Some info on the fountain
Hello interested parties! This thread came to the attention of the creator of the fountain and the writer of the segment, but neither of them has yet been able to log on and add to the discussion. I will leave truly authoritative answers to them, but I can tell you the following:
There were at least two scenes shot for Sesame Street, both in Seattle, where the fountain was built, one at Gas Works Park and the other in a private back yard. The fountain was not built for the scenes; it's a real fountain, not a prop. Alas, the fountain was not publicly accessible and has since been retired. A successor is under construction.
In terms of educational content, I'd say that for the 2-5 set, the value was mostly music appreciation and gross motor skills. For your own edification, however, the fountain was entirely MIDI-controlled and driven from a (now ancient) PC using Cakewalk sequencing software, which also drove a synthesizer. This enabled the fountain to be programmed to synchronize the sprays and lights with the music. (This doesn’t come through completely in the scenes.) The fountain also appeared at the Seattle Science Center as an interactive exhibit with various types of MIDI input devices that passers by could use to control it.
This fountain is a computer-age incarnation of a wasserspiele, such as the one at Hellbrunn near Salzburg, built around 1615.