I originally wrote this for lost media wiki (cashed website), but because there was no information on it, the article was deleted after being live for 7 months. I'm uploading it here because it'd be ironic if media about lost media was lost. Also, hopefully someone remembers this.
The Fixer Uppers (lost elementary school video series; 2000)
The Fixer Uppers (name unconfirmed) was a series of live-action mystery videos for elementary schools, released around 2000. In these videos, a group of kids called "the fixer-uppers" worked together to solve a mystery and set-up a clubhouse in an abandoned storage closet under the apartment staircase. The kids would be aided by "the girl's" (name unknown) stuffed animals, and faxes from the students who were viewing these videos. Each tape ended on a cliffhanger and it was up to the kids to send in faxes of what they thought the answer to the cliffhanger was (answered in the next tape), with select faxes being shown in the video. The purpose of this series of tapes was to teach children problem-solving in a fun and interactive way.
Plot
The story follows the adventures of this girl and her 2 friends as they solve various mysteries in their apartment building. In the first tape, the kids are curious as to who the mysterious lady is down the hall, as well as finding a fax machine they name "faxy." In the second tape, "the girl" discovers a closet under the stairs that is wallpapered over, and the group of friends wants to turn it into their clubhouse. In one tape, the ending is on water coming out from under a door, and the audience is left to ask "what is causing it?" In another tape, the kids want to paint the new clubhouse, and the fax prompt was "how can we stay clean while painting?" During the series, three of the girl's stuffed animals would help the kids solve each mystery; with them helping in secret for the first half of the series, and coming out as alive in the second half. During the release, there was one "filler" episode where it was just 2 of the 3 stuffed animals trying to figure out what various items were super up close, only for it to zoom out to reveal what the object was.
Release
Every month, a tape was sent to participating schools for use in the classroom during the year 2000. Episodes were assumed to be made on a month by month basis (due to the inclusion of faxes sent from students). Tapes were only released to participating schools and were not released elsewhere. There is very little information on this series of classroom videos as no one seems to remember it.
Article Comments
(User is underlined, main comments separated by double space, replies separated by single space).Pokematic: Author here. I saw these back in 2nd grade and my memories are very faded. I tried finding information on this series of tapes, but what I remember the name being (the fixer uppers) results in the HGTV show "fixer upper." Hopefully someone else remembers this, because this is all I remember from it.
Ryanskii: Would you put in Lost TV or Lost Films in as a category
ApolloJustice: I'd say leave it in Misc since it never aired on TV and it wasn't made as a general audience movie, it was only made for educational classroom use.
Anon: If anybody remembers seeing this then you should try to contact your old school to see if they still have this
Anonymous User #1: I Think I Know These. I was In Like Kinder When My Teacher Showed Us This I Think. I Might Be Wrong. Anyway I Saw One These Well after 2000. Maybe she had a copy from the years before? I doubt i can contact her. Its been years since i was in kinder.
Since this was in like 2006 or 2007 ish, We didnt send in anything. We just wrote what happened.
I think we saw a video about a dog or something. Again i might be wrong.
Anonymous User #2: omg ive watched this before in 5th grade! it was long after 2000s too! what i remember is that there was a girl with a ponytail wearing a red shirt, and it was about math
Anonymous User #2: it took place in a treehouse
Pokematic: Cool. It doesn't sound like what I remember (I don't think they ever left their building), but I wouldn't be surprised if they made a sequel series using the same concept.
Anonymous User #3: i love how a article for a series called "the fixer uppers" is under the needing work category
Ryanskii: Very Ironic
Anonymous User #4: Wow not even one pic this is very lost
Shooterboss: I do remember something similar to this in elementary school. Except mine took place in a treehouse and was about space. It started with a girl as the doorkeeper who would ask newcomers "what's the password?" before letting them in. Then some annoying kid came in anyway, and I distinctly remember her saying "so much for the password" in response.
They kids were recording a broadcast in a newsroom format that they would broadcast via satellite dish into space for alien civilizations to watch. They basically talked about space. At one point, they brought up a dog that died in space, and one of the girls cried while reading it. It ends with the annoying kid telling a series of lame jokes while the rest of the cast groans silently to each one. Then the screen cuts to a "___ years later" card before showing an alien (a guy in a costume) watching the broadcast on his TV and saying something like "look honey, the Fixer Uppers show is on. Come and watch."
Or I could be remembering the wrong thing. Just my two cents.
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