Your Thoughts: Sesame Street 40 Years DVD Box Set

[dwmckim]

Have only got through disc 1 so far, but some responses to what's been posted...

"Bring Your Own Can" is hilarious, though the title is misleading. It should have been given a title like "Cha-Cha Palace" or "Oscar at the Movies" or something. It has nothing to do with bringing cans.

I keep seeing people mentioning "this clip should have been called "so-and-so" but keep in mind they're more or less going with the official titles of the clips (which i really like - up until discs like this and putting clips on youtube or sesamestreet.org, fans have never actually known the titles as i for one LOVE being able to know them). I'm sure when these were done, no one had any idea that decades later, there would be such an immense fan base that would warrant a home video release of these clips which would include the titles. They were all intended to be "in-house only" so they only really just wanted them to be stuff that made sense to them. (Hence why everyone on the forum and off gets so confused by "Elmo's Debut" since that's not when the CHARACTER made his debut on the show but rather imagining making his stage debut.)

For those wondering, Put Down the Duckie is the celebrity version, while Monster in the Mirror isn't

...Not only that but we got the ORIGINAL celebrity version (with Pee-Wee Herman in it); most of the time they present the redone celeb version so this was a neat way to give us something classic while still being a bit unique.

"If I Knew You Were Coming" - Is that the same background used for most season one sketches with plain-colored backgrounds? We see a few walls there, and most of the season one sketches in question just show one view of that background. And is that meant to be Ernie's kitchen

If you look closely, it's still the plain background used for most season 1 inserts, but with a gobo representing windows and some additional props/set pieces (to establish this was Ernie's kitchen and not an abstract "anyplace" location that most other season 1 Muppet sketches happen in)

[*]When I saw a chapter referred to as "Clips from Hawaii", I expected this to at least be a few different clips as opposed to one (pretty much every street story represented is just one clip). After all, it's the only street story/ storyline to be titled "clips from..."

Not as much as i was expecting either, but technically they were "clips" since there were two - Snuffy's entrance and Hooper goes surfing.

[*]In the clip from Luis and Maria's wedding, is that Linda Bove singing when her thought's are heard, or was that somebody else?

Somebody else.

[/QUOTE][*]When The Muppet Movie was made during a break during production of The Muppet Show's third season, Henson started making Kermit with a new material, with less noticable felt texturing. So I was surprised to see that a Kermit with more noticable felt was still used in season 11 (unless the DVD compilers made a mistake regarding the season "Kermit News: Foot Snuggies" was made).[/QUOTE] I picked up on this too, but while i wouldn't be surprised if they mucked up on which season a piece was from (once again they put the season 2 "Rubber Duckie" remake under season 1), i also think it's quite possible that they still had an older Kermit around the Sesame studios for a few years afterward since it wasn't as heavily used as the other Kermit puppets. Another possibility: the scene may have been taped earlier but just didn't make its on-air debut until season 11.


I suppose after seeing individual clips put up on Youtube and the official site, i was expecting (probably unrealistically) that these would just be a basic collection of unedited clips simply shown one after the other but of course they approached the collection like it was a special (just a very long one that really could only be done on a dvd as opposed to broadcast) where there were transitions between them (or for that matter kind of like a special extra-long version of the show...with the old format of course - where sometimes sketches were shortened and had transisitions between them as opposed to simple fade in beginnings/fade out endings.) When one views this as basically being our "40th anniversary special" (and one that's WAY longer between the two discs - really even each disc seperately than what would be possible for tv airing), it makes more sense and is more entertaining to have the stuff we've seen before/have been on previous dvds along with the more obscure. I just hope it leads to more sets along the vein of Old School that presents large collections of classic clips if not full episodes).

 

[GonzoLeaper]

but with a gobo representing windows and some additional props/set pieces (to establish this was Ernie's kitchen and not an abstract "anyplace" location that most other season 1 Muppet sketches happen in)

They used a way back then?

 

[jonnytbird]

I bought it yesterday at Borders. And I was too surprised that they included the 24-page version of "Sesame Street: A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the Street" which was almost impossible to remove from the box. I was really glad that they included Telly's first apperance as the television monster! I've heard alot about it over the years. But when I saw the picture of it, that almost scared the crap out of me with those weird eyes and the antenas. Also, I was really glad that they used the original title card in Monsterpiece Theater's "The King and I." Also, it was also great to see another News Flash skit with Dr. Nobel Price and a Michael Earl clip when he was playing that purple grouch in "Bring Your Own Can Night."

I thought that they could have used some Guy Smiley skits like one Here Is Your Life (oak tree, loaf of bread or tooth) and one game show (Name That Sound with Mr. Honker). I don't know if todays preschool kids can bare it but as a bonus feature, they could have used the unaired episode when Snuffy's parents get a divorce. But that's just my opinion.

Overall, I am so fortunate to have been a fan of Sesame Street throughout my life (20 years). And I want to thank them for waiting 40 years to release this great material on 2 DVDs. And to those of you who haven't bought it yet, please do so! I highly recommend it!

Yours truly
Jon

 

[minor muppetz]

I keep seeing people mentioning "this clip should have been called "so-and-so" but keep in mind they're more or less going with the official titles of the clips (which i really like - up until discs like this and putting clips on youtube or sesamestreet.org, fans have never actually known the titles as i for one LOVE being able to know them). I'm sure when these were done, no one had any idea that decades later, there would be such an immense fan base that would warrant a home video release of these clips which would include the titles. They were all intended to be "in-house only" so they only really just wanted them to be stuff that made sense to them.

Some of the clips that are also on the Old School sets have slightly different titles ("Bread, Milk, and Butter" there is titled "Remembering Bread, Milk, and Butter" here). And sesamestreet.org has some clips from this and the Old School sets under different titles as well (the "Bread, Milk, and Butter" sketch in question is listed at sesamestreet.org as "I Can Remember").

If you check out muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Talk:_University_of_Maryland you'll find scans of every page called "first season show content", as well as every page of research for a few weeks worth of season two episodes, listing titles of various segments. The research papers do list a number of first season segments, by the same title as what's in the first season show content (I noticed that an Ernie and Cookie Monster sketch from season 1 was listed there as "Ernie/ Monster..." I forget the whole title).

 

[ploobis]

I really enjoyed the Behind The Scenes footage. Especially the footage from the 80's!

I love the making of the Two Headed Monster Telephone sketch with Jerry & Richard!

"HUBA WHAH, FWANK OZ!"

It was also great seeing Jim & Frank working on the B&E Snowman sketch!

 

[minor muppetz]

I think the celebrity version of Sing is the uncut version, and not the edited version seen in "What's the Name of That Song?" I played disc 2 on my laptop and "What's the Name of that Song?" on my playstation 2 so I could watch them both at the same time, but I kept forgetting which one I should have paid most attention to (also, when watching I didn't count on the version from What's the Name of That Song? having a little bit of the beginning music cut). But I think I noticed that the 40th anniversary DVD had some celebs not in the 35th anniversary one (but they both pretty much ended at the same time... I think some celebrities were added when it was cut for DVD the first time).

I also noticed that the Teeny Little Superguy sketch was listed as being from season 14. The timeline in The Street We Live On showed a Teeny Little Superguy clip representing 1982 (season 13), and I would have thought all of them were made in the same year. This means one of the following:

• They weren't all made in the same season
• either this set or the past timeline was wrong with the year
• They were all made in the same year but some were held over until later (much like Elmo's World: Frogs)

A few weeks ago I found scans of a season 12 press release which mentioned Dr. Nobel Price as being a new character for that season. This set has one of his skits as a season 11 skit. I figured that maybe he was originally meant to be a one-shot character and became a regular in season 12, but the sketch provided has both the annoucner and Kermit saying that this was covering "yet another" one of his inventions.

Also, in that "If I Knew You Were Coming" clip, that stove must have been magical. Ernie puts cake ingredients into a bowl, puts it in the stove, and when it comes out, the cake is all ready, on a plate and with lit birthday candles (and Cookie Monster puts out the fire with his fingers).

 

[Dantecat]

Toys R Us Deal!

Great News Everybody!For those of you don't have it yet,I recommend getting it at Toys R Us Because they have it for $24.99 along with Elmopalooza which is the best deal of all time and also,(Just until Saturday or Sunday)You get a $5 Toys R Us Giftcard with that which is like spending $10 for 2 of those DVD's and spending $5 for a giftcard too.Pretty Unbelieveable Hey?

 

[minor muppetz]

I sort of expected the clips to be presented similar to how the bonus sketches on the Old School DVDs and clips at sesamestreet.org are, namely with fades to and from black before and after every clip. Instead, most of the clips cut to the next one, with occassional fade-ins and fade-outs, just like the show pre-2002 (which had special scene transitions before practically every sketch). But even though it was presented like the older format, it did feel a bit sudden. If you click on a specific clip title then it'll only play the clip chosen, while clicking on a season number will play the rest all the way through, but when playing just individual clips, it sometimes looks a bit weird before the clip ends and we get back to the menu. Sometimes it looks like it's quickly pausing or something.

 

[BEAR]

I already got my mom to order the new DVD and book for me for Christmas/birthday, since both are coming up. The 2 items, along with Letters to Santa were on sale as a bundle for fifty something dollars on Amazon. What a steal that was considering the book is $40 in the stores.

 

[JJandJanice]

I really enjoyed the Behind The Scenes footage. Especially the footage from the 80's!

I love the making of the Two Headed Monster Telephone sketch with Jerry & Richard!

"HUBA WHAH, FWANK OZ!"

It was also great seeing Jim & Frank working on the B&E Snowman sketch!

I loved the "Behind the Streets" stuff.

But speaking of the Snowman sketch, did anyone else noticed Frank Oz's headband was blur out. Is that cause that handband had "non SS Muppets" like Fozzie Bear? I guess Sesame Street workshop is making sure they don't get sued, esp by Disney of all companies. Keep in mind, they have permission to use Kermit footage.