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The cast of Sesam Stasjon
Lørenskog trainstation as Sesam Stasjon
In 1987, NRK approached CTW about the possibility to make a Norwegian co-production of Sesame Street[1]. In 1989, an agreement was reached between NRK and CTW[2] and the production of Sesam Stasjon began in September 1990. As part of the preparation for the show, Kermit Love traveled to Norway in June 1990 to teach the Norwegian puppeteers[3].
The first episode aired on NRK February 4, 1991. In the beginning, the plan was to produce 77 episodes all written by Eyvind Skeie. In 1992, Skeie left the production after finishing his contract of 77 episodes. At the same time, NRK told that they wanted to make another 250 episodes to run through 2006[4]. However, the series would not survive that long. The Nordic public service TV stations created a production company to produce their own preschool TV shows in 1998, and since NRK had to make huge budget cuts in 1999, it was decided to cancel Sesam Stasjon. The last scene was recorded on April 28, 1999. However, Sesam Stasjon stayed on the air until 2004 due to already planned reruns of the show.[5]
The exterior set was built around Lørenskog trainstation, that was provided from the Norwegian railroads (NSB). The station was built in 1901 by architect Paul Due. There was added a tower to the building. The station was modified again in August 1991[6], this time the inside of the station was changed and opened for the public, so that kids could to walk around inside the station, there where also live appearances by the puppets as well as walk-around characters. In 2003 it was decided to change the station back to the original look. NSB also provided a modified train from 1940 for the show.
Some of the episodes were like mini-series; the storyline would continue where the last episode left off. One of these longer stories was about how Alfa entering a contest to write a television show. She wrote about her life at Sesam Stasjon, and she won the contest. The entire station was invited to NRK, so they could talk about the show. In a later episode, a TV crew from NRK arrived to shoot the TV show using actors to play Alfa and her friends. These "actors" were the walk-around suits that were built for event appearances.
Cast
Max Mekker and Alfa
Muppets
- Max Mekker: a large blue monster
- Alfa: a yellow female monster
- Bjarne Betjent: a pink ticket-booth owner
- Py: a red monster who hatched from a blue egg
- Alfa walk-around
- Bjarne Betjent walk-around
- Max Mekker walk-around