I would like to give my own critiques on each special. I will also rate them, from 1 star (poor) to five stars (the best). It's a shame that there weren't any fifth or fifteenth anniversary specials (though earlier today I thought of an idea for a fifteenth anniversary special, which I plan on writing a script for in the fan ficton section someday). I will also count Sesame Street Unpaved, even though I don't think it was meant to be an anniversary special (it was broadcast shortly after season 31 began).
A Walking Tour of Sesame Street
The shortest SS anniversary special (a half hour, as opposed to a full hour), and it also seems like it had the lowest budget out of all the anniversary specials. Considering the fact that Big Bird, Barkley, and Oscar are the only Muppets in the special, this must have been made either during production of The Muppet Show or The Muppet Movie. James Earl Jones hosts this special, which seems more like a tenth anniversary documentary to me. It's a lot like a shorter, lower-budget version of the twentieth anniversary special. Since it was made in the late 1970s, this special has quite a few rare clips which didn't appear in later anniversary specials. However, most of the clips look like they were made around the time of this special, and a lot of classics are not included at all (none of the baker films are included, there are no clips from The King of 8 or The Alligator King, etc), and some of the clips seem to be more random (Ernie and Bert excersizing during an excersize radio show instead of a more classic Ernie and Bert sketch like Ernie replacing Bert's cowboy hat with a pan, Ernie making a clay sculpture of Bert, Ernie with a banana in his ear). It is interesting that when Big Bird talsk to James Earl Jones about Snuffy that James didn't comment on whetehr he believed him or not (though sicne some Snuffy clips were shown it would have looked awkward for him not to beleive Big Bird). 2 Stars
Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting
One of the best anniversary specials, and the only one that Jim Henson was invovled with (and also one of the few Sesame Street specials that The Jim Henson Company produced). More, better clips are included, and there are edited clips that seem like they are complete (in most cases people wouldn't even know that they were edited if they weren't familiar with the clips). One minor nitpick is that before Bill Cosby introduces non-Muppet number clips, his introduction suggests that clips of letter segments are also going to be included, yet this montage only includes number segments (it would have been great if I in the Sky, Wanda the Witch, and one of The Typewriter sketches were included). It's a shame that none of the Jazz cartoons were featured (they were still shown regularly at the time), and ironic that this special was made only a year after the baker films were pulled from the show. But this special isn't without it's complaints. There are hardly any clips withpast cast members. A clip from the epsiode where Mr. Hooper's death is shown, yet there aren't any clips of Mr. Hooper. And that clip is edited in a way that hardly any shots of Olivia are shown (the only shot she appeared in that wasn't cut was the ending shot, where Big Bird and the adults hug). I think Petey also appears in a clip during the Big Bird clip montage. This special also doesn't include any clips with Muppets who were no longer on the show (Roosevelt Franklin, Sam the Robot, etc). There were also alot of characters who were still seen regularly at the time who don't appear at all in this special, whether in clips or new footage. These characters include Guy Smiley, Sherlock Hemlock, Hoots the Owl, Bruno, Lefty, and Simon Soundman. And during the sequence where Bill Cosby talks about the shows many changes, there is no mention of how Mr. Snuffleupagus used to be imaginary (nor are there any mention of chanegs that occurred during the 1970s). 5 Stars
Sesame Street's 25th Birthday: Stars and Street's Forever
The first made-for-video anniversary special. Although the plot is mediocre, this video features most of the shows a-list songs (as well as many high b-list songs), most of which are complete (a Rubber Duckie medley only features clips from four Rubber Duckie songs, and Fuzzy and Blue ends before Frazzle appears). Most of the songs on this video had previously been released on other videos, but there are some songs included that hadn't been on video yet (Adventure, the original Bein' Green, the 1991 version of I Love Trash, Feel the Beat, Happy Tappin'). There are some a-list (or high b-list) songs that were ommitted, including The People in Your Neighborhood, ABC-DEF-GHI, Elmo's Song, This Frog, and Proudof Me. This special was also televised under the title Sesame Street Jam: A Musical Celebration, with different songs (I've only seen the end of this version). 4 Stars
Sesame Street's All-Star 25th Birtdhay: Stars and Street's Forever
I've only seen all of this special once (or would that be the majority of all of it? I've never seen the opening scene with Barbara Walters). It was great, with more clip montages than the 20th anniversary special, and also come more clips with past cast members (Mr. Hooper, Olivia, Uncle Wally, Petey, and I think David all appear in clips shown in this special). This special seems to start a tradiiton of Sesame Street specials that focus on celebrities, appearing in either clips or new footage (though the televised version of the other 25th anniversary special had more celebrity focus). This special was the first time that I saw the clip where the adults first saw Snuffy, at a time when I didn't know that they used to think he was imaginary (though at the time I figured this clip was from the first episode). 4 Stars
Elmopalooza
More like a music special, as this special doesn't have any clips at all, but still an enjoyable special. Mupets and celebrities sing new versiosn of Sesame Street songs, though most of the songs featured are more underrated classics. The Songs medley at the end features verses of some of the shows best-known songs. 5 Stars
Sesame Street Unpaved
I've only seen this once, but from memory this was a very good special. Oscar is the only Muppet to appear in new footage, but it's great to see Caroll Spinney, Martin Robinson, Loretta Long, Sonia Manzano, and Bob McGrath discuss the show. Many great clips from the early years are included, some of which are shown in their entirety (though some are still edited). 5 Stars
The Street We Live On
A mix between Sesame Street's original format, Sesame Street's current format, and Elmo's World. It's great that many of the sketches shown are complete, but there is too much new material (there are scenes that I wish the writers/ producers would have taken the time to instead include old sketches, one example being the Sesame Street cartoon sequence, which should have been a mini-documentary of how the show began). It was great to finally see Ten Song (Song of Ten), and the celebrity version of Dance Myself to Sleep is great (though I wish that Things That I Remember was used instead, since that segment features clips from past Bert and Ernie sketches). And I would have prefferred the season 30 remake of C is for Cookie over the opera version. I was a bit annoyed by the continuity problems involving what Sesame Street was like before Elmo was born. The ending song is great, as is the timeline sequence (though some of those clips seem like they would be confusing to those who aren't familar with the full scenes). 4 Stars
What's the Name of That Song?
Tough the plot is a bit simialr to the plot of the 25th anniversary video, the linking footage is much better than the 25th anniversary video's plot. But unlike that video, which features many segments that we've all seen many times, this one features lesser-known songs from the show. Many of the songs included have celebrities. One complaint that I have is that most of the non-celebrity songs have previously been released on video. I would have preferred I Wonder About the World Above Up There in place of Get Along, D-U-C-K-I-E instead of Do De Rubber Duck, and Wet or Dry instead of Eight Balls of Fur (among other possible replacements). 3 Stars
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