Wonder Showzen getting Complete Series DVD set, streaming now on Paramount+
Wonder Showzen, one of the most twisted, subversive, and hilarious shows to ever air on basic cable, lasted two seasons on MTV2 in 2005 and 2006. While it looked on the surface like an ’70s/’80s Sesame Street knockoff, through its puppets, cartoons and kid reporters, Wonder Showzen regularly targeted institutional racism, big business, capitalism, organized religion and more via the darkest humor imaginable. The series aired way past midnight on Fridays and carried the following warning before every episode:
WARNING: WONDER SHOWZEN CONTAINS OFFENSIVE, DESPICABLE CONTENT THAT IS TOO CONTROVERSIAL AND TOO AWESOME FOR ACTUAL CHILDREN. THE STARK, UGLY, PROFOUND TRUTHS WONDER SHOWZEN EXPOSES MAY BE SOUL-CRUSHING TO THE WEAK OF SPIRIT. IF YOU ALLOW A CHILD TO WATCH THIS SHOW, YOU ARE A BAD PARENT OR GUARDIAN.
Wonder Showzen had a bit of a moment in the summer of 2020 thanks to some of their segments on racial and social injustice, and a segment on obsessive hand-washing that fit right in with the early days of the pandemic.
There’s a lot of amazing, shocking, insane and very funny stuff across Wonder Showzen‘s 16 episodes, which you can now get in physical media form via a new Complete Series box set that’s out March 16. The original DVD sets came in packaging that was almost as twisted as the show itself, so here’s hoping new fun stuff awaits with this set (but at a list price of $22.99, maybe not).
If you need a more immediate fix, all 16 episodes are available to stream on the just-launched Paramount+ (fka CBS All Access) which also has actual kids shows, like new episodes of Spongebob and Rugrats. Don’t get them mixed up!
You can watch a few classic Wonder Showzen clips below.