Do you think of Sesame Street as a real street?

[DTF]

Mods, feel free to move this...I really had no clue which forum this worked best in...

Hmmm, unless I'm missing it, there doesn't seem to be a way to poll (I could be, with my visiojn) but that's okay, it's an interesting thing to discuss. this is basically a poll for those who consider them as real characters when you watch. And the way most of you are about some like Elmo, it's clear you do.

When you think of lives behind the cameras, what they do off stage, how do you view Sesame Street? In other words, The Muppet Show was clearly a frog in charge of a production company, having to satisfy some stars (like Miss PIggy), etc.; in other words, the characters we saw were alive in theTMS Universe, there were things we didn't see (calling guests to get them on the show, etc.) but things we did. Time passed between shows - they didn't just appear out of thin air, go into cryogenic sleep, then wake up for the next one.

1. If SS was like TMS, we wouldn't see the behind the scenes stuff on SS like on TMS but it would have to happen, as there would then be someone organizing the show, etc.; but BB, Elmo, and all the others just live lives away from the cameras otherwise.

Best arguments - announcing letter, number of the day, and welcoming people, plus a triangle-lovers' club is one thing, but letters appearing out of the blue?

This is probably the most likely, but there are other options.

2. It may be a real street where the laws of physics state that letters can appear in the air, there's a triangle-lovers club, etc., and where humans and muppets interact. The humans age but the muppets don't, or very little. In other words, they aren't putting on a show - this is a real street where the characters live and are doing other things, but very little happens between episodes. When we see an episode, it's not acting - these things, in the SS universe, are happening to the people.

Best arguments - the hurricane, and Mr. Hooper's death. Especially Mr. Hooper's death - if in the SS universe Big Bird is only a big bird who can act on a show, and wasn't touched by the death of such a close friend, then he is one of the best bird actors out there. Okay, he's the only bird actor out there, but you know what I mean. He could put on a human outfit and play Hamlet if he keeps improving. That makes me think it might be real characters living on a real street with altered laws of physics.

(And, maybe it gives some of you fan fiction ideas - either one of the above.)

3. Is it like a sitcom - not quite like a sitcom, where we only see 30 minutes of the characters' lives out of 168 hours a week. But, maybe like the old days, where we only saw 5 of 168 hours a week as far as what they do, where they go, etc., and we saw a lot of their lives back then, though not much now? For a good example of how a "realistic world in which a sitcom family lives" would be, check out http://howrude.org/show/chronology/ This is the tact that a few fanfiction writers seem to take. (The origins ones,the amnesia one, and probably others.)

Or, do you have some other idea?

 

[Drtooth]

Heh. Funny you should mention that. I can't remember where it was (I know it's somewhere in between Wakefield and Peabody MA because I saw it en route to somewhere) but I did see a street that just so Happens to be a Sesame Street. Of course, this one is in the suburbs, and it's a bunch of ordinary looking buildings... but I was absolutely amazed that I saw it.

 

[D'Snowth]

Hmmm, unless I'm missing it, there doesn't seem to be a way to poll (I could be, with my visiojn)

It's not your vision, for some strange reason, only admins and mods can starts polls.

But anyway, when I was really, really little, I'm sure I probably thought of Sesame Street as a real street, but then again, I'm sure there's millions of kids who felt the same way, so...

 

[ISNorden]

Sesame Street used to feel like a "real street with altered physics" when I watched the show as a girl. But the new design in so many places (Big Bird's nest area, for one) makes Sesame Street look more like the inside of a kindergarten classroom; and the way characters interact now does suggest the Muppet Show to me. Specific Muppets having specific jobs in a scheduled format, like Cookie and Prairie Dawn teaching the letter of the day? That feels more like a theater production than part of street life, even on a magical street like the one I grew up seeing.

 

[Drtooth]

Sesame Street used to feel like a "real street with altered physics" when I watched the show as a girl. But the new design in so many places (Big Bird's nest area, for one) makes Sesame Street look more like the inside of a kindergarten classroom; and the way characters interact now does suggest the Muppet Show to me. Specific Muppets having specific jobs in a scheduled format, like Cookie and Prairie Dawn teaching the letter of the day? That feels more like a theater production than part of street life, even on a magical street like the one I grew up seeing.

Actually, if it were like a real street these days, 123 Sesame Street, the Nest, Hooper's Store, the Fix it shop et al would have been bulldozed down for a bunch of luxury condos that no one could possibly afford. So it's not like a real street in that aspect.

But even with a vivid imagination, I don't think I considered it a real street. Other than a couple times, I never heard a car go by there. I know there's a bus stop to the right of Big Bird's Nest, but I kind of think of it more as a cul De Sac or a dead end street where traffic rarely ever comes through.

 

[ISNorden]

Heh. Funny you should mention that. I can't remember where it was (I know it's somewhere in between Wakefield and Peabody MA because I saw it en route to somewhere) but I did see a street that just so Happens to be a Sesame Street. Of course, this one is in the suburbs, and it's a bunch of ordinary looking buildings... but I was absolutely amazed that I saw it.

Darn, you should've taken pictures of the street sign and posted a link...

 

[ISNorden]

Actually, if it were like a real street these days, 123 Sesame Street, the Nest, Hooper's Store, the Fix it shop et al would have been bulldozed down for a bunch of luxury condos that no one could possibly afford. So it's not like a real street in that aspect.

As someone who's seen her own city's "downtown" constantly being rebuilt for upscale residents, I can understand that; if the Workshop writers decided to get that realistic, though, the TV show wouldn't last another week.

But even with a vivid imagination, I don't think I considered it a real street. Other than a couple times, I never heard a car go by there. I know there's a bus stop to the right of Big Bird's Nest, but I kind of think of it more as a cul-de-sac or a dead end street where traffic rarely ever comes through.

Good point! I can imagine a smaller town having street areas like that, but not New York City (the alleged location of Sesame Street in that universe). It's hard to believe that Oscar's grouch cab is the only car driving through, sometimes; long ago, another user remarked that if Sesame Street had as much traffic as the rest of inner-city New York, traffic-safety lessons would end up dominating the show!

 

[Drtooth]

Firstly, lemme just say how much I hate Condo developement, because they always crush the best thing in the neighborhood. Years ago, we lost a candy factory in Cambridge. I miss that whole area smelling like chocolate. I don;'t even think the condo is even open yet. If so, no one lives in it. Moving on

Good point! I can imagine a smaller town having street areas like that, but not New York City (the alleged location of Sesame Street in that universe). It's hard to believe that Oscar's grouch cab is the only car driving through, sometimes; long ago, another user remarked that if Sesame Street had as much traffic as the rest of inner-city New York, traffic-safety lessons would end up dominating the show!

Due to budget constraints, I feel that Follow that Bird and even Elmo in Grouchland make the street look like the buisy street that it was meant to be. Heck, those times you saw the other side of the street with buildings all over the place. Too bad that was only for the movies, though.

Darn, you should've taken pictures of the street sign and posted a link...

I don't go buy there all too often (maybe 3 times a year or so) but I could take a pic next time I go by there.

 

[ISNorden]

Firstly, lemme just say how much I hate condo development, because they always crush the best thing in the neighborhood.

Which means you're probably right about a "realistic" Sesame Street; 123 and both of the shops would probably get torn down first. Those buildings have defined the neighborhood on that show for years!

Due to budget constraints, I feel that Follow That Bird and even Elmo in Grouchland make the street look like the busy street that it was meant to be. Heck, those times you saw the other side of the street with buildings all over the place. Too bad that was only for the movies, though.

It's a shame the big-name Hollywood studios have enough money to do a better job with the scenery than Sesame Workshop can--and I mean that without the least bit of sarcasm.

I don't go by there all too often (maybe 3 times a year or so) but I could take a pic next time I go by there.

That'd be cool, if you can manage it!

 

[TellyM]

A lot of New York looks just like Sesame Street, and is just as quiet. It's a neighborhood, it isn't meant to be busy. There are lots of streets just like that, and they're especially mellow during the hours when most people are at work.