Fans of early local television programming are the ideal audience for "Pennsylvania's Favorite Kids Show Hosts" (8 tonight, WQED), a production of Philadelphia PBS station WHYY that features TV programs from all over the state.

The show may spend a little more time on Philly favorites, but some Pittsburgh programs get their due, most notably WTAE's "Ricki and Copper." Star Ricki Wertz recalls how for a wedding gift she asked her husband not for jewelry, but for a dog, Copper.

"Children like dogs a lot better than people," Wertz says in what appears to be a recent interview. "I started to work for [Copper] in 1958 and I had a great career with her."

Wertz also recalls the origin of the show's tribute to children's birthdays (her mom put a high importance on birthdays) and how Wertz made the boom microphone into a character on the show.

"Pennsylvania's Favorite Kids Show Hosts" doesn't explore the phenomenon of these programs, why they became popular in their day and why they no longer exist, which would have added useful context. (My theory: Economically, stations don't want to spend money on producing anything that can't be done by the news department. Culturally, these shows were popular in large part because of the newness of the medium and because of the dearth of syndicated programming, which is now in ample supply.)

Other Pittsburgh shows profiled include WTAE's "Knish & Rodney" with Hank Stohl, WTAE's "Adventuretime" with Paul Shannon and WQED's "The Children's Corner" as it stands in the history of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," the last program featured in the hour.