Overview

Puttnam's Prairie Emporium was a half-hour Canadian children's television series which aired for 30 Minutes on two seasons, from 1988 to 1990, on CTV before being syndicated on YTV. The series was created and produced by Bruce Edwards, and a total of 51 episodes were taped at CKCK-TV in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada beginning in 1987. The series was centred around the titular emporium, a long-standing general store run by eccentric owner Mr. Puttnam, whose daughter Ellen and grandchildren Katy and Mark have moved in with him. Although the emporium retained the look of an old-fashioned five-and-dime, there were "things there...you would not believe" and "new adventures all the time" which were often of a fantastical nature. The other-worldly aspects of the series were also reflected in the remainder of the regular cast, which included Ivan, a scientist who developed a Time Closet in the confines of the store; Caldicott C. Catt, a saxophone-playing cat who lived in a basket on the store's counter; and Benjamin, a talking beefalo head hanging on the wall behind the counter. The characters would also frequently travel to alternate dimensions to battle dinosaurs, zombies, and robots.