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

[Oscarfan]

I think it's meant as in it's not a modern, hip-hop arrangement. Even though that kind of indie folk is technically "modern" and "popular," it doesn't have the rap/hip-hop sound of the last several seasons which some people didn't care for.

 

[Drtooth]

While I can't say I exactly loved the Hip Hop arrangement, I have to admit I like the beat. The instrumental at the end of the show was actually pretty catchy. I have to admit I liked it better as a hip hop inspired arrangement than the 1990's closing.

Plus, it didn't come from absolutely nowhere like the calypso theme arrangement. I never got the logic of that one, but it was kinda fun, actually.

I'd say the new arrangement is...uh...like the kind of ukulele and chimes arrangement you'd find in a food commercial where the words "organic" and "natural" are thrown around. Like that...what's that commercial for that service that delivers a box of snack assortments to your house? That. Like if the end theme wasn't that "Stronger, Smarter, Kinder, Faster, Better" the arrangement of the Sesame theme would have been accompanied by whistling to make it all folksy. I got to admit, it works on a kid's show really well. Can't say I love it, but I don't dislike it.

 

[D'Snowth]

Plus, it didn't come from absolutely nowhere like the calypso theme arrangement. I never got the logic of that one, but it was kinda fun, actually.

Well, wasn't the 90s a decade of where there were all these kind of sub genres of music that had tropical inspirations that were trying to be mainstream but just didn't quite catch on, like calypso, reggae, ska, and the like? Whenever I hear and see that calypso intro, to me, it just screams 90s. While the actual calypso arrangement of the theme song is not a particular favorite of mine, I don't mind the instrumental cue that opened each episode up till Season 38 - I still wish I could find a clean, full recording of it.

The hip-hop arrangement makes a little more sense, if only because by then, the street had long gone back to looking more like an inner city street, rather than the gentrified little village as it did during the ATC era.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

This is and always has been my favorite version of the theme:

 

[MikaelaMuppet]

This is and always has been my favorite version of the theme:

Mine too!

 

[D'Snowth]

This is and always has been my favorite version of the theme:

To me, this is from the period where SST first arose from its Dork Age and was "reborn" in a sense; it kind of got itself back on track.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

To me, this is from the period where SST first arose from its Dork Age and was "reborn" in a sense; it kind of got itself back on track.

In my opinion, the 1998-2001 era was an almost perfect era. It was a wonderful combination of the "Around the Corner' stories mixed with the classic episodes. This was the first time that the writers had really found the perfect cast. The humans were great, the muppets were great. And they really understood where all the characters fit into the show and what their functions were. Best of all there weren't too many characters to focus on like there was during the ATC era. Plus, they were still showing a lot of classic segments from the 70s and 80s, so that was nice.

 

[Drtooth]

Well, wasn't the 90s a decade of where there were all these kind of sub genres of music that had tropical inspirations that were trying to be mainstream but just didn't quite catch on, like calypso, reggae, ska, and the like? Whenever I hear and see that calypso intro, to me, it just screams 90s.

I do distinctly remember a short lived world music style fad, so Calypso Sesame Theme isn't that out of left field, but compared to the so 90's it's painful end credits (that we had well into the 2000's), it seems a bit of a strange choice.

Then again, the 90's graced us with "It's Zydeco," so yeah...

The hip-hop arrangement makes a little more sense, if only because by then, the street had long gone back to looking more like an inner city street, rather than the gentrified little village as it did during the ATC era.

Is my feeling too. It has what I call a safe "urban" beat. Just superficial enough to be non-threatening, but not too...well...white guy in his fifties. I just don't think it worked vocally as well as it did instrumentally.

 

[wiley207]

I have to agree, the 1998-2001 era of "Sesame Street" was pretty good. Sure, this is when they introduced "Elmo's World," but we still had the classic "magazine"-esque format, and it heavily emphasized the classic songs and featured the classic characters, probably to celebrate the show's 30th season. Season 30 was also the first season in a long time with no rerun street stories, which explains why the number of episodes was reduced from 130 to 65 (they couldn't rerun any previous episode street stories anymore due to the introduction of "Elmo's World.") And yep, the 1998-2001 opening sequence was a nice throwback to the classic intro sequences; again, probably as a deliberate homage for the show's 30th season. Interestingly, they still continued to use the 1992 "Dancing City" closing credits, and the calypso-esque "street scene opening" music, maybe because they figured "We've already changed the show so much for this season, so let's leave a little of the modern stuff in for the returning viewers." At least the credits still seemed to fit with the 1998-2001 era, but a couple of years after that, it was seriously dated.

A few recurring classic sketches began to appear less and less during that time, though. Only a handful of 1998-2001 episodes had any Kermit News Flash segments in them, and Season 30 was the final season to feature any new "Monsterpiece Theater" segments. (An interesting note was one Season 30 episode actually showed the "39 Stairs" segment with the full 1992 "Library" intro instead of that simple "green curtain" intro; it was probably an editing mistake or something.)

 

[D'Snowth]

I suppose this is the thread now since other threads about Season 46 are locked, but there's a great comparison photo that illustrates how well David Gallo and his team did their job at making the street look like it could be anywhere in NYC with that new bridge backdrop:

Still, somehow the decision to color the bridge that rusty shade of red makes me think of the Golden Gate than any bridge in NYC.