Plaza Sésamo

infobox television
bgcolor =
show_name = Plaza Sésamo


caption =
format =
genre = Children's Television Series
theme music composer = Walterio Pesqueira
opening theme = Vamos todos a Plaza Sésamo
runtime = 22 minutes (without ads)
30 minutes (with ads)
"(actual length may vary in the US)"
country = Mexico
network = Televisa
first_aired = November 1972
imdb_id = http://imdb.com/title/tt0174418/
last_aired = present
executive producers = Rosy Ocampo
Javier Williams
Andrea Salas
creator = Joan Ganz Cooney and her Sesame Workshop staff
writers = Cuauhtémoc Blanco (head writer), Martha Carrillo, Susana Romero, Odín Dupeyrón, Rocío Lara, Axel Herreman, Larissa Andrade, David Mascareño, José Mercader, Israel Hernández, Germán Rosas López, María del Carmen Ramírez
starring = Odín Dupeyrón
Rocío Lara
Eugenio Bartilotti
Edgar Vivar
Sergio Corona
Beatriz Aguirre
Mariana Garza
Jorge Arvizu "El Tata"
num_episodes = 65 per season
no. of seasons = 11
tv_com_id =

"Plaza Sésamo" is a Mexican educational children's television series for preschoolers and is a co-pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard, along with its predecessor "Sesame Street", combining both education and entertainment.It is produced jointly by Sesame Workshop and Mexican television network Televisa. Hip TV Inc., a division of Los Angeles-based Hip Entertainment Group, were production supervisors for seasons 9, 10, and 11. The program first went on the air in 1972.

"Plaza Sésamo" can be seen in Mexico on Televisa's XHGC-TV. In the United States, it can be seen on V-me and TeleFutura (and had previously aired on TeleFutura's parent network Univision), as well as selected PBS stations.

Season 9 launched 2005, and seasons 10 and 11 debuted in 2006 and 2008. New seasons of the show are produced intermittently.

The show shares a lot of sketch footage with Sesame Street, dubbed in Spanish, but there is also a great deal of unique footage in the show, especially sketches featuring the live actors.

It is estimated that "Plaza Sesamo" reaches 84 percent of Spanish-speaking households in the United States. Within Mexico, 72% of mothers watched the series as a child, and 98% of them want to expose their children to the series. [Sesame Workshop: [http://www.sesameworkshop.org/aboutus/inside_press.php?contentId=16074019 Children's TV series "Plaza Sésamo" heads back in studio for a milestone new season focused on health] ; fact sourced to Gemark Research, "Plaza Sesamo Market Research Study", September 2005.]

It is the longest running children's series in Mexico. Note that there is also another Spanish-language version of this series known as Barrio Sésamo in Spain that went on the air in 1976 although new episodes have not aired since April 3, 1995 (as of November, 2006).

Characters

Recurring characters unique to Plaza Sésamo include:
* Abelardo Montoya, the equivalent of Big Bird from Sesame Street, with green and red feathers (Mexico's national colours) and a short, orange beak shaped like that of a parrot. Played by Héctor Loeza. Abelardo's original name was Serapio Montoya, but it was later changed to Abelardo Montoya in honor of his orange dragon equivalent of early seasons.
* Lola, a joyful young Muppet who loves to play the harmonica, and make silly sounds with her voice. Lola is the equivalent of Elmo, often referring to herself in third-person. She is related to Pancho, and is Abelardo's best friend. Played by Rocío Lara.
* Pancho, Pancho Contreras, blue-colored monster, an equivalent of America's Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street: a grouch who doesn't like to be bothered. Played by Odín Dupeyrón.
* Elefancio, Pancho's pet elephant. Only his trunk is ever seen. Played by Marcia Coutiño.
* Cuernos (Horns), a red monster with a characteristic couple of horns and vicious teeth.
* Multimonstruos, Red Anything Monsters that appear as babies, pirates, etc.
* Multimuppets, Brown Anything Muppets.
* Rosita, Female Purple Puppet (would later also be seen on the English-language "Sesame Street".
* El Barón Púrpura (The Purple Baron), a Muppet portraying a lackluster air pilot. A satire of The Red Baron.
* Paco, a parrot.
* Abelardo, a red dragon.
* Bodoque, a grouch that lives in boxes.
* Four recurring birds.
* A macaw.
* Poco Loco.
* A penguin.
* A chicken.
* Stuckweed.
* A watermelon.

Additionally, characters from the English-language Sesame Street occasionally appear in some segments:
* Beto y Enrique: same as Bert and Ernie.
* "René" (Rene the Frog): same as Kermit the Frog.
* Archibaldo: same as Grover.
* Greñaldo: same as Herry Monster.
* Lucas, el monstruo comegalletas (Lucas, the Cookie-Eating Monster): same as Cookie Monster.
* El Conde Contar, same as Count von Count.

Featured adults

* Beatriz Aguirre
* Sergio Corona
* Edgar Vivar
* Mariana Garza
* Benjamin Rivero
* M¨Balia
* Pedro Romo
* Mariana Sánchez
* Jorge Arvizu "El Tata"

Notable guest stars

* Jorge Campos, footballer, season 9
* Edith Gonzalez, actress, season 9
* Sebastián González "Chamagol", footballer, season 10
* Andrea Legarreta, TV personality, season 10
* Fernando Platas, athlete, season 12, in a "Plaza Olimpiadas" segment
* Adal Ramones, comedian, season 9; season 10, Ramones hosts an "American Idol" parody ("Cantando por una fruta") with fruit Muppets.
* Marco Antonio Regil, TV personality, season 9
* Carlos Loret de Mola, TV personality, season 10
* Adela Micha, TV personality, season 10
* Antonio de Valdés, TV personality, season 10
* Leticia Calderón, actress, season 10
* Ernesto Laguardia, actor, season 10
* Omar Chaparro, TV personality, season 10
* Marco Antonio Regil, TV personality, season 10
* RBD, Mexican Pop Group, season 11
* Eiza Gonzalez, Actress, Singer, season 11
* Benny Ibarra, singer, season 11
* Aleks Syntek, musician, season 10
* Alessandra Rosaldo, singer, season 10
* Enrique Burak, TV personality, season 10
* Héctor Sandarti, TV personality, season 10
* Mauricio Barcelata, actor, season 11
* Cecilia Galliano, actress, model, season 11
* Polo Ortín, actor, season 10
* Evita Muñoz "Chachita", actress, season 11
* Eugenio Derbez, comedian, season 9
* Julio Bracho, actor, season 11

easons

Theme Park

A theme park named Parque Plaza Sésamo, based on the television series, opened in Monterrey, Mexico. [Parque Plaza Sésamo: [http://www.parqueplazasesamo.com Main Web Site] .] The park is open year round and offers summer educational camps for childrenages 5 to 13. Park venues can be rented for special events.

Other media and merchandise

DVD releases

References

External links

* [http://www.plazasesamo.com]
* [http://sesameworkshop.org/international/mx/eng/home.php Sesame Workshop: Plaza Sésamo] (English Web site)
* [http://sesameworkshop.org/international/mx/spa/home.php Sesame Workshop: Plaza Sésamo] (Spanish Web site)
* [http://www.hipentertainmentgroup.com: Hip TV Inc.]
* [http://www.parqueplazasesamo.com: Parque Plaza Sésamo]