Does anyone find it odd that there was NO 40th anniversary TV special for the Show ?

[mbmfrog]

I Mean I know budget was tight that year and it may be too late, But many celebrities have appeared on the show numerous times.

I mean the show could have called up some favors to try to produce a 40th anniversary special, even asking Disney if Kermit could make an appearance on the show ?

I mean it just did felt right to me that while we got a 40th season of Sesame Street, that there wasn't NO televised special spotlighting the shows history and moments for the 40th year.

Doesn't anyone else feel that way ?

 

[antsamthompson9]

I kind of feel that way too.

 

[D'Snowth]

I don't remember them doing a 30th anniversary special either... or was Elmopalooza supposed to be it?

Was there a 10th anniversary special?

I know we have 20th, 25th and 35th anniversary specials.

 

[Drtooth]

Was there a 10th anniversary special?

Walking Tour of Sesame Street hosted by James Earl Jones. Answered your question right there.

I'm sure there would have been a 40th special but SW is having a budget crisis, and PBS would rather run self help specials that are not infomercials by any definition at all , Irish singing groups singing just about every song in the world that ISN'T Irish, and the same old people "Remember this music? Give us your Social Security check" specials.

 

[D'Snowth]

Walking Tour of Sesame Street hosted by James Earl Jones. Answered your question right there.

Dang, I almost forgot about that! I saw it on YouTube around this time two years ago, but it got taken down quickly.

 

[minor muppetz]

I've been thinking, "they don't have money to make an anniversary special, but they have money for an economy and a death in the family special? Get your priorities straight!"

I wonder if the plot of The Best of Elmo 2 might have been intended to be an anniversary special. It invovles a memory robot, after all. We could have seen everybody's memories.

Of course I guess Sesame Workshop was limiting it's new footage. Aside from the street stories, Abby's Flying Faiery School, the Murray hosting segments, and guest star scenes it sounds like there was a lack of new inserts this year. And The Best of Elmo 2 is the first new video in almost a year to include linking footage. I am happy that we got the anniversary DVD. No ne wfootage means more room for classic clips (though we still didn't get every important thing represented).

 

[Drtooth]

I've been thinking, "they don't have money to make an anniversary special, but they have money for an economy and a death in the family special? Get your priorities straight!"

Those were funded by outside sources too, let's not forget that. And honestly, talking to kids about coping with the fact they're going to live in poverty because of some idiots and blood suckers is a lot more important than a self congratulatory thing like that.

Plus, i swear PBS didn't want them to have one. Again, their lame self help "specials" and hit or miss musical programming gets more bucks for PBS's financial troubles. And that's something I'd talk about another day.

Really, like I care you spent more than BBC America to get some stupid British CSI show. At LEAST they could have used the British TV budget to keep Monty Python on PBS.

 

[D'Snowth]

Plus, i swear PBS didn't want them to have one. Again, their lame self help "specials" and hit or miss musical programming gets more bucks for PBS's financial troubles. And that's something I'd talk about another day.

That ain't really the case Drtooth.

Again, having experiences with PBS, it's lack of funding for children's programming in general (not just SST, but the likes of Arthur, Barney, Clifford, etc), because of all these uber-right-winged overzealous Christian and homeschool groups rallying to stop funding for these programs on the grounds that they encourage homosexuality and tolerence towards it... which again, it a hypocracy on their part, because we're supposed to love everybody as we would ourselves, and not bash a certain group of people because their lifestyle is a "sin".

 

[Drtooth]

That IS a part of that too, but a very small part. Most of their allotted funds go to the adult programming. They don't even have children's pledge months anymore. One time they tried to consolidate their entire children's budget into a month (at least here... and our WGBH produces a LOT of PBS kid's programming... Arthur, Curious George, Ruff Ruffman to name a few), and they even encouraged people to donate smaller amounts of money at local independent retailers at that point. 2 years later, nothing. And yet there's a pledge month for adult programming every other week, making us suffer through Wayne Dyer's big bald head 4 times as much as they did 5 years ago.

Not to mention that PBS also likes to give money to nice shiny new shows, and leaving "dinosaurs" like Sesame Street in their dust. Luckily most of the new stuff (with the exception of that hideous waste of life "Super Why") is very good. But a LOT of these shows should follow the SS motto and put the money from their walls of merchandise (except Wordgirl! Dangit! I wanna Captain Huggyface plush and a Chuck figure) back into their shows.

And I live for the day PBS drop kick's Barney's big foam butt to the curb! It's not 1992 anymore!

 

[StreetScenes]

they just didn't need to make one. the point of those things, from a production standpoint, isn't *really* to reminisce, it's to generate publicity which generates money. and they got a TON of publicity this year without one--i didn't even notice the lack of a special until you mentioned it, b/c sesame street has been *everywhere* for the past like 18 months. and if anyone wishes to see classic clips from the canonical to the obscure, they've been putting them on their website regularly.

which brings me to the other reason they didn't have a tv special--they're not focusing on american television any more, because nobody cares about it. they seem to be putting a great deal of their money and effort into television in other countries, but their focus here is on their website & the itunes downloads & the phone apps, and merchandise. and there sure is a ton of anniversary merchandise.