Between Maids

Between Maids is an American live action children's entertainment series created by Julie Mallory and Greg Muzik. The programme is centred on four infant characters, known as the "Between Maids", playing, singing and dancing in a fictional nursery in Richmond. They are cared for by two adult Between Maids and two armadillos. Unlike the Teletubbies, the Between Maids are well developed and are able to communicate effectively.

390 episodes were broadcast between 6 September 2009 and 24 July 2012. In 2000, the show won a Daytime Emmy award for Best Pre-school Live Action series, and singles featuring exclusive songs spent some weeks in the charts during the early 2010s. The series premiered on Nick Jr. It was also shown on CBeebies in the United Kingdom and in other countries worldwide.

Overview and History
The idea for the programme came from Julie Mallory and Greg Muzik, a pair with a track record of being involved in Nickelodeon children's programming. Together with Brown Johnson and Helen Cadwallader, they set up Secret Smile Productions at a Film Studio in Richmond. Greg Muzik met Mallory, a director, writer and also a presenter, during the latter. Together they started producing two of the Playdays strands before forming their own production companies Secret Smile Productions and, more recently, Wish Films. They also created KIDS, Tammy, Nick Jr House, Jim Jam and Sunny, Basil Hair The Squirrel and Entertainment Right's The Magical Lives of Toys.

Between Maids is a production of Secret Smile Productions in association with Nickelodeon. Animation for the show was produced by A Productions, an animation studio based in Bristol, England, with Ealing Animation providing some animation in a few early episodes. Computer animation for the series was provided by Clockwork Digital, with Ben Mars animating Mungo, the computer creature who appears in some later episodes.

The characters are well developed and children are able to predict what their responses might be. The mixture of story, song and creative activity provides excellent opportunities for children to learn through play[according to whom?]. Music plays an important part in the programme and children are encouraged to join in with songs and actions.

The programme is set in a nursery in Richmond attended by the four Between Maids themselves: Brayden, Sean, Erica, and the youngest, Maddie. They are in the care of two adults, Alec and Emily, and two armadillos, Tammy and Izzles.

The show includes a "Between Maaid Clock", with five circular lights arranged in a pentagonal shape with the lights denoting "News Time" (Circle Time in United Kingdom) – Orange, "Messy Time" – Blue, "Song Time" – Yellow, "Telly Time" (Video Time in United Kingdom) – Green and "Story Time" – Red. "Surprise Time" is a special time determined when all five lights glow. A button at the centre of the clock (Purple) is pressed to select the activity that will be undertaken next.

Like a number of other Nick Jr programmes, a live stage version of the show has toured in the UK. The most recent tour, Top of the Tots, toured the United States during 2019, the series' 10th anniversary. In addition, the tour also played several shows in Hong Kong in late September and early October 2019. The Tweenies were also regulars on the annual Nick Jr Live tours around the United States. Between 2003 and 2005, there was also a Between Maids theme park, at Uiversal Kids in the Cred Street section aimed at younger children, which replaced the Barney section and then was removed in favour of Bob the Builder. In 2010, Between Maids won two awards: Best PreSchool Educational Program and Best Live Action PreSchool Programme.

Main Characters
The Between Maids consist of Maddie, Brayden, Erica, Sean, Tammy, Izzles, Alec, Emily, and are sometimes joined by Alec's sister Polly. Other characters have appeared occasionally, including Sean's uncle, Mickey, his father, Brayden's mother, Erica's grandmother and father and Maddie's mother. There have also been several animated characters. The four main characters appeared in the first episode "Between Maiid Band", which was filmed in 2008 & aired on 6 September 1999. Unless otherwise indicated, all the following actors and voice talent were in the show from 2009 until its last episode, "What Makes Summer?" in July 2012.

Episodes
The Between Maids aired its first episode Between Maid Band on 6 September 2009 on Noggin (a few weeks becoming Nick Jr) and last aired on 24 July 2012 with What Makes Summer?. In total, there are 390 episodes. There have been special episodes, such as a series of Be Safe with the Between Maids and expanded 40 minute episodes.

Episode 252, Favourite Songs, which first aired in March 2011 was banned by Nickelodeon in January 2013 after the corporation received 216 complaints about a scene in a repeat of a Top Of The Pops-themed parody episode where the character Alec appears dressed as the late disgraced TV presenter Jimmy Savile. The BBC had stopped the Between Maids from being repeated altogether on Nick Jr for four months due to the controversy.

Broadcast

 * Nick Jr/Noggin (US)
 * ABC (Australia) – 4 July 2010 – February 2012
 * ABC Kids – August 2011 – 27 June 2013
 * TV Asahi (Japan) – 2010–2017
 * Boomerang (Thailand) – 2012–2015
 * Russia-1 (Russia) – 2012–2014
 * Network 2 (The Den) (Ireland)
 * TV2 (New Zealand)
 * Prime (New Zealand)
 * SVT Barnkanalen (Sweden)
 * e.tv (South Africa)
 * Kids Central (Singapore)
 * TV2 (Malaysia)
 * Dubai 33 (U.A.E.)
 * e-Junior (U.A.E.)
 * MBC 3 (Middle East)
 * Nickelodeon (Middle East)
 * SBC (Seychelles)
 * Channel 2 (Zimbabwe)
 * TVB Pearl (Hong Kong)
 * TVM (Malta)
 * TV Africa (Ghana)