Pete McTee's Clubhouse facts for kids

Pete McTee's Clubhouse was a fun TV show for kids that aired on Saturday mornings. It started on September 15, 1990, and ran until 2004. The show was broadcast on WPMT Fox-43, a TV station in York, Pennsylvania.

The main star of the show was Pete McTee, played by Lou Castriota, Sr. He had a great team of friends. These included Professor Noodles (Tom Ensminger), Captain Cool (played by Don Schaller and later Michael Ovadia), Dee, and Sammi Jo (Lesli Morrison). Pete also had a dog named Wembley and a computer named Scooter.

About the Show

The show was very special because it was never written down word-for-word. Pete McTee and Professor Noodles would meet a few days before filming. They would plan out the different parts of the show.

Filming and Segments

Pete McTee's Clubhouse was filmed in front of a live audience. This audience was usually made up of groups of children. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and other kid groups from the area would come to watch.

Each episode had different parts. There was always an educational part about science. Another popular part showed cartoons on Scooter's computer screen. Famous cartoons like The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show were often featured.

In its later years, the show sometimes aired on Sunday mornings. Most of these Sunday airings were reruns of older episodes.

Why the Show Started

Lou Castriota, who played Pete McTee, created the show. At the time, he was a director at WPMT. He started the show because of a rule called the Children's Television Act. This rule said that TV stations had to show at least three hours of educational programs for kids each week.

Castriota asked Tom Ensminger to play Professor Noodles. Professor Noodles was Pete's co-host on the show. Castriota and Ensminger had known each other since high school.

Awards and Recognition

Pete McTee's Clubhouse won many awards. The Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters gave it an award for the best local children's show. It won this award in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2000.

PeteTV Segments

Between 1993 and the late 1990s, shorter parts of the show aired on weekdays. These segments were called "PeteTV." They usually played before and after cartoons in the early morning. This was often before kids went to school.

The "PeteTV" segments had a special theme song. It was a changed version of the song "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits. Instead of "I Want My MTV," the song said "I Want My PeteTV." These shorter segments were not filmed with a live audience. They were either live or pre-recorded.

After the Show Ended

In 2005, Lou Castriota and Tom Ensminger bought the show from WPMT. Soon after, the cast started getting together again. They performed live shows called the "Pete McTee’s Big Red Nose Tour." These shows happened at Strand Capital in York, Pennsylvania, in 2007 and 2008. The money raised from these shows helped Leg Up Farm. This is a non-profit group started by Lou Castriota's son, Lou Castriota, Jr.

A new version of the show began airing in 2009. It was shown on WGCB-TV, Family 49, in Red Lion, Pennsylvania.

You can still watch reruns of Pete McTee's Clubhouse today. They air on WPMT on Saturday mornings at 6:30 AM EST.