What would it take for you to stop watching current episodes?

[Drtooth]

I really wondered which forum I should post this in. I think I chose this one because I wanted to see how the Classic SS fans feel about there not being enough old material in the new episodes, and I know that some current SS fans don't WANT to see old material in new episodes. That's why people were complaining about the show.

I don't think anyone has a problem if they showed old segments in new episodes. Somehow I feel SW keeps painting itself into corners they desperately want to get out of. It's the problem of classic skits not fitting into the show, not by design, but by their time constraints. I keep forgetting to get exact timings of each episode... but a street story that's about 15 minutes long, an 8 minute Abby, a 4-5 minute Ernie and Bert/Super Grover segment, a 15 minute Elmo segment... 43 minutes out of 50 something minutes right there...NOT counting Murray tune ins. Let's say that's another 5 minutes combined... there's barely any room for anything else.

I actually don't mind the lack of old material in new shows BECAUSE they managed to make them available on Youtube and their own site. If they were hidden in a vault away for ever, and severely penalized anyone who has an unauthorized YT upload, then and only then would I be angry at them. SW does realize it has an older, nostalgic fan base... that's something to be thankful for. Scary thing is, Barney's retro now and we're seeing adult T-Shirts with his ugly purple mug on them. I wish I never saw that. That was creepy. And it was in Spencer's next to the aisle with the... oh Never mind. if you been to Spencer's you know what I'm talking about. What was I getting at again?

Ah yes... SW realizes it has a nostalgic fan base that wants to see all the old stuff they can't fit into the show anymore. And I'm certain a lot of the ones who are parents expose their kids to the older stuff anyway. As for the show itself, the writers are trying their darnedest to make everything work. Abby, while plagued with reruns, is sharply written and more enjoyable than it needs to be... Super Grover 2.) is impossible for me to not laugh at. We got very stinging parodies of stuff like Glee and the Spider-Man musical this year. There's plenty of adult appeal still there. The problem is the balance is quite often out of whack, and I still think EW is sinking the show's potential.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Elmo's World must be at this point one of Sesame Street's longest running recurring segments ever. (If not the longest). Well, I take that back- I guess obviously the Street stories would be a recurring segment and that's much longer running of course and always will be. (I would hope.)

 

[GonzoLeaper]

This has probably been discussed before, but I wonder again if Elmo's World was ever spun off into a show by itself how Sesame Street would fare? I suppose that would disrupt the whole structure of the show since Elmo is undeniably a HUGE part of the show. I suppose this would only increase Elmo's exposure....but it's not that I want Elmo off the show- I really like him just fine- but it would be nice to have his representation balanced a bit better with the other characters.... It's just the format of Elmo's World that gets so repetitive- I have watched a number of the segments but many times when I catch Sesame Street on Sprout, I just tune out at that point...

 

[GonzoLeaper]

I really wondered which forum I should post this in. I think I chose this one because I wanted to see how the Classic SS fans feel about there not being enough old material in the new episodes, and I know that some current SS fans don't WANT to see old material in new episodes. That's why people were complaining about the show.

Okay- good point. That makes sense.

 

[Drtooth]

This has probably been discussed before, but I wonder again if Elmo's World was ever spun off into a show by itself how Sesame Street would fare? I suppose that would disrupt the whole structure of the show since Elmo is undeniably a HUGE part of the show. I suppose this would only increase Elmo's exposure....but it's not that I want Elmo off the show- I really like him just fine- but it would be nice to have his representation balanced a bit better with the other characters.... It's just the format of Elmo's World that gets so repetitive- I have watched a number of the segments but many times when I catch Sesame Street on Sprout, I just tune out at that point...

Sesame should spring forth a secondary show of Elmo's World and Abby's Flying School... maybe with a classic short skit in between... but that's not going to happen. PBS already has too many shows for that to work, and when they tried taking EW off the show, kids supposedly got antsy.

What's turning me off watching it is the overuse of reused footage. It's like a 2 week wait in cases (sometimes a month) for a new episode, and only the street story is new. You see the same Abby, the same Super Grover (which I don't mind much... but they should have made a LOT more of those)... I can't believe their ratings are that high if they show the same things over and over.

 

[D'Snowth]

"What would it take for you to stop watching current episodes?"

Are you serious? I haven't been able to actually sit down and watch any current episodes since Season 38! I've barelyseen much of Season 39, Season 40, Season 41, and now Season 42, and all because all these lame new shows that PBS Kids has been cranking out and eating up the schedule that not SST stopped coming on at a convenient time on my PBS; I know I can DVR episodes and such, but I never think to... whatever happened to Joan Ganz Cooney's proposal to have the show air once in the morning and again in the afternoon so the little kids can tryand watch with their older siblings as well?

 

[Drtooth]

I remember when it was on so many times a day... especially the 6:00pm hour on our other PBS... now, we have 3 more PBS's due to digital channels and they still don't air it more than once a day (I hear tell they have it at 6:00 Am now, but that's WAAAAY too early for me to even check)...and of course, our PBS kid's station airs a solid hour long brick of dry, dull, unwatchable craft programs at a certain hour, and then stops kid friendly programming at 5 for no reason. if it's supposed to attract older teens, maybe that's the effect it's going for... but they have Julia Child reruns at 11 PM.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

I guess we can all be glad for Sesame Street.com's videos section now and with whatever Sesame Workshop will let fly by on Youtube...

 

[JLG]

I even spoke with producer Tim Carter about this, and he says that it IS intentional, because they were getting complaints about the show looking too outdated with the music styles, and the clothing that people were wearing.

Really? Now that I find bizarre. Why have people suddenly started caring NOW? If there's one thing that used to characterize pre-2000s Sesame Street, it was what an utter mishmash of time periods it was. IMO the early 1990s were when the show was at its most schizophrenic----there were still a lot of 70s films in rotation that had a psychedelic vibe and reflected musical trends of the time, all mixed in with brand-new rap videos starring people like Queen Latifah. Heck, "Me Lost Me Cookie at the Disco" was still turning up as late as 1997! (Where else in the world would you ever find disco existing alongside hip hop?)
And a little earlier, in the late 1980s, they were VERY loose about showing stuff that was obviously outdated, particularly the live-action films of kids that were 15---almost 20 years old by that point. I have an episode from the period that has a cast insert where they're all obviously younger and obviously 70s, and heck----they showed "Ride a Bike" as late as 1987, even though Northern Calloway was by then completely unrecognizable in it.

Sesame Street used to be very loose about this kind of thing. So I'm confused why it's only become an issue now. My guess is that it's because there didn't used to be so many forums for instant mass communication, and thus narratives weren't as quick to develop.

 

[Drtooth]

Really? Now that I find bizarre. Why have people suddenly started caring NOW? If there's one thing that used to characterize pre-2000s Sesame Street, it was what an utter mishmash of time periods it was. IMO the early 1990s were when the show was at its most schizophrenic----there were still a lot of 70s films in rotation that had a psychedelic vibe and reflected musical trends of the time, all mixed in with brand-new rap videos starring people like Queen Latifah. Heck, "Me Lost Me Cookie at the Disco" was still turning up as late as 1997! (Where else in the world would you ever find disco existing alongside hip hop?)
And a little earlier, in the late 1980s, they were VERY loose about showing stuff that was obviously outdated, particularly the live-action films of kids that were 15---almost 20 years old by that point. I have an episode from the period that has a cast insert where they're all obviously younger and obviously 70s, and heck----they showed "Ride a Bike" as late as 1987, even though Northern Calloway was by then completely unrecognizable in it.

They showed a 1970's Ernie and Bert sketch as late as 2003, and no one complained. There are a LOT of Muppet segments that are naturally timeless that could be easily inserted into any given episode and not look strange. The only thing I'd see a problem are the filmed kids segments... and I've been seeing 1970's ones turn up as late as the 90's, no complaint. But they keep showing old dated looking 90's stuff ALL the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFY-vIeN5XA

is literally on once a season (different numbers, though). Even some of the Elmo's worlds are well over 10 years old and look dated now, and they don't have a problem with those.

But then again, it's also about how they can't fit things in like they used to, due to the corners they keep painting themselves into.