Behind the Scenes (American TV series)

1992 American TV series or program

Behind the Scenes
Presented by	Penn Jillette Teller
Starring	Penn Jillette Teller
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	10
Production
Executive producers	Alice Trillin Jane Garmey
Running time	28–30 minutes
Production company	Learning Designs
Original release
Network	PBS
Release	September 6 (1992-09-06) – November 8, 1992 (1992-11-08)

Behind the Scenes was a 10-part television miniseries aimed towards 8- to 12-year-olds about various aspects of the arts, that was broadcast on PBS in 1992. The series was executive produced by Alice Stewart Trillin and Jane Garmey, produced and directed by Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer, and hosted by Penn & Teller. It was developed to illuminate the creative process underlying the working of artists.

Format

The series used a wide variety of short films, computer animation, and music to illustrate certain abstractions associated with the artistic process. Each of Penn & Teller's skits were specifically geared towards demonstrating an aspect of that episode's theme.

"'To show rhythmic patterns in a song, we produce a mouse each time the pattern goes one way and when there is a variation, we produce a frog,' Teller said. 'This continues until there are quite a number of mice and frogs all over the place.'"

"Penn and Teller said they didn't want to talk down to the series' young viewers. 'Kids tend to be desperately curious,' Teller said. 'There is a certain element we are doing in this that is making the analogy between the arts and a magic trick. When you think of something like perspective in a painting, it really is a magic trick.'"

Episodes

Ep. #	Title	Featured artist	Additional artists	Central theme(s)	Comments
1	"Drawing: Illusion of Depth"	David Hockney	Bobby McFerrin	Drawing
2	"Framing"	Carrie Mae Weems		Photography
3	"Texture"	JoAnn Falletta		Music
4	"Line"	Wayne Thiebaud	Matt Groening
5	"Setting a Scene"	Julie Taymor		Theatre	Featured scenes from Taymor's production of William Shakespeare's The Tempest
6	"Melody"	Allen Toussaint	Jane Ira Bloom, Bobby McFerrin	Music
7	"Color"	Robert Gil de Montes
8	"Pattern"	David Parsons	B.H. Barry	Dance
9	"Rhythm"	Max Roach	MC Lyte, The Blue Man Group	Music
10	"Balance"	Nancy Graves		Sculpture

References

"Watch Behind The Scenes Free Online". Ovguide.com. 1992-08-11. Archived from the original on 2013-07-07. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
Hall, Jane (1992-02-12). "PBS Slates Children's Arts Series : Television: Penn & Teller will host 'Behind the Scenes,' aimed at 8- to 12-year-olds. It premieres in September. - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
"Behind the Scenes | Middlemarch Films". Middlemarch.com. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
King, Susan (1992-09-06). "Tricks for Kids : Penn and Teller host PBS series aimed at boosting creative skills - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2013-01-27.

External links

Behind the Scenes at IMDb

v t e Penn & Teller
Penn Jillette Teller
Television shows	Penn & Teller Tell a Lie Fool Us Off the Deep End Magic and Mystery Tour Bullshit! (Awards and episodes) Behind the Scenes Sin City Spectacular The Unpleasant World of Penn & Teller
Other articles	Penn & Teller Get Killed Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends Smoke and Mirrors "It's Tricky" Magic Goes Wrong Tim's Vermeer Wizard Wars

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