Sesame Street Old School DVD's: Not For Kids

[wwfpooh]

Agreed, especially on the part of the Mouse. Disney needs to realize that they just needed to get Mick out more instead of just serving him as the logo-inspiring figurehead he is now made out to be, which totally diminishes his own character.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I don't see how it's bad for kids any more than it was for us. I grew up and my only problem is Attention Deficit. I'm okay other than that, a bit more creative than most kids today, and I think it was perfectly fine for us and today's children.

The only difference with today's kids is that we live in a sue-happy society and everybody is terrified of it. BAH! Classic SS was perfect! They were educational, but also sometimes just did things for fun.

 

[wwfpooh]

and everybody is terrified of it

Not everyone. These rich suburbanites apparently thrive on how the world works nowadays.

 

[CensoredAlso]

The only thing that worries me is that I see kids today growing up not knowing basic cultural references, even things like A Christmas Carol, they've just never heard of them. And what is more, they don't care. If they've never heard of it, it doesn't matter. And I think that does start with kids programming. If you don't expose kids to the adult world when they are young, they'll grow up thinking their own little world is the only thing that matters.

When I started learning SAT vocab words in school, I was delighted to see I knew some of the words already, because I'd heard them on kids shows years before. So I'm glad those shows didn't under estimate me, but instead challenged me to learn.

 

[wwfpooh]

Which is exactly why we need people with similar mindsets as that of Disney, Henson, and Shultz to come forward, but due to circumstances, they can't or won't.

 

[Drtooth]

The only thing that worries me is that I see kids today growing up not knowing basic cultural references, even things like A Christmas Carol, they've just never heard of them. And what is more, they don't care. If they've never heard of it, it doesn't matter. And I think that does start with kids programming. If you don't expose kids to the adult world when they are young, they'll grow up thinking their own little world is the only thing that matters.

Firstly... hard to believe kids wouldn't get references to Christmas Carol... since every cartoon character in the history of man kind has milked that one.

Secondly... who says kids have to get the references now? I mean, a lot of stuff on SS did go over my head, mostly a couple song parodies (but that was when I was really young). That's not a bad thing. I mean, look at Bullwinkle. Half their stuff is pretty esoteric. The Ruby yacht of Omar Kayam? Can anyone explain that off the top of their heads? It took me a history class back in High School to get it. I started cracking up in class and no one knew why. It's those references that take years to get that I think are the best.

SS has been capable of this in the past. And not too far into the past. The second Hurricane episode featured a character named I. M. Pig. I don't even think half the adults got that one. And the constant use of SAT vocabulary like Piquant and Gastroenteritis as examples of words that begin with certain letters. I. M. Impressed.

 

[muppet maniac]

- The fact that Cookie Monster is addicted to cookies.

- That fact that Oscar permanently lives in a trash can, and is never affable.

- The fact that Ernie is seen in the bathtub (from the waist up!) (*gasp* Implied puppet nudity! Not to mention that when Bert is in the same scene, it might send the message to the children that it's ok to walk in on someone when they're naked! Highly doubt that.)

If there's one thing I hate, its these PCers and parents who won't stop "witching" (alternative to the B-word) about what is/should be appropriate and what isn't/shouldn't. Especially if it comes to Sesame Street. Okay, so what if Cookie Monster is/was addicted to cookies? So what if Oscar is/was a grouch? It's what they are, and there's nothing you can do about it. Like they all say, "You can't ask a bird not to fly. You can't ask a fish not to swim. You can't ask a tiger to turn back into a Chinese dude at midnight"*

* (You can probably guess where that came from)

 

[wwfpooh]

How true that is. Indeed, one cannot change people--and characters--from who they are (i.e. their personality based on identifiable traits). That'd be like Wembley permenantly changing from the wembler he is to the definate sort of Fraggle he was in one of the "Convincing John" episodes of FR.

 

[muppet maniac]

...and, these idiots don't even realize (or never bothered to) is that 1) Cookie Monster eats/has eaten waaay more than just cookies. Plus, he has been promoting healthy eating way back before the rumor even started. The "Cookie is a Sometimes Food" was only a one-time skit and if anybody's actually seen the entire 36th season, he was still eating cookies.

And 2) Oscar is a Grouch, which is not only his personality but also (and more importantly) is his species. He is/was created to show that there are people who are different---having different perspectives and tastes, culture and whatnot, and that there's nothing bad about being grouchy.

There were statements like this in books like The Works and even this one from the rare book, "All About Sesame Street" (which is also a very good book by the way):

A character such as Oscar makes children aware of their own and other people's feelings, both negative and positive. He conveys that it is all right to be grouchy sometimes, or mad, sad, or silly---everybody is at one time one or the other. People have to accept you for what you are. When Oscar is grouchy, the other people on the street lean over backwards to understand and humor him.

And yet, I still don't see how "old school Sesame Street" would be inappropriate for today's kids. Come on, it's Sesame Street, not (insert show for mature audiences here). All SS ever did was teach concepts like letters, numbers, opposites, and whatnot through groovy, psychadelic cartoons, films, songs..where was the harm in that?

 

[Drtooth]

- The fact that Cookie Monster is addicted to cookies.

- That fact that Oscar permanently lives in a trash can, and is never affable.

- The fact that Ernie is seen in the bathtub (from the waist up!) (*gasp* Implied puppet nudity! Not to mention that when Bert is in the same scene, it might send the message to the children that it's ok to walk in on someone when they're naked! Highly doubt that.)

If there's one thing I hate, its these PCers and parents who won't stop "witching" (alternative to the B-word) about what is/should be appropriate and what isn't/shouldn't. Especially if it comes to Sesame Street. Okay, so what if Cookie Monster is/was addicted to cookies? So what if Oscar is/was a grouch? It's what they are, and there's nothing you can do about it.

If it were up to parental groups like that, all cartoon characters would be devoid of personality. That's what they want, because the personality of any cartoon character can be seen as negative. Daffy isn't Daffy unless he's either crazy as a loon or greedy as heck. Donald is not Donald unless he looses his temper every five seconds (Unless we're talking about a Carl Barks comic, which is a special case, and I'll talk about that another day), and Garfield isn't Garfield if he isn't unhinging his jaw like a cobra and jamming an entire lasagne (tray included) into ihs craw.

Now take the current preschool entertainment business... Dora, the "Super Readers" of Super Why, etc. Etc. They're devoid of personality. If you read the Mickey's Clubhouse review, the author says that most of the characters personalities were so toned down (Donald especially) they just weren't themselves. I think SS is grabbing onto what they have left. I mean, Elmo evolved from his original state in which he was more monstery (they did keep the talking in third person, which I'm sure was one of his original monster traits) to more of a child-like character. But few episodes actually delve into him as a character, and EW just doesn't feature him doing anything but hosting, and as we all know, you can't show too much character if you're hosting (Unless you're ).