MTV's Wonder Showzen exposed ugly, profound truths about sexism, racism, capitalism and organized religion

The Ringer

Read an oral history of the demented MTV2 parody of PBS kids' shows, airing for two seasons in 2005 and 2006, that "was unlike anything that had been on TV before," says Brian Raftery. "Influenced as much by Sesame Street as it was by Noam Chomsky, the short-lived MTV2 series was a visually jolting, politically pungent faux kids’ show featuring puppets, man-on-the-street interviews, animated segments, and kiddie-voiced 'documentaries,'" says Raftery. "Throughout two hilariously stark seasons, the show exposed ugly, profound truths about sexism, racism, capitalism, and organized religion—sometimes all in the same episode. On Wonder Showzen, characters played rock-paper-scissors with God (who kills himself after losing), while Middle America was represented by a dim-witted, over-reactionary puppet (named, of course, 'Middle America'). The show was so frantic and strange that it sometimes took repeated viewings to realize just how gleefully seditious Wonder Showzen really was."