The Meme, the Myth, the Legend: The Sociopolitical Impact of MTV’s Cult Classic Wonder Showzen
By Kaila Cherry
If you spend a lot of time on social media, it is likely you have seen the image that has the question “What is Love?” written at the bottom of the screen with a little girl on a grey background who answers “A neurotypical con job.” Or perhaps you have seen the politically incorrect cartoon “Celebrate Our Differences” featuring various racial charicatures of ethnic groups circulating on TikTok. Or maybe you have seen the clip of a little Black girl asking bankers on Wall Street “Who have you exploited today?” These images and clips that have circulated the internet for years all come from the same television show Wonder Showzen. Airing in 2005 for one year only, Wonder Showzen was a demented satirical black comedy program that used the format of children’s television as the vessel to make content with methods and messages years ahead of its time. From having an episode with a To Kill A Mockingbird style court trial to having young children narrate the apocalypse, it is about time that we acknowledge how Wonder Showzen came to be, what made it different from other satirical content of the time, and why it is so relevant to humor and political ideology of Millennials and Gen Z today.
Wonder Showzen is the brainchild of Vernon Chatman and John Lee. Both San Francisco State graduates with a love of pranks, they first synthesized the idea for Wonder Showzen during their college days in the early 90s. Described by Chatman as a “prank of a show,” what they then called Kids’ Show was far from being child friendly. The duo wanted to create “a true variety show” and they saw children’s programming as the ultimate form of sketch comedy. Over a decade later, both men found themselves in New York City. They revisited their idea for a satirical children’s show and shot an eight minute pilot that went unseen for years. Then in 2004, what was to become Wonder Showzen was picked up and green lit for MTV2.
When Wonder Showzen finally premiered a year later it was completely unlike anything on TV at the time. One could draw comparisons of the show’s comedic style to South Park but even then Wonder Showzen’s approach to humor was more sharp as opposed to shocking.
The series opens with the episode “Birth” which explores the miracle of life in the most off-the-wall way possible. Introduced to a colorful cast of puppets as our hosts, the gang celebrates the release of their friend, the Letter N, from rehab. The main story follows how N relapses to fill a void in her life, a void she eventually fills after having a baby ‘I’ with the Letter S after becoming pregnant from a one night stand. Together, they create the word “SIN.”
Cut between the main plot are a plethora of different animated and live action skits that touch on the themes Wonder Showzen would become a cult classic for. The segment “Clarence’s Movies” features a blue puppet that harasses people on the streets of New York City with a level of tenacity only the bravest of souls could have. His bit leans into Wonder Showzen’s exploration of philosophy through asking joggers in Central Park “What are you running from?” In the on-the-ground journalistic reporting segment “Beat Kids,” child reporter Trevor reports live from the local butchery as he asks the head of a severed pig “What’s it like to be a cop?” This serves as the show’s first of many indictments of policing in the United States. In the parody educational bit “We Went To…” a group of kids narrate their trip to a hot dog factory over old stock footage. One child refers to the process as “Delicious murder” and another calls it “the dark nature of capitalism.” Finally, the main plot of the show is a clear jab at religion, specifically America’s “Christian values.”
Wonder Showzen was on MTV2 for two seasons before it was cancelled. As a viewer, it was surprising to me that it did not get cut from the network earlier due to the sheer boldness of its content. Turns out, this was a surprise to the creators too. “Every second, we were like, ‘They’re going to take this away, so let’s get in as much as we can’” said Chatman. With that kind of attitude, each episode got more radical than the last. The second episode “Space” was sponsored by “White People.” Thus, when the yellow puppet host Chauncey randomly draws the name of a child to take into outer space with him and finds out the chosen child is Black, he knocks the kid out with a baton and draws again. To his delight, he gets a little white girl named Kaitlin. While in space, Chauncey denies the existence of God who, in response, blows up the Earth. Chauncey and Kaitlin go to Heaven and challenge God to a game of rock, paper, scissors for the fate of the Earth. God loses, put the Earth back together, commits suicide, then is eaten by Kaitlin and the puppet gang back on Earth.
What makes Wonder Showzen’s content special in the genre of black comedy and satire is that the jokes came from people who actually are a part of the groups and are affected by the social systems they make light of in the show. On the inclusivity of the Wonder Showzen crew, art director Alyson Levy said “Most TV-show staffers are white guys. I’m Jewish, John’s Chinese, and Vernon’s half-black. And the women working on the show had a real voice on Wonder Showzen. We’re a very diverse group of people.” Having a crew that had a direct relationship to the experiences of racism, class oppression, religious indoctrination, and American idealism in a show that aims to use humor to problematize these topics is essential to making sure the joke is the system, not the people most hurt by it. Most satirical programs fall into the latter category. Wonder Showzen falls into the former.
Despite the show’s short-lived run, the unapologetic surreal humor of Wonder Showzen has undeniably influenced the style of popular shows among Millennials and Gen Z today. From The Eric Andre Show, to Loiter Squad, to even Nathan for You, it is clear that the 2010s was the time where the value of the off-the-wall humor prevalent throughout Wonder Showzen was embraced not only by creators and television networks but audiences as well. It was also the onset of the 2010s that brought Wonder Showzen clips and gifs back into circulation online. The reason for this resurgence? John Lee believes it is because, “Injustice and inequality never change.” He goes on to refer to this stagnancy in progressivism societally as “The tragedy of Wonder Showzen.” Although it is disheartening to realize that Wonder Showzen’s critiques of racism, idealism, class, and religion are still relevant today, it is important to ask this: Why is it that Wonder Showzen fits within the current zeitgeist?
Wonder Showzen and many of those born between the late 80s to early 2000s have this in common: We both believe that the United States is an absurd place. Laden with myths like “hard work will get you anywhere,” and the “American Dream” that do not consider the ways in which systemic oppression keeps most people in this country far from any form of stability, America is an easy place to laugh at. Millenials and Gen Z have done this through meme culture. We are not afraid to joke about who will be getting the guillotine when the revolution comes or the state of the President’s health after, in a true example of karma, he contracted COVID-19 earlier this month. We use absurd images and comparisons to critique the conditions of the United States and so does Wonder Showzen. The audience for Wonder Showzen was always present. We were just too young for it at the time. And as the show’s warning says:
“Wonder Showzen contains offensive, despicable content that is too controversial and too awesome for actual children. The stark, ugly and 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."