In our conversation, we described this show as a “Dark stepchild of a Nickelodeon children’s show.” I might include The Howdy Doody Show, Captain Kangaroo, and Blue’s Clues among what a classic would be (though those are not all Nickelodean of course). Following are some variations on those classic. Each has a different way that it pivots away from the form. Each has treatments of props and scenery which might include useful techniques.
This is Stanley Spadowski’s Clubhouse from the 1989 film UHF (one of Weird Al’s movies). It is a parody of children’s television shows. It is sillier and not as dark as …now lie in it. “Oh, Joe Miller! You just found the marble in the oatmeal! you get to drink from the firehose!”
This is the comedy special that ran on HBO in 1981, boosting Paul Reubens into celebtity status as Pee Wee Herman. The original act was a raunchy nightclub routine, imitating a childrens show. At 45:09 it includes a cut to a period film on manners and hygiene. This is – again – a different type of script and humor than …now lie in it. Like Stanley Spadowski’s Clubhouse, though, it employs children’s TV tropes satyrically.
This next one is Slime Time Live (2000-2004). It is an actual children’s show, though it is also a parody of the types of show in the decades preceding it. It is formatted like a game show, and includes heavier amounts of video and electronic-gizmo moments.
At 2:00 an interactive game-show element is included on the screen. Would this sort of inclusion be useful? A projection screen or video wall would allow this easily as an element. At 2:23 a bucket of slime is dumped on a contestant.
This show has a Rube-Goldberg quality to its mechanics, more than the shows depicted above. This particular sample has got my imagination the most of any of these.
I also find myself thinking about the film Linoleum (2022). It is about a man dealing with dementia and Alzheimer’s. It is a wildly non-linear film, but a recurring component is the science-oriented children’s show that the mane has hosted in his life call “Above & Beyond.” I cannot find any significant images or clips of those moments, though there are glimpses in the trailer below. The treatment of set pieces and props for these purposes are nostalgic and a little bittersweet, rather than satyrical or parodying.