Sesame Street shrinks to 30 minutes, new shows will premiere on HBO and PBS nine months later

[Drtooth]

What I'm talking about, hopefully, is a small selection of episodes that haven't been released on those platforms. Sort of a "Sesame Upaved" type deal. Though it would be kinda sucky if they were those already released episodes, I agree. Thing is, those episodes will probably disappear from all formats once the HBO run starts or the contracts run out, whatever comes first.

 

[WorldOfSesame]

What the heck is this with a newly released thing in the news about Sesame Workshop is going to create a Sesame Street Muppet Spinoff this January or after that as well from Sesame Street? Could someone please help to explain what this is all about. All I can find online is that they are going to create this...I currently cannot find anything else about this though.

 

[WorldOfSesame]

My quote from the "Your Thoughts: Half Hour Sesame Street Begins on PBS September 1, 2014 post"
"My local PBS Station (as of a few minutes ago!) stated on their website that if, quote "no new episodes were made...then PBS will have to die it off of PBS". What does that mean?"

This refers to episodes still on PBS. Pretty sure the HBO episodes will be banned from PBS if this keeps happening though.

 

[oknazevad]

My quote from the "Your Thoughts: Half Hour Sesame Street Begins on PBS September 1, 2014 post"
"My local PBS Station (as of a few minutes ago!) stated on their website that if, quote "no new episodes were made...then PBS will have to die it off of PBS". What does that mean?"

This refers to episodes still on PBS. Pretty sure the HBO episodes will be banned from PBS if this keeps happening though.

No, they will not be be banned. Where are you getting that idea from? New episodes are being made, will air on HBO first, then appear on PBS 9 months later, with recent reruns appearing on both HBO and PBS to fill out the schedule. That is exactly what they've said will happen, and anything else is just fear mongering. Please don't do that. If you don't know something, ask it as a simple question, instead of panicky, incorrect speculation that we already know is incorrect. That's how bad rumors start.

 

[WorldOfSesame]

No, they will not be be banned. Where are you getting that idea from?

My local PBS station is MPBN, and their website says that Sesame Street may be not airing in some areas of the country (their source is PBS themselves). So did their station. Oh, well...they've been cutting back on kids shows anyways. All they now play is very few programs anyways...Well, I'm now out of luck.

 

[Drtooth]

While I do doubt that, PBS stations can vary in what they air for kid's programming, and some cases when you have a lot of PBS stations that air kids shows (like my area) they tend to air certain things that wouldn't be seen in most other areas.

In my case, I was hoping the shorter half hour Sesame episodes would air a few times a day spread out over 3 channels (2 standard PBS stations that are sister stations of each other as well as a digital Kid's channel), but it just airs it once in the mornings now. Other shows get multiple runs a day depending on their popularity. That said, my PBS Kid's digital station runs some boring craft program that looks like it was made in an all purpose room. Don't see why that's a thing (should go on the other digital channel, "Create"), but apparently it is, and they stop running kid's programming at like 7 PM.

 

[WorldOfSesame]

While I do doubt that, PBS stations can vary in what they air for kid's programming, and some cases when you have a lot of PBS stations that air kids shows (like my area) they tend to air certain things that wouldn't be seen in most other areas.

In my case, I was hoping the shorter half hour Sesame episodes would air a few times a day spread out over 3 channels (2 standard PBS stations that are sister stations of each other as well as a digital Kid's channel), but it just airs it once in the mornings now. Other shows get multiple runs a day depending on their popularity. That said, they stop running kid's programming at like 7 PM.

Yeah. Just to take a look at what the schedule is...I will type it here for MPBN's kids programming (just for reference).
7:00 Wild Kratts (2 episodes)
8:00 Curious George (2 episodes)
9:00 Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (2 episodes)
10:00 Sesame Street
10:30 Peg + Cat
11:00 Dinosaur Train (2 episodes)
12:00 Super WHY!
12:30 Thomas & Friends
1:00 Peg + Cat
1:30 The Cat In The Hat
2:00 Curious George (2 episodes)
3:00 Arthur (2 episodes)
4:00 Odd Squad
After that at 4:30...Charlie Rose then news.
Note: Odd Squad and Arthur might be dropped from this schedule soon...They want to play more talk shows on air instead. Hey! At least the JHC show Dinosaur Train still airs! I also like (the only other one other than also SS as well) the Kratt Brothers as well.
On weekends we just get nearly 1.5 to 2 hours of children's shows. Wow.

Also, what PBS station do you get? I know that MPBN .4 has a 3 hour delay of every program of .1 though. I wonder if that's the same case for you.

 

[antsamthompson9]

I just wanna share these cool videos promoting the season:

,

 

[wiley207]

You know, the way "Sesame Street" has changed a lot with the reduced length reminds me of when something similar happened to "Big Bag," another CTW-produced show that aired on Cartoon Network in the 90s (for those who don't remember.)
The first season in 1996 had 13 hour-length episodes, each one comprised of the main story with the human and Muppet cast sandwiched by recurring cartoon segments; these were like 3 to 6-minute cartoon episodes, often coming from different parts of the word, including "Troubles the Cat" (created in the USA for CTW, featuring an orange cat and her "Troublescope" she would use to help figure out problems), "William's Wish Wellingtons" (a BBC import from the UK made by Hibbert-Ralph), "Slim Pig" (another UK BBC series), "Koki" (made in Spain for CTW, basically a claymation "Pingu" knock-off with chickens and ducks), "Tobias Totz and his Lion" (made in Germany) and "Samuel and Nina" (made in Australia by Yoram-Gross, the "Blinky Bill" company). Before the "Koki" cartoon would play, there would be a filmed "Big Bag Beat" music video featuring kids dancing and playing. (I remember one with a song about flying, and it featured kids running around with capes, including a shot that was later reused in the 1998-2001 "Sesame Street" opening!)
In spring 1998, the second season of "Big Bag" debuted, but with a HUGE change. The show was now only a half-hour long, and only would feature three cartoon segments. The only ones from the first season to return were the CTW-made "Troubles the Cat" and "Koki," along with the then-new "Ace and Avery" shorts by John Dilworth. Reruns of first-season episodes were edited down to a half-hour length, cutting a few of the main story segments, and limiting the cartoons. Either a first season rerun would feature a "Troubles" cartoon, a "Big Bag Beat" music video and a "Samuel and Nina" cartoon, or a "Wish Wellingtons" cartoon, a "Slim Pig" cartoon and a "Koki" cartoon. "Tobias Totz" was completely dropped from the show when this happened.
But at least "Big Bag"'s second season brought us the episode where Elmo comes to visit!

 

[D'Snowth]

You know, I seem to recall someone saying the new arrangement of the main theme song was supposed to be reminiscent of the original version from 69 to 92. I don't see or hear that. Not that the new intro is bad, because it really isn't, it's great, I just don't see or feel any old school throwback in it.