Hallo Spencer is a German children's television series, created by Winfried Debertin and produced by Norddeutscher Rundfunk from 1979 until 2001. In these 22 years, 275 episodes were filmed, including a number of 'specials' featuring the characters taking part in traditional fairy tale and nursery rhyme themed stories. It is a puppet based show, featuring characters created and operated in the same fashion as Jim Henson's Muppets and Sesame Street, which in fact, some of the show's staff were former employees of the German version of Sesame Street. To this day, the series is popular and well loved in its home country to the extent that the theme park Heide Park features a themed area devoted to the show. The series has been repeated on the commercial channels Nickelodeon Germany and on the pay-TV channel Premiere. Episodes were regularly found on regional broadcast stations until March 2011.