Skillsville


Skillsville is an American educational animated children's TV series that premiered on March 3, 2025, on PBS Kids with funding from the United States Department of Education. The series is produced by Twin Cities PBS and Sphere Media.
The show is set in a gaming environment and is designed to help children develop executive function skills and learn about careers.

Premise

The series centers around a racially-diverse trio of children: Cora, Dev and Rae, who have everyday thoughts and ideas about future careers. Realizing they can experience those in Skillsville, they touch a truncated octahedron-shaped toy and are transported into Skillsville, a virtual world in which they take on their in-game personas and try to work in various occupations to provide services for characters called Beeples. When the children have a problem, they pause to give themselves time to come up with a solution, then unpause to implement the solution. At the end of every episode, they say goodbye to Scout and leave the game.

Characters

Main

  • Rae is a disabled white girl who does not walk or run around, but uses a wheelchair.
  • Cora is one of the three main characters in the series. She is African-American.
  • Dev is an Indian boy who dons a virtual dinosaur costume when he plays Skillsville with Rae and Cora.
  • Camille is Cora's mother who works as a Skillsville operator, and created the game.

Recurring

  • Scout is a character in the Skillsville game who resembles an anthropomorphic lavender dog with the wings and antennae of a dragonfly. He guides Rae, Cora, and Dev through their adventures.
  • Beeples are the NPC residents of Skillsville.
  • Evan and Annie are Rae's parents.
  • Nani is Dev's grandmother.
  • Cedric Walker is Cora's father.
Additionally, there is an unnamed announcer who announces when missions are assigned and completed. Their main appearance is through a set of soundbars.

Broadcast

The series premiered on March 3, 2025, on PBS Kids.

Cancellation

Two months following the broadcast premiere, production was abruptly halted in May 2025 due to the termination of the Ready To Learn grant, which had been providing major financial support for the development of the series since 2020. Skillsville project director, Momoko Hayakawa, indicated 22 episodes were still in production and nearing completion when the TPT staff was furloughed. The show moved to YouTube starting on February 1, with the already-aired episodes to be posted every Sunday along with a few unaired episodes.

Multimedia programs

In addition to the television series, the Skillsville "Innovation Program" includes summer camps and "pop up events" for community engagement with children and their families. These hands-on activities focus on the same life skills and career exploration topics from the show with the goal of helping children succeed in their future careers.

Games

As part of the fully immersive program, four Skillsville games were planned to be released on the PBS Kids website, as well as the PBS Kids Games app.

Reception

Awards

Skillsville won a Bronze Telly Award in Children's Television for its "Air Traffic Controller" episode.