The Carmen Show

The Carmen Show was an educational television series produced by Argosy Media and KCTS Seattle for PBS, which ran from 1981 to 2002. It was hosted and co-produced by the eccentric Carmen Jensen, who showed off his collection of toys and games, talked to himself with handpuppets and sockpuppets, and showed the audience science experiments and other fun things to do at home.

History
Former Argosy head Phil Stacker wanted to make an educational series for the Public Broadcasting Service, due to personally being a fan of Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers’ Neighbourhood, and wanting to do something similar. However, Stacker was a known penny-pincher, and insisted on a low budget. He recruited a host, Carmen Jensen, who had been an employee at a local toy store until then, and had Jensen write all material for the series. What Stacker didn’t know was that Jensen had paranoid schizophrenia. As Jensen’s mental state declined throughout the 1990s, by which point Argosy was under the creative control of Ellen Peck, handlers had to be hired to keep Jensen in control. In 2002, the series ended unceremoniously after Jensen’s handlers gave up. Jensen hung himself in 2004.

Legacy
The series inspired several later educational series, most notably Blippi.