Me and My Monsters

Overview

The Carlson family, who have recently relocated from Australia to the UK, discover that there are three monsters living in their basement. Eddie would get along with the monsters much to the chagrin of his father and sister and to the delight of his mother.

Production

The series was announced on 27 August 2009, when The Jim Henson Company partnered with British production company Tiger Aspect Productions to produce a new drama series for the CBBC channel entitled Me & My Monsters, in which the series was originally intended to be an American/British co-production and the programme originally intended to feature an American family that moved to a house in London, the series will be created by former cartoonist Mark Grant who developed the series with Tiger Aspect Productions while The Jim Henson Company would create the three puppet monster creatures via its Jim Henson's Creature Shop division in Los Angeles.

However one year later on 10 February 2010, the series was retooled into an Australian/British co-production and the family was changed from an American family to the one of Australia now named the Carlsons when Australian broadcasters Nickelodeon & Network Ten and German broadcaster ZDF joined as co-commissoniers with CBBC while Australian live-action & animation production studio Sticky Pictures alongside producer & founder Donna Andrews (who also founded live-action Buster Dandy Productions with Justine Flynn (which previously co-created & produced Bambaloo and Five Minutes More) until animation studio Sticky Pictures merged Buster Dandy Productions into the former one month prior in January of that year) and British production outfit Baker/Coogan Productions joined the upcoming television series as co-producers with Larry Rickard, George Sawyer, Tom Basden, Sam Leifer and James Bachman would write episodes for the upcoming series alongside creator Mark Grant and would be filmed in Sydney with occasional guest writers while Sticky Pictures' head of Live-Action & former Buster Dandy Productions co-founder Justine Flynn became producer for the upcoming services alongside Baker/Coogan Productions co-founder Pete Coogan whilst Sticky Pictures & Buster Dandy Productions co-founder Donna Andrews serve as executive producer and BBC's distribution arm BBC Worldwide would handle international sales to the series unlike Jim Henson's other series such as Fraggle Rock and The Hoobs which Henson handled worldwide distribution to those series.

There were 13 episodes in the first series. A second series aired less than half a year later and features 13 more episodes. The first series aired on CBBC on 18 October 2010 and aired every week day except Monday until Series 1 Episode 10, Dust Bag Love, which aired on 29 October. Episodes 1 through 10 had a slot of 8:00 am or 8:05 am during half term. When half term finished, the show did not air until 3 November 2010 with Episodes 11 and 12, airing at 6:30pm. Episode 13 aired after that weekend on its normal Tuesday not Monday slot concluding Series One on 8 November 2010. A second series was then set to start airing on 11 April 2011 at 8:00 am, and a new repeat slot of 6:15 pm for the new episodes has been made on CBBC. Originally, the whole two seasons was made as 26 episodes of half-hour for one whole series but has split into two seasons with a 4 to 5-month gap in between their original airdates. The programme last re-aired on CBBC on May 7, 2015 at 11:40am.

Characters

• Eddie Carlson (played by Macauley Keeper) – The monsters' best friend, who is at school at Whitgift in Surrey.
• Angela Carlson (played by Ivy Latimer) – Eddie's older sister who doesn't like the monsters.
• Kate Carlson (played by Lauren Clair) – Eddie's mother; a self-employed cook who the monsters call "human-mum-thingy-person".
• Nick Carlson (played by Felix Williamson) – Eddie's father; a businessman working in advertising who the monsters call "human-dad-thingy-person".

Monsters

• Haggis (performed by Don Austen, assisted by Sean Masterson (Episodes 1-6) and David Collins (Episodes 7-26), voiced by David C Collins) - A gigantic red and orange monster. He doesn't do a good job at being a monster since he tends to scare himself.
• Norman (performed by Matthew McCoy (Episodes 1-6) and Sean Masterson (Episodes 7-26), assisted by Fiona Gentle, voiced by David C Collins) - A purple monster who is a bit of an oddball and is the only one who can't talk; instead making bizarre noises though Fiend and Haggis can still understand him.
• Fiend (performed by Heath McIvor and Alice Osborne, voiced by David C Collins) - A green multi-eyed monster who is the smallest of the bunch. He considers himself the leader of the monsters.

Cast

• Macauley Keeper - Eddie Carlson
• Ivy Latimer - Angela Carlson
• Lauren Clair - Kate Carlson
• Felix Williamson - Nick Carlson

Puppeteers

• Don Austen - Haggis
• David Collins - Norman, Haggis (assistant puppeteer)
• Fiona Gentle - Norman (assistant puppeteer)
• Sean Masterson - Haggis (assistant puppeteer)
• Matthew McCoy - Norman (assistant puppeteer)
• Heath McIvor - Fiend
• Alice Osborne - Fiend (assistant puppeteer)

Books

Four episodes from the series were turned into books. The first one was called monsters in the basement and was based on series 1, episode 1. The second book was called Monster mess and was based on series 1, episode 10. The third book was called Monster mess and was based on series 1, episode 12. The fourth and final book was called Monster school and was based on series 1, episode 2. Although all books are based on episodes from series 1, the third and fourth book were released during series 2. All books are written by Rory Growler.

Episodes

Series 1 (2010)

Series 2 (2011)

NOTE: Only Series 2 Episodes 1-7 were broadcast in HD on BBC HD in Spring 2011 and Series 1 Episodes 1–4 on CBBC HD throughout December 2013, although all the episodes were filmed in HD. Series 1 episodes 5-13 were aired from 27 February until 11 March 2015. They were aired on CBBC HD.

Home media

The full series of Me and My Monsters was released as a box set in Germany and Switzerland. Also in Norway and Sweden. In Australia, there has been a DVD release of Me and My Monsters called Series 1: Episodes 1–7. As the title says it contains the first seven episodes only.

International broadcasts

References

References

1. "Archived copy".
2. [http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/me_and_my_monsters/ Me And My Monsters – CBBC Sitcom – British Comedy Guide]
3. (27 August 2009). "Jim Henson Company joins with Tiger".
4. (27 January 2010). "Children’s production companies merge".
5. (12 February 2010). "Children’s comedy begins pre-production".
6. Benzine, Adam. (10 February 2010). "Germans, Aussies onboard Jim Henson series".
7. "Me and My Monsters comes to Sydney".
8. "CBBC - Me and My Monsters, Series 2, Monstersitter".