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

[D'Snowth]

So wait, I'm confused, I thought they were digitizing all episodes, now they're only doing some?

I guess it's a monetery issue or something. I know Jim Martin has been trying to digitally preserve THE GREAT SPACE COASTER, but it would be too expensive to do all 250 episodes, and the last I heard, he had raised enough funds to only preserve I think maybe 8-10 episodes.

 

[Oscarfan]

Per the article I linked to:

Sesame Workshop has donated 381 digitized episodes of Sesame Street to the American Archive of Public Broadcasting, the first delivery in a yearlong process that will make nearly 4,500 episodes from the first 49 seasons available to the public in perpetuity.

 

[minor muppetz]

I wonder if the first 381 episodes digitized will be the first 381 episodes broadcast or if they'll be randomly selected. I feel sending in the episodes in order would make it easier to keep track of what has and hasn't been sent, but on the other hand, that article mentions some episodes like Mr. Hooper's death and Cookie Monster as Alistair Cookie, which are long after episode 381, I don't think the article specifically states that those are among the first batch to be included but I do feel under the impression that it does.

 

[Oscarfan]

I think it's pretty obvious it would be a random assortment of episodes and not the first 381.

For one thing, again, every episode has been digital for years now and would naturally be the first and easiest materials to donate. Second, they'd also probably go with notable episodes first (the premiere, Hooper's death, the wedding, hurricane, etc.) over "random episode from the middle of season 2."

 

[cjd874]

I hope that these episodes do get remastered and/or restored to a reasonable level, so that viewers can clearly see and hear what's going on. Grainy audio and video would not be ideal.

And to back what Oscarfan said earlier, the first batch of episodes would most likely have the ones that casual fans would want to see, like the Hawaii trip (1090-1095), Maria and Luis's wedding (2485), or Mr. Hooper's death (1839). In other words, the AAPB would start by preserving the episodes that were most important to children's programming in general and REALLY left a powerful impression on American viewers and families.
Sometimes it's important to shift perspective a bit and think about what the public wants, and not just what hardcore fans want. So as much as we'd like to see episode 135, or 599, or (gasp) 847...it won't happen for a while, if at all.

 

[Blue Frackle]

So pretty much the people who care most are gonna make the pilgrimage and get to see the most rare stuff... I'm fine with that I guess. inb4 Lost Media field trip.

IF episode 847 is indeed among the episodes available for viewing, I wonder if Lost Media Wiki will no longer consider it "lost" or if it's lost status will remain since, either way, it still won't be available for viewing online/on home video. And if there are episodes that won't be included, I wonder if Lost Media Wiki will add pages for those (assuming any episode not donated will be ones unavailable on video/streaming/online/in tape trading circles).

Really good point; I imagine someone will sneak a phone and record a bit of that episode if it's there. Someone will do it just for posterity.

So I don't think it'll be "lost" anymore, but a similar thing happened with Cracks where Jon Armond acquired a copy but was only allowed to show it to people in person; it was still considered lost, however this is in an official, public context.

 

[minor muppetz]

So I don't think it'll be "lost" anymore, but a similar thing happened with Cracks where Jon Armond acquired a copy but was only allowed to show it to people in person; it was still considered lost, however this is in an official, public context.

Hmm, any idea if that wiki considers anything "lost" if the only way to see it is at Paley Center for Media or another museum that screens content to the public (maybe even content that this archive already has)?

The Jim Henson Legacy sometimes includes clips from Out to Lunch at screenings, I wonder if that special has an entry at the Lost Media Wiki (though from what I've heard, even though Henson screens clips from the special, they haven't held a screening for the full special).

 

[Blue Frackle]

Hmm, any idea if that wiki considers anything "lost" if the only way to see it is at Paley Center for Media or another museum that screens content to the public (maybe even content that this archive already has)?

The Jim Henson Legacy sometimes includes clips from Out to Lunch at screenings, I wonder if that special has an entry at the Lost Media Wiki (though from what I've heard, even though Henson screens clips from the special, they haven't held a screening for the full special).

Yeah, Out to Lunch has its own page and is considered lost since the screenings are done in private and not for the general public.

Regarding your first question, I'll have to pose that to LMW founder dycaite; I'm assuming it won't be considered lost anymore, or will be a special "Partially found" case. Either way, this will speak volumes to SW's stance on the episode (hopefully the person donating has no clue this is an infamous "holy grail"); the divorce episode has no shot imo, but 847 has a decent chance. If it's not there, we will literally never see it if not for a leak... it will be a sad day if it's not one of the episodes.

They should do the Mr. Rogers Twitch marathon thing with all the episodes; I know the length would be crazy, but there doesn't have to be any breaks/stories/edits. Just let the hardcore fans clip the best moments.

 

[sesamemuppetfan]

I live in the Boston area so it's like I got lucky.

Yes, BUT...in case you didn't read the article in full detail, you have to make an appointment with them first. They're not going to let you in anytime you want to view the episodes. Just saying.

 

[minor muppetz]

Yes, BUT...in case you didn't read the article in full detail, you have to make an appointment with them first. They're not going to let you in anytime you want to view the episodes. Just saying.

ssetta can just make a lot of appointments.