This Canadian children’s TV series was produced by TV Ontario and set in a department store (it was sometimes shot at the downtown Toronto location of the now-defunct Simpsons retail chain).
Each night in the store, Sam, the crusty old security guard (a puppet voiced by Bob Dermer), locks up and joins display designer Jodie (Nerene Virgin) in the children’s department, where she brings a store dummy to life. With some magic words (“Hocus Pocus Alamagocus”) and a magic hat, the mannequin becomes a human called Jeff (Jeff Hyslop).
Jeff reverts to a frozen mannequin pose whenever the hat is removed.
Together with Muffy, a mischievous rhyme-speaking mouse (operated and voiced by puppeteer Nina Keogh), the gang learn about various things (since Jeff was a mannequin, he didn’t know about the world) to teach younger viewers.
Short films, often less than a minute long, were often inserted as breaks in the episode’s main plot, narrated by Robyn Hayle (the same actor who provided the voice of Sam’s computer, TXL). These included segments with Mime Lady (Nikki Tilroe), animated quizzes designed to test a child’s observation, narrated storybooks, and popular nursery rhymes.
Mrs Pennypacker (another puppet, voiced by Cheryl Wagner) ran the store’s stockroom at night. Mort (voiced by Bob Stuff) was Muffy’s country cousin from a farm who often came to visit. Waldo the Magnificent (Barrie Baldaro) was the (slightly inept) magician who originally brought Jeff to life.
Today’s Special aired on Nickelodeon in the US. Reruns of the series continued until 2000.
Nerene Virgin passed away on 15 January 2024, aged 77.
Jeff
Jeff Hyslop Jodie
Nerene Virgin Sam Crenshaw
Bob Dermer (voice) Muffy
Nina Keogh (voice) TXL
Robyn Hayle (voice) Mime Lady
Nikki Tilroe Mort
Bob Stutt Mrs Pennypacker
Cheryl Wagner (voice) Waldo the Magnificent
Barry Baldaro
Jeff reverts to a frozen mannequin pose whenever the hat is removed.
