They Cant Give It To anyone. The chosen prize may be "mailed" to the mailbox in Studio G, although occasionally large prizes are hidden elsewhere on the set. In one episode of Season 2, Rosario gave his prize to Nina. In a season 4 episode, Sterling returned his prize to the mailbox.

Cultural references and guest stars
''Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman'' contains a considerable number of direct cultural references for a PBS Kids show, which makes up a large chunk of the series's comedic style. In the season 2 premiere, when Nina does a rather sloppy job at making chocolate candy, Ruff remarks that it is the "Jackson Pollock candy." In the following episode, Ruff mentions that he likes REO Speedwagon. In Season 3, Episode 13, when Sam and Harsha throw sacks in a pail, Ruff makes a comment saying, "I feel like Shaq in the free throw line", making a reference to Shaquille O' Neal. In season 4, Episode 14, when Talia found a horseshoe crab while working on a shrimp boat, a horrified Ruff exclaimed, "Looks like Darth Vader's face with a billion legs coming out of it!" In Episode 17 of the same season, Talia was starstruck when she discovered that she was holding Roger Federer's tennis racket. In Episode 15 of Season 2, when the scuba instructors arrived at the beach, Ruff claimed that they were "faster than Batman" and that he "hoped [Batman] was watching the show". In Episode 14 of Season 5, when Rubye and Marc learned skydiving signs, Ruff remarked that one of the signs looked like "one of Beyoncé's dance moves." In Season 2, Episode 4, when Rosario voiced Ruff for the first time, Ruff remarked: "Is that Ruff Ruffman or Marge Simpson?" In Season 4, Episode 16, when Ruff called Isaac, who was dressed as an old lady, he accidentally called him Mrs. Doubtfire and then corrects himself and says Mrs. Issacson. In Season 5, Episode 18, when Joe explained to the FETCHers, he told Michelle about the book she read. Michelle said: "I believe that was Green Eggs and Ham."

The show also had some guest stars. In episode 6 of season 1, Aaron Carter and the contestants all appeared in his new music video. In episode 10 of season 1, Anna and Noah must earn some quick cash by building a lemonade stand with the help of master carpenter Norm Abram. In season 2, episode 2, Ruff sends Madi and Willie to meet the Blue Man Group. In Season 3, Episode 4, Sam meets Senator Edward Kennedy. In season 5, episode 4, Crush the sea turtle from the movie Finding Nemo makes an appearance via Ruff's Fetch 3000. Andrew Stanton reprises his role as Crush here. In episode 2 of season 4, the host of Design Squad Nathan Ball appeared in a pole vault challenge. In episode 17 of season 4, Gary Sohmers, an appraiser for 13 seasons of Antiques Roadshow, made his appearance challenging two of the contestants to explore Brimfield Antiques and Collectibles Show in Brimfield, Massachusetts.

Cancellation
The show had auditions for their sixth season in January 2010, but on June 14, 2010, WGBH Boston announced that Season 5 will be the final season due to lack of funding. On June 27, 2010, Jim Conroy (the voice of Ruff) made the official announcement at the Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony. On his Facebook page, he said, "It's such an impossible task going up against Sesame Street, Cyberchase, and The Electric Company. So you have to consider the nomination as a win. Can't complain. PBS gave us 100 episodes and 5 seasons. Many good shows never saw that kind of time." Fetch! aired its fifth and final season in October 2010, with the final episode date being November 4, 2010.

Critical reception
The show was an instant hit with audiences and received critical acclaim. The New York Times praised the series, writing "The show’s creators have written in all the sarcasm and amazingness of a more sophisticated and harder-edged show, but not in a way that condones such behavior. There’s a kind of genius to the setup." Larisa Wiseman of Common Sense Media gave the series four out of five stars, saying this entertaining PBS series combines the comedy of a cartoon, the challenge of a game show, and the best of reality TV.

Auditions
To audition for the program, potential contestants were required to be between the ages of 10 and 14 by the first day of shooting, and be able to live in the greater Boston area over the summer, during school vacations, and a few weekends during the school year. FETCHers needed to be filmed without missing school. Auditions were handled by Maura Tighe Casting.