Groundling Marsh
Groundling Marsh was a Canadian children's television series featuring puppets. The show was produced by Portfolio Film & Television Inc., Children's Television Workshop and J.A. Delmage Productions. It included songs and animated segments, and enjoyed a certain amount of success and popularity at during its time. The only merchandise produced for the show were videos and they are now exceptionally rare and no longer produced. In the United States, it aired on PBS and the Disney Channel. It received funding from the International Production Fund, formerly the Maclean Hunter Television Fund. This series premiered October 1, 1995. Groundling Marsh was nominated at the 12th Annual Gemini Awards for Best Preschool Program or Series. John Pattison was also nominated for a Gemini for the episode "Bah Hegdish". The show had its series finale on November 28, 1997. The show is still seen on Bell Media-owned educational station CTV Two Alberta in Canada.
Seasons
1. Fungus Amungus
Air Date: 1997-09-01
Mud/Slinger try to earn fame by making cookies out of fungus, but they don't leave any fungus at Mossy Meadow for the swarming crunchybugs.
2. The Featherbeam
Air Date: 1997-09-02
In need of a friend, Galileo decides he wants a pet. He thinks he has one when a featherbeam bird enters his life.
3. Big Dreams
Air Date: 1997-09-03
Galileo decides he needs to explore outside the marsh. He builds a boat, ready to take off for some adventure, but the adventure comes to him. A plant from a frozen climate floats by, and Galileo decides he will return it to its rightful place in the mountains. Eco tries to remind Galileo about Nature's way through a story about an unruly tribal leader.
4. Truth & Consequences
Air Date: 1997-09-04
Maggie decides to trick as many groundlings as she can, but some trust is lost, which proves costly.
5. Maggie's Quest
Air Date: 1997-09-05
Maggie craves attention. She declares to all that she will look for a flower known only in stories.
6. Night and Day
Air Date: 1997-09-08
Mud/Slinger comes down with a rare disorder and can't speak coherently. Hope for a cure may be thwarted unless Galileo and Maggie learn to cooperate.
7. Life Before Stacks
Air Date: 1997-09-09
Stacks is ashamed when confronted with the fact that he is a machine. Eco eases things by telling all the ground-lings how Stacks came to be.
8. Heat Wave
Air Date: 1997-09-10
How can the Groundlings find relief from the oppressive heat? Mud/Slinger try out a myriad of inventions, none of which work--until they hit upon a fancy fan. But it takes an isolated thunderstorm to remind Mud/Slinger that they don't need certain tools all the time.
9. Pot of Plenty
Air Date: 1997-09-11
After Eco accidentally breaks the Pot of Plenty prior to the annual harvest meal of gratitude, she and Galileo follow the legend of their grandcestors in an effort to create a replacement pot.
10. All for One
Air Date: 1997-09-12
Eco is intent on spending time by herself while all the other groundlings seek attention.
11. Flower Power
Air Date: 1997-09-15
Galileo chases Maggie out of the marsh on the grounds that she doesn't serve any useful purpose. But an invasion of fast-rising flowers threatens to drown out the marsh and everyone in it, and Maggie is the only groundling to evade a floral disaster.
12. Them Dingling Dozy Daisies
Air Date: 1997-09-16
Mud/Slinger's new invention to protect the groundlings from the drowsy effects of doy daisies leads to a potential explosion.
13. Sticks and Stacks
Air Date: 1997-09-17
Stacks feels left out because all the groundlings have been ignoring him. All that changes when Stacks suffers from amnesia, thinking he's a tree.
1. Make Way for Hegdish
Air Date: 1997-09-18
Hegdish, a mischief maker from out of Groundling Marsh's distant past, returns to a warm welcome by stealing the sunstones from an underground cave. And Eco needs those sunstones to help the garden overcome a prolonged frost.
2. Butterfly Day
Air Date: 1997-09-19
Maggie must learn to be patient and quiet if she expects to se a butterfly for the first time. It's a tough task for Maggie, the most rambunctious of all the groundlings.
3. Stinky Pond Mystery
Air Date: 1997-09-22
Stacks is upset when no one gives him credit for an idea of his. Thus, when a huge pollutant stinks up the marsh, Stacks is not willing to give his fellow groundlings the solution.
4. Galileo's Prank
Air Date: 1997-09-23
Hegdish provokes Galileo to pull a prank involving itching powder. In the process, a patch of grass begins scratching uncontrollably.
5. Fence Fiasco
Air Date: 1987-09-24
Hegdish builds a fence around the sparkle berry bushes he thinks are his alone. He then coaxes the other groundlings to build fences around their lairs. This leads to a potentially serious flood.
6. Come Blow Your Horn
Air Date: 1997-09-25
Galileo wants to play music for the upcoming blossom festival.
7. Two Be or Not to Be
Air Date: 1997-09-26
Mud/Slinger bicker between themselves to such an extent that neither wants to see the other. This prompts Eco to mix a special concoction that, should Myd/Slinger drink it, they would separate forever.
8. Tupelo Treat
Air Date: 1997-09-29
Hegdish coaxes the groundlings to steal the secret recipe for a special candy. What they make together is a strange mix that switches Maggie and Mud's personalities.
9. Tinkletree Trouble
Air Date: 1997-09-30
Maggie thinks she has ruined a festive day when Hegdish tricks her into shaking the Tinkertree barren of its bells. Eco tells Maggie that Nature's rhythms are dependable.
10. Seahunt
Air Date: 1997-10-01
Mud/Slinger want to demonstrate their bravery. When Maggie and Galileo ask them to get special moss found on a remote island, Mud/Slinger jump at the opportunity. Eco helps get them prepared with everything they need, which will come in handy. Mud/Slinger's traditional bickering gets them lost at sea. All that Maggie, Galileo, and Eco assume, though, is that Mud/Slinger will be their heroes.
11. Eggs Over Easy
Air Date: 1997-10-02
When Galileo discovers a duck egg, he decides to perch on it in hopes that a duck will hatch. It takes all the persistence Galileo can muster to stay on the nest, and Hegdish is waiting patiently himself – for the one moment that Galileo will falter.
12. Slice of Advice
Air Date: 1997-10-03
Eco becomes overly concerned about the safety of the other groundlings, much to Maggie's discontent. When a tree needs help, Maggie is determined to do the job by herself. It's tough for Eco, especially since she had promised not to give Maggie any advice about the tree.
13. Snow Job
Air Date: 1997-10-06
Wintertime hits the marsh, much to the alarm of Mud/Slinger, who usually hibernate at this time. As they stuff their faces for the upcoming sleep, Hegdish succeeds in trapping Eco in Mud/Slinger's cave, but doesn't count on trapping himself in with her. Eco tries to instill to Hegdish the ability to talk to Nature and the Earth's creatures.
1. Mossy Bear
Air Date: 1997-10-07
Galileo tries to elude Maggie to give up her mossy bear by making up a story about a secret club.
2. To Sleep, Perchance to Dream
Air Date: 1997-10-08
Galileo stays up all night and has no energy left for a midnight search for blue roses that Eco is certain will bloom. When nightfall comes, Galileo can't sleep at all. Hegdish is restless, too – looking for the perfect scheme that would make Eco mad.
3. Reluctant Hero
Air Date: 1997-10-09
When Hegdish rescues Mud/Slinger, they wait on Hegdish night and day, much to his regret.
4. Over the Rainbow
Air Date: 1997-10-10
Hegdish strips colours from the rainbow and tosses them around to groundlings, provoking mood swings and making Eco weak.
5. Mine All Mine
Air Date: 1997-10-13
Mud/Slinger discover a jack-in-the-box that Maggie gave them. Hegdish coaxes Maggie to take it, turning everyone's mood mad. Eco's story shows that someone's trash is another's treasure.
6. Sproutmaster
Air Date: 1997-10-14
Eco grants Galileo the role of Sproutmaster, with responsibility for gathering the sprouts before an impending hailstorm. But the power corrupts Galileo. In an attempt to get the job done quickly, he turns bitter on the other groundlings.
7. Maggie's Tree
Air Date: 1997-10-15
Maggie's favorite tree is about to die, and Stacks predicts it will hit Eco's home when it falls. It puts two groundlings in danger: Maggie, who wants to stay with her tree until the end, and Eco, who resigns herself to stay in Hegdish's cave.
8. Maggie's Youday
Air Date: 1997-10-16
On a day that she annually gets presents at sunset, Maggie wants a secret peek at what Eco is giving.
9. Purple Pellet Fever
Air Date: 1997-10-17
Mud/Slinger become shallow when they charge their fellow groundlings purple pebbles for everything. Intent on getting more purple pebbles, they don't realize the river is overflowing to dangerously deep levels.
10. Lucky Stick
Air Date: 1997-10-20
Hegdish takes his stick with him to do all the jobs Galileo find dangerous. When Mud won't go into the cave to find fertilizer, the others ask Hegdish if they borrow his stick.
11. Megaboo Gonna Get You
Air Date: 1997-10-21
Hegdish makes up a fantastic story about a fictitious monster to scare the groundlings out of their recently-harvested berries.
12. Free at Last
Air Date: 1997-10-22
Stacks is overwhelmed with his new ability to roam through the marsh in a grocery cart. His mobile ways threaten to get the better of him.
13. Crystal Clear
Air Date: 1997-10-23
Eco's grandniece, an undergroundling named Crystal, becomes Maggie's newest friend. Consequently, Galileo feels left out.
1. Honey, I Shrunk the Groundlings
Air Date: 1997-10-24
In this first episode co-produced for Disney Channel, Eco is accidentally shrunk when Mud/Slinger test their size-altering invention.
2. The Amulet
Air Date: 1997-10-27
The magic in Eco's amulet is stuck, and she needs Mud/Slinger's polish to release the magic. Maggie, determined to prove she's grown up, takes the amulet to Mud/Slinger. Before the amulet is ready, Hegdish constructs a false amulet, which he switcheroos the next time Maggie walks by. It leads to a double-edged dilemma: Maggie, in her haste, crushes the fake amulet, thinking it's the real one, while Hegdish can't get the real amulet to work in his favor. Eco, for her part, sees through the dilemma immediately and takes steps to remedy it.
3. Jingle Bellies
Air Date: 1997-10-28
Galileo tries to keep secret the fact that he ate all the jingle reed cookies. In desperation, the others employ Hegdish, of all groundlings, to find the culprit.
4. Bumble-Bird Blunder
Air Date: 1997-10-29
Eco reveals a secret that has troubled her since childhood—which she feels is the reason she has been summoned to meet the Tree Elders.
5. The Hegdish Who Came to Dinner
Air Date: 1997-10-30
Hegdish suffers an accident and is laid up at Mud/Slinger's, expecting to be waited on all the time.
6. What a Guy
Air Date: 1997-10-31
Stacks is ready to go on an adventure in the name of nature.
7. The Enchanted Music Box
Air Date: 1997-11-03
Hegdish hears of a music box that plays wonderful music that makes everyone feel giddy. He hopes to hear this music firsthand, but when he does, he discovers the importance of moderation. Eco's story reminds us that ""Too much of a good thing can really be a bad thing.""
8. The Other Galileo
Air Date: 1997-11-04
Entering the marsh is a groundling who looks almost identical to Galileo, but he has a mean streak – more disagreeable than even Hegdish. The visitor hurts the other groundlings' feelings. Just as Maggies becomes distraught over what she thinks is Galileo's total personality change, Eco tells her the story of the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.
9. My Hero
Air Date: 1997-11-05
Stacks saves Galileo from the clutches of mischievous vines, only to get trapped himself. It's now up to Galileo to get Stacks out alive.
10. A Little Bird Told Me
Air Date: 1997-11-06
Maggie dencounters a bird who can talk only to her. Through that bird, Maggie discovers how special she really is. But will the other groundlings believe Maggie's story?
11. Berries as Big as Your Head
Air Date: 1997-11-07
Hegdish spots a vine of increasingly-large berries slithering into a cave – a cave he knows he can't navigate himself. Thus, he tells one lie after another to fool the other groundlings into following him into the cave. When the other groundlings are frustrated over Hegdish's stories in the name of gorging himself, they decide not to believe him anymore. Eco tries to warn them about the danger of this mindset by retelling the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf.It all comes to light for Hegdish when Galileo gets struck by a falling stalactite in the cave. Will anyone believe Hegdish now?
12. Ooops!
Air Date: 1997-11-10
Mud/Slinger believe they have done everything wrong. First, they get distracted from cleaning the wheels on Stacks's grocery cart in an effort to open a cave door. When they get all their tools, they accidentally shut the cave door – with Crystal inside the cave. Hegdish and Galileo offer to help, but Mud/Slinger, in their anxiety, ruin the other groundlings' plans. But Eco informs Mud/Slinger not to quit. Eventually, they turn disaster into a workable solution.
13. The Imaginary Friend
Air Date: 1997-11-11
Galileo cannot accept the fact that Crystal's best friend is invisible.
14. Catch a Falling Star
Air Date: 1997-11-12
On a starry night, Galileo sees a shooting star seemingly land on the other side of the lake. He is determined to sail his boat across the other lake to catch a shooting star. Everyone laughs at his idea. So determined to go off on his journey that Galileo fails to prepare himself adequately. He also doesn't plan for Hegdish, who becomes the invited stowaway.
15. Glisten Berries & Friends
Air Date: 1997-11-13
The annual glisten berry search produces a quandary. Everyone is supposed to search for glisten berries with his or her special friend. Crystal feels left out because every other groundling (except Hegdish) has already found a special friend for the search. At Galileo's suggestion, Crystal asks Stacks to be her special friend. This produces a misunderstanding for Galileo, as Stacks and Crystal go off on their own adventures. What Crystal does next, informs Galileo that the more friends one has, the better.
16. Treasure of the Lost Marsh
Air Date: 1997-11-14
Told of the legendary gold rock that marked the source of Groundling Marsh's water, Maggie and Galileo, along with Hegdish, set out for a cave where the long-lost rock may be.
17. Coming of Age
Air Date: 1997-11-17
Crystal is put to a test that she must solve herself to prove her wisdom, but she falls prey to the advice of some other groundling.
18. The Best Present of All
Air Date: 1997-11-18
Maggie is upset because she cannot find an original way to show her appreciation for Eco. Everyone else takes Maggie's ideas, except one: Mossy Bear. Wll Maggie give up her favorite toy to show Eco her appreciation?
19. Five Leaf Clover
Air Date: 1997-11-19
Mud/Slinger turn their lives amuck stumble upon a clover that grants five wishes. Each wish produces a disaster, mainly because they can't agree with each other. Galileo tries to help Mud/Slinger with a song, but they accidentally wish him away.
20. Mighty Maggie
Air Date: 1997-11-20
Maggie accidentally provides Mud/Slinger the inspiration they need to make one of their inventions successful. Inspired, Mighty feels superior to the others. She tries to prove her superiority by besting the other groundlings at contests. Not even Hegdish can outduel Maggie, who will ultimately outduel herself.
21. Crystal and the Ice Wind
Air Date: 1997-11-21
Crystal sets free a friendly wind that freezes everyone who comnes in contact with it. When virtually all the other groundlings are frozen in place, only Crystal can lure the Ice Wind back to its place deep inside the caves.
22. Free Wally
Air Date: 1997-11-24
A choir of musical flowers falls into disharmony when Hegdish steals one of the chorus.
23. That's Entertainment
Air Date: 1997-11-25
Hegdish is about to leave the marsh–again. His plan is thwarted when the other groundlings put on a stage show for him.
24. Listen Up
Air Date: 1997-11-26
Crystal's high-powered ears pick up only parts of conversations, leaving Maggie to conclude that she isn't appreciated. Distraught, Maggie withdraws into Crystal's cave. All the groundlings are intent to find Maggie, except for Hegdish, who's more determined to search for food.
25. It's a Wonderful Marsh
Air Date: 1997-11-27
Eco thinks she is unappreciated since everyone in the marsh is capable of doing jobs well. But what if Eco had not been at the marsh all this time? Eco is taken on a Jimmy Stewart path to a nightmarish scene: Hegdish has the power to commnunicate with Nature's creatures, and uses this power for his own ill means.
26. Bah Hegdish
Air Date: 1997-11-28
When Stacks breaks down in an attempt to start the lights for Twinkletime, Hegdish is reluctant to give away the pellets needed for Stacks to regain power. That night, Hegdish revisits his past, present, and a Dickensian nightmare of a future in Groundling Marsh.
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Rating
0.0/10
Release Date
1995-10-01
Episodes
65 (4 seasons)
Status
Ended
Cast
Production Companies
Portfolio Entertainment
YTV