Baby Races

Host

Fred Travalena

Announcer

Gene Wood

Broadcast

FAM: 9/12/1993 – 3/6/1994 (reruns aired until 8/27/1994)

Packagers

Robert Sherman Productions Family Productions

"Let's meet today's players: (insert two/four players). Today, (insert two/four players) are here, starring on Baby Races! And here's the host of our show, Fred Travalena!"

Baby Races featured little children playing games that were designed for them with the help of their parents.

Premise

The contestants on the show were young children who came with their parents to play in a series of events. Two teams played on each show.

Events

Some of the events were:

• Sand Trap – The children played miniature golf. They tried to put a golf ball into a hole using miniature golf clubs. Sometimes they threw the golf ball in the hole, but still got credit for it.
• Cow Catcher – The children would ride on their daddy's back and try to round up some toy cows and place them in a corral. Note: The father always dressed in a horse costume for this game.
• Paint by Numbers – The kids would throw number shaped sponges dipped in paint at their fathers. At one time, a kid just walked up and put the paint covered number sponges on his dad, but still got credit for it.
• Sit On It – The parents would build sandcastle mounds with buckets, and the kids would destroy the mounds by, as the name suggests, sitting on them.
• Wacky Woodpecker – The kids, wearing cone-shaped "beaks", would use the beak to collect additional beaks from 2 on-stage "trees". 
• Spill The Beans – The kids would carry plates of beans on their heads and dump them in a bowl held by a parent or a relative. At the end of the game, the bowl was placed on a scale to determine the score, with the result always rounded to the next whole number.
• Worm Toss – The kids would throw worms, one at a time, across a mat (representing water) into a pair of over-sized pants worn by their dads.
• Thermometer Ball – The fathers would lift the kids up and down so the kids could "slam dunk" small basketballs into a large tube (resembling a thermometer).
• Anteater Antics – The kids would try to pick up magnetic ants by using a magnetic beak.

Games were played in a 45 second time limit (with the exception that the first game, the only one where the children competed directly, sometimes lasted for 30 seconds), and each item in each game was worth one or two points, except in the last two events points were doubled (two or four points).

The toy store

At the end of the game, each kid received a certificate showing his or her total score, and also got to choose a prize from a "toy store" in front of a video wall. Participating adults also received prizes.

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The games were played for fun, not competitively; as Fred Travalena said, "Everyone's a winner on Baby Races." when the show closed out each episode.

Rating

Studio

Disney-MGM Studios (Now Disney's Hollywood Studios), Orlando, Florida

Taglines

"And remember, on Baby Races, as you can see, everyone's a winner! See ya next time!" - Fred Travalena 1993-1994

"This is Gene Wood speaking for Baby Races!" - Gene Wood

YouTube Videos

Opening to the show
Full Episode
Another Full Episode