Kids, Parents Go Bananas On ‘Wild Animal Games’

Lions and tigers and bears … and smiling horses and roosters that play the piano and primates that drink Pepsi … and snapping turtles and zonkeys (a cross between a zebra and a donkey) and elephants and an 800-pound pig … and a peppy game-show host, Ryan Seacrest, with an impish chimpanzee co-host and a zany veteran producer and dozens of kids with balloons filled with tapioca pudding that get thrown at their parents. … Oh my!

What a zoo! Actually, it’s just a kids’ game show that looks like a zoo. Animals are everywhere on the set of the Family Channel’s “Wild Animal Games” (which airs at 4 p.m. weekdays, channel 13 on Spokane’s Cox Cable). Kids are everywhere, too.

On this show the kids learn about the animals and then play games inspired by animal behavior. Sometimes the animals play the games, too.

Woody Fraser, the producer responsible for “That’s Incredible,” “Home” and two games shows for kids on Nickelodeon, masterminded the kid-animal connection. The producer, who holds a degree in zoology from Dartmouth University, was approached by the Family Channel to come up with a show involving animals and games.

“I thought maybe I could bridge it by taking animal behavior and tricks and making them into a game,” he says.

What resulted isn’t your average game-show fare.

“The emphasis is on wild, and I don’t mean the animals,” Fraser says. “I want the show to be wild.”

How’s this for wild? A pig-relay race in which Porkahontas, Swinefeld, Jurassic Pork and Forrest Plump go snout to snout, and then kids in padded piglike outfits waddle through their leg of the race.

For the exciting last leg, the kids’ moms dive headfirst into a trough of what looks like shaving cream. The first to find three Oreo cookies wins.

But “Wild Animal Games” is not just a dog and pony show. There are real learning opportunities for kids, which is part of Fraser’s vision.

“I call it education by osmosis,” Fraser says. “I want kids to learn something but not realize they’re learning it.”

Today, the show’s resident animal expert, Mark Biancaniello (who’s also the head zookeeper at pop singer Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch), is teaching the kids in the studio audience about turtles. Biancaniello, in his khakis, demonstrates what a snapping turtle does by putting a wooden dowel in the turtle’s jaw. (And you thought turtles were slow.)

Now it’s time for some turtle-style fun. Several kids, strapped onto dollies, with plastic turtle shells on their backs, move around on the floor like turtles. Other kids are on ladders aiming glop-filled balloons at the shells. The team with the most hits win.

The show’s “Chimp Challenge” offers yet another opportunity for learning. Kid contestants watch a funny but instructive video about animals. Questions posed include, “What does an African wild boar do with its snout?” (Answer: Dig for worms).

“If you lose, then Mom’s got a little something coming to her,” Seacrest, the show’s 20-year-old host, tells his contestants. That something is the sour corn mash that’s dropped from above on the coiffeur of Brendan’s mom after his response misses.

The parental element is a big part of the show.

“The kids like to see their parents get it. It’s like, ‘Gee, Mom’s a great sport.’ It’s good for Mom to do because it brings her closer to her kid,” says Fraser.

Another key to the show is the host.

“He’s enthusiastic and real, and he controls the show in a nice way. I call him the young Dick Clark because he has so much charisma,” Fraser says.

Seacrest, who looks like he could be on “Melrose Place,” is certainly energetic. During the grand-prize segment, which involves kids competing outside at the show’s pool, Seacrest gets so excited about an inner-tube game that he jumps right into the water with his audio equipment.

“I get so into the game,” he says.

The host says he relates nicely to his sidekick, Eddie the Chimp.

“He’s almost like a person. He even adlibs.” Instead of playing the drums like he’s supposed to, Eddie throws the drumsticks at Seacrest. Or he starts eating them.

Never fear; there is a serious side to the show. Safety is important.

“You don’t want anyone to get hurt - the kids or the animals,” Fraser says.