Sesame Park



In Canada, beginning in 1970, 15-minute shows called Canada's Sesame Street were broadcast, and by 1972 an edited version of the one-hour American program was airing featuring specially filmed Canadian animated or live action, segments. Beginning in the spring of 1987, under the direction of executive producer Michel Lavoie, new Muppet characters were created to star in segments, filmed in Toronto: Basil the polar bear, Louis the Francophone otter, and Dodi, an elderly but active bush pilot and mail carrier. Much as the American Sesame Street stressed bilinguilism through the use of Spanish segments and characters such as Maria and Luis, French was used heavily, and occasionally the characters, especially Louis, would alternate between the two languages. In 1988, a host of new characters were added, including Dr. Dr. Bouzouki (who would teach science lessons), Robert, Fern, and most notably, Katie, a girl in a wheelchair who still remains active and cheerful. Katie would continue until the end of the series.

1990 had the original trio joined by Elmo for the Canadian Sesame Street's first television special, Basil Hears a Noise. By 1993, the cast had expanded to include a number of Parody Muppets based specifically on Canadian personalities, especially CBC reporters and talk show hosts. The roster included reporter Barbara Plum (based on news editor Barbara Frum), horticulture expert Hana Gardener (interviewer Hana Gartener), sports pundit Garth Burmengi (radio comic Ralph Benmergui), "Rhyme Time" news anchor Peter londonbridge (Peter Mansbridge, who also guest starred on the series), and storyteller Margaret Redoowd (author Margaret Atwood).

In 1996, the show was revamped and renamed Sesame Park. Instead of an hour-long edited version of Sesame Street with the Canadian sequences as inserts, the series was shortened to a half hour, with a main Canadian setting and only occasional American inserts. This setting would be an ecological, lush green public park, as opposed to a city street, with an accessible playground and a Canadian flag proudly waving. The recycled footage reflected the change, with Bert, Ernie, and more occasionally, Big Bird and Grover appearing in inserts, but the more urban, grungy Oscar the Grouch was dropped entirely. Chaos the kitten was added to the Canadian Muppet cast, and more Canadian celebrities appeared, often as fairytale or nursery rhyme characters.

Though the new version had a popular following amongst children and received several Gemini awards and nominations, the ratings were affected by the increased availability of PBS broadcasts via cable, allowing nostalgic parents to revisit the now forbidden Oscar and others on the American series. By 2002, the series had been canceled entirely.