Sino-'Sesame' set for Shanghai TV
Big Bird's cousin Da Niao debuts on Chinese New Year
A Mandarin-language version of "Sesame Street," the long-running PBS kids show produced by Children's Television Workshop, will debut in China Feb. 2. "Zhima Jie" will premiere on Shanghai Television in conjunction with Chinese New Year celebrations for the Year of the Tiger.
While a number of international program producers are still vying for access to the largely untapped Chinese marketplace, CTW has worked closely with government, educators and broadcast officials in China on the co-production of "Zhima Jie."
The series of 130 episodes will receive primary funding from General Electric, the first time the conglom has sponsored a "Sesame Street" format.
"With 'Zhima Jie,' as with all of our international co-productions, CTW has worked closely with the production team in China to make sure the program reflects the educational needs of the modern Chinese lifestyle while ensuring its cultural integrity," said David Jacobs, regional VP of Asia/Latin America for CTW.
Jacobs told Daily Variety that CTW has been piecing together the co-production for four years.
Videotaped on a newly constructed Chinese street, Muppet characters including Big Bird's Chinese cousin Da Niao, a blue pig called Hu Hu Zhu and a furry red monster called Xiao Mei Zi live with a cast of human characters. All of the new Muppet characters have been created exclusively for the Chinese co-production.
Jacobs estimates that the series on Shanghai TV will reach some 100 million people. Later in the year it will be syndicated by an as yet unspecified Chinese distributor to provincial and city stations throughout China.
"Zhima Jie" is one of 17 indigenous co-productions of "Sesame Street" for CTW. Among them are "Rechov Sumsum/Shara's Simsim," a ground-breaking Israeli-Palestinian co-production which will debut this year, and "Ulitsa Sezam," the first Russian joint-venture project to produce a TV show specifically for children. Jacobs said the Russian format is already a hit.
