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Wishbone (view source)

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PBS series in which the titular well-read Jack Russell Terrier would dream and imagine himself as the hero of various stories and novels.
 
Wishbone was a real dog whose thoughts were expressed as a [[Narrator|running voice-over.]] All of the other characters in the stories being dramatized are humans. For instance, kids would get to see an otherwise dead-serious dramatization of ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]'' in which Mr. Darcy is [[Furry Confusion|a cute little dog in a suit]]. And everyone else is human. And ''everyone'' acts as if the fact that Mr. Darcy [[Lions and Tigers Andand Humans, Oh My!|is a talking dog]] is absolutely [[Unusually Uninteresting Sight|nothing at all out of the ordinary]].
 
In between the story-telling, there was typically a scenario in the real world that would mirror the events of the story, usually involving Wishbone's owner Joe and his friends David and Samantha. Sometimes, Joe's mother Ellen and their next-door neighbor/gardener/historical society member Wanda get involved, as well as other residents of their generic suburban settlement of Oakdale, Texas. Whether it is supposed to be the ''real'' Oakdale is unknown.
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** This troper recalls that the show's ending to Cyrano de Bergerac was significantly more cheerful than in the original work.
** They sometimes made endings ''seem'' nicer by omission -- that is, ending it at the point of the [[Snicket Warning Label]]. For example, their version of ''[[Frankenstein]]'' ends with Dr. Frankenstein ill in bed and the monster promising to go away and never hurt anyone. What they leave out is the part following this in which Frankenstein does indeed die as well as the fact that the monster was planning to kill himself when he went away.
** They didn't show the beheadings in ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]'', but they did show [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|a cabbage being cut in half by the guillotine]], with several of the characters in the background staring at it in horror.
** In the Tom Sawyer episode, the character Injun Joe is given the less offensive name "Crazy Joe."
** In the ''Time Machine'' episode, Weena is explicitly [[Spared Byby the Adaptation]]. But hey, every movie adaptation of the novel does the same anyway. And the ''Wishbone'' version may be the only screen version in which she ''doesn't'' get [[Promoted to Love Interest]] (Weena used to the [[Trope Namer]] for that, actually).
* [[Cash Cow Franchise]]: Four book series, clothing, toys, videos, DVDs, lunchboxes, calenders, food sets (plates, bowls, etc.), coloring books...you name it!
* [[Character Title]]
* [[Clip Show]] : Wanda brings over a dog to keep Wishbone company, and Wishbone recounts to the dog all his previous imaginary adventures.
* [[Compressed Adaptation]]: Obviously, [[Door StopperDoorstopper|Door Stoppers]] are brought down to be half of a thirty-minute show. As such, they are usually reduced to their [[Signature Scene|Signature Scenes]]. However, the fact that they do not ''add'' anything, just compress the original plot, hilariously makes the ''Wishbone'' adaptations some of the most faithful ones ''ever''. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgN6w1ckjaI&feature=related This] review of the ''[[Phantom of the Opera]]'' episode, by a ''Phantom'' aficionado, is mostly negative, but the reviewer can't help but be amazed that it's probably more faithful to the original novel than ''any'' other screen version of the story.
** The ''[[Oliver Twist]]'' episode is perhaps the most compressed as a lot more time was spent on the contemporary story than usual. The Artful Dodger becomes a [[Composite Character]] of every underworld character in the novel. Nope, not even Fagin gets mentioned. It ends with Mr. Brownlow taking in Oliver, with this portrayed as [[Happily Ever After]].
* [[Dating Catwoman]]: Sam and Damont show some signs of this, or at least signs of it possibly happening in the future.
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* [[Fade to Black]]: Usually in the middle of an episode, unusual for a PBS series as they don't have commercials in between episodes and the show didn't have any short that aired in between like ''[[Arthur]]'' or ''[[Clifford the Big Red Dog]]''. This could have been made if the show was considered for syndication, which never occured (or for international broadcasts)
* [[Flyover Country]]: Averted. The series takes place in Texas, several of the lead characters have noticeable East Texas accents, and there's a gratifying lack of goofy stereotypes.
* [[Half -Dressed Cartoon Animal]]: Not a cartoon, but only Wishbone's top half is dressed when he appears costumed.
* [[Headless Horseman]]: "Halloween Hound: The Legend of Creepy Collars" (later renamed simply as, "Wishbone in: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
* [[Her Codename Was Mary Sue]]: Wishbone narrating the week's story tends to refer to the character he plays as "dashingly handsome" and such. It helps that he usually plays [[The Hero]].
* [[Heroic Dog]]
* [[Hey, ItsIt's That Guy!]]: Several episodes were [[Amy Acker]]'s acting debut. Really.
** Jensen Ackles of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' was in one episode.
* [[Keep Circulating the Tapes]]: Only a hanful of episodes has been released to VHS, and a few on DVD in 2004. Lionsgate is currently releasing DVDs of the show, which might end up saving the series. Mainly averted if your PBS station still rerun the show.
* [[Lost in Imitation]] - Mostly averted. For example, the ''Wishbone'' version of ''[[Frankenstein]]'' follows the novel in portraying Frankenstein as a naïve young student rather than a [[Mad Scientist]] and the [[FrankensteinsFrankenstein's Monster|monster]] does not have green skin, bolts in his neck, etc. Wishbone as Frankenstein still brings the creature to life by running electricity into a corpse, however.
* [[Moral Guardians]] - Were even on this show's case. According to IMDB, the episode 'The Canine Cure' was banned from some syndication because it somehow encouraged the [[Aesop]] that kids should challenge authority figures.
* [[The Movie]]: 'Wishbone's Dog Days of the West', the [[Grand Finale]] to the series when PBS didn't renew for another season.
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* [[The Other Darrin]]: Between the first and second season, Emily's actress changed from Jazmine McGill to Brittany Holmes.
* [[The Smart Guy]]: David
* [[Shout -Out]]: ''[[The Time Machine]]'' episode has a rather neat nod to the book crumbling scene from the 1960 film. Wishbone as the Time Traveler comes across ''The Collected Works of [[William Shakespeare]]'' (making this double as a [[Shout -Out to/To Shakespeare]]) and reads the famous "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" monologue from ''[[Macbeth]]'', ending with the line "the way to dusty death." Then he touches the book and it collapses to dust.
* [[Sitcom Arch Nemesis]]: Wishbone tended to regard Wanda this way. Wanda was actually pretty friendly though and was just annoyed by having her neighbor's dog constantly wrecking her yard. Wishbone and Wanda came to terms somewhat in an episode where he actually ended up inside her house, but subsequent episodes followed this up with [[Aesop Amnesia]] since [[Status Quo Is God]].
* [[Technology Marches On]]: The episode "One Thousand & One Tails" features a bad '90s understanding of the Internet. Joe and Sam ooh and awe as David logs onto the Internet for the first time, repeatedly gasping "Go to that one!" before he's even online. Also, the Internet is apparently a [[Viewer -Friendly Interface]], labeled "Internet Online Access" and consisting of a few icons. David accesses a coded chatroom run by cybercriminals by clicking on the oh-so-not-suspicious icon of someone wearing a [[Conspicuous Trenchcoat]], which is helpfully labeled "Private" and is apparently [[It's a Small Net After All|one of only four chat groups which exist on the Internet]]. He accidently logs into his dad's bank account while investigating this chatroom, which somehow causes three million dollars to get transferred into his dad's bank account. FBI agents show up at their house [[Instant Emergency Response|about five minutes later]]. ''[[Did Not Do the Research|Where to start??]]''
* [[Three Amigos]]: Joe and his two best friends.
* [[Title Sequence Replacement]]: In the third season, even though the theme song is kept.
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* [[Tomboyish Name]]: Sam
* [[Two for One Show]]
* [[Whole -Plot Reference]]: The modern-day portions are this to the story portions. Wishbone almost always manages to pick out the book real-life events will be mirroring before there are sufficient clues.
* [[You Look Familiar]]: Local stage actors played the roles in the "fantasy" portions of the show. Several were reused many times.
** Actor Kevin Page played Bobchinsky for ''The Inspector General'', the Earl of Westmoreland for ''[[Henry IV (Theatre)|Henry IV]]'', Erik for ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]'', Richelieu for ''[[The Three Musketeers (Literaturenovel)|The Three Musketeers]]'', Antonio for ''[[The Tempest (Theatre)|The Tempest]]'', and more.
** Jeanne Simpson played many roles, including [[Joan of Arc]], [[Robin Hood|Maid Marian]], [[Romeo and Juliet (Theatre)|Juliet]], and [[The Odyssey (Literature)|Kalypso]].
* [[You No Take Candle]]: Weena talks this way in the ''Time Machine'' episode: "Morlocks no like light."
 
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[[Category:American Series]]
[[Category:Wishbone]]
[[Category:Trope]]
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