How did SS evolve from "schoolhouse" to "entertainment?"

[Drtooth]

I am not a fan of William Barnes Brown's 2 Sesame Street songs, Hey Cow and Fireman Ready to Go. I have SOOOO many problems with the Fireman song. Like, OH! Here's a goofy, peppy song about people who are vitally important and risk their lives every single day doing very dangerous work and any day they come home alive is a good one. Yeah... that needs to sound as corny as possible.

But there's nothing anyone can say about Joe. Even his more mellow, softer tunes like Sing and I Believe in Little Things are catchy enough to remember long after childhood.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I am not a fan of William Barnes Brown's 2 Sesame Street songs, Hey Cow and Fireman Ready to Go. I have SOOOO many problems with the Fireman song. Like, OH! Here's a goofy, peppy song about people who are vitally important and risk their lives every single day doing very dangerous work and any day they come home alive is a good one. Yeah... that needs to sound as corny as possible.

Yeah I'm not as crazy about the peppy Fireman song, lol, I mainly enjoy the sketch for the nostalgic neighborhood footage.

 

[Drtooth]

I tell you... the section where they poorly parrot a walkee talkee with
"Th' Fire's Out!' "The Fire's Out!"

then sing
"The fi-i-i-i-i-i-i-ire's ou-u-u-u-u-u-t!"

That just has me laughing unintentionally. Not something I want to do thinking about what firefighters actually do.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I tell you... the section where they poorly parrot a walkee talkee with
"Th' Fire's Out!' "The Fire's Out!"

then sing
"The fi-i-i-i-i-i-i-ire's ou-u-u-u-u-u-t!"

That just has me laughing unintentionally. Not something I want to do thinking about what firefighters actually do.

I understand; I have a firefighter in the family and it is indeed a very dangerous job that shouldn't be taken lightly.

On the other hand, I've read that in years past, places like Coney Island would actually have dramatized "fire shows" with the heroic fire fighters always saving the day. Back when fires were a much more frequent and deadly occurence, such shows would be comforting to people.

 

[Drtooth]

I wonder when or if they decided to put a 5 minutes or less cap on some of these films. Hey Cow could work just as well as it does with a minute or two shaved off. Longer segments, while nothing is wrong with them, tend to run off if they get too long. Even today. Elmo's World is just... how come kids have the attention span to enjoy 15 minutes of a single thing like that? And Abby could be significantly shortened if they dropped the theme song and cut out the Spot segment (it just tends to underline the obvious). Murray had a Little Lamb was shortened the second time around, cutting out the guessing game... I mean, pace and flow, that was cute, but all together unnecessary.

I know on the Muppet show they tried very hard to have musical numbers run no longer than 2 or 3 minutes... only because the flow felt better if the songs were quick and ended the jokes while they were still funny. I forget the quote... but it's on the Music and Mayhem linear notes. Pacing is important in comedy, and just as important in drama or anything else.