Your Thoughts: Sesame Street 40 Years DVD Box Set

[SeanC]

I picked up this set over the weekend. As I stopped watching 'Sesame Street' around the early 90s, it's the first disc that contains most of the 'wow - I remember that!' moments for me.
Completely forgot about The Mad Painter until I saw that '5' skit with the gorilla. The background music gave me an instant nostalgia rush
Then there was the 'I-Beam'. Always loved that as a kid, so I was surprised to find that some people found it scary.
The pinball animation was pretty much worth the cost of the set alone - a real defining moment of my childhood, it was. To this day I still wonder where the ball goes at the end
Loved the disco segment with Cookie Monster and seeing an orange version of Oscar, and the clips from Hawaii set off the 'nostalgia bells' too. That said, I would have liked it if two distinct memories from my childhood were included - Snuffy hanging from a plane and his trunk reaching out from an overhead bin.
I somehow missed the 'Just because' bit as a kid, so it was great to finally see it. Actually, speaking of Mr. Hooper... and this may seem odd, but one of the strongest memories of the show I have is of the yellow and black tiles outside Hooper's store. Why I'd latch onto that little detail I don't know!
Oh, and I'd never seen that song with Ernie and Hoots before! Loved it - replayed it about 4 times

I've heard it said that the mini-book accompaning the US version of the set is hardcover. The version released with the DVD over here is softcover. It seems safe enough sandwiched between the two cases, though.

 

[minor muppetz]

Then there was the 'I-Beam'. Always loved that as a kid, so I was surprised to find that some people found it scary.

I don't really understand what was so scary about it.

I was a little bit surprised that all those clips can be played all the way through, and with no individual images in the chapter stops (which would make it easier for kids). I sometimes wonder if Sesame Workshop tries hard not to make kids not have to watch too much in one sitting. After all, on the Old School sets there's no "play all" feature for episodes, and while the season bonus clips have "play all", it's only for individual seasons (not all clips on the disc).

But considering each five-year period begins with a scrapbook look-through, I wonder if the original plans might have been to stop automatically after each five-year period ended. While cool, I can't see any reason to show it every time a five-year perido ends. I'd have rather the time be spent showing all of the segments uncut (a few inserts have small but significant edits at the very end), or maybe to include more inserts like one of the Jazz Numbers or Harvey Kneeslapper segments.

 

[minor muppetz]

I just recently got The Best of Elmo 2, and it has the first preview for this DVD that I've seen (has a trailer been out there for months and I just didn't know about it?).

I wonder if Sesame Workshop had considered making this the first release of Henson #1 Song. It was uploaded to sesamestreet.org a few weeks before the DVD came out (not sure if that was always the plan or if they wanted to upload it afterwards), but the cover includes two different images from that segment (the only clip to be presented with two pictures on the cover), it's the first clip to appear in the set (after the opening and episode one's opening line), that clip was closen to represent season one in the TV Montage, and a clip of the baker falling down the stairs with his wedding cake was among the first clips shown in the trailer.

Of course it was uploaded online a few weeks before, stealing a little bit of thunder for the release (most of the non-forum reviews I've seen for the set don't even mention the clip, unless the review in question lists all of the contents). Good thing it had more rarities that we had been asking for (plus rarities that most of us didn't know about).

On a side note, I think I often find myself watching the 1980s segments on the set most frequently. I also watch the 1970s segments a lot, but almost half of seasons 1-5 have been released on other videos (especially Old School Vol. 1), though most of the previously unreleased stuff from those seasons are stuff that I really wanted included. But after so much season 1-5 content it seems to rush through seasons 6-10 before giving us a lot of great early 1980s content. Then we get to the late-1980s which is a bit limited... There are things there that I either wanted or like more than I thought I would, but so much of it is really notable series-changing events. And I watch disc 2 a lot less than disc 1, though there is a lot of disc 2 content that I frequently watch when I do watch that disc.

 

[Shade601]

i play disc 1 pretty much every day for my son. but i'm not going to lie. after he's in bed or loses interest, i'm still sitting there watching it. disc 2 doesn't do as much for me. i hate to say it, but i dont really like the new characters, like abby, i hate how they miniaturized zoe, hoots is different...the new voices...i understand the reasons for the change, but i am not as deeply moved by the newer segments as i am the older ones, either. mr. hooper's death, maria and luis's wedding, i actually cry when i watch those, almost every time. and i'm not much of a crier.

 

[Katzi428]

Bought 40 Years of Sunny Days Yesterday

The forum wasn't working for me,so I Emailed a couple of you about it. Now this place is working! Go figure! Yeesh!scrunching up my face like when he's frustrated
Anyway:
So far I like it! I watched the first disc & WOW did it bring back memories! I even saw the "1" skit (w/the Baker) All this time I've seen it on YouTube. And Orange Oscar (it looked like he had teeth when he was singing I Love Trash . You have to look closely if you have the DVD ) Plus Matt Robinson as Gordon. Luis was handsome back then (still is)! And I don't mind telling you guys that I got teary eyed when Kermit sang "Bein' Green" (Kind Of weird,because I never really did before) Also got teary eyed when Big Bird found out Mr. Hooper died. There's just so much that I relived when watching that! I have just one complaint. I keep hearing about Buddy,Jim & Phyllis. I think I started watching Sesame Street when I was around 2 (not sure) & I don't remember seeing them. So I thought they'd be on the DVD. They weren't! So I was kind of disappointed.
I'm going to watch the second DVD later on today.

 

[lds1987]

Watching Kermit sing being Green is one of the greatest scenes that I watched on the muppets. I mean that one song is a big part of the greatness of kermit (who is adorable) . But when Big Bird found out about Hooper was very sad, I've watched it on Youtube.

 

[D'Snowth]

After re-watching Disc Two again (I've been wearing Disc One out), I noticed that in addition to the music insertion at the beginning of "My Nest, My Home", Big Bird's opening line "Well Radar, the hurricane's all over, now we can go back home to my nest" had been redubbed.

 

[minor muppetz]

You know an early press release said that this DVD would contain "classic moments, fan favorites, and special surprises", and the DVD box also says that it has "Over 50 minutes of ultra-rare, never-before-seen backstage footage, interviews, and surprises". I wish they would have done something to let the fans know what the intended surprises are. Especially casual fans who may not know what segments are considered "rare".

I was so hopeful of the set containing so many rarities that I'm not too surprised by what is included. I'm honestly not surprised that it contains Henson #1, Mad with Little Jerry and the Monotones, the first Telly Monster, or appearances by such rare characters as Little Jerry and the Monotones, Dr. Nobel Price, and Bruno (though I am surprised we got them instead of Biff and Sully, Guy Smiley, Gladys the Cow, and Sherlock Hemlock). Heck, I wouldn't have been too surprised if this had such rare characters as Leslie Mostly, Aristotle, or The Mudman.

But while I'm not surprised by it having the first Telly I am a little surprised that it has orange Oscar and a non-Keven Clash-voiced Elmo. I am surprised by a number of included segments that have been released many times (like the original I Love Trash, Jellyman Kelly, The Honker-Duckie-Dinger Jambouree, and Fat Cat... I know I've said it before but I think Lena Horne's version of Bein' Green is just as well-known as the original or How Do You Do). I am surprised that it has "If I Knew You Were Coming" (sicne it wasn't written for the show and I assume is still under copyright) and the Forgetful Jones "oooo-klahoma" sketch (I assume the "Oklahoma" song is under copyright and they'd still have to pay for the verse used, as all that's different is one syllable). And I am pleaseantly surprised that the C-3PO and R2D2 segment is included (that and the Batman segment are the ones with well-known characters not associated with the show that I watch the most).

And of course I am more surprised by what ISN'T included than what is included. Many essential (to me, anyway) characters and recurring sketches, and even some of the 1980s segments that have been released on video many times (I'm honestly surprsied this doesn't have Fuzzy and Blue or Imagine That). I've said it before but I'm also surprised by the lack of any of Jim Henson's last performances (and perhaps a little surprised that it doesn't have the last SST works of Richard Hunt or Jeff Moss... I assume it doesn't have Joe Raposo's last song).

I guess the biggest surprise for me would be the clips that I knew nothing about beforehand (most of which seem to only be included becasue they had behind-the-scenes footage of), but that's because I didn't know about them and therefore wouldn't know to put on a wishlist.

 

[minor muppetz]

You know an early press release said that this DVD would contain "classic moments, fan favorites, and special surprises", and the DVD box also says that it has "Over 50 minutes of ultra-rare, never-before-seen backstage footage, interviews, and surprises". I wish they would have done something to let the fans know what the intended surprises are. Especially casual fans who may not know what segments are considered "rare".

Actually, when I first read the "surprises" mention in early press releases, I wondered if maybe the "surprises" would include somethign that had been cut from a previous DVD release, like Mahna Mahna or 123 Sesame Street (other segments cut from DVD would be good for completist sake, but to me don't seem that exciting). I wasn't really expecting those clips, but those truly would have surprised me.

 

[minor muppetz]

I've noticed that during some of the "season (insert five-year period here)" intervals we sometimes hear dialogue that doesn't appear on the DVDs. Like in the beginning of "Seasons 1-5" Big Bird can be heard saying "Hi. I'm glad you're here", but that line doesn't appear (in fact no Big Bird clips appear in seasons 1-5), and in "seasons 6-10" we briefly hear a hawiian version of the theme song (probably from the hawiia episodes) but don't see the clip. Makes me wonder if those segments were planned and dropped after those scrapbook scenes were completed. Of course in "seasons 16-20" we hear a director (probably Jon Stone) yell "cut".