4. The Characters
Naturally, a show like this has characters that mainly parody those of Sesame Street with the roles of Bert and Ernie being taken by uptight stockbroker Rod and his slovenly flatmate Nicky (the idea of Bert and Ernie being gay is parodied to hell and back with brilliant results), and Cookie Monster being replaced by porn-loving Trekkie Monster. It also takes an angle on Sesame Streets mix of human and puppet characters with three of the cast being played by humans instead of puppets. Which, as in its source material, is never mentioned. The oddest character (despite him pretty much being the most normal) is Diffrent Strokes star Gary Coleman, who was originally supposed to be played by the real Gary Coleman had he attended a meeting to discuss the role. This fictionalised version of Coleman is the landlord to the other characters. It gets weirder in that hes always played by a person of average height and, in the original American performances, was played by a woman. His presence is largely there to hammer home the message that even if you do well in life when youre young, it probably wont last. Rounding out the main cast are the principal characters of university graduate Princeton and school teacher Kate Monster whose on-off romance makes up the bulk of the story. The characters are all immensely likeable and you cant help but warm to them. Even the sociopathic Bad Idea Bears and the avenues resident slapper Lucy The Slut.