A Windham man is hoping that his new TV series will be a great leap forward in the world of children’s educational programming.

Con Fullam is one of the executive producers of “Ribert and Robert’s Wonderworld,” which airs at 7 p.m. Saturdays on Maine Public Television stations. Fullam and Michael McInnis of Portland also write and produce all the music and sound effects for the show, which is aimed at children ages 2 to 6.

The series is a blend of live action and computer-generated animation, and focuses on Robert, played by a Canadian actor, and his friend Ribert, an animated frog. Each show has a single topic, and Ribert races through the amusement park Wonderworld in search of three keys, which, when combined, will unlock a door that unveils each program’s secret word. Along the way, “Power Pals” – viewers – are treated to puzzles, stories and art lessons.

When told that the show seemed a little like the Nickelodeon hit “Blue’s Clues,” Fullam agreed.

“This is ‘Blue’s Clues’ meets ‘Sesame Street’ meets ‘Ed Sullivan,'” he explained in a phone interview. “There are elements of all of those shows, and it fulfills a real need in the marketplace.”

Maine residents are quite visible in the production. Voicing Ribert is Jessekah Lopez of Gorham, who in real life is a 210-pound fullback for the Maine Freeze, a women’s semi-pro football team.

Featured in half of the episodes will be Joan Kennedy, the Canadian country singer who has resettled in Portland. Among those visiting her “Joan and Friends” segment are the Rev. Jeffrey Mellwain of Saco, young actress Lydia Belden of Cape Elizabeth, and Fullam himself.

“Ribert and Robert’s Wonderworld” is off to a fast start, on the air on more than 100 public TV stations, about a third of the total. Two seasons’ worth of shows, or 52, already are planned. The Coalition for Quality Children’s Media has given the series its highest rating and is including it in the group’s traveling film festival this year.

It’s come a long way in two short years. Back then, Fullam was working on the first film featuring his animated creation, the Wompkee, at Deos Animation Studio in Lawrence, Mass.

“The president-CEO there [Michael DeVitto] was developing a series of his own then,” Fullam recalled. “We’ve always gotten along swimmingly, and he asked if I’d come aboard as executive producer and write the music for the series as well.”

The show went through quite a few changes in that two-year span.

“At first, we thought we would have lots and lots of performers,” Fullam recalled. “But we realized that it was hard to continue that thread, and that people like to hang onto certain characters.”

The market for educational children’s programming is even smaller than that for any children’s show.

“First, one show has to be taken off the air, then all the other [potential] shows have to be dealt with,” Fullam explained. “It’s a feat to get anything on TV anywhere, and there’s a lot of people who would love to get on public TV. It’s a frog-eat-frog world.”

Deos had to film 13 episodes of “Ribert and Robert” before syndicator American Public Television could even begin to shop it around to public TV stations.

“It’s a huge risk,” Fullam allowed. “You’ve really got to believe that you’ve got something.”

For more information, visit ribert.com.