From Spotlight Magazine, January 1999
Beastly Kids Shows Go Wild!
By Alonna S. Friedman

Kids TV. It's a jungle out there with blue dogs, purple dinosaurs and green grouches. So what characters are remaining for an up-and-coming series? Brothers Ed and Tim Wahl of Long Island, went down the list of animals already on small-screen reserve, ended up with the letter "z" and from there it was all in black and white- Zebby The Zebra. Aimed at 2 to 8 year olds, Zebby's Zoo uses the Wahls' original rock 'n' roll tunes to educate kids on everything from spelling to safety, and now it's going national. Filmed in the Telicare studios (Channel 25) in Uniondale, Zebby's Zoo is the first children's TV show produced on the Island to go into national syndication, which gives the 2-year-old show an estimated 2 million viewers. (In November, Ty debured the Zebby The Zebra Beanie Baby, and according to Wahl, 3,000 were sold in its first two days.)

It seems the Wahls are following in the successful tracks of another sibling pair, the New Jersey bred Kratt brothers; Martin, a biologist, and Chris, a zoologist. Their series, Kratts' Creatures, aired on local PBS stations, has the duo taking far-flung expeditions to show young naturalists the abundant wildlife that lives in the steamy jungles, majestic oceans, and leafy forests around the globe. "Our mission is to meet animals face-to-face on their natural turf and to introduce kids to all the funny, fascinating, and bizarre creatures that share the planet with us," says Chris. That means the Kratts get to swim with giant river otters and carouse with baboons. Like the Wahls, their newest show also features a "z" name- Zooboomafoo, a wildlife program for preschoolers starring the Kratts and an eponymously named lemur. It seems with some brotherly cooperation and a little zany fun, both the Kratts' and the Wahls' ratings will zoom.