Taking Seasame Back to the Streets

Taking Seasame Back to the Streets

Thanks to the rise of audience specific cable channels and direct market videos, children's television has gone from a doe-eyed attempt to enlighten our kids to a brittle, plastic effort to sell Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.

Fortunately, all is not lost. In an effort to rekindle the spirit of the Children's Television Workshop and, uhm, Rumpus Room, a group of DC artsy-types have created a kids show that tries something different. Pancake Mountain applies a rough around the edges punk rock aesthetic to the puppets and songs approach to children's television. The web only pilot featured appearances from a host of indie celebrities including Bob Mould (as an evil executive) Vic Chesnut (singing a classic kids number) and Thievery Corporation (showing the kids how to get down). Best of all, Fugazi's Ian MacKaye performs as the Evens in the more clever than it sounds Vowel Movement. Chances are Pancake Mountain's unique take on getting through to the kids will never make it over to the small screen, but if it does, it might just be a beautiful day in the neighborhood.