Sesam Stasjon

Sesam Stasjon is the Norwegian co-production of Sesame Street. The show is set in a train station, and features four original Muppets. The big walk-around Muppet is Max Mekker, a shaggy blue monster who works as a repairman at the station. Another monster, Alfa, works at the store and helps out at the cafe. Bjarne Betjent is the ticket master, and the show has added a new Muppet -- Py, a little red monster who hatched from an egg left on the train.

The cast also includes two human characters -- O. Tidemann, the genial station master, and Leonora Dorothea Dahl, a former world-famous singer who now works at the station.

History
In 1987, NRK approached Children's Television Workshop about the possibility to make a Norwegian co-production of Sesame Street. . In 1989, an agreement was reached between NRK and CTW. and the production of Sesam Stasjon began in September 1990. As part of the preparation for the show, Kermit Love traveled to Norway in June 1990 to teach the Norwegian puppeteers.

The first episode aired on NRK on February 4, 1991. In the beginning, the plan was to produce 77 episodes all written by Eyvind Skeie. In 1992, Skeie left the production after finishing his contract of 77 episodes. At the same time, NRK told that they wanted to make another 250 episodes to run through 2006. However, the series would not survive that long. NRK decided that the resources used to produce Sesam Stasjon could be used better elsewere, so NRK decided to pay CTW to get out of the contract, that would end in 2001. The last scene was recorded April 28, 1999, making it last for 198 episodes. However, Sesam Stasjon stayed on the air until 2004 due to already planned reruns of the show.

A re-run of Sesam Stasjon is planned for the new channel, NRK3, that will launch in December, 2007.

The exterior set was built around Lørenskog Train Station, that was provided from the Norwegian railroads (NSB). The station was built in 1901 by architect Paul Due. A tower was added to the building. The station was modified again in August 1991. This time, the inside of the station was changed and opened for the public, so that kids could walk around inside the station. There were also live appearances by the cast and walk-around characters. In 2003 it was decided to change the station back to the original look. NSB also provided a modified train from 1940 for the show.

Some of the episodes were like mini-series; the storyline would continue where the last episode left off. One of these longer stories was about how Alfa entered a contest to write a television show. She wrote about her life at Sesam Stasjon, and she won the contest. The entire station was invited to NRK, so they could talk about the show. In a later episode, a TV crew from NRK arrived to shoot the TV show using actors to play Alfa and her friends. These "actors" were the walk-around suits, that were built for live appearances.

Muppets

 * Geir Børresen as Max Mekker: a large blue monster
 * Hanne Dahle as Alfa: a yellow female monster
 * Åsmund Huser as Bjarne Betjent: a pink ticket-booth owner
 * Christine Stoesen as Py: a red monster who hatched from a blue egg

Humans

 * Sverre Holm as O. Tidemann
 * Sidsel Ryen as Leonora Dorothea Dahl

Additional Voice Actors

 * Anders Hatlo
 * Kari-Ann Grønsund