In Episode 178 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we speak to Patty Wirtz! Patty has been a voice actress for more than 20 years, providing voiceover for radio and TV commercials, toys, apps and more! She is best known for her work in the long-running Barney franchise as the voice of Baby Bop's older brother BJ. Tune in for a discussion all about Patty's audition process for the character, the legacy and popularity of Barney, stories about Radio City Music Hall and so much more!

In Episode 177 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we're joined by puppeteer Steve Whitmire! From 1978 to 2016, Steve worked on countless projects with The Muppets and The Jim Henson Company. During The Muppet Show days, he started performing his own characters Rizzo the Rat and Lips, before eventually inheriting the roles of Kermit the Frog, Beaker, Statler and more. He also puppeteered Wembley Fraggle and Sprocket in the original Fraggle Rock series, Ernie on Sesame Street from 1993 to 2014, Weldon the I.T. Guy in the web series CAVE-iN and many more!

In Episode 176 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview Steve Segal! Steve is an animator and filmmaker known for his own animated shorts and contributing to the Disney-Pixar films Toy Story and A Bug's Life. He also did FX animation work on Pee Wee's Playhouse, animated the Sesame Street insert Animal Books and many more!

In Episode 175 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we speak with John Tartaglia! John works as a puppeteer, actor, director and writer. John is best known for creating and starring in the Playhouse Disney series Johnny and the Sprites as Johnny and Sage and the PBS Kids series Splash and Bubbles as Splash, performing Princeton and Rod in the original Broadway cast of Avenue Q and inheriting the role of Gobo Fraggle in recent Fraggle Rock projects, including the Apple TV+ reboot Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock. In addition, John puppeteered on many other projects including Sesame Street, Play with Me Sesame, Bear in the Big Blue House, Animal Jam and so much more!

In Episode 174 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we are joined by Joey Ahlbum! In the animation world, Joey worked on a number of inserts for Sesame Street, including the iconic '90s closing sequence and the Lecture Lady sequences on the original Elmo's World segments. He also created the Dino-Boppers IDs for Nickelodeon! As an author, Joey created the eBook series Lucy the Dinosaur and more!

In Episode 173 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we chat with puppeteer, writer and director Bill Barretta! Early on in Bill's professional career, he performed the body of Earl Sinclair and various others on the Henson series Dinosaurs, then joining The Muppets and inheriting characters such as Dr. Teeth, The Swedish Chef and Rowlf the Dog and puppeteering his own characters Pepe the King Prawn, Johnny Fiama and Bobo the Bear. He also puppeteered Clueless Morgan in Muppet Treasure Island, Croaker in Kermit's Swamp Years, originated the role of Elmo's dad Louie on Sesame Street and many more!

In Episode 172 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we are joined by TV and film director Hugh Martin! Hugh started his directing career on the long-running PBS series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which led to countless other TV series, such as Reading Rainbow, Double Dare, Bear in the Big Blue House, Between the Lions, Johnny and the Sprites, Pajanimals and so much more!

In Episode 171 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we interview Dane Strange! Dane was a part of the child cast in one of Playhouse Disney's first original series, Out of the Box, during its first two seasons. We talk to Dane about working with Tony and Vivian, doing arts and crafts on the show and some of his other work as an actor, dancer and also as a Twitch gamer!

In Episode 170 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, Jim Jinkins joins us for a chat! Jim is an animator, cartoonist and producer who brought many wonderful TV series to life! He co-created the series Doug, Allegra's Window, PB&J Otter, Stanley, JoJo's Circus, Pinky Dinky Doo and so much more. We discuss how Doug helped launch the Nicktoons brand, comparing animation to puppetry, Jim's early acting career and many more.

In Episode 169 of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show, we are joined by animation veteran Tad Stones! Chances are you grew up with many of Tad's projects. For several decades, Tad was an animator, writer, producer and director on various Disney films and TV series. He created a number of animated series for the company including Darkwing Duck, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers and the TV adaptations of Aladdin and Hercules, as well as directing the second and third Aladdin movies, executive produced Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, directed, produced and co-wrote the Hellboy films and many more!