PFFR & Wonder Showzen: More Biting Than the Tics On Grover's Fur

Years ago I picked up an odd-looking CD called Rock, Rocker, Rocketh by a group called PFFR in a 99 cent bin and was curious about who they were; there was a definite post-Butthole Surfers ethic at play with absurd, dark, monsterlike, and potty-fixated songs while utilizing the cheapest in cheapo gadgetry. It became revealed that they were from Brooklyn, and in 2002 released another disc called United We Doth on the Birdman label which quickly became a heavily played FMU hit (some real audio samples from Charlie's show here and Terre T's show here). We almost had them out to play as well, though schedules didn't gel unfortunately, and then the band got busy on producing an MTV2 show.

Well, the show debuted in March, stuffed away into a Friday 9:30pm Eastern slot, and not only is it a more elaborate continuum of what the band sought out to do with its albums, it's one of the most what-the-fuck things to happen on TV since the early Ren and Stimpy shows (I dare say often bypassing South Park in jawdrop factor). Wonder Showzen, written by PFFR's John Lee and Vernon Chatman, is the satanic TV equivalent to Greasy Kid Stuff, and the big fat disclaimer coming on after each commercial break warning to keep your kids away from the set "or else you're a terrible parent" could be damn well some kind of statement to support. The theme song is even a bunch of youngsters singing/taunting: "kids' show...kids' show...change the channel...".

Each show addresses a theme (i.e. "Patience" takes an entire half hour testing yours), with twisted cartoons, puppet skits, and live action segments and real kids interviewing people on the street. But the mere utilization of the live kids here makes it all the more dastardly. I mean, I cringe for these kids' participation in a way equal to the thrill I am getting by seeing every taboo torn down before my eyes in what is surely the most bizarre program ever aired on MTV (well, MTV2).

Example: child inexplicably in total Hitler regalia, accosting real passersby outside City Hall downtown, asking a cowboy hat-wearing businessman questions like "whose hat represents more damage to society, yours or mine?". Another kid stops Wall Streeters in a hurry and probes "where will you hide when the revolution happens?" While the motif and general air of the show is very much steeped in the cliches, colors, and vibe of 70's kids' programs, this ain't Kidsworld TV. At one point the Hitler kid just stares at the puzzled cowboy guy for an extended time and finally says to him "I'm trying to make your head explode with my mind."

Other times, sock puppets go out to assault unsuspecting victims with behavior that would even make Triumph the Insult Comic Dog blush. Sometimes the puppets are simply beaten up in studio by kids. There's a recurring cartoon about a dog that's an O.B.G.Y.N., and he delivers a baby midair (rather graphically) to a plummeting pregnant skydiver (and inevitably there's confusion when the father falling alongside yells "pull the cord"). The stiffness of the animation and the coloring would convince someone flipping channels that they've hit an old archive of Magilla Gorilla or something, but then when you see what's going on, your brain melts. Such an approach to the corruption of those ideals isn't new; it's been quite annoying over the years to see TV take the once-Utopian aspects of the 70's (shows that were innocent like the Brady Bunch etc.)  updated for modern satire by adding the loss of that innocence to the mix (i.e. Greg Brady writing books about how he was a slut on the set, Florence Henderson acting like a dominatrix for MTV Awards spots), but the stark surreality of Wonder Showzen has to be revered for the sheer vicious attack of the senses and cherished memories stored away in your head. Happy talking flower puppets spit blood and die, a live horse out in the field while credits roll gives birth violently. Anything and everything cute is debased. Drawing the band comparison thing again, it's exactly like the kind of stuff you'd see rolling on a screen behind the Butthole Surfers in the late 80's.

The walls knocked down by the Simpsons and Ren and Stimpy seemed to open the pathways for a lot of pale imitators who dumbed down the major points of what those pioneer programs were about. I truly fear a world where this amazing show spawns lesser offspring for the Lowest Common Denominator, especially if they aren't "getting" the vision at hand. In the meantime, prepare to have your senses overloaded.

Crave Online is hosting a few short clips here and here, and this page has some more (either Real Player or Windows Media).

Comments

[Borah Bashi]

Oh, about a year ago, it must have been, I was, um, perusing on of my favorite 'work for safe not' sites, moc.tcejorpelits.www, (warned you have been), and as I do occasionally, ran one of my 'bot scripts to slurp down all the crazy vids he collects, and one was a video called 'Kids Stuff' or something like that, it must have been a pilot for Wonder Showzen, I'm sorry I didn't keep it archived, but yep, these are those guys... wonderful stuff... now, back to corrupting my children...

[Borah Bashi]

Got the pilot episode from Donkey network, it's not the same as what up on stile, but some of the material was the same. I guess the clip on stile was a pitch.

[Borah Bashi]

http://vid1.stileproject.com/2a36e564c46655dcab38271765e553db/krap1.wmv

copyright at end sez 2000, so they've been working on this for a while...

[jdz]

These folks also had a show at LFL gallery a year or so ago. Along with the Kids' Show, it featured a brilliantly offensive abuse of the porn-on-demand industry. At one point in that piece, a woman stands nude in a shower, opens up a ball jar labeled "Angels' Tears" and pours it all over herself.

Jesus.

[binro]

these folks are ALSO those responsible for "Doggy Fizzle Televizzle", and, pre-PFFR were in the band Muckaferguson who made repeat visits to WFMU in the mid-'90s.

oh, and that's why there is a guest vocal from Snoop Dogg on the second PFFR record.

[tom moody]

Hey, Brian and all,
I did a blog report on the Kid's Show pilot a couple of years ago here: http://www.digitalmediatree.com/tommoody/?20656
It appeared online at some point and I linked to it but haven't watched it in that form. I still get lots of search requests for it. Haven't seen the new show--I don't have MTV2 in my cable package--but will look for it. --tom

[infoshowzen]

Don't forget about the unofficial homepage, http://www.wonder-showzen.com, where the story of the new season and DVD set can be found... plus a nice memorial to Him Sr.

[Adam]

Dear Wonder Showzen creators,

Thank you for not including Minnesota as part of Middle-America during the boy genius skit in the Khartum space on disk 2, season 2. Beating idiot people over the head and feeding them the results. Mmmm.

Sincerly,
A still-evolving psychotic ape,
Adam