In PBS Kids’ first show with major characters on the autism spectrum, a Philly-area town has a major role

A new character is making his big debut — and children’s television history — this week on PBS Kids.

Carl happens to be the Collector, a bighearted little raccoon on the autism spectrum, who along with one of his animated furry friends, will be the network’s first neurodiverse central characters in a series created for children ages 4 to 8. The creators behind the show hope real children will see themselves in Carl and his friends.

For local viewers, Fuzzytown — the home of Carl and his crew — may look familiar.

That’s because it’s Narberth.

“Narberth is a big part of it,” said Zachariah OHora, creator of Carl the Collector and an award-winning author and illustrator of children’s books.

OHora, who’s lived in the Montgomery County borough for the past 16 years, basically mapped out Narberth for the show’s animators, from its houses to its downtown, the regional rail station, the library, even the iconic old clock. “Anybody who’s been here, if they see the show, they’ll recognize right away that’s where it is.”

OHora is well-known to some parents for his beloved kids’ books, like My Cousin Momo. Originally from New Hampshire, he lives in Narberth with his wife , their two teen sons, and a dog named Waffles.

Some of the seeds for Carl the Collector were sown about a decade ago when OHora’s sons attended Belmont Hills Elementary, a Lower Merion school where children with special needs get additional services and help but attend class with their general education peers as much as possible.

“It was just a lightbulb moment for me,” said OHora. “My kids were just friends with everybody right out of the gate. It took away any kind of stigma or mystery and normalized that people are different, operate differently, and think differently.”

It was very different from the schools he grew up with.

“I was like, ‘This is the way it should be.’”

Around that time, Carl the character had begun stirring in OHora’s imagination. And then a contact he had made at PBS approached the children’s author to see if he might have any interesting program ideas.

The series, premiering Thursday, breaks new ground for the children’s network. While other shows have had neurodivergent characters, PBS Kids officials say this is the first time they are the stars.

“Representation is critical to our mission, and we’re proud to debut the PBS Kids series to feature central characters on the autism spectrum,” said Sara DeWitt, senior vice president and general manager of PBS Kids. “We always say we want our content to be both a mirror and a window: showcasing characters who reflect their lived experiences and introducing audiences to kids who are different from them.

“Carl the Collector builds on this commitment by portraying a close group of neurodivergent and neurotypical friends, modeling how all of us can be helpful, supportive, and appreciative of each other’s ways of thinking, and importantly, how we can all sow seeds of empathy and understanding for one another.”

The show puts that into practice both on and off the screen. In addition to Carl the raccoon and Lotta the fox, both on the autism spectrum like an estimated one in 36 children, according to the CDC, the series has a character with ADHD and others with their own unique challenges.

Meanwhile, the show’s production team includes neurodiverse writers, animators, advisers, and others. The voices for Carl and Lotta are provided by two children on the autism spectrum. Some of the staff have contributed their own experiences in the making of the show.

For Lisa Whittick, the series director and mother of a son on the spectrum, working on Carl the Collector has brought her professional and personal lives together in a meaningful way. She said it would have been helpful if a show like this was around when her son was younger.

“If a show like this had been out back then when he was growing up, I think he would have been diagnosed a lot earlier because we would have seen some of the traits that we are reflecting in Carl and Lotta,” Whittick said. “It also would have alleviated a lot of the stress and unknown around what the diagnosis meant and not be scared of it.”

She thinks the show will help children both on the spectrum and those who are not.

“I think this series is going to go a long way in teaching kids who are neurotypical empathy and learning what autism looks like,” she said. “I absolutely think my son would have benefited greatly from a show like this, and he would have loved it because it’s actually very funny and fun as well.”

And, of course, there is the Philadelphia-area angle in all of this. And what’s Philly without a cool, weird mascot?

“There’s a pizza place that the kids always eat in, and it’s called Pyramid Pizza,” OHora said. “An arm comes out and it’s a pizza yeti, who is one of my favorite characters in there that fans of Gritty and the Phanatic will love.”

Philadelphia gets its props, too.

Carl lives with his mom in Fuzzytown, but he also spends part of his time with his dad, who lives in an apartment in a nearby city that will seem a whole lot like Philly, with perhaps a whiff of Brooklyn, another city where OHora has lived.

Carl’s mom and dad, who aren’t married, are great co-parents, OHora said. Having two rooms in different homes can be a challenge for a youngster on the spectrum like Carl, he added, as it can also require adjustment for neurotypical kids. It’s just another way children may see themselves or kids they know in the series.

That’s one of OHora’s hopes for the show.

“I hope people love it and they love Carl,” he said. “I hope it spreads empathy for neurodiversity, and I hope that neurodiverse kids and caretakers see themselves in it, and that neurotypical people can understand a little bit more.”

“Carl the Collector” premieres Thursday, Nov. 14, on WHYY TV at 8:30 a.m. and on the KIDS channel at 11 a.m.