Your Thoughts: Sesame Street at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

[Phillip]

Thursday morning watch the Sesame Street Muppets at The 97th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This will be the 49th year that Sesame Street has made an appearance.

The parade begins at 8:30 am eastern on NBC and Peacock. Sesame Street's appearance is scheduled for approximately 11:00 am eastern, 10:00 am central when the float reaches 34th Street Herald Square.

The Sesame Street Muppets and cast will be joined by Tony-nominated actress and singer Ashley Park for a special performance of “Best Christmas Ever” from Sesame Street The Nutcracker.

Please note, the parade may be delayed up to two hours in your time zone, so be sure to check local listings for accurate start times. Also in some markets, NBC will be re-airing the parade in the afternoon so check local times for broadcasts in your area.

In the meantime, enjoy last year's appearance!

If you saw Macy's Thanksgiving parade, please "like" this post and share your thoughts below.

 

[wiley207]

I just saw a quick glimpse of the "Sesame Street" float before the "Back to the Future" performance. It shouldn't be long now!

Of course, up until now, I watched much of the parade on CBS, where they focus more on the actual parade and balloons and floats, and then when it's nearly time for the "Sesame" float I tune to NBC, except for our Thanksgiving big breakfast and helping my mom prepare the corn casserole, so the timing is working out so far!

 

[wiley207]

Of course, I loved seeing Julia in the float with her noise-cancelling headset, along with the brief bit of Oscar refusing to sing along. I also liked the song, since I do enjoy the Nutcracker suite. The way they sung "Best Christmas Ever" to the tune of the Nutcracker Overture reminded me of the opening to the Disneyland holiday park stage show "Mickey's Nutcracker" doing the same thing.

Am I the only one who noticed that now instead of using the actual 2009-15 "Sesame Street" opening theme instrumental (technically the 2012 version), NBC apparently came up with their own unique instrumental "Sesame Street" theme that's loosely inspired by the 2009 theme for their introduction to the float? I mean, the actual show retired the real rendition when they moved to HBO and shortened it to a half-hour, and they still needed a fairly long instrumental rendition of the theme song (the current theme is too short), so they decided to come up with their own long version with a prominent harmonica lead. Pretty snazzy!

 

[The Count]

Unfortunately, I missed out on the Sesame Street float due to the parade starting a half-hour earlier, watching a portion of the original broadcast on youtube (which I didn't like because there was no narration whatsoever), and going to T-Day lunch at my sister's house.

But when specifically did the float appear? Was it on after the One Piece float? Or did I truly miss out this year?

Edit: Yesssssssssss! The Sesame gang did show up after Monkey D. Lufi, two of my fave franchises. Okay, now I'm 1, 1 happy Count.

 

[Phillip]

Here is today's appearance for anyone who missed it.

 

[wiley207]

Not surprisingly, NBC's telecast of the parade skipped a few floats, including the Blue's Clues And You one. Not too surprising, given they now prioritize all the Broadway performances and the Radio City Rockettes over the floats and balloons, even the new ones. (After announcing all the musical guests and Broadway shows, they then announce the Radio City Rockettes and then go right to Santa Claus. No more announcing the new floats or balloons, not even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles's return.) This is why I now watch most of the parade on CBS, until it's time for the Sesame Street number. Can you imagine the backlash that would ensue if NBC chose to skip the Sesame Street float?!

 

[RowlfFan12]

Not surprisingly, NBC's telecast of the parade skipped a few floats, including the Blue's Clues And You one. Not too surprising, given they now prioritize all the Broadway performances and the Radio City Rockettes over the floats and balloons, even the new ones. (After announcing all the musical guests and Broadway shows, they then announce the Radio City Rockettes and then go right to Santa Claus. No more announcing the new floats or balloons, not even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles's return.) This is why I now watch most of the parade on CBS, until it's time for the Sesame Street number. Can you imagine the backlash that would ensue if NBC chose to skip the Sesame Street float?!

Blue's Clues and You was in the parade? I didn't see them in the lineup.

 

[wiley207]

Blue's Clues and You was in the parade? I didn't see them in the lineup.

My mistake; that float was actually retired. But yeah, the way NBC now considers the Radio City Rockettes a bigger attraction in the parade over the floats and balloons is a real shame (like saying "And the rest!") Again, this is why aside from the "Sesame Street" float and a couple other parts, I watch much of the parade coverage on CBS.

 

[The Count]

To be fair, I used to tune in to the parade starting with the pre-parade preparations; chiefly to watch the Broadway musical numbers featured that year, and because that hour didn't get included in the repeat of the parade itself later in the day after the National Dog Show.

Also, the Rockettes were basically the ending act for that pre-parade preparation hour, you knew the actual parade would be starting up after them. So I'm not really that fussed by their appearance towards of the parade itself just before Santa's arrival.

 

[YellowYahooey]

I'd like to ask, has there ever been a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade during Sesame Street's run in which Sesame Street didn't take part? Or, did Sesame Street take part for 49 years in a row?