American Archive of Public Broadcasting to preserve nearly 4,500 Sesame Street episodes

minor muppetz

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The AAPB site lists a number of entries for Sesame episodes (modern, so don't get excited); they are simply not availible to watch online.
I did a search for Sesame Street, searched for what the archive has (not just what could be viewed online), I can't remember if I searched all pages of results or just the first one but didn't see any episodes, just somewhat-unrelated search results that mention Sesame Street in the description (like pledge breaks). Maybe they were added after I searched or maybe I just wasn't thorough enough (though I would expect Sesame Street episodes to be listed at the top of the first page of search results if searching for Sesame Street).
 

minor muppetz

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I also posted this in the top ten anything thread, but I've compiled a list of top ten episodes I'd recommend checking out if the main purpose to watch is for wiki research. There's things from the guides I wonder and there's things I've seen people mention that happen in certain scripts.

10. Early episodes with Irvine – some scripts call her Irving, was that name used in the actual episodes?

9. Season nine episodes (including episode 1184) with an unnamed dog who may or may not be Barkley

8. Suzanne Farrell – Scarecoe’s to do list on his user page mentions “At the Barre” naming Herry and Telly in one script, another naming Grover and Herry, and episode 1334 has a sketch that could be this (maybe both were the same but listed a little differently), with Suzanne Farrell getting Grover, Herry, and another monster to stretch on a barre – could that monster be Telly during his transitional period between his original television-obsessed personality and when Brian Meehl gave him the personality he’s known for (Telly likely wouldn’t have been identified by name in any scripts from that period)?

7. Can You Guess? – is Big Bob the puppet that would become Guy Smiley? What puppet was used for the contestant, Billy Monster (I doubt it’s the same Billy Monster from the later Here and There sketch with Grover and Herry) This segment first aired in episode 26, but also appears in episodes 57, 74, and 119.

6. Episode 21 (Balloons segment – which monster is used?)

5. Episode 372 (It includes “Before and After”, are the parts with Buddy replaced with a different character? )

4. Episode 441 (I’ve been told that the script notes that the first season sketch “everybody scratch” ends with Bernice on Bert’s back, when the segment is known to end with Beautiful Day Monster scratching Bert’s back; was the whole segment remade by then and the script doesn’t make it clear? Did the script make a mistake? Was there actually an alternate ending filmed?)

3. Episode 1259 – I’ve been told that Bruno has a lot of dialogue in the script but it’s pointed out that a lot of that could have changed by the time it aired, would be great to know if his first appearance was dialogue-heavy

2. early Elmo episodes – to determine Kevin Clash’s first performance as Elmo (and maybe to determine Richard Hunt’s, though I have a feeling that’s the first after Brian Meehl left)

1. Episodes where the trusted sources were unable to provide the wiki with a full rundown (including episode 2806, 2823, and 2974; the script sourced for episode 1389 is missing a page; The script sourced for 2600 was an edit for a pledge airing; I've heard that one season 11 script isn't the final aired version but can't remember which one)
Now that Scarecroe has access to more rare footage, we now have answers for two of these questions. For number 8, Telly was in that segment, but it turns out Grover didn't appear in the final aired version and another monster appeared with them (I think Telly replaced Grover), and for question 6, the monster used is Beautiful Day Monster.
 

AaronReturn20

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We're half-a-year-in and americanarchive.org still hasn't made them "available online"... Google reveals that a few episodes from Season 38 have shown up but not freely available yet... It might be possible that, like other US TV museums you may be only able to watch them inside the the museum...
 

Oscarfan

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We're half-a-year-in and americanarchive.org still hasn't made them "available online"... Google reveals that a few episodes from Season 38 have shown up but not freely available yet... It might be possible that, like other US TV museums you may be only able to watch them inside the the museum...
Um, that's literally what they said it would be like.
 

BertFan

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We're half-a-year-in and americanarchive.org still hasn't made them "available online"... Google reveals that a few episodes from Season 38 have shown up but not freely available yet... It might be possible that, like other US TV museums you may be only able to watch them inside the the museum...
Did you read the original post?
 

ssetta

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I still don't know if they're available to watch at either of the two locations. I tried looking on the AARP website and there didn't seem to be any changes.
 

ZootSaxPlayer

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Well, for those of you planning to visit the Library of Congress, prepare to be disappointed: they currently only have seasons 38-48 currently digitized and available to watch... :frown:
 

LittleJerry92

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I mean, wasn’t it confirmed they were going backwards?
 

Pig'sSaysAdios

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I think so. And they said more episodes would be available over time
 
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