Maple Town - Broadcast History

Broadcast History

The original Maple Town series aired on Sunday mornings in Japan on TV Asahi, from 19 January 1986 until 11 January 1987. Following its last of 52 episodes, its follow-up, New Maple Town Story: Palm Town Chapter (新メイプルタウン物語-パームタウン編, Shin Maple Town Monogatari: Palm Town Hen?), aired in the same 8:30 a.m. slot.

In late 1986, Saban Entertainment and toy maker Tonka picked it up for the North American market; the latter invested US$7 million on television ads for the toy line. An English dub premiered in barter syndication the following year before settling into a re-run cycle. The show could also be seen on the children's cable channel Nickelodeon, where it aired until 2 April 1993. A 65-episode run was originally announced, but only 15 of those ever reached US television. Among the stations playing Maple Town at this time was WNYW, Fox's affiliate in New York City.

Around the late 1980s and early 1990s, a number of European stations also aired Maple Town in their various native languages. In Spain, TVE aired the program under the title La aldea del arce, starting in 1987. It also aired on RTL in the Netherlands (as Avonturen in Maple Town); in Finland under the title Seikkailumetsä; in Sweden as Äventyrsskogen; and on Hungary's RTL Klub channel as Juharfalvi történetek.

As with Japan, several other countries aired both series of the Maple Town franchise. In Italy, Mediaset's Italia 1 broadcast both iterations of Maple Town during the late 1980s (under the titles Maple Town: Un nido di simpatia and Evviva Palm Town). The combined series also aired as Les petits malins on FR3 in France at the time. On Nasza TV's showings in Poland, the show was known as Opowiesci z Klonowego Miasteczka and Opowiesci z Palmowego Miasteczka. In Hong Kong, Maple Town aired on the ATV network during 1991.