Modern Classics

[Drtooth]

The one thing that endangers a newer skit becoming a classic is when the references become dated. I love skits like Meal or No Meal and Pre-School Musical. But the shows they've been based off of have disappeared as mysteriously as they started. Disney no longer fawns over it's Tweeny Bopper programming (at least from a marketing standpoint), and Deal or No Deal hasn't been on TV in ages (fingers crossed). The worst would have to be Joe Hundredguy. That only aired once due to the fact that its shaky at best popularity of that show ended with the first season.

Though the legendary screw up of the Spider-Man musical (proof super heroes shouldn't do musicals ever) is going to last long on everyone's minds.

 

[Oscarfan]

I'd like to bump this thread up to point out that this season's got so many classic-type segments so far: "That's Cooperation", "Rhymes for Mando", "Me Encanta Mi Cabello", "I Need a Word", "Good Things Come to Those Who Wait"; all some of their best inserts in recent memory

 

[cjd874]

I'd have to say "Mad Men," "Dirty Jobs with Oscar," "True Mud," and "Birdwalk Empire," and "Upside-Downton Abbey" are my picks. And even though it was filmed shortly after Jim's death, "Eating Cookie" is another one.

 

[Drtooth]

The Mr. Johnson and Grover skit where he's buying the freshest coffee in the world is an instant classic and has a great classic sensibility.

Unfortunately, it was also the last Frank Oz/Jerry Nelson Grover/Johnson skit.

 

[minor muppetz]

The one thing that endangers a newer skit becoming a classic is when the references become dated. I love skits like Meal or No Meal and Pre-School Musical. But the shows they've been based off of have disappeared as mysteriously as they started.

I had no idea those were no longer popular. Maybe it helps that I never watched either show.

But I don't think being a dated parody makes it bad for modern viewers. As a kid I was a big fan of the Miami Mice segments, but had never heard of Miami Vice. I also enjoyed Monsterpiece Theater, though I can't remember if I knew about Masterpiece Theater when I was introduced to Monsterpiece. But either way, I wasn't aware of very many of the productions spoofed for Monsterpiece Theater until I was much older. I also didn't know they were parodies (if I knew what a "parody" was).

Kids can enjoy dated parodies of things they know nothing about. How many of us enjoyed The Flintstones and the Warner Bros. Honeymousers cartoons as kids without knowing about The Honeymooners? Or the WB short The Mouse That Jack Built without knowing about The Jack Benny Show? And all those caricatures of celebrities (both of the actual celebrities and parody caricatures) who haven't been famous since the 1960s or earlier....

In fact, as an adult, many of the parodies on Sesame Street these days are of things I am not familiar with. I can't remember if I knew about Mad Men when that was spoofed, but I'd never heard of True Blood, The Deadliest Catch, Boardwalk Empire, or Downton Abbey until they were spoofed on Sesame Street. I guess it helps that the shows are genres I don't watch and I think they all appear on premium channels I don't have. I only vaguely knew about Homeland before seeing the Homelamb parody online today. I know that "Good Things Come to Those Who Wait" is supposed to be a parody, but don't know what it's a parody of (I know I can just check Muppet Wiki to find out).

 

[cjd874]

Let's add "Make it Fit" to this list. It's a really great game show sketch with the rarely-seen Guy Smiley and the often-seen Cookie Monster! It's been posted in the season 44 thread, but here it is again:

 

[sesamemuppetfan]

Thread bump. As we've been discussing, Season 44 has made a huge effort to make many of the segments have a real classic feel. One that really sticks in my mind is the skit with Grover talking about force. To me, it was semi-reminiscent of the Season4 skit where he tries to talk about heavy and light. Anyone agree?

 

[cjd874]

Thread bump. As we've been discussing, Season 44 has made a huge effort to make many of the segments have a real classic feel. One that really sticks in my mind is the skit with Grover talking about force. To me, it was semi-reminiscent of the Season4 skit where he tries to talk about heavy and light. Anyone agree?

Yep, I agree. Not to mention the new skit with Oscar teasing Cookie Monster with a letter H cookie. I could totally imagine this as a late 1970s skit with Jim, Richard, and Jerry as the horses, and Frank as Cookie.

 

[Drtooth]

It really seems like a concentrated effort on trying to bring back classic style Muppet segments that don't need to work on parody, reference, or celebrity. But the best, most classic thing I've seen this season, was the Ernie and Bert street story episode.

More like that, please!

 

[mr3urious]

It really seems like a concentrated effort on trying to bring back classic style Muppet segments that don't need to work on parody, reference, or celebrity.

They're also more cost-effective, which helps for cash-strapped Sesame Workshop.