Sesame!

1983 Filipino children's television program

Sesame!

Genre| Educational
Country of origin| Philippines
United States
Original languages| English
Filipino
Production
Production companies| Philippine Children's Television Foundation
Children's Television Workshop
Original release
Release| 1983 (1983) –
1984 (1984)
Related
Batibot

Sesame! was the Filipino co-production of the American children's television program, Sesame Street. It ran for a single season in 1983, after which it was replaced by Batibot.

## Production

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Sesame Street first aired in the Philippines in 1970.[1][2]

Negotiations for a localized production began in 1983, and the series was jointly created by Children's Television Workshop and the Philippine Sesame Street Project (PSSP), which was funded by the Philippine government.[3][4] The English segments were filmed in the United States, while the Tagalog segments were filmed in the Philippines.[5]

The choice was made to have turtle and monkey muppets due to those animals' frequent appearances in Philippine folk tales.[1]

## Cancellation

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Government support for the show was pulled in 1984 after the Philippine economy collapsed.[2][3] The Philippine producers were unable to afford their half of the co-production, and the arrangement dissolved.[3]

Much of the show's crew and cast created the Philippine Children's Television Foundation, Inc. (PCTVF).[3] This foundation went on to create Batibot, which maintained much of the Sesame Street formula while being produced solely by a Filipino team. The show was able to retain use of the Pong Pagong and Kiko Matsing puppets due to a license agreement with Children's Television Workshop.[5]

## Content

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The show ran for an hour, with one half in English and one half in Tagalog.[3][4][5][6]

Messaging focused in part on teaching children a "sense of nationhood".[4]

## Characters

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### Muppets

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* Pong Pagong – a turtle who wears a beanie[1]
* Kiko Matsing – a monkey[1]
* the Byaps-Byaps[1]

### Humans

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* Ate Sylvia – played by Susan Africa[7]

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e Lohr, Steve (1985-07-24). "Home-Grown Values Replace Kermit in Filipino Version of 'Sesame Street'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
2. ^ a b "Filipino Sesame Street facing tough times – UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
3. ^ a b c d e Cipanas (1991). "Batibot : towards the development of supplementary modes of education for Filipino children". AMIC ICC Seminar on Children and Television: 8.
4. ^ a b c Gettas, Gregory J. (1990). "The Globalization of "Sesame Street": A Producer's Perspective". Educational Technology Research and Development. 38 (4): 60, 62. doi:10.1007/BF02314645. ISSN 1042-1629. JSTOR 30218580.
5. ^ a b c Cana, Paul John (7 September 2020). "Here's the Real Story of Batibot's Pong Pagong and Kiko Matsing". Esquire Magazine. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
6. ^ Grana, Rhia D. (11 October 2020). "Nostalgia: The untold stories of 'Batibot,' according to Kuya Bodjie". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
7. ^ Yanoria, Luigene (18 September 2014). "Susan Africa is not your typical poor nanay on TV". Yahoo News. Retrieved 2023-03-24.

## External links

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* Theme song and clips (YouTube)

* v
* t
* e

Sesame Street international co-productions

* Characters

Original
show
adaptations|

| Africa|

* Alam Simsim (Egypt)
* Kilimani Sesame (Tanzania)
* Sesame Square (Nigeria)
* Takalani Sesame (South Africa)

|

Americas|

* Plaza Sésamo (Mexico/Hispanic America)
* Sesame Park (Canada)
* Vila Sésamo (Brazil)

Asia|

* Ahlan Simsim (Syria/Lebanon)
* Baghch-e-Simsim (Afghanistan)
* Sesame!/Batibot (Philippines)
* Galli Galli Sim Sim (India)
* Hikayat Simsim (Jordan)
* Iftah Ya Simsim (Kuwait/United Arab Emirates)
* Jalan Sesama (Indonesia)
* Rechov Sumsum (Israel)
* Sabai Sabai Sesame (Cambodia)
* Sesami Sutorīto (Japan)
* Shalom Sesame (Israel)
* Shara'a Simsim (Palestine)
* Sim Sim Hamara (Pakistan)
* Sisimpur (Bangladesh)
* Zhima Jie (China)

Europe|

* 1, rue Sésame (France)
* 5, Rue Sésame (France)
* Barrio Sésamo (Spain)
* Monstruos Supersanos
* Sesam stasjon (Norway)
* Sesame Tree (Northern Ireland)
* Sesamstraat (Netherlands)
* Sesamstraße (Germany)
* Susam Sokağı (Turkey)
* Svenska Sesam (Sweden)
* Rruga Sesam/Ulica Sezam (Kosovo)
* Rua Sésamo (Portugal)
* Ulica Sezamkowa (Poland)
* Ulitsa Sezam (Russia)

Spin-offs|

* Open Sesame (worldwide)
* The Furchester Hotel (UK)
* Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures (USA/Italy)

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