I recently decided to re-watch Wonder Showzen and I can say that it’s an underated gem, I say that since most people seem to have forgotten about the show. It was never a huge show but some people seemed to watch it and now almost no one ever brings it up. I wasn’t sure how well it would show up since it very well could’ve been a product of its time.
It’s simply a messed up adult version of Sesame Street and it’s not just a vile show full of potty humor and sex jokes though it’s full of those as well, it can actually be really clever in many of their segments. Even if it ends up being hit or miss it is well balanced that you don’t become annoyed. And the lows were more of a product of its time or even some youtube channels today trying to be annoying. But as I mentioned the show is really smart even now some segments just hit.
It was usually pushing the boundaries on what they can do and is also very graphic, it was hard not to look away even after decades of seeing horrible things on the internet. Many of their segments you could see become dedicated youtube channels so in a way they were ahead of its time. The second season seems to be weaker than the first however, even having an episode dedicated to their worst segments I’m guessing just to fill their quota of episodes. Some of their animated segments were very funny even if disturbing.
Among my favorite things on the show included Trevor when he interviewed strangers in Beat Kids even if he was prepped by adults the kid was on the spot and had perfect timing/wit. Chauncey the puppet was a hippie and host of the show and his fucked up ways on how he did things kept you interested and finally the other main puppet Clarence was another favorite often acting like Tom Green annoying bystanders.