PASADENA, Calif. — Summertime and the viewing is easy – and new, at least if you’re a parent in search of new TV content for your child.

With children out of school, multiple networks have decided this year to debut new shows or new seasons of established hits, including a 20th anniversary special for “SpongeBob SquarePants” on Nickelodeon and the premiere of the Native American-themed “Molly of Denali” on PBS.

In addition, this month Universal Kids (formerly Sprout) debuts two new series, “Where’s Waldo?” (10 a.m. July 20), featuring the iconic character as he and best friend Wenda celebrate cultures worldwide, and “Norman Picklestripes” (11 a.m. July 27), which features a forest-dwelling handyman and Broadway-inspired songs.

‘SpongeBob’ special

Nickelodeon celebrates 20 years of “SpongeBob SquarePants” with a new season that kicks off with “SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout” (7 p.m. Friday). This one-hour special features the show’s voice actors playing doppelgangers of their animated characters in live-action segments.

SpongeBob (voice of Tom Kenny) and Patrick (voice of Bill Fagerbakke) travel to the surface world where they encounter lunchtime rush at The Trusty Slab, itself a stand-in for Bikini Bottom’s Krusty Krab, while their friends under the sea set up a surprise birthday party for SpongeBob.

“It became very familiar, and it seemed just like a natural thing for us to do,” said Mr. Lawrence (that’s his full stage name), who voices Plankton, of filming the live-action scenes. “But at first, just wearing the outfits and standing in that set was really strange.”

Fagerbakke (“Coach”), who voices Patrick Star, agreed.

“Clancy [Brown, the voice of Mr. Krabs] couldn’t not call Rodger [Bumpass] ‘Squidward,’ even though his [live-action] character’s name was something else, because he’s been calling him Squidward for 20 years,” he said during a “SpongeBob” press conference at the Television Critics Association winter 2019 press tour in February.

To what do the actors attribute the show’s longevity? Cast member Carolyn Lawrence, the voice of Sandy Cheeks, says it’s SpongeBob’s “glass half-full” optimism.

“He’s the person you want to be with that’s always looking at things from a positive angle,” she said. “Something terrible could be going on, and SpongeBob’s gonna see the good side of it.”

Mr. Lawrence said it’s the show’s writers’ approach, which is to view “SpongeBob” more as a comedy than as a kids’ show. Bumpass agreed.

“The analogy of ‘Looney Tunes’ is something that I use quite frequently,” Bumpass said. “They’re both short cartoons, but different ages of people and viewers get different things [from them]. Little kids get something out of it ’cause it’s colorful, and it’s animated. And then the little older guys get a little bit more stuff out of it, and adults get something totally [different] out of it, too. And funny is funny, so I think that’s one of the reasons it has struck a chord.”

‘Molly of Denali’

Premiering Monday at 8:30 a.m. on WQED-TV (and airing again at 4 p.m. Monday), the latest PBS Kids program marks the first national TV series to feature Native American lead characters.

Set in Alaska and aimed at children ages 4 to 8, “Molly of Denali” follows 10-year-old Molly Mabray (voice of Sovereign Bill) while teaching Native values (honoring elders, respecting the Earth) and exploring the use of technology as an aid in literacy, learning and communication.

But the series was inspired by a grocery store chain thousands of miles away.

“I grew up in Rochester, New York, which is home to many things including a grocery store called Wegmans, and it was a very big part of my childhood, and I always wanted to do a show set in the store,” said series executive producer Dorothea Gillim at a February PBS press conference during the Television Critics Association winter 2019 press tour. “Kids love playing store. And I was thinking where would be a cool setting for this store, and at the time it was in the summer of 2015 when President Obama was visiting Alaska, and it was very much in the news, and I thought, ‘Alaska. That would be cool.

“So the store kind of morphed into a trading post, and knowing that it was intended for PBS Kids, we wanted to feature a diverse cast, and that led to the decision to have the leads be Alaskan Natives. So, it came about rather organically and sort of fortuitously in that way.”

Native American “Molly” creative producer Princess Johnson said she grew up without seeing anyone who looked like her represented in the media — or if there was a depiction it was often negative.

“It may seem trivial or small, but just having a young Native kid seeing another Native person on TV opens up so many doors,” she said. “So us doing this show, there’s also a step for kids going, “Oh, I can do that, too.”

Kept/canceled/revived

After funding difficulties temporarily derailed production on a fourth season, Syfy’s “Wynonna Earp” will return with new episodes in summer 2020.

Netflix renewed “The Society” for a second season.

HBO’s “Divorce” won’t continue beyond its current third season.

CBS canceled “Ransom” after three seasons.

WarnerMedia's upcoming streaming service, christened HBO Max this week and debuting in spring 2020, will be the exclusive streaming home to “Friends” and new Warner Bros.-produced CW shows. It also will premiere a 10-episode animated “Gremlins” prequel series — “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.”

Bravo will revive the game show “Cash Cab,” bringing back host/comedian Ben Bailey.

Channel surfing

NBC named former KDKA-TV morning reporter Alison Morris, who worked at Pittsburgh’s CBS affiliate from 2005 to 2010, an anchor for the new streaming service NBC News Now, (https://www.nbcnews.com/now) which offers lives news coverage 3-11 p.m. weekdays. … Eighteen-year-old identical twins Colton and Trent Edwards of Murrysville, who previously appeared on “America’s Got Talent,” will make their second appearance on Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” (9 p.m. Monday, WPGH-TV). ... Swissvale native William Schmidt, a writer/co-executive producer on Paramount Network's “Yellowstone,” is running for WGA West president in opposition to the current writer's guild leadership approach to an ongoing dispute with Hollywood talent agencies. ... The “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions (Nov. 4-15) will feature the return of marquee player James Holzhauer and Pittsburgh's Lindsey Shultz.

Tuned In online

Today’s TV Q&A column responds to questions about “Kate + Date,” CNN, WTAE and KDKA. This week’s Tuned In Journal includes posts on “Florida Girls.” Read online-only TV content at http://communityvoices.post-gazette.com/arts-entertainment-living/tuned-in.

TV writer Rob Owen: rowen@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2582. Follow RobOwenTV on Twitter or Facebook for breaking TV news.

First Published: July 11, 2019, 12:00 p.m.