Social:Wonder Showzen

Wonder Showzen
Also known as	Kids Show
Genre	Adult puppeteering; Black comedy; Surreal humor; Satire; Off-color humor
Created by	Vernon Chatman; John Lee;
Starring	Vernon Chatman; John Lee; Alyson Levy; Jim Tozzi;
Opening theme	"Old Theme" by PFFR
Ending theme	"Goodbye Song" by PFFR
Composer(s)	Chris Anderson
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	16 (and 1 pilot) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Vernon Chatman; John Lee; Michele Megan Dix; Jesse Ignjatovic; Tom Calderone;
Producer(s)	Ria Finazzo; Jessica Vitkus; Lisa M. Thomas ;
Production location(s)	New York City, New York, U.S.
Cinematography	John Tanzer
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	21–22 minutes
Production company(s)	USA Cable Entertainment (season one only); Augenblick Studios (animated segments); PFFR Productions;
Distributor	CBS Television Distribution
Release
Original network	MTV2
Picture format	NTSC
Audio format	Stereophonic
Original release	March 11, 2005 –; May 19, 2006
External links
	Wonder Showzen
	Production website

Wonder Showzen is an American adult sketch comedy television series that aired between 2005 and 2006 on MTV2. It was created by Vernon Chatman and John Lee of PFFR.

Described as a children's television series for adults, the show's format is a parody of educational PBS children's television shows such as Sesame Street and The Electric Company (e.g. use of stock footage, puppetry and clips of children being interviewed), parodied its format with the use of adult-orientation. In addition to general controversial comedy, it satirizes politics, religion, war, sex and culture with black comedy.

Development

Wonder Showzen was created by Vernon Chatman and John Lee, who originally made an early concept of it back in 1999, and pitched to the USA Network in 2000, but after a few minutes of viewing, executives there quickly concluded it did not fit the network's programming style.^[1] However, Viacom was re-branding MTV2 and made Wonder Showzen part of its new programming lineup. It aired as part of Sic 'Em Fridays, along with Dirty Sanchez and Wildboyz. The pilot and early concept were named simply "Kids Show". The Wonder Showzen theme song was also called 'Kids Show'. Reruns of the show also aired on MTV and Comedy Central.^{[citation needed]} The first episode had animated segments provided by Raw Power, while the rest of the series had animated segments done by Augenblick Studios.

Ben Q. Jones, who was a member of the art collective Paper Rad, did some animations for the series, before continuing to work with PFFR again on his failed Adult Swim pilot Neon Knome, which was rejected, yet turned a show on Cartoon Network called The Problem Solverz, which Jones himself created. Another notable crew member who worked on Wonder Showzen was Mark Marek, who also worked on Cartoon Network's Mad and Nickelodeon's KaBlam!; he created Yuck, Yuck, Goose, and his sidekick, his Butt for Wonder Showzen.

MTV released the first season of Wonder Showzen on DVD March 28, 2006. The second season of Wonder Showzen premiered on March 31, 2006 and had its season-two finale starring Clarence on May 19, 2006 on MTV2. This season was released on DVD October 10, 2006, with an easter egg that featured an animation contest. The grand prize was announced as the winner's animation appearing on "the next DVD", but the creators later said a third season was unlikely,^[2] and MTV afterward canceled the show. A return is even more unlikely as the creators of Wonder Showzen went on to produce the animated series Xavier: Renegade Angel, which aired on Adult Swim.

Cast and characters

Adults

Vernon Chatman (Chauncey/Clarence/Various Voices)
John Lee (Wordsworth/Him/Various Voices)
Alyson Levy (Sthugar/Various Voices)
Jim Tozzi (Various Voices)

Kids

Benjamin Krueger
Evan Seligman
Taylor Bedlivy
P.J. Connaire
Jacob Kogan
Michael Samms
Trevor Heins
Miles Kath
Jasmina Lee
Dominic Payer
Mike Gibbons
Alexandra Rose
Frankie Scapoli
Ryan Soos
Brianna Simpkins
Miles Williams
Pierce Gidez
Madison Rose
Ameerah Moore
Ryan Simpkins
Juliet DePaula
Sam Kaufman

Cameos

Season one

Jon Glaser as As Mr. Story in episode 101.
Flavor Flav as As himself in episode 101, The full "Storytime with Flavor Flav" was cut from the broadcast version of the episode. It still appears however on the Season One DVD.
Dick Gregory as As Mr. Sun in episode 103.
Amy Sedaris as As Miss Amy in episode 106.
Christopher Meloni as As the Chewties Spokesman in episode 107.
Chris Anderson as As Koby Teeth in episode 104
Madison Rose - As herself in episodes 106 ("History") and 108 ("Patience")

Season two

David Cross as As T-Totaled Timbo in episode 203, Hostage in episode 206, and Junkyard Jessip in episode 207.
Judah Friedlander as As Crickey in episodes 203 and 207.
Jon Glaser as As Dr. Rawstein in episodes 203 and 207.
Darlene Violette as As Bettsy Beth Bethanie in episodes 203 and 207.
Amy Poehler as As Miss Mary in episodes 203 and 206.
John Oates as As himself, singing in the song, "War never solves anything" in episode 206.
Devendra Banhart as As himself, singing in the song, "War never solves anything" in episode 206.
Rick Springfield as As himself, singing in the song, "War never solves anything" in episode 206.
Corin Tucker as As herself, singing in the song, "War never solves anything" in episode 206.
Todd Barry as As Barold Q. Mosley in episode 207.
Zach Galifianakis as As Uncle Daddy in episode 207.
Will Oldham as As Pastor Pigmeat in episode 207.
Heather Lawless as As Permanently Pregnant Peggy in episode 203 and 207.
Barbara Ann Davison as As Cousin Grandma Pervis in episode 203 and 207.
Chris Anderson as As Mr. Corn in episode 203

Recurring segments

Beat Kids – One of the children, most often Trevor, leads a journalistic segment with mostly offensive, humorous questions, ridiculing interviewees at a given venue. The segment appears in almost every episode.
What's Jim Drawing? – Appeared in episode 202 and 206.
Horse Apples – A segment in episode 203, which later expanded into an entire episode in 207, that parodies Hee Haw and redneck comedy. The latter episode featured several guest actors.
Funny/Not Funny – A series of clips, often depicting violent or macabre images, airs with a chorus of children saying either "funny" or "not funny".
So Now You Know – A parody of "The More You Know", Where kids say questions and a computer shows their answers. It appeared twice on season one and once on season two in episode 205.
Q&A – A series of children each answer a single question.
Breaking News – Features the news reporter.
We Went To... – Children narrate an ostensibly educational trip while old stock film airs.
Clarence's Movies – Clarence the puppet interviews people on the street on a common theme, usually antagonistically or obnoxiously, which is often reciprocated by violence or threats.
Story Time – A special guest reads a story to the children. Guests have included Flavor Flav (as himself although it was unaired), Jon Glaser (as Mr. Story), David Cross (as a hostage), and Amy Sedaris (as Ms. Amy).
Mr. Body – A cartoon segment that parodies the Slim Goodbody character from the Captain Kangaroo television series.
D.O.G.O.B.G.Y.N – A cartoon chronicling a dog with the ability to aid in child birth; part of the title derives from a short form for "obstetrics and gynaecology", and part of it comes from the common domesticated dog.
Tyler, America's Most Perfect Child – A young child with a disturbingly well-mannered demeanor, who often forms statements about how perfect, wonderful and special they are.