In 1993, collaborating with James McKenna, Erren Gottlieb and Elizabeth Brock, Nye developed a pilot for a new show, "Bill Nye the Science Guy", for the Seattle public broadcasting station KCTS-TV. They pitched the show as ""Mr. Wizard" meets "Pee-wee's Playhouse"". Nye obtained underwriting for the show from the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Energy. The program became part of a package of syndicated series that local stations could schedule to fulfill Children's Television Act requirements. Because of this, "Bill Nye the Science Guy" became the first program to run concurrently on public and commercial stations. The series was produced by Walt Disney Television and Rabbit Ears Productions, and distributed by Disney.