Barrio Sésamo

Barrio Sésamo (Sesame District or Sesame Neighborhood) was the Spanish version of the popular U.S. children's program Sesame Street. The show premiered in 1979. It was formed for locally produced segments alternated with a dubbed version of the American program, in which many characters had Spanish names.

1970s

The show originally aired in Spain in the late 1970s, as a dubbed version of the American Sesame Street. In December 1978, Children's Television Workshop (CTW) began the show and created their own characters — Caponata, an orange, purple and yellow bird with curly pink hair (a full-body Muppet and counterpart to Big Bird), portrayed by actress Emma Cohen, and Perezgil, a green snail with glasses (this character is permanently set on a wall) — while retaining the American characters (Ernie and Bert, Kermit, Grover, etc.) for inserts. The original show wasn't successful, and it was cancelled in May 1980.

1980s

From 1981 to 1983, a different children's program on Spanish television, La Cometa Blanca, included some sketches from Sesame Street. This program was directed by Muppet fan Lolo Rico and featured some actors who would later appear in Barrio Sésamo, mainly Mari Luz Olier, Alfonso Vallejo and the child-actress Ruth Gabriel (then known as Ruth Abellán).

The Sesame Street sketches were successful with their young audience, and a Spanish-language Sesame Street was given another chance in 1983. Only José Riesgo as Julián returned from the first season. Caponata and Perezjil were replaced by two new Muppets. The main character was Espinete, a large pink hedgehog that replaced Caponata. Like Caponata, Espinete was a full-body Muppet and was the most important character on the show, played by Chelo Vivares. He became famous for sleeping in pajamas in spite of being "naked" the rest of the day. Some of the friends of Espinete were:

The show finished around April 1988 and was replaced by Los Mundos de Yupi, a similar TV program featuring three extraterrestrial characters.

List of 1980s series episodes

English translation of episode list

1980s series DVDs

"Pack barrio Sésamo: Espinete y Don Pimpón" (10 DVD pack with 40 episodes, Region 2)

1990s

In 1996, the show returned with more new characters: Bluki (a blue full-body catlike Muppet), Vera (a yellow monster), Bubo (an owl) and Gaspar (a human Muppet). Additional characters that made occasional appearances included a wild monster with red fur and a healthy appetite — portraying a role similar to Cookie Monster's — and a tan anything Muppet that could be turned into characters (such as a baby, a girl friend of Vera's, a clumsy man with a moustache, or a pig).

The show's directors were:

External links

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