Read an oral history of Wonder Showzen's "Beat Kids"

The A.V. Club

The creators of the 2005-2006 MTV spoof of a kids show John Lee and Vernon Chatman and three of its child stars who are now all grown up discuss the Beat Kids, in which precocious elementary school students played investigative reporters. "Armed with microphones and clad in Kermit The Frog-style trench coats, the Beat Kids ventured into adult spaces like butcher shops and racetracks, sidled up to grown-ups, and asked the tough questions," says Marah Eakin. "One kid reporter set up on Wall Street and asked traders, 'Who did you exploit today?' Another threw on a tiny Hitler costume and—in a move that certainly wouldn’t fly 15 years later—asked passersby on a New York City street, “What’s wrong with the youth of today?” All of the questions were fed to the reporters by an on-site Chatman, but that didn’t stop the adults answering them from appearing agog, startled that anyone so cute would make them question their very existence."