What kind of action will get SW's attention?

[Rosewood]

Well, like Gelfling-Waldo said.........

Like Gelfling-Waldo said, who would have thought 35 years ago that issues like this would be the downfall of releasing a kids show? I guess in the present day world things have just got so technical that it's hard to determine what direction is "up" anymore. I still don't see what the problem would be in simply playing old re-runs on public T.V. Personally, I would rather have it go that rout than have to worry about all this "red tape" that seems to be gumming up the release project. Honestly, if Sesame Workshop really, truely stands for what they say they do, they would have no qualms in showing old re-runs again. I just get the feeling that, unless they are going to make money off of it somehow, they want nothing to do with it. And if, indeed, this is the case, than it's a very selfish act on Sesame Workshop's part. And it's things like this that get the fire going in the hearts of poor peeons like me.

 

[zns]

Like Gelfling-Waldo said, who would have thought 35 years ago that issues like this would be the downfall of releasing a kids show? I guess in the present day world things have just got so technical that it's hard to determine what direction is "up" anymore. I still don't see what the problem would be in simply playing old re-runs on public T.V. Personally, I would rather have it go that rout than have to worry about all this "red tape" that seems to be gumming up the release project. Honestly, if Sesame Workshop really, truely stands for what they say they do, they would have no qualms in showing old re-runs again. I just get the feeling that, unless they are going to make money off of it somehow, they want nothing to do with it. And if, indeed, this is the case, than it's a very selfish act on Sesame Workshop's part. And it's things like this that get the fire going in the hearts of poor peeons like me.

What if you tried emailing castmembers. If you told them what you wanted to do, maybe they could say something to the people at SW. You can try people like Sonia Manzano on her website.

http://www.soniamanzano.com

 

[mikebennidict]

I once emailed WTTW witch produces Soundstage and that show originally aired in 70s and 80s and asked them about rerunning the original episodes occasionally and they said the same thing. the episode were broadcast under certain terms witch have long since expired and would have to renew contracts and whatever to air them again. I wrote again asking a little bit more about this and he also mentioned how such things were not thought of such as royalties or well you know what I mean. it's ashame all this stuff prevents either ruruns or home video releases of these shows and it's the audience for these shows that get the short end of the stick.

 

[minor muppetz]

I tried

I used the e-mail link a few times to e-mail sesame Workshop to show my support for a release of classic material, but it kept getting sent back, being undeliverable. It was sent bakc saying, "Your e-mail is undeliverable because you either don't have create permissions on this folder or it is only available to folder owners at this time at this time". What is create permissions and how do I get it? Or, what times are the folders not only available to folder owners?

Anyway, my e-mail was stating that I've heard that they were considering releasing some classic Sesame Street DVD releases, told them that I own some of the Sesame Street DVDs curently available (as well as many past video releases), and told them that I think that $48.99 would be a fair price depending on the amount of material included, how many discs there are, and whetehr there are bonus features, but I'd be willing to pay more if I could afford it at the time. I didn't specifically list any speciffic segments I weanted to see (though I did say that I wanted to see all of the baker films, several Kermit segments, some Rosevelt Franklin segments, and plenty of Monsterpiece Theatre and Miami Mice segments, but I didnt' specifically say which ones). Did I do anything wrong with this?

I also asked a few additional questions. I asked Sesame Workshop why Random House stopped releasing Sesame Street videos in 1995, if they could supply me with a list of original u.s. release dates for all videos made between 1986 and 1993 (don't ask why), why the video release of The Street We Live On was edited, and how it is decided on which DVDs include bonus segments and how the number of skits are decided on (I also asked if they ever considered including bonus segments on DVD releases of past video releases, and I also pointed out that there are some DVDs, like A Celebration of Me, Grover! and The Street We Live On, that should have had bonus segments. I also pointed out that I own two of the three Sesame Street DVDs that include bonus skits).

Does anybody see anything wrong with what I wrote to them that would automatically get the e-mail sent back to me so soon?

 

[minor muppetz]

Sesame Street has also had many parodies over the years, not just song parodies, but also TV and movie parodies. I don't know if Sesame Workshop has to pay royalties for the use of certain parodies. Some parodies have been released on video, but I'm not sure if there are any legal problems with parodies.

Also, unlike the muppets, who were always built by The Jim Henson Company (though I've read somewhere that a different puppet company has been making puppets for some non-u.s. versions of the show), various animated segments from the show were animated by different companies, not just one. It might be hard for Sesame Workshop to arrange a deal to release certain animated segments on DVD. This may also apply to film segments.

There have been quite a few Sesame Street anniversary specials. There's been Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting, Sesame Street's All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Streets Forever, Sesame Street's 25th Birthday: A Musical Celebration (plus a reedited for TV version called Sesame Street Jam: A Musical Celebration), Elmopalooza, The Street We Live On, and What's The name of That Song? Out of those specials, only four have been available on video, only two were made for tv and not made for video, and one of those two specials that was released on video (Elmopalooza) didn't even have any clips, while the other one (The Street We Live On) had many clips that were edited from the video release. I'm not sure if there are legal problems with the first two specials listed, which would prevent them from being on video (or at least prevent them from being uncut). Hopefully theres not. Of course, I think The Jim Henson Company actually owns the rights to Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting.

There have also been a few specials that aren't really anniversary specials, but are close. Specials like A Walking Tour of Sesame Street (is this an anniversary special or a documentary?), Sesame Street Celebrates Joe raopso, A&E Biography Close-Up: Sesame Street, Sesame Street A-Z, and Sesame Street Unpaved. Out of those specials, only the A&E Biography documentary was released on video. It's possible that legal issues are preventing the others from being released. The rights to Sesame Street A-Z and Sesame Street Unpaved might be owned by/ shared with Viacom, but I'm not sure. There was also a special called Big Birds Birthday, which featuired segments from the show and is not available on video.

 

[Rosewood]

So far I have sent e-mails to 2 cast members

What if you tried emailing castmembers. If you told them what you wanted to do, maybe they could say something to the people at SW. You can try people like Sonia Manzano on her website.

http://www.soniamanzano.com

So far I have sent e-mails regarding this to both Bob and Sonia's personal web sites and have never gotten a response from either one. I sometimes wonder if these cast members ever really read there e-mail, or mabey if it gets "screened" first before it gets to them.

 

[Rosewood]

Who would have ever thought.........

. Although most of the songs from Sesame Street were written especially for the show, there have been quite a few parodies and a small number of cover versions of songs (especially during the early years). Songs like Yello Submarine, Mah Na Mah Na, I Whistle a Happy Tune, and Octopuses Garden were not written especially for Sesame Street and also haven't been included on any Sesame Street videos (Mah na Mah na was even edited from the video release of The Street We Live On). With the exception of Yello Submarine, all of the songs I listed have been performed on The Muppet Show and released on Muppet Show videos (either in compilations or complete episodes) and some were included on the Muppets Magic DVD, but those videos and DVDs were not released by Sesame Workshop. Mah Na Mah Na has also been released on a few Sesame Street albums, but I'm sure that music rights for an album are different from music rights for a video release (I could be wrong). I'm not sure if there are legal problems for certain original songs.

This is mind blowing! Who would have ever thought that a silly skit like "Mahnu Mahnu" would ever end up causing such controversy?! I know the tune was originally used to open "The Red Skelton" show. But, as of late, I thought that there had been a law passed that said if a song had been changed in any way (i.e. - adding muppets and words to it) that it made the copyright of the original tune null and void. The reason I remember this is because I remember the great uproar it caused in the filming business. Originally, it used to be that movies couldn't even use anything remotely looking like a well (or even not so well) known product without paying through the nose for it. But, if my memory serves me correctly, I thought that clause was lifted recently. Or mabey I'm way off base here. Does any one else remember something of this nature happening?

 

[zns]

So far I have sent e-mails regarding this to both Bob and Sonia's personal web sites and have never gotten a response from either one. I sometimes wonder if these cast members ever really read there e-mail, or mabey if it gets "screened" first before it gets to them.

They're very busy people. It will probably take awhile. What exactly did you say?

 

[minor muppetz]

But, as of late, I thought that there had been a law passed that said if a song had been changed in any way (i.e. - adding muppets and words to it) that it made the copyright of the original tune null and void.

Many of the words to Sleigh Ride were changed in A Muppet Family Christmas (making it look like it should be titled Bear And A Snowman) and that song was cut from the video and DVD releases.

 

[Rosewood]

Well, it was kind of a round-about mannor........

They're very busy people. It will probably take awhile. What exactly did you say?

I didn't want to immediatly "turn them off", so first off I simply let them know how much I had always been a fan of theirs, as well as a die hard SS fan. I let them know how much I admired their work, and how I felt it would be a real honer to personaly meet them some day. That being said, I simply asked at the end of the letter if they might know anything about what may lie in store for all the early episodes made before the "new format" was created, and, if so, if they might be able to simply give us a "heads up", per say, without putting their own jobs in jepordy.

I feel it was "open" enough that it should have made it possible for them to have responded, one way or another, by now.