YellowYahooey
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2019
- Messages
- 803
- Reaction score
- 160
I heard of a short-lived "Sesame Street" spinoff series that aired exclusively in Canada on Treehouse TV from 1998 until 2001, and it was titled "Open Sesame".
The series was a half-hour compilation of sketches centering on animated, film and Muppet segments. No segments involving human cast members (i.e. Maria, Gordon, Luis, etc.) were prevalent. Many of the animated segments were more recent at the time, but there were some that were considered "classic". Among the classic animated segments that was shown was "The Bee Bee and Barker Family", which was not seen on "Sesame Street" since Season 12, and it amazed me (even though I didn't like the segment). There were even a few "Sand Alphabet" segments on "Open Sesame" (I remember seeing the "S" segment of this kind), but there were no speech balloon, consonant sound, nor Poverty Pictures skits to be seen. I am thinking many of the animated segments were either animated by Bruce Cayard, or simply in-house (computer) animation (i.e. "Sand Alphabet", "Pencil Box/School Supplies", "Planet letters", "Scanimate #10", etc.) by CTW. However, film segments seen in the series did keep Joe Raposo's music intact. Despite being aired exclusively in Canada, all of the segments were produced in the U.S.
The series did feature one letter and one number ranging from 0 to 20, but with no sponsors being announced on air at the end. A Muppet sketch would close out the show, then went to the closing credits quickly, which was short and had only two frames, the latter of which depicted "YTV Canada", implying that Treehouse TV is a subsidiary of YTV.
Many of the core Muppets were seen, with the exception of Big Bird and Snuffy. However, the iconic Elmo may likely have appeared in some form.
Does anybody in Canada remember this Treehouse TV series? And what are your thoughts on it?
The series was a half-hour compilation of sketches centering on animated, film and Muppet segments. No segments involving human cast members (i.e. Maria, Gordon, Luis, etc.) were prevalent. Many of the animated segments were more recent at the time, but there were some that were considered "classic". Among the classic animated segments that was shown was "The Bee Bee and Barker Family", which was not seen on "Sesame Street" since Season 12, and it amazed me (even though I didn't like the segment). There were even a few "Sand Alphabet" segments on "Open Sesame" (I remember seeing the "S" segment of this kind), but there were no speech balloon, consonant sound, nor Poverty Pictures skits to be seen. I am thinking many of the animated segments were either animated by Bruce Cayard, or simply in-house (computer) animation (i.e. "Sand Alphabet", "Pencil Box/School Supplies", "Planet letters", "Scanimate #10", etc.) by CTW. However, film segments seen in the series did keep Joe Raposo's music intact. Despite being aired exclusively in Canada, all of the segments were produced in the U.S.
The series did feature one letter and one number ranging from 0 to 20, but with no sponsors being announced on air at the end. A Muppet sketch would close out the show, then went to the closing credits quickly, which was short and had only two frames, the latter of which depicted "YTV Canada", implying that Treehouse TV is a subsidiary of YTV.
Many of the core Muppets were seen, with the exception of Big Bird and Snuffy. However, the iconic Elmo may likely have appeared in some form.
Does anybody in Canada remember this Treehouse TV series? And what are your thoughts on it?