US public broadcaster PBS KIDS has invested in a raft of new content to drop into its programming lineup this year, including a bite-sized sci-fi comedy and two nature specials.

The buying spree includes preschool toon Milo, which PBS KIDS has picked up to debut in the US this May. The PBS KIDS channel will roll out the show as 22 half-hour eps while the streamer will package the episodes as 11-minute stories. Spain’s DeAPlaneta Entertainment—which co-produces the series with Fourth Wall in the UK—closed the deal. Since launching in 2021 on Channel 5’s Milkshake! Block, the 2D-animated show about a playful cat who tries out various professions through roleplay has sold into 170-plus countries/territories. 

PBS KIDS is also getting ready to roll out a new live-action comedy series called Tiny Time Travel (12 x five to seven minutes, pictured) next month on streaming. This short-format concept tags along with a tween inventor and his best friend as they travel back in time to solve low-stakes problems (like stopping someone from spoiling a movie). 

Tim McKeon (Odd Squad) created Tiny Time Travel, which is designed to help kids ages five to eight build social communication skills. New York’s Marobru Productions and California-based Easy as Pie Productions are co-producing the show with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the PBS Ready To Learn Initiative and the US Department of Education.

To stock up on longer-form content, PBS KIDS ordered a pair of one-hour preschool specials based on popular eco-themed toons Wild Kratts and Nature Cat.

Wild Kratts: Our Blue and Green World (9 Story/Kratt Brothers Company) will see the titular brothers learning about forests and oceans when it makes its PBS debut on April 1 in tandem with the launch of a new World Rescue game on the PBS KIDS Games app and website. 

And Spiffy Pictures’ Nature Cat’s Nature Movie Special Extraordinaire—featuring a meta premise in which the outdoorsy feline tries to figure out what the special is all about—is due to premiere at the same time as the streaming short series Nature Chat with Nature Cat on April 22. And finally, the PBS KIDS Video app will start streaming a package of Donkey Hodie Bedtime Stories (Spiffy Pictures/Fred Rogers Productions) on May 27.