Author Topic: Sesame Street (Read 2427 times)

Scott · « **on:** September 15, 2004, 02:02 PM »

So I have a 2 and a half year old who has fallen deeply in love with the little red dude with the big eyes, and while my stance on Elmo has changed from when I first started watching again a year or so ago, he still is a far cry from the entertaining characters of when many of us are growing up

Early Education and Pre-School have pretty much made Sesame Street a dinosaur in most aspects and the show has changed from a learning about numbers, reading and the like to touchy feely crap more in line with today's culture. This aspect was always there but now its pretty much all the show is about. Its a totally different experience than the 70's and 80's.

I'm happy my son is into it right now because even though he's pretty sharp already and he's picking up so much stuff every day its almost scary. I think the message of sharing and acceptance and friendship is still pretty important as well...its just I wonder if education of the youth of this world would improve if an educational type show would make a big comeback...There is really no equivalent on TV right now, most kids are watching Blue's Clues, Dora the Explorer and Clifford...its weird and maybe a bunch of sour grapes from a kid who was raised on a steady dose of the Street and whose mom credits that dose for early reading and math skills. And what they've done to Grover borders on Muppet Cruelty

Brian · « **Reply #1 on:** September 15, 2004, 02:17 PM »

Although I haven't really seen "the Street" in quite some time, I do think you make some great points Scott. I was raised on a fairly healthy dose of Sesame Street as well, and I do think I learned a lot of things early on because of it. Heck, I can sometimes still remember lots of the skits from those days, they just seem to pop into my head every so often. It really was a great show in its heyday, hopefully the new incarnation isn't too bad either. Glad to hear your kiddo enjoys it. By the way, not to be ignorant, but what happened to Grover? He was always one of my favorites as a kid. Hopefully Cookie Monster is still in the house as well

Jeff · « **Reply #2 on:** September 15, 2004, 02:33 PM »

Quote from: mosnab on September 15, 2004, 02:17 PM

Heck, I can sometimes still remember lots of the skits from those days, they just seem to pop into my head every so often.

Glad to hear I'm not the only person that has this happen to them. $:-\$

To this day, old skits pop into my head when someone says something to trigger the memory....

- When a family member says, "Duh" I'm always tempted to respond, "Ooor. Door." or maybe "Og. Dog."

- When ever someone asks me if something is NEAR or FAR from my house, I always picture poor Grover running around yelling "NEAR!" or "FAR!"

Gone are the days of 3...2...1...Contact! and The Electric Company too, both of which I watched as much as I watch Sesame Street.

Jeff

ps.
When I was about 3, I went to see "Sesame Street on Ice". I was picked out of the audience to ride on a sleigh with Bert and Ernie... in the photos my mom took, I look about as happy as any 3-yr old could ever look!

Scott · « **Reply #3 on:** September 15, 2004, 02:34 PM »

He's basically now a World Traveler and used to show kids different cultures etc. In our day, he was more a comic piece used to bring some humor to the show

They are all basically still there, its more that they have set roles instead of having organic skits or a story that carries through the whole episode. For instance...The Count does a Number of the Day thing every day, its the same thing every day and its in every show. Cookiee Monster does a Letter of the Day skit. Grover does the See the World thing, Ernie and Big Bird play hide and seek, Elmo has 25 minutes of the show for Elmo's World

Brian · « **Reply #4 on:** September 15, 2004, 02:43 PM »

Wow, that sounds like things have changed quite a bit. I guess if kids still enjoy it, that's good...that's who it is for, but I think it was a pretty strong show the way it was ran when we were growing up.

Too bad to hear about Grover, that's how I remembered him too...being funny. The "near/far" stuff, the skits where he played a waiter in a restaurant, things like that were pretty funny. That's funny you mentioning "Sesame Street on Ice" Jeff, I remember wanting to go to that pretty badly when I was a wee lad. Ah...nostalgia...Sesame Street was good times. I watched 321 Contact and the Electric Company as well. Always remember being pretty psyched when Spider-Man was on the Electric Company. Let's see....how about some favorites of the Sesame Street characters (from what I can recall right now):

Cookie Monster
Grover
Snuffaluffagus (sp?)
Barkley (didn't do much, but I always have been a dog person)
Don't remember their names...Aliens (yep yep yep, uh huh, uh huh)
the Count
Oscar
Kermit (really liked the Muppets, enjoyed the "cross-over")
Ernie
Big Bird
Bert
Telly (sp?)

Brian · « **Reply #5 on:** September 15, 2004, 02:48 PM »

This thread jogged some nostalgia for me, so while looking up info on Sesame Street....I came across this site, pretty good for character info:

Sesame Encyclopedia

Scott · « **Reply #6 on:** September 15, 2004, 03:02 PM »

How about Guy Smiley and the Game Shows they used to do? They used to run reruns on Noggin I guess...people would call in and complain because there wasn't any Elmo in them

Ernie was my favorite followed by Cookie Monster

Jeff · « **Reply #7 on:** September 15, 2004, 03:20 PM »

For some reason, I really want a set of Sesame Street Kubricks now. $:-\$

My Top Five - all classics:
The Rubber Ducky lovin' Ernie
The Paper-Clip collecting Bert
The Count, ah-hahahaha
Grover (or SUPER Grover)
Cookie Monster

I could really take or leave the Elmos, Prarie Dawn, Telly, Zoe junk they have on now a days. IMHO they suck, but my nephews seem to like them a LOT. Dumb kids.

Jeff

Brian · « **Reply #8 on:** September 15, 2004, 03:43 PM »

I see now that I was wrong, the correct spelling is Snuffleupagus.

I know what you mean Jeff, I started to think the same thing about the Sesame Kubricks. Whatever happened to the toy line, is it tanked for now? Last I read (from you Scott) was that it was delayed until December and that the company that was making them filed for bankruptcy. Hopefully they'll find their way out yet, I might be tempted to pick up a couple.

stormie · « **Reply #9 on:** September 15, 2004, 03:47 PM »

I know what you mean. The last time I watch Sesame Street, it was really different than what I remember as a kid. I can't say I didn't like it, but it just kind of saddened me a bit to see how much it had changed.

I, too, grew up with Sesame Street and the Electric Company, as well as Romper Room and Captain Kangaroo. I remember learning a lot more from Romper Room than any of the others. Too bad only Sesame Street is still around. However, there are a plethora of really good new shows for kids now that weren't around when I was young...Reading Rainbow, Between the Lions and Teletubbies. My 10-month old daughter is totally digging the Teletubbies right now...and that's pretty much the only TV she's going to getting for at least a few more months! However, my wife is expecting our second in March, so I'm assuming that on those select days when I'm at work and my wife has reached her limit with both kids, the tv will be doing just a "little" bit of baby sitting.

jokabofe · « **Reply #10 on:** September 15, 2004, 04:15 PM »

Yeah, I used to be hooked on Sesame Street - weren't we all? My favorites were always those two little alien guys who would stand by the phone, and then when the phone would ring they would "talk" to it by going "BBBBBBBBBBBRRRR - IIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG" - always brought a smile to my face. And of course Oscar the Grouch. How could you not love a little green guy who lived in a garbage can?

Muftak · « **Reply #11 on:** September 15, 2004, 05:26 PM »

My birthday cake from 1977.

That said, I've always believed it was because all of us were addicted to Sesame Street that MTV became such a successful cable channel. I mean, by the time we were "too old for that kiddy show," our minds were already so warped our idea of quality programming was three-minute clips featuring catchy music and funky visuals.

When I've seen modern Sesame Street stuff, it may break the heart of the three year old inside of me, but I am glad they've learned to tone down the format.

Shannon (Princess) · « **Reply #12 on:** September 15, 2004, 11:12 PM »

Sesame Street decided around 2-3 seasons ago that they would stick to a format. They said that skipping around in the format was too difficult for the little ones who needed more structure- so if you watch now, you'll realize that all the 'skits' run in order everyday. Monsters Playhouse, the Count's Number of the Day, Hide and Seek w/ Ernie, and at the end is Elmo's World.
It's not as random as far as the characters going into each others skits, etc, so it has kind of brought that element down.
Also, you don't have nearly as many original songs as you used to : Rubber Ducky, Sing a Song, I Don't Want to Live on the Moon (one of my favs), C is for Cookie, etc....
I think it's still a good source of edu-tainment, however, but my son is almost 4 and he's already tired of it. He won't watch it, but he likes the books.
It beats Barney....

Jesse James · « **Reply #13 on:** September 15, 2004, 11:24 PM »

The Count, Bert and Ernie, and Kermit were the greatest characters on TV ever.

Kermit ThEE Frog Here!

But yeah, kids don't have a clue these days. They missed all the fun stuff. I still laugh thinking about Bert and Ernie fishing and Ernie yelling "Heeeeeeere Fishy Fishy Fishy Fish!!!!" till fish flew in the boat and pissed Bert off to no end. I learned how to annoy people watching those two, and have honed it into the fine art you see displayed daily in the forums today.