Have all episodes of Sesame Street survived?

[panmanthe2nd]

Hi,

Have all episodes of Sesame Street survived, or did some of the early ones get 'wiped' or 'junked' like the BBC did with some Doctor Who episodes?

Also, did "Snuffy's Parents Get a Divorce" ever get shown or leaked?

Thank you!

 

[Oscarfan]

I have no doubts that they haven't.

 

[minor muppetz]

I feel I've read some gossip on the forums that Sesame Workshop has restored every episode a number of times in the past. Can't remember the threads and can't recall where the information came from (articles? Interviews? insider information?). But I've read that they even restored every epsiode before Noggin went on the air, yet they were somehow unable to use the restored episodes on Noggin.

Still, I haven't seen anything stating that episodes are lost or destroyed. Though I wonder if Sesame Workshop still has test pilots 2-5.

 

[PuppetMaster]

I don't know.Hmmmmm.

 

[mr3urious]

That's how I've been feeling, too, seeing how many episodes there are coupled with how expensive tape was at the time. Though I'm sure the people at CTW back then were reasonable enough not to wipe something as educational as this for future generations.

 

[sesameguy]

Obviously we can't know for sure without working for Sesame Workshop, but I've never heard anything to make me suspect that episodes have been lost. If anything, as Minor Muppetz said, I recall reading that they've been trying to preserve them. I guess it's possible that they re-used video tapes, but I'm not sure if they'd intentionally record over something that they might want to distribute again.

I don't think the "Snuffy's parents' divorce" episode has ever been shown in its entirety or leaked. But you can see a photo from it on page 161 of "Sesame Street: A Celebration; 40 years of life on the street".

 

[Oscarfan]

I'm pretty sure Ssetta posted something here awhile ago about SW digitally archiving their entire library or something to that affect.

 

[Drtooth]

Be thankful this isn't a British show.

I hear nothing but horror stories of wiping (reusing master tapes by taping over older shows)... they're putting out a call to see if anyone can track down lost Dr. Who episodes.

I'm sure Sesame Street has everything possible, even stuff they can't show for educational/archival purposes. I don't think any of us will ever see Snuffy and the divorce, unless one of us interns and gets very VERY close to the personnel. Still, I'm sure they have it somewhere. The trick is getting them to leak it somehow.

We never know when a leak happens.

Seven Monsters somehow managed to pop up with no explanation and no Sesame Workshop involvement. it's only a matter of time before the Snuffy one could.

 

[panmanthe2nd]

Thanks everyone for your comments.

And thank you Drtooth for posting that video. I hadn't seen it before.

 

[Drtooth]

Personally, I want to see what the heck happened to this segment:

It's clearly a parody of the Sparta Cheerleaders from SNL, and that's definitely a Muppet caricature of Will Ferrel.